Verses 1-12
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Verses 1-2. Consider this with Hebrews 11:11, which says, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”
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God's Word gave Sarah and Abraham the faith that was needed to bring His Word to pass in their lives.
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Remember that God always does what He says He's going to do. He is faithful.
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If you have a part to play, He always gives you the strength that you need for your part.
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Verse 6. Sarah started out by laughing because of her unbelief (Genesis 18:9-15), but her laughter turned to the joy of faith in the end. People of faith have great joy in God's Word; they do not laugh out of doubt or unbelief.
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The point of the story of Abraham and Sarah is this: God brings His Word to pass by His own power. He gets the glory.
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God helps us through His power. Here's how God helps us grow:
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Abraham and Sarah started as people of weaker faith, and they made lots of mistakes. Growth in faith involves making mistakes and learning from them (Matthew 17:19-20).
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Through the process of time, they kept growing. Growth in faith requires time and patience (James 1:3-4).
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God walked with them through the whole process, and gave them instructions that they could act on. Growth in faith requires increasing action to obey the Word (James 1:22, 2:17).
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God constantly reminded Abraham and Sarah of His promises. Growth requires reading/hearing the Word enough to keep it in mind always (James 1:25).
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Verses 9-12. After the promise came to pass, God encouraged Abraham to remove Ishmael—the son that was born as a result of his sin and unbelief. Growing and staying in faith requires getting rid of influences of doubt, false doctrine, and sin(Galatians 2:4-5, 5:7-10). Keeping these influences will make it hard (Galatians 4:29-30).
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Practically, don't hang out with people that are troubling you with bad teaching.
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Verses 13-21
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Remember that if you have to end or distance yourself from certain people, because they are a bad influence on you, God is still able to take care of those people. God's will for them will be done too.
Verses 22-34
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Verse 22. People will notice when you are skillful in your life and are obeying God. This will bring you respect from others. Some will even become persuaded of God's presence in your life.
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Verse 27. Make friends out of people who show you this respect, and show them favor. This will bring good things.
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