January 31

Abraham was 75 when God first appeared to him with the promise. At 86 Ishmael was born to him because he was trying to bring about the promise himself – through the strength of his flesh. At 99 God told him the specific time of the fulfillment of the promise and sure enough, it was fulfilled (a year later). My comment is, “man he waited a long time!” After the child of promise was born (Isaac), the child of the flesh (Ishmael) was his antagonist. He had to be sent away! Do you get all this?

1.Believe the promise and be patient.
2.Don’t try to fulfill the promise yourself – God will do it! You will only have to send away the “child” of your effort which will be difficult.
3.The flesh will always be the antagonist of the promise – send it away!

•Think about ways you could apply these principles to your life.
•Think about the ways you could apply these principles to the move of the Spirit at our church