Testing to Improve – Part 2

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Genesis 22:9

Abraham considered Isaac to be a special gift from God. But God-given gifts are wonderful things – and dangerous things. Why do we say that? Because as you cultivate the gifts God has given you, you can begin to rely on them more than you rely on God. And at that point your greatest strength becomes your greatest weakness. It was God who gave Lucifer a beautiful form and a beautiful voice. Those gifts were originally used to glorify God. Then Lucifer started looking in the mirror, started reflecting on his own beauty. He glorified the gift he had been given instead of glorifying God. The lesson in Lucifer’s fall is this: whatever you don’t turn into praise turns into pride. And that’s a problem, because ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (James 4:6). Instead of deflecting praise to God, Lucifer let it feed his ego. It was his sinful desire to be lifted up that led to Lucifer’s downfall. What are your greatest God-given gifts? What are your most significant God-ordained opportunities? What God-sized dreams has the Holy Spirit conceived in your spirit? That’s your ‘Isaac’. And you should love your Isaac and celebrate him, but he must never be permitted to take the place of God in your life. Sometimes God-ordained dreams aren’t just born, they have to be reborn. If they become more important to you than God, you have to sacrifice them for the sake of your soul. You have to put them on the altar and raise the knife. Sometimes your dream must die before it can be resurrected for God’s glory.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank You for all that You have given me, and help me see that they are from You and are to be used for Your glory and not mine. In Jesus’ Name, Amen