Recorded September 29, 2024, with Rhonda Harrison.

It's time for the Champions in Christ broadcast

with Rhonda Harrison on 1017 Bay FM. Good morning

and welcome to Champions in Christ. We're so

glad you joined us this morning. This is the

day the Lord has made and we will rejoice and

be glad in it. Hallelujah, hallelujah. What an

awesome God we serve and he loves you today.

I want you to know how much you're valued by

God. He values you. You are worth so much to

him. Way more than can be put into words. His

love for you is so great and it never ever fails.

He's always available. Just call on him. Just

call on his name. Just say Jesus. He's right

there with you. The Bible says he's omnipresent.

That means he is everywhere. your toughest place

whether you're sitting in a hospital right now

whether you're driving in your car whether you

are laying in your bed in your bedroom he is

right there with you just call on him and he'll

come we're going to go in Genesis today and we're

going to talk about Abraham Abraham was an awesome

man of God and he endured some things and was

tested in some big ways and found faithful. So

we're going to talk about one of those times

that God tested him and it's in Genesis, in Genesis

22 and we're going to start in verse 5, excuse

me, and it says, and Abraham said unto the young

man, abide here with the donkey and I and the

lad will go up yonder and worship and come again

unto you and Abraham took the wood of the burnt

offering and laid it upon Isaac and took the

fire in his hand and the knife and they both

went of them together and Isaac spoke to Abraham.

Isaac was Abraham's promised child that God had

promised him 25 years before he gave him to him

and he had him when he was well past age, him

and his wife were both past age of reproduction.

So God caused their reproductive organs to live

again. and he planted the seed and thus through

Sarah, Isaac was born. And it was 25 years after

he received the promise for God. So sometimes

when we hear a promise from heaven, sometimes

it's years before that promise is fulfilled,

sometimes it's fulfilled rather quickly. But

in this case, it caused Abraham and Sarah to

have to believe and trust God and they did. We

won't go into that story today, but this is how

Isaac and Isaac became. So Abraham knew God,

he knew his ways, he knew that God was faithful

to what he said. Whatever God says he'll do,

he will do. And so God, in the beginning of this

chapter, God had tested Abraham and he wanted

him. He said, I want you to take your son, your

only son that you love and I want you to take

him to the land of Moriah. This is in verse two

and offer him there as a burnt offering upon

one of the mountains which I'll tell you. And

so Abraham took his son and here they go. They're

starting to walk up that mountain with the things

they need for the sacrifice. And Isaac, said

unto Abraham his father my father here am I said

he said my son and he said behold the fire in

the wood but where is the lamb for the burnt

offering he was familiar with burnt offerings

because back in the day you had to do offerings

sacrificial offerings of animals for for all

kinds of things especially son And so Abraham

said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb

for that burnt offering. So they went both of

them together. So Abraham didn't tell Isaac,

well, guess what? You're the offering. God's

asked me to sacrifice you. That would have totally

flipped him out. You know, he had to really know

he heard from God when this instruction came

because it was so out of the ordinary for God

to ask. for Abraham to sacrifice his son or anybody

to sacrifice their son but God wanted to test

Abraham's heart to see what was in it and so

Abraham knew God well enough to knew if God's

asking me to do something he's got a plan so

let's keep reading verse 9 and they came to the

place which God had told them of and Abraham

built an altar there and laid the wood in order

and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar

upon the wood and Abraham stretched forth his

hand and took the knife to slay his son and the

angel of the Lord called out to him out of heaven

and said Abraham Abraham and he said here am

I and he said lay not your hand upon that lad

neither do you anything to him for now I know

that you fear God seeing that you not you have

not withheld your son your only son from me and

Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold

there was a ram caught in the thicket by the

horns and Abraham went and took the ram and offered

him as a burnt offering instead of his son and

Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah

Jireh as it's being said today in the mount in

which the Lord had seen and it means the Lord

will see or provide you know this is a amazing

story and if it happened today no one on earth

would ever believe God told a man to sacrifice

his son but no one would ever believe God a lot

of people don't believe that he tells people

things that he tells them today but he does why

because he tests our faith you know in James

it talks about counted on joy when you fall into

various trials or testings. Why? Because God

is trying your faith. He's wanting to know, do

you love that thing more than you love me? Do

you really love me? You say you love me, you

say you want to obey me, but do you really? Are

you willing to give up? If I ask you for that

thing that you love so much, are you willing

to give it up? Are you willing to let it go?

You know, God never never ask us to do something

that he doesn't already have a reward for. Remember

Hebrews 11 6, he that comes to God must believe

that he is and that he is a rewarder of those

that diligently seek him. Abraham was one that

diligently sought him and saw his faithfulness

and so he continued to obey him and guess what

because he did this he told him he went on to

tell him if we go on down to verse 15 it says

and the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham

out of heaven a second time and said by myself

have I sworn says the Lord for because you have

done this and you have not withheld your son

your only son The blessing that in the blessing

I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply

your seed as the stars of the heaven and as the

sand which is upon the seashore and your seed

shall possess the gate of his enemies and In

that seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed

because you have obeyed my voice Wow, you know

in our obedience there's always reward always

reward and Isaac was a seed and praise God through

the lineage as time went on Jesus was that seed

he was talking about that all of the earth will

be blessed and it came through that line praise

the Lord but Abraham was faithful he obeyed the

voice of God and praise God he continued on to

obey him in his life you know let's go into Hebrews

they also um Hebrews 11 also mentions Abraham

in this instance it's Hebrews 11 17 through 19

it says by faith Abraham when he was tested offered

up Isaac he and he that had received the promises

offered up his only begotten son of whom it was

said that Isaac shall be your seed called, accounting

that God was able to raise him up even from the

dead from whence also he received him in a figure."

Hallelujah. Abraham knew that even if he had

to slay Isaac, even if God would not have said,

stop Abraham, don't put the knife to Isaac. He

knew he would have raised him from the dead,

why? Why did he know that in his heart? Because

he knew that God was faithful. He knew God would

not go back on his word. You know, the Bible

says that God will not alter his word, nor will

he break the covenant in which he has with us.

Hallelujah. That's an outstanding scripture that

we can stand on and we can trust in, right? There's

a scripture in 1 Samuel, it says obedience is

better than sacrifice. Why does it say that?

because it's better to obey God and receive a

promise than not to obey and have to repent and

go through that and not receive the reward, right?

So we get a reward every time we obey. Faith

without works is dead. Those works is our obedience.

Faith is the believing. Yes, many say they believe.

Even the devils believe and tremble. They believe

God is God, but they're not going to call him

Lord. They're not going to trust him or obey

him. But guess what? We are because we're his

children. and He loves you so much today. His

love for you never ever ends, never ends. And

if we disobey Him, thank God for repentance.

Thank God for the blood of the Lamb of Jesus

Christ. Thank God that God was faithful to send

His only begotten Son and sacrifice Him. He became

the sacrifice, a living sacrifice, and thank

God He rose from the dead and He's seated at

the right hand of the and has sent us the Holy

Spirit, hallelujah, the power of God, the third

person of the Trinity to help us live victorious.

And that's why if you trust in Jesus, you immediately

become a champion because God already has everything

you need. He equips you with the power. of God

through his love the Holy Spirit empowers us

to live out this life victoriously. So we want

to allow that testing to come and that the trying

of our faith because that trying of our faith

and James says it works patience and let patience

have a perfect work in you wanting nothing. He

wants us to have perfect patience and completeness

in him through trusting him. And that's what

Abraham was doing throughout his life. And it

was exciting. And there's someone, we're gonna

go to 1 Kings chapter 13, and we're gonna see

1 Kings 13 · chapter mention

a different person. And this person is not named.

His name does not appear in the Word. But in

1 Kings 13, It says, and behold, there came a

man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord

unto Bethel, and Jeroboam stood by the altar

to burn incense. And he cried against the altar

in a word of the Lord and said, O altar, altar,

thus saith the Lord, behold, a child shall be

born in the house of David, Hosea by name, and

upon... And it came to pass when the King Jeroboam

heard the saying of the man of God when he cried

against the altar in Bethel, and he put forth

his hand from the altar saying lay hold of him

and his hand that was put forth against him dried

up and he could not pull it out again and the

altar was rent and the ashes poured out from

the altar according to the sign from the man

of god had given by the word of the lord and

the king answered and said unto the man of god

entreat now the face of the lord pray for me

pray that my hand would be restored and the man

of god sought the Lord and the king's hand was

restored and became as it was before. And the

king said unto the man of God, Come home with

me and refresh yourself and I will give you a

reward. And the man of God said unto the king,

You will give me half of your house. I would

not go with you. Neither would I eat bread nor

drink water in this place. For so it was told

to me by the word of the Lord, eat no bread or

drink no water nor turn again by the same way

that you came." So okay, so this is a situation

where this is a prophet of God and the Lord has

spoken him to go speak against this altar and

he goes and does it. The king gets upset. and

he tries to tell them, reach out, and he reaches

out his hand, his hand dries up because this

is a sign and a wonder that the Lord's word is

coming to pass. And then he asks the man of God

to pray, God restores the man's hand, but the

king wants to bless him. But he had already been

instructed by the Lord, the man of God had, to

not eat and to not drink, and to not go back

the same way he came. So he went another way,

it says, and he didn't return by the way he came

to Bethel. So at this point he's still obeying

God, right? He did not go back, he did not eat,

did not drink, did not take what the king had

offered. But let's continue. Now there dwelt

an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and

told him all the works that the man of God had

done that day in Bethel, the words which he had

spoken unto the king. And they told it all to

their father. And their father said, which way

did he go? For his sons have seen the way the

man of God went when he came from Judah. And

he said unto his sons, saddle me up a donkey.

And they saddled him up and he rode thereon.

And he went after the man of God and found him

sitting under an oak tree. So this old prophet

went seeking this younger man. And he said, are

you the man of God that came from Judah? And

he said, I am. And he said, well come home with

me and eat bread. And the man said, I may not

return with thee nor go with you, neither will

I eat. bread or drink water with you in this

place for it was told to me by the word of the

lord you shall eat no bread drink no water nor

turn again to go by the way that you came so

he again is reaffirming the word that the lord

told him so he's still trying to obey the lord

and he said unto him I am a prophet also as you

are. This is the older man speaking and an angel

spoken to me by the word of the Lord saying bring

him back with you into your house that he may

eat bread and drink water but he lied to him.

So this was an old prophet who obviously was

not right with God and he lied to this young

prophet and was telling him oh but an angel came

and told me So he went back and did eat bread

in his house and drink water. So this young prophet

went or younger prophet went ahead and went back

with this old prophet. He believed what he said

and he followed it. You know we are never to

follow man's instruction. We're to follow God.

So if even if a prophet of God like this one

spoke to this man and said oh but I an angel

told me and he lied. You know if it doesn't bear

witness with you your spirit, the Holy Spirit

in you when you are born again, the Holy Spirit

is your guide. That peace in your heart is your

guide. And whatever someone says, thus sayeth

the Lord to you. And there are prophets today,

apostles, there... pastors or people who can

prophesy, that is true. But if it doesn't line

up with the word and it doesn't line up with

the word God has spoken to you about your life

in that time period, don't follow it and don't

agree. This young prophet did follow it. He went

back to his house ate the bread and drank the

water and it came to pass as they sat at the

table the word of the Lord came unto the prophet

that brought him back and he cried unto the man

of God that came from Judah saying thus saith

the Lord for as much as you have disobeyed the

mouth of the Lord and did not keep the commandment

which the Lord commanded you but you came back

and you ate bread and you drank water in this

place in which the Lord said to you eat no bread

drink no water your carcass will not shall not

come unto the sepulcher of the fathers and it

came to pass after he had eaten and after he

drank he saddled him up a donkey for the prophet

to whom he brought back and when he was gone

a lion met him by the way and slew him and his

carcass was cast by the way and the donkey stood

by it and the lion stood by the carcass. and

behold men passed by and saw the carcass cast

by the way and the lion by the carcass and they

came and told in the city where the old prophet

dwelt and when the prophet brought him back from

the way he heard he said it is the man of God

who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord

therefore the Lord had delivered him into the

lion and torn him and slain him according to

the word of the Lord which he spoke to him and

so you know here he is And here he has this young

man and the young man died because of his disobedience.

So I just say to you again, just hear the voice

of God by spending time with him, reading his

word, following his word. and we won't have to

worry about this right we want to yield to the

Lord and thank God for repentance thank God for

the blood thank God for deliverance thank God

for his restoring reconciling power because he

does do that we know that by Peter's life remember

Peter denied Christ three times and Jesus prophesied

to him he told him you're going before the cock

crows you're going to deny me three times and

Peter did deny him this is new to Now and Peter

was one of his disciples Peter preached the gospel

preach Peter laid hands on the sick He saw the

miracles he did it all and yet he denied him,

but Jesus did reaffirm him and said and made

him reaffirm it in Luke 22, 54 through 62. And

he made him go back and said, do you love me?

The same three times he denied him, he came back

and asked him, do you love me? And told him,

feed my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my lambs.

And so he reaffirmed him and Peter's heart was

again repentive and converted back. And God used

him mightily, mightily. And so I just want to

say to you, there is repentance if you've disobeyed.

There is forgiveness. There is restoration. God

can put you on that new path again today. So

we're going to listen to a couple of songs and

I'm going to come right back at you in just a

moment. and circles with no place to go. Is there

a person in the mirror you don't even know? Someone

still sees who you are. Were you the kid that

was a dreamer now you don't believe? Are you

the lock that got so broken now you lost the

key? treasure that you really are if you could

understand the measure of the father's heart

he loves you he loves you he loves you fall in

his arms and let him wash you clean he'll tear

off the chains so that you Jesus name With the

shade of back into the arms of God. You know,

God's married to the backslider and I'm talking

to you today. If you have walked away from God,

if you've disobeyed Him and you want to get right

with Him, pray this prayer with me. It's simple.

I mean it from your heart. Dear Heavenly Father,

I just ask you to forgive me, cleanse me, restore

me right with you. I repent of my sin. I renounce

the things of the world, and I yield to you.

I give myself to you, spirit, soul, and body,

in Jesus' name, amen. If you prayed that prayer

today and you've been restored to the right place

with God, I want you to just thank God for his

goodness, praise him. I want you to go to a Bible

-believing church that believes the whole counts

of God, begin reading your word and getting to

know him again. You are restored and forgiven

and valued. He loves you so much. If you'd like

a new Bible, you can get in touch with us at

ChampionsInChrist3 at gmail .com. That's ChampionsInChrist3

at gmail .com. We want you to go out and make

it a great day. We want you to know that God

loves you, we love you, and you are a Champion

in Christ.