Genesis 15:1-6 Living Bible
15 Afterwards Jehovah spoke to Abram in a vision, and this is what he told him: “Don’t be fearful, Abram, for I will defend you. And I will give you great blessings.”
2-3 But Abram replied, “O Lord Jehovah, what good are all your blessings when I have no son? For without a son, some other member of my household[a] will inherit all my wealth.”
4 Then Jehovah told him, “No, no one else will be your heir, for you will have a son to inherit everything you own.”
5 Then God brought Abram outside beneath the nighttime sky and told him, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that—too many to count!” 6 And Abram believed God; then God considered him righteous on account of his faith.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Count your blessings, name them one by one! See what God has done, See what God is doing now, See what God will always do!
On a clear night, away from city lights, you should look up into the night sky. You will see all the stars you might want to see. Even with our sophisticated instruments today we still cannot count them all. But God knows their number.
The beginning of Genesis begins with Adam and a fertile Eve. But in Genesis 15 Sarai was long barren. Abram questioned God about his promise of children.
So God took Abram outside for a look at his promised future. Abram had seen the desert night sky ablaze with stars before. But this night was different. “Your descendants will be as many as the stars,” God promised. “Count them, if you can.”
Then Abram believed. He stopped questioning. Sometimes seeing is believing.
However, the promise did not arrive right away. Twenty-five long years would pass before Abraham cradled his firstborn, and many more years passed before there was a clan who called Abraham their father. Still, Abraham believed God’s promise of descendants as numerous as the stars, are in reality, uncountable.
Throughout history, their disobedience to God would take many promised sons and daughters: in Egypt, throughout the season of Judges, then in Babylonian exile for seventy years. Later in the Rome Empire, and today in the Diaspora.
But the count goes on. Uncountable stars still shine deep into the endless night sky. As countless as the stars in the night sky above, count all the followers of Christ, if you can. You’ll find them in the most unexpected places of the earth.
And God knows exactly what those numbers are.
He knew then when Abram looked into the reaches of the unsearchable depths of the sky. He knows now as 2024 comes to a close and the unknown future of 2025 is waiting for revelation as the hours and days, weeks and months arrive.
Even 100 years from now, when we are passed on into the eternal Glory of God, God will still know exactly how many stars are in the entirety of the night sky.
God patiently awaits the countless coming generations of Abram’s and Sarai’s.
For them to wonder about their believing, as Abram and Sarai believed, in their portion of the long promised, forever countless blessings of God, to bless them.
Seasons of Waiting, Seasons of Watching, for Seasons of Promise
Genesis 15:5-6 Amplified Bible
5 And the Lord brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So [numerous] shall your descendants be.” 6 Then Abram believed in (affirmed, trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord; and He counted (credited) it to him [a]as righteousness (doing right in regard to God and man).
If our own faith is to remain steadfast in seasons of prolonged waiting, then we must be confident as Abraham, of these truths:
first, that God has the power to do what He promised to do;
and second, God Himself is sufficient to meet all of our needs, in every season.
Abraham’s faith was tested in the waiting room of life.
For years he lived in a foreign land which was not his own, waiting for his “very own firstborn son” to come into the world as God had promised (Genesis 15:4).
And it was his trust in God’s promises while he waited that God “counted … to him as righteousness.”
Paul, when he writes of Abraham’s faith during this time, says,
“No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:20-21).
In other words, Abraham believed that nothing and no one could stand in the way of God fulfilling His spoken word—even when he could not begin to see how God would keep His promises. His faith wasn’t a blind leap in the dark.
Rather, it was a belief based on God’s character.
Fast-forward to today, and one of the great promises to which we cling is that the Lord Jesus has promised to prepare a place for us and that He will come to take us to Himself (John 14:3).
Therefore, when we, as Abraham did, take Him at His word, we are filled with the hope of heaven.
We can be certain beyond any shadow of any doubt that Jesus is coming back personally, He is coming back visibly, and He is coming back for His own.
These promises to us are as sure as the promise God made to Abraham, for which he waited 25 long years before it was fulfilled.
Furthermore, through Abraham’s experience we see that it is God alone who is sufficient to bring us through seasons of waiting.
In Genesis 17, God appears once more to Abraham in order to strengthen his faith. How?
By revealing who He is: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty [El-Shaddai]; walk before me’” (17:1).
This Hebrew term, El-Shaddai, can mean “God who is sufficient.” God, in other words, affirmed His promises to Abraham on the strength of His character.
The Christian life is a life of waiting.
And all of God’s “hold-ons” and “not yets” are part and parcel of His purpose.
Every season of waiting and watching is an opportunity for you to take God at His word. And while you wait, you can surely trust Him to meet your every need.
Rest in this: the God in whom you believe is able to do all that He has promised.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 27 Amplified Bible
A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread?
2
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
3
Though an army encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
Even in this I am confident.
4
One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
5
For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6
And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
In His tent I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
Be gracious and compassionate to me and answer me.
8
When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”
9
Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor [a]leave me,
O God of my salvation!
10
Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].
11
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies [who lie in wait].
12
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have come against me;
They breathe out violence.
13
I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14
Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 