All Things are Possible with FAITH! - Jack Hayford

Recently (this week),  I listened to Pastor Jack Hayford speak on God's promises to us from Queensway Cathedral in Toronto.  He spoke concerning God's faithfulness to His Word.  I want to extend to you here, highlights of the important faith message he shared with us.

In Genesis 12 we read the (famous) Abrahamic covenant (promise) that God held with Abram (later called Abraham).  God's promise to them concerned giving them the child (later named Isaac) they always wanted to have. Remember at this time Abram and Sarai his wife were elderly when God gave this promise to Abram.  Track with me as we observe Abram's faith, and what it means to us in 2015!

1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2“I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.^a

3I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.”^b

4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring^c I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  ~Genesis 12

As the years go by, there seemed to be no heir in sight. Neither Abram nor Sarai were getting any younger!  ....yet Abram continued to wait on God ....because Abram knew God was faithful to his Word!  He was very old now as was Sarai  (the mother to be).  Perhaps they wondered aloud at night as they drifted off to sleep, "....is this going to really happen?"  Abram knew it would but perhaps he began to have doubts it seemed, because the text shows he began to include Eliezer in his estate planning!

In Genesis 15 we see more of Abram's faith, and God continuing to promise Abram that He would fulfill what God had promised many years prior.

"... the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,^a

your very great reward.^b ”

2But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit^c my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^d be.”

6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15

Abram was indeed a wealthy man.  In this agricultural society, his wealth was measured in terms of his abundance of livestock.  Abram had it all in this society.  However in this society, if one didn't have an heir (son), it meant that at death the wealth would pass to the steward (manager) of the wealth.  Nowadays, wealth by law passes to the family, but at some point, it seemed to Abram, that Eliezer his manager, was going to inherit all of Abram's mighty wealth.  Can you hear Abram's frustration at the thought of it all just slipping through his fingers when he died?  

““Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit^c my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? (God)...You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Just when it seemed to Abram that the promise wasn't going to be fulfilled in his lifetime, he had a fresh word from the Lord......God reminded Abram again of His earlier promise!  God reminded Abram of who put the stars in place!  God reminded Him that yes indeed, a son would be born to Abram and Sarai even in their old age.   God always keeps his promises !

4Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man (Eliezer) will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^d be.”

6Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15

Here now, we can fast-forward to the New Testament and then find that we can lay claim to the fruit of our faith!

7Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles (gentiles...that would be you!) by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^d 

9So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.    ~Galatians 3:7-9

Here in these passages, we see we humans easily have a tendency to let doubt creep in, even though the very God of Heaven offers us His promises.  This is a classic case of God's man trying to work things out his own way, even after God had given him a promise!  Abram began making plans for Eliezer to take over Abram's estate, until God took him aside and reminded Abram of the promise he'd make to him earlier.


Genesis 15:1-6. And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.


*Only believe, only believe;

All things are possible, only believe;

Only believe, only believe;

All things are possible, only believe.
                                   
                                                                                                             ~ words by Paul Rader, 1921



* Bishop Gilbert E. Patterson sings "ONLY BELIEVE" (Click for Video)