Isaac

turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 we're going to continue our series titled broken and in this chapter there are people that uh were broken people and yet God used them and he even gave them credit for things that they didn't fully do he he was very gracious in how he represented them in this passage and and that's an encouragement to me to know that God is gracious towards me as well and so we've gone through and looked at a number of these uh these bble characters and these Heroes of the faith and we're going to continue now if you look at Hebrews chap 11 and beginning with verse number 17 Hebrews 11:1 17 by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he

that re had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from when also he received him in a figure by faith Isaac bless Jacob and Esau concerning concerning things to come let's bow for prayer once again father we ask that you would open up your word to us as we open it up together today we pray that we would learn through the life of Isaac and and the people around him as well and that they would be able to help us to increase our faith and learn to trust you for it's in Jesus name we pray amen as I said last week we covered Abraham and and uh before Abraham

we had uh Abel and we had Enoch and we had Noah and all of them were just one verse and then Abraham has a whole bunch of verses and now we're back to one verse again and that's on Isaac and uh Isaac doesn't have as much in his life to look at as Noah or as Abraham but yet there's lessons that we can learn here but if we're going to learn from the life of Isaac we've got to start with someone else and that is the servant you might remember this story put a marker in Hebrews 11 because we are going to come back there and go over to Genesis CH 24 Genesis chapter 24 now remember Isaac was the child of promise and uh they wanted to be sure that he got the right kind of wife and so uh Abraham and

Sarah decided that they they wanted to get a wife from back home uh somebody that they knew from back home in fact in that day it wasn't as like it is day of marrying cousins they were still inter related and they just wanted to get the right kind of girl and so I Abraham went to his servant and Saidi want you to go back to where I came from ER which remember was a long journey all the way up and then all the way down again uh going down there and and I want you to go back to ER and I want you to find a wife for my son Isaac and so this servant got there and uh he's trying to figure out now how do I find the right girl and he came up with kind of a plan and some of you might remember where

he would uh C when he got there was by a well and he said well I'm going to look for the one who offers to give me water and give water to all my camels and by the way you need to remember that camels drank a lot of water and so this was not a simple thing to do he was looking for somebody with a humble servant spirit that would be willing to do something for a stranger and that was what he was looking for is his character and so it tells us here in Genesis CH 24 and verse number 12 the first thing he did when he got there is he said he said oh Lord God of my master Abraham I pray thee send me good spee this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham so the first thing that he did is he

prayed and by the way you got to understand how spiritual he really was because not only did he pray look at verse number 11 and he made his camels kneel down without the city so he even had his camels pray with him you know it's a uh he was uh he was going to go to the Lord and say Lord I I need you to guide me in this process and so he started with prayer boy that's a good place to start whatever is going on in your life is to start with prayer in Philippians chapter chapter 4 and verse number six the Bible says be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and whatever you're going through in your life whatever

the challenge that you're facing whatever the decision you have to make uh the best way to start is just say Lord I need you to guide me in this decision I need you to guide me in this proc process and that's exactly what this servant did now the only problem I have with his what he said there in verse number 12 is this is listen again to what it says and he said oh Lord God of my master Abraham it it seems like the servant didn't really have a personal relationship with God in Matthew 22 and verse number 32 the Bible says I am the god of Abraham the god of Isaac the god of Jacob God is not the god of the dead but of the living and he see God needs to be not your parents God not your pastor

or your Church's God it need he needs to be your God personally and it seems like that may not have been the case with a servant at this point in fact if you go a little further to verse number 27 it says and he said blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham then skip down to verse number 42 and again he says and it came this day onto the well and said oh Lord God of my master Abraham and then verse number 48 and I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord and bless the Lord God of my master Abraham so again it just doesn't get you just don't get a feeling that he knew God personally uh he had seen Abraham worship God he had heard Abraham talk about God he knew that Abraham believed in

God and had a personal relationship with God but yet he did not seem to have his own personal relationship with God in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse number five Paul writes to Timothy says when I called to remembrance the unfa faith that is in thee which dwell first thy grandmother Lois thy mother Eunice I persuaded thee also see Timothy's grandma was saved Timothy's mother was saved but but Paul said Timothy I know also that you were saved it's just not your grandma's God it's not your mom's God but he's your God and I wonder today do you have a personal relationship with God see sometimes we think well my mom and dad they're Christians so I must be a Christian well that's not the way it

works and and you might think well I go to church and my church believes in God and so I believe in God well that's not the way it works you see we have to come to that point that we have a personal relationship with God where we call upon him as our God back in Genesis chapter 24 and I think that happened with a servant I think God brought him to that point where he realized you know what God is real and I want him not just to be my Master's God but I want him to be my God in Genesis chap 24 and verse number 52 it says it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard these word their words he worshiped the Lord bowing himself to the Earth no longer was it Abraham the Lord Abraham's God but

he worshiped the Lord for himself he realized that I need to Bow before God and to worship him I need to call upon him personally in my life and have a personal relationship with him in John 4: 22 the Bible says you worship you know not what we know what we worship for we worship for salvation of the Jews see a lot a problem is there's a lot of people that go to church week after week and and and they grew up in a Christian environment or Christian home but yet they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ they sing the songs they bow in prayer uh they attend church but they don't they know not who they worship because they don't have that personal relationship with God in their

lives and I want to challenge you do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ he's not just your parents God it's good when you've got a Godly Heritage and your parents are believers and they've taught you to believe in God and and and through them you came to know him personally but he needs to be your God not just your pastor's God not just your Church's God but he needs to be personal in your relationship because too many of us we don't know who we're worshiping and Jesus said in John 5:39 search the scriptures for in them you think he have eternal life and they are they which testify of me and you need to make sure that you have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ now

notice back in Genesis chapter 24 again and look at verses 26 and 27 it says and the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord and he said blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham who ha not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth I being in the way the Lord led me to the house of my Master's brethren you see he was in the way that the Lord had led him look at verse 48 and I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham which had led me in the right way to take my Master's brother's daughter onto his son see again he led me in the right way if you want to be where God wants you to be then God needs to lead in your life you need

to make sure that that you are following the Lord and the first step in that process is to keep your promises in Genesis CH 24 verse number three talking about Abraham he says I will make thee swear by the Lord the god of Heaven and the god of Earth that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell he took the servant he says I want you to make me a promise I want you to go find a right kind of wife for my daughter I want you to find a Godly woman who loves the Lord and and he said I want you to make that promise and and the servant made that promise and he kept that promise you know there maybe some of you in this room that you've made a

promise to God but you've not kept it maybe there was a point where you said you know what I'm going to live for God I'm going to give my life a living sacrifice and and yet you're not living for the Lord now maybe you need made a promise that I'm going to be more faithful to church and I'm going to be there every service and and and now since Co you cut back and you're coming less and less and less maybe you made the promise that I'm going to start giving and you're not giving anymore or whatever else it might be you know what when you make a promise when you make a a vow you need to keep that vow and this servant kept his vow in Ecclesiastes chapter 6 and verse4 it says when thou vow us a

vow unto God defer not to pay it for Heath no pleasure in fools pay thou which thou has vowed if you're going to go in the way which the Lord LED you when you make a promise when you make a commitment when you make a vow whether it's to God or whether it's to somebody else the vow of marriage the vow of whatever it might be you need to keep that promise and be faith ful to God because you're not following the Lord when you're not keeping your promises and and and doing what you promised you would do now the other thing to realize is that the servant had understand I cannot get there from here you know just sometimes if if you want to get somewhere before you can get there you've got to get

somewhere else in Psalms chap 37: 23 and 24 the Bible says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way though he fall he shall not be cut utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hands see this servant understood before I can fulfill that promise I've got to take a long journey and he had to go all the way up North and then he had to go all the way down south again uh to get where he needed to go he had a long journey it was step by step and and and we need to realize that in life sometimes the reason we're not in the way which the Lord led us I can't be where God wants me to be tomorrow if I'm not where God wants me to be today and until I get

where God wants me to be today then I cannot be where God wants me to be tomorrow and so we need to understand that if you want to be in the way which the Lord LED you then you've got to make sure that you're taking it one step at a time that you're where you need to be if you're where you need to be right now then you're ready to be where God wants you to be tomorrow and God will lead you in his way but if you're not where you need to be right now then God can't lead you in his way tomorrow and so we need to make sure that we follow the Lord's way and God's way is always the best way in Proverbs 14 and: 12 it says there is a way which seeth right unto man but the end thereof are the ways of

death you know the servant might have thought well this is a long process to go there's a lot of beautiful women here in Canaan and there's a lot of women that are good character and all the rest of it but he he understand that that I've got to do this God's way and as you read the story in Genesis 24 and I hope maybe you'll go back and read that sometime this week as you read that story over and over again he was saying listen I want I want God's way I don't want my way I don't want to do with my own strength and my own power and my own wisdom I I I've got to have it God's way because his is the best way so often in life what gets us in trouble when we start figure thinking I have to figure

this out I have to figure out what I'm going to do and how I'm going to make this work and how I'm going to make that work and and we get too much in trying to figure out our own way instead of doing like the servant say Lord I need you to guide me in your way and then following it one step at a time but here's the biggest thing I think that hinders us and causes US problems is a lot of us we're not only we're not in the way which the Lord led us but we are in the way of which the Lord would lead us in other words we just get in the way I I look back in my life and a lot of times the problem has been I've been in God's way I've been the problem I've been the one holding things back I've been

the one that hindering things and keeping it from happening in Proverbs 3:5 and6 the Bible says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not onto thine understanding in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He Shall direct thy paths and we need to realize that if we're going to follow the lord and his way then we've got to get out of the way and getting out of the way means that I've got to stop trying to do this in the flesh and I've got to stop trying to figure it all out on my own and I need to seek the Lord like he did and I need to seek Godly counsel and I need to find out what is God's way that he wants me to go and so you really can't understand the story of Isaac until you

understand the story of this servant who went to look for his wife now going back to Isaac let's look at him look at Genesis chapter 24 and I want to look at verse number 67 and one of the things that as I studied the life of Isaac is I realized that he was a good husband at least mostly we'll see a little bit of problem he had but he was a good husband overall in Genesis 24 verse number 67 it says and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent and took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death so he loved his wife uh Rebecca he he he fell in love with her it's kind of like a Hallmark love story I want you to look back in the same

chapter go back to verse number 58 the verse number number 58 now remember Abraham sends his servant all the way back home remember that was a long hard journey they had to go up the whole coast of Israel get up there to Sheron and then then from there they had to go all the way back down to ER and and it was a long long hard journey and the servant got there and went through that whole process of trying to find just the right girl there was a lot of girls at the well but there was only one with the character to say listen let me give you water and let me give water to your camels and let me help out any way I can had a servant's heart and then he had to go to this girl's parents and get

permission for her to come back with him and you know you can imagine a stranger shows up in your door and says I want to take your daughter a long journey back to over the to the the Canaanite land and I I want to have her marry my master's son you know and even though they were related Abraham and her dad were related it was still quite a quite a deal and and she she had to agree to it as well and she agreed to this and they get on the camels and they start the journey back and it's a long way down there and during this whole time Isaac is waiting he knows his dad has sent the servant he knows that he's going to gonna be having a wife come pretty soon you know this is the ultimate blind

date I mean he doesn't have any idea what she looks like he didn't have idea what her name is he knows knows nothing about her and and it's kind of like a Hallmark Love Story look at verse number 58 they called her Rebecca and said unto her wil thou go with this man she said I will go and they sent away Rebecca their sister and her and her nurse and Abraham's servant his men and they blessed Rebecca and said unto her Thou Art our sister be thou the mother of thousands of millions and let the thy seed possess the Gate of those which hate them and Rebecca arose and her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed the man and the servant took Rebecca and went his way and Isaac came from

the way of the well la Lai Roy for he dwelt in the South Country and Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even tide and he lifted up his eyes and saw and behold the camels were coming and Rebecca lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel for she had said unto the servant what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us and the servant has said it is my master therefore she took a veil and covered herself and the servant told Isaac all things that he had done and then that's when his said they met and he fell in love with her now there's a couple things as I read this passage and maybe I'm reading in between lines a little bit but I think it's there is

the first thing why did Isaac go out to the field to meditate I think it was because he couldn't wait to see his Bright Now again remember there was no telephones there was no way to know when they were coming uh this was a long hard journey uh she could show up any day and even weeks later he he just didn't know and and I kind of get the feeling that every day he went out in that field to meditate every day he was out there kind of watching and said is she going to come today is she going to come today and just kind of waiting on the Lord to see what's going to happen you know sometimes it's hard to wait on the Lord isn't it and sometimes it's it's hard when we're waiting to see what God is

going to do I can imagine the thoughts going through his mind is she going to be a good wife was will we get along what what will she look like what if she's ugly you know I can imagine those thoughts going going through his mind out there he's just meditating the field and and and probably praying Lord Lord Make Her make her a Godly woman make her a good woman and and just meditating out there in that field wondering what the what God was going to bring into his life in this in this girl that was coming in Proverbs 18:22 it says who so findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtain the favor of the Lord and for those of you that are single I I I know what that is and you're you're kind of

thinking well who is it God's going to bring him my life and who's that person I'm going to be with and those of us that are married we've got that privilege of founding a good thing if you're a husband you if you're married you've got a wife and God says she's a good thing and by the way do you notice the Bible never says that a husband is a good thing I'm kind of offended by that you know uh I I I don't know how to take that but you know what you find a wife you find a good thing and you want to get a good wife and and Isaac was probably just every day kind of with butterflies in his stomach and anticipation say what she going be like I I I I I I can't wait to see her but I'm not sure if I

want to see her I can imagine what would that was like and then the Bible tells us about how she got there and first thing she does she she's on the camel she sees Isaac off over in the field and says who's that guy over there he's goodlook man who is that guy he's pretty buff and and uh the servant says well that's your that's your husband that's the guy you're going to marry and she the Bible says she lighted her camel that means that she wasn't smoking okay okay uh she lighted her camel means that she jumped off the camel and started running towards him and then about halfway there she realize oh I got to put my veil on I I've got to be modest here uh but she couldn't wait to see him you

can just imagine this love story two people never met before and now they're going to get married and and not only are they going to get married by Arrangement but they actually fall in love with each other is't that a blessing you know by the way I I don't know that there's any arranged marriages in this room as far as I know everybody's married in this room you chose your partner you chose your wife you chose your husband and if Isaac and Rebecca who did not choose each other Could Fall In Love how much more should you and I that had that choice love each other sometimes that's hard sometimes that's difficult but that's the challenge that God gives us and Isaac loved Rebecca you know

what's interesting about Isaac in all of these people we're looking at he's the only one that did not have a second wife he's the only one Abraham had the concubines and and another wife so did after him his sons Jacob and Esau but you know he was the only one that Rebecca was it boy that's says something doesn't it says something about his character says something about how much he loved her in Ephesians 5:25 the Bible says husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it in Titus Chapter 2 you know again here's another interesting thing by the way the Bible says husbands love your wives That's a command and God has to command us as men to love our wives

because we're not real good at that we we need to be reminded and even told to do that because we just don't do well well in that area but again in the Bible nowhere does the Bible command wives to love their husband nowhere and again I thought that was kind of unfair the the closest the Bible comes to that is in Titus uh chapter 2 and verse number four is that that they may teach the young woman to be sober to love their husbands to love their children now why is why doesn't God not command women to wives to love their husband is because a woman is a natural lover God designed her to respond in love and if we as husbands are loving our wives the way we should then our wives are going to

naturally want to respond in love to us and so husbands if your wife's not loving you the way you want then it's your problem because you're not loving her the way she needs the only thing is is We Men we're we're kind of hard to figure out and so the women need the older women to teach them to say this is what your guy needs this is what he needs from you and helping you to understand and ladies I would encourage you if you've not got an older lady in your life somebody that's older wiser been there and done that at least 10 years older than you that's that's guiding you as a as a wife and as a mother that's there to teach you what they've learned sometimes the hard way and teach you from

the things they did right and the things that they did wrong and what they wish they would have done then you're missing out on what God says you need you need some older woman to teach you how to to love your husband to love your children but they loved each other that's clear in the Bible in fact in Genesis chapter 26 and verse number eight the Bible says and it came to pass when they had been there a long time that and B bimac King of the Philistines looked out a window and saw and behold Isaac was sporting with Rebecca his wife now we'll look at that in just a moment but that he was sporting the idea that were sporting is they were doing something that the king realized they're married

they're not brother and sister they're married and and I I don't know what kind of sporting this was I I don't think it was football although it's kind of fun when you're playing football with your wife you can tackle her I I don't think it was baseball although we got to catch you know maybe you have to run around try to catch your wife I I I don't think it was uh wrestling although it's kind of fun uh down South we called it when it was uh husband and wife or a guy and a girl we called it wrestling you know and uh and maybe they were I I don't know what they were doing but they were doing something that made it clear this is not a brother and sister so again they had a a good active

relationship the Bible says in Hebrews 13:4 marriage is Honorable and all in the bed on defile but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge and I believe that every married couple needs to have a good active physical relationship to Sport with one another and to enjoy one another the word sport here means to laugh they were having a good time and they were they were obviously doing something that was clear that this is a husband and wife so Isaac was a a good husband but he wasn't perfect um Isaac did the same thing his dad did here in Genesis chapter 26 we won't read it but basically Abraham had done this twice now and Isaac did it where he said listen I want you to tell everybody you're

my sister because you're so beautiful we're living in a strange country of people we don't know and they're going to kill me if and to take you as their wife and so we're going to tell everybody we're we're brother and sister now that that gave some protection to her because a brother and sister brother was responsible for a sister but still that that's kind of a jerky thing to do isn't it and and and what's interesting here is a couple things I learned from that and that is that parents should come with a warning label caution bad parent because Isaac did the same thing his dad did in Exodus 34:7 the Bible says keeping Mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and

that will by no means clear the guilty Vis the iniquity of the fathers upon the children upon the children's children until the third and the fourth generation the word iniquity means weaknesses in other words my children's weaknesses came from their parents parents their DNA my children are half of me and half of my wife and and as parents we need to warn our children this I struggle with this and you're going to struggle with this as well and uh we need to realize that that our weaknesses are passed down from generation to generation our responsibility is to show our children you can overcome those weaknesses and that you can do what's right and to warn them I struggle with this you're

going to struggle with this as well you know what's interesting is both times that Abraham did this Isaac wasn't born yet and yet he did the same thing now I don't know if he heard stories or if it's just because he had the same weaknesses dad did but folks your children the Apple doesn't fall far from the tree and as parents we need to set a better example for the next generation and as parents we need to take time to warn our children you're half of me and I struggle with this you're probably going to struggle with it as well in Leviticus 26:40 it says if they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their trespasses which they have trespassed against me and that

also they have walked contrary unto me see listen you need to confess the iniquities not only of your fathers my father struggled with this I struggle with this you're probably going to struggle with this now don't misunderstand me in Ezekiel chapter 18 and we don't have time to turn there it clearly says this he says that children are responsible for their own decisions yes you're part of your parents and you've got that a and you need to be warned that you're going to struggle with these things but ultimately you have to choose whether you're going to do right or wrong you have to choose whether you're going to follow in the pattern of your parents or not if your parents were divorced you

don't have to be divorced you can break the statistics if your Dad or Mom was an alcoholic you don't have to be an alcoholic you can break that and ultimately were responsible but at the same time we're part of who our parents are and Isaac did the same thing as dad did and the other problem they had in their relationship was with their children you know you remember the story of Jacob and Esau they were born as Twins and and uh Jacob he was the mama's boy he was the guy that liked to be the home body and do the cooking where Esau was the manly outdoor Hunter and and and ultimately they they had favorites and mom favored Jacob and Dad favored Esau and then there was this big controversy over

the birthright and all the rest of that and and you know by the way when Rebecca helped Jacob to steal the birthright from his brother you know what her excuse was well God told me because before Jacob was born God told her that the younger the older is going to serve the younger and she had this spiritual excuse well this was God's plan I'm just help help make it happen folks God does not need you to help make his plan happen and God does not need you as a mom to try to have excuses for usurping Dad's Authority and his his leadership in the home I see a lot of women well you know my husband doesn't do this my husband doesn't do that and so they kind of undermined him with the kids and they

undermine him in his authority there's no excuse for usurping Dad's Authority but dad's problem was is that he was looking at the wrong things and emphasizing the wrong things emphasizing the manliness I want a manly son who's Outdoors a hunter now I believe in being manly and I believe it's good to go hunting or be outdoors and all the rest of that but when you overemphasize one side of a child's life over others they're going to be out of balance God designed us as a well-rounded Square we have four parts to our life the physical the social or emotional the mental and the spiritual and those four parts need to be in balance and whenever one gets out of balance then we got a problem when

you know when I hear a parents say well we can't come to church on Sunday because we have sports boy that worries me because they're emphasizing I believe in sports and I believe you ought to get out there and be in games and things like that but to miss Sunday after Sunday after Sunday for sports is not a good idea well we can't send our child to a Christian school because they don't have this program or they don't have that program and and and I'm not saying every child needs to go to Christian School I think that's a personal choice of your family and you need to make that based upon your child's needs but when you emphasize something so much you can't do something else it's so happening

we we so often we put over emphasis on the wrong things and sometimes that can even be spiritual when when our children are in a church so much they don't have time to go out and be physically and they don't have time to do their homework that's not good either God designed us to be well balanced you see the problem was I believe that both Isaac and Rebecca were trying to make spiritual decisions for their children and you can't do that you can't make the decisions for them you can encourage them you can help them you can guide them but ultimately your kids have to decide whether they're be saved or not whether they're going to baptized or not whether they're going to live for the Lord or

not there are things that you can decide I think you should decide your kids don't get disgu I'm not going to school anymore that's not a decision you're going to go to school I don't think your children should decide whether they're going to church or not you live in my home we go to church I don't think they should decide whether they to chores or not but ultimately they have to decide whether they're going to love God whether they're going to do right and only we can only guide them in that and I think this is one of the things that they messed up on but here's what I want I want you to see go to Genesis CH 26 and look at verse number 12 then Isaac swed in the land and received in the

same year a h hundredfold and the Lord blessed him in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse number 20 hold your place in Genesis but Hebrews chap 11 verse2 it says by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come God blessed Isaac right after he told this King that she's my sister and not my wife that was wrong and then but the ne very next verse go it say the Bible says God blessed him in Hebrews chapter 11 it says that he his faith was to give the blessing to Jacob and Esau did he do that voluntarily did he do that the right way not at all I mean he totally messed up in that and I look at that and say well how could God bless him for two things that he just blew it on Proverbs 10:22

says this the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he adth no sorrow with it I believe that the reason God blessed Isaac despite his sin was because he did it for Abraham's sake he tells Isaac look at Genesis 25 and verse number 11 and it came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac and Isaac dwelt by the land leog and again in 26 in verse number 24 and the Lord appeared on him the same night and said unto Himi the god of Abraham thy father fear not for I am with thee and will bless thee and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake God blessed Isaac not because what Isaac did was right he blessed him for Abraham's sake you know what God forgives you for

jesus' sake Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 and be kind one to another tender heart and forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you folks God's blessings I know God says I'll bless you if you give I'll bless you if you serve me I'll bless you if you do this there's many promises in the Bible that way but ultimately God's blessings are not because you're so good it's because he's so good ultimately God's blessings are not because you deserved it because he's doing it for jesus' sake a Isaac didn't earn the blessings of God and you don't you and I don't earn God's forgiveness and blessings in Ephesians 28:9 for by grace are you Sav through faith and not of yourselves it's

the gift of God not of works the say mention both we don't deserve God's blessings but I'm thankful he does he does it for his sake God is faithful even when we're not second Timothy 2113 if you if we believe not yet he abideth faithful and cannot deny himself as you read and we go through the series on Hebrews chapter 11 let me make sure you get this Hebrews chapter 11 is all about this these people were blessed not because they were so great but they were blessed because God is great God blessed their faith which was weak because he is faithful see God in in Hebrews 11 God gives Isaac credit for something he didn't do he did not bless his children voluntarily he didn't do it the right way

Psalms 103:10 says Heath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities I'm thankful for a god that is willing to forgive me and doesn't hold my mess ups against me but forgives me and blesses me now does that mean okay to sin no in Hebrews chapter 6 what shall we continue in sin that Grace May abound God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein God's blessings are not an excuse to keep sinning but I'm thankful that He blesses me even when I fail now you need to understand there's consequences Galatians 5 Galatians 6 ver7 be not deceived God is Not mock for whato a man sth that shall he also reap and when you sin and Isaac paid the price

for his sin he had one son that married an unsaved girl he had another son that left home and was gone uh uh that uh left home was gone for a long time uh you know the the he paid for his sins and you and I pay the consequences of our sins when we sin against God and our sin hurts our testimony in Genesis 26 again: 9- 11 that that King said Isaac said I want you to leave I can't trust you you told me she was your sister what if one of us had taken her Lane with us God would have judged us I I don't want you to stay here he wanted him to leave his testimony was ruined for God and we sin there's a price to pay but I am so thankful when I read in Hebrews chapter 11 that God could give Isaac

credit for faith that he didn't always have and I'm thankful for the lessons I can learn from his life now what about you like the servant would you learn to be in the way which the Lord LED you and to be there the best thing you can do is start with prayer and then follow God's way one step at a time instead of your way what about you husbands love your wives wives submit to your husbands that's not easy to do but you chose each other Isaac didn't choose Rebecca and Rebecca didn't choose Isaac what about you are your kids going to continue a Heritage of sin that they've gotten from you or you GNA say you know what I'm going to change the Next Generation and it's going to start right here right now what about you will you trust the Lord is he your God