some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him. Abraham answered, "Here I am, LORD." The LORD said, "Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar." So Abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire. He put a saddle on his donkey and left with Isaac and two servants for the place where God had told him to go.

 

And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 

 

Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.   Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.  And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. 

 (Gen: 22: 1-3; Luk: 23: 32-34; Acts: 20: 30-36- KJV)

 

 In the above scriptures there were at least wo fathers who were willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary for our Lord and Savior.   I realize some of us may not have had a dad that made any sacrifices for us so we may not be able to relate to us making sacrifices to our Heavenly Father.  I did not have a relationship with my natural father; however, I am grateful to have one with my Heavenly Father. As I pondered and reflected on the above scriptures both fathers were willing to lose whatever was necessary and did not expect to receive anything in return. How about us?

    For most of us we do not have a problem receiving, but do we have a problem making a sacrifice to give, not just money, but time, patience, long-suffering etc.? I believe this message can pertain to all of us. We need to ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice? Then take the time to ponder the question and answer it. For the dads that may be reading this ask yourselves, what am I willing to sacrifice to my wife, children, grandchildren and others? Better still each of us should ask the question what are we willing to sacrifice for our Savior? God and Abraham were willing to sacrifice their only son and God did just that and expected nothing in return. I believe Abraham would have done so if it had been required.

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 Beloved, we are not our own, Jesus paid an awesome price for each one of us and we should be willing to make our lives pleasing to him. I will be the first to admit, sacrifices can ofttimes be challenging depending on the season that life has for us; however, we must still be willing to make them.

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 Life happens and I do realize that and ofttimes it can be difficult if there is a loved one sick who needs constant care and you may be the only person providing it, let us try to remember God is always present in every circumstance and He will give us everything we need if we just ask. I feel it is our responsibility to not allow the enemy to make us become overwhelmed and burned out. We must choose to use wisdom and constantly ask for guidance.

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 No matter how the devil tries to convince us we are laboring in vain, trust God our labor is never in vain, God has good plans for us and we shall not be defeated.  We can thank God that He will not ask us to do something more than we can bear because he knows how much we can take physically, mentally, and emotionally, He is our Heavenly Father and his love for each of us is unconditional.

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 If we have a challenging circumstance and need to sacrifice anything all we need to do is ask the Holy Spirit for help and guidance that is why he is here. Our Father promised to leave us with a comforter and he did. Moving forward we will be able to overcome every trial we may encounter and make any sacrifices needed. Remember trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding! (emphasis mine)