By Faith

 By Carrie Moyer

“Abraham planted a Tamarisk Tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.” (Genesis 21:33-34)

For generations, Abraham's descendants would look at the Tamarisk Tree in Beersheba and benefit from its shade during hot, dry days. If they knew he had planted it before the land belonged to him, they surely were astonished!

Young tamarisk trees require much care and attention, and those who planted them did not live long enough to watch them mature, nor to enjoy the full benefits of their cooling shade. Men customarily planted these grand trees on land they already owned and intended to bequeath to their own children so that generations of their own descendants would enjoy the product of their labor.

Abraham was a sojourner, a wanderer. He did not own the land he dwelt in. He was surrounded by strangers. Yet he trusted the word of his Lord, the Everlasting God, that one day his children would possess it!

For generations, this tree stood as a testimony of the One who remains faithful to His word, who produced in Abraham such faith that he was willing to labor for effects he would not personally observe, for the benefit of descendants not yet born in a land he did not yet own.


By Faith . . .

Abraham knew I AM and walked with Him.

He worked in Abraham both to will and to work for His good pleasure.


By Faith . . .

Abraham planted a Tamarisk Tree—much desired for its shade, but long in growing—in a land he did not possess for he knew with certainty that one day his children would possess the land and rest under the shade of its branches.

His God had promised.
His God who is.

“I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (Gen. 17:8)



By Faith . . .  

Abraham labored, and planted, and nurtured, and waited so that With his work . . .

He honored the One who abides and fulfills His promises.
He worshiped the One who is and was and is to come.
He proclaimed the nature and character of Him


who inhabits eternity,

the One who is everlasting.


...........


Will the testimony of Abraham be the testimony of my life and labor? Am I responding in faith to the promises of God? Am I submitting to His will and accepting His grace to do the works He wants me to do or am I striving for my own comforts and material satisfaction?

What am I doing now to effect eternal blessings for those who will come after me? What labor of my life will testify of the Lord's faithfulness and power generations from now?


By Faith . . .

We know I AM and walk with Him.

He works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure.


By Faith . . .

We plant Gospel Seed – much desired for its fruit, but long in growing – in the hearts of those around for we know with certainty that one day His children will believe and receive and possess the land, resting in the peace of His presence.


Our God has promised.

Our God who is faithful.


“My word . . . shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

AND

“Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)



By Faith . . . we labor, and plant, and nurture, and pray so that With our work . . .

We honor Him and abide in His promises.

We worship and commit our labors to Him.

We proclaim His nature and nurture eternal fruit.


............................. /// .............................


"Father,

You are the Everlasting God who will abide and fulfill your promises!

You have said it.

You also will do it!

Abide in us and produce the works of faith that honor you eternally!"

 


 Carrie Moyer is a housewife and homeschooling mother who praises her Father for her godly husband and the quiver of children He has blessed her with. She lives in the upstate of South Carolina with her husband, four girls and two boys.

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