"God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." ²He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided." - Genesis 22:1-15.

This account of Abraham offering up Isaac has been on my heart. What sticks out to me about this passage is that Abraham didn't withold anything from God and God never withheld anything from Abraham. I believe Abraham's faith was pleasing to God, not because he proved himself by offering up his son, but because he knew that God would provide the sacrifice. Despite the fact that it didn't make sense to Abraham, he didn't suddenly change his perception of God. He knew what God had promised about Isaac and yet he still went with the full intention of slaying him on that mountain. Abraham told Isaac, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." What a picture of how God provided for Himself the offering of Christ. Anytime God asks for something, we have to look and trust that He has provided for Himself the offering, the sacrifice. Do we really believe that the Father has provided the Son for us? For every need to be complete in Him? Will we withold any good thing from the One who has promised us that He will not withold any good thing from those who trust in Him? He hasn't witheld, He has already provided, He gave His Son.

I was reading Matthew 10 the other day when Jesus commissioned his first disciples. The call to discipleship isn't one of worldly success, though we like to dress it up like that. If the Master was hated and maligned for who He was, than we can expect the same. I believe those who are serious about following the Lord should count the cost. There were multitudes who heard Him, were blessed by His miracles, but never followed Him. They loved His signs but they didn't love Him. A true disciple must receive the love of the truth, the love that the Holy Spirit puts into our hearts to show us how beautiful this Man is. Jesus will never force us to carry the cross, He beckons us, but He desires a bride who will set her affections on Him alone. She will be sustained by His love so that she can undergo persecution like Him and identify with His heart in the midst of it. As I read Matthew 10, I had to ask myself: "Am I ready for the Lord to lead me to be a sheep among wolves?" We often underestimate the evil in human hearts but Jesus saw it clearly, which makes His love all the more incomprehensible. Do we really get that there is no good thing that dwells in our flesh and that God's graciousness is the only reason why we are saved? We desire God's best but will we trust in Christ alone, that He isn't witholding any good thing and that if we truly present our Isaacs on the altar that we won't be disappointed?

I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and I can't live without Him. What can this fading life offer that is better than knowing and experiencing the love of Christ and making Him known in all that I do? I believe the Lord is honest with us at all times and desires that we realize the cost of discipleship, He doesn't want to trick us. He even asked Peter at one point if he would stop following Him, as others did. Peter responded, "where else will I go?" I want to be so wounded by His love that I cannot help but answer the Lord, "where else will I go? Your words do something to my heart and I cannot live without You." I believe the Lord also desires to show us through revelation by His Spirit that there is a reward, that knowing Him is truly more satisfying than anything we could desire, that He is truly the answer to all that we need. We have hearts that are designed for pleasure and God knows that. The question is will we delight ourselves in Him? Times are here when men's hearts will begin to fail them from fear and others will be deceived, even the elect, I want to receive what the Bible calls the love of the truth. I want to properly understand Jesus and His heart so that I can stand in the coming days, that I can know and be persuaded by revelation of God's Spirit that my reward in Christ is incorruptible and undefiled. I want to laugh at what the world calls riches, I want to love Jesus enough that I will embrace the cross. I'm not saying that earthly blessings are all bad but I don't want to cling to any Isaacs but lay them on the altar believing God has provided for me all that I need.

Refocus me Lord, I have been sidetracked and I am sorry. Jesus, place Your seal on my heart and take the desires of my heart. I want to do Your will and I cannot do it without Your help. You said that the work of God is to believe on the One whom He sent. Jesus, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation to grow in the knowledge of You, to know the great hope of Your calling, Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of Your power towards us who believe in You. I want You first above all things and everything else to consist in You. Jesus, draw me and speak Your words of life to my heart. Awaken me, lest I fall asleep. Help me to love You more and obey You better by the power of Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

"The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son" - Revelation 21:7

"But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3:18-21

One of the main differences, I think, between the modern church and the first century church was their vision. Their goal was to see Jesus return, they desired this, they eagerly waited for it and they even wanted to hasten it. We preach a gospel of just getting sins forgiven, which is good, or the gospel of being refreshed and finding "peace," which is good. Why are we trying to persuade that people need peace with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ? So that people can know where they are going when they die? Jesus didn't define eternal life as merely going to heaven, He defined it as knowing the One True God and the One whom He sent. Jesus told us to pray for heaven to come to earth not that we will just float through this life and go to heaven. The complete gospel message that Peter preached in Acts had to do with forgiveness of sins, refreshment in Christ and the return of the Christ to rule this earth. Romans 16 says that the God of peace will crush satan under our feet. Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth, we have a literal inheritance that is more real than what we see on this earth, it is eternal and incorruptible. What kind of vision do we, the bride of Christ, live with?

I get leary when I hear preachers preaching messages about having perfect prosperity in this age. What it sounds like to me is "give me all the blessings of the kingdom but we don't want the King Himself." We don't see it as a good thing, the best thing, for Jesus to come and rule and reign forever - even when He desires to rule and reign with Him. We shoot so low and we have a low estimation of who the Man and God Jesus Christ is and so we also have a low estimation of our identities in Him. I can almost hear someone say, "now, now, we don't know the day or the hour." That really isn't the point and that scripture is often misused so people can feel comfortable with compromise. The point is that we're supposed to be praying and making disciples with the goal of having Him return. We submit to the Word of God and take an uncompromising attitude with sin in our lives and seek to live unspotted from this world and raise up our children in the fear of the Lord to prepare the way for Him. So that He can return for His bride, Ephesians 5 says that He gave Himself up for His bride so that He could wash her in His word and present her to Himself as a radiant bride. That blows my mind.

I ask myself as I read the description of God's throne room in Revelation 4 and 5, 'why is this so foreign to me when the Bible says I am a citizen of heaven?' God unfolds this beautiful drama before John's eyes as the four living creatures praise the One who sits upon the throne. In His hand He holds a scroll with seven seals and an angel cries aloud "who is worthy to take the scroll and open it?" There is a silence and no one is found worthy in heaven or earth and then the Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah comes to take the scroll and open it. The song that the four creatures sing changes to praise the Lamb who is the image of God, the radiance of the Father's glory. When I read these words something in my heart cries out that there is so much more, there is so much more to lay hold of. Paul said in 1Timothy 6:12 to "lay hold" of eternal life, this isn't a passive thing and it won't just take place without our permitting God to do His perfect work in us and laying hold of Him.