Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 66

March 6;        Romans 4:20;         121/260;        ‘Empowered By Faith’

Romans 4:20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

This verse is incredibly powerful and has much to teach us.  Abraham did not start out this way.  As time went on, the Lord blessed Abraham financially.  Jesus, is the Member of the Godhead that kept telling Abraham he would be the father of many nations.  Abraham had a difficult time understanding this since he had no children, no heir.  The Lord, to assure Abraham that this was so, made a covenant with Abraham.  In reality the Lord put Abraham to sleep and Jesus and the Father made the covenant.  Abraham got into the covenant by faith.  In the Old Testament times, covenants were ‘sacred,’ never broken.  Cutting the covenant was a huge part of Abraham believing the Lord.  Additionally, Old Testament saints were ‘saved’ by believing that one day the Messiah would come.  In John 8, Jesus tells the Pharisees that He preached the Gospel to Abraham and Abraham believed Him.  The maturing of Abraham’s faith was a process.  Once he finally believed the Lord, he was saved by that faith, circumcised and now believed he would be the father of many nations, with unwavering trust,  To waver means to vacillate between two opinions, yes I believe, no I don’t.  Abraham no longer did that.  This verse teaches that his faith literally empowered him to father Isaac.  Faith in what God says is incredibly powerful and receives from God what He has for us. Finally, Abraham worshipped the Lord.  This passage of scripture was not just a powerful teaching, it was a pattern for us. Mature in faith and receive from God.