Fathers we should follow

People always say walk by faith. Sometimes they say they are walking by faith to excuse a lack of humility. You may ask them, "Have you heard from God", "Have you prayed and asked God?", and they may reply, "I have free will", "God is not concerned, I walk by faith". Well, I do believe that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD. There are somethings that are scriptural and we just walk by faith believing them, there are other things that pertain to our personal walk with the Lord that we need a WORD from God first. James said to the business not to "say" I will go in do this or that but instead, "I will, if the Lord WILLS".  Abraham was the father of Faith and it says that we are his children if we walk in the same faith of Abraham. Lets see, so did Abraham just conjure up an idea to go find the promise land or did God reveal Himself to Abraham and tell Him there was a Promise Land, and then did God give him a command to depart and go find it? To often we conjure up ideas and just tell ourselves to walk by faith. We say, "well God wants to give us the desires of our own hearts". All that is in the world is the Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the eyes, and the pride of Life, be careful that these desires that are deep within don't deceive you. You have no need for a 80,000 dollar car or a 2 million dollar house when you are single or have no kids. Even beyond that, if you make these things your goal then you have missed the mark.

Father Abraham, if he is your father, understood we are just pilgrims and sojourners here on earth, he seeked a heavenly homeland although he was searching here on earth. He found no place to make/build a house. No dwelling place here on earth was meant for him. He spent all his days in tents and moving around on the earth from one place to the other (nomadic). He had money(lots of money), he had servants, he was wealthy and was like one of the Kings, but he didn't live his life in pleasure. He continually searched for the Promise, dwelling in tents only. He was not of this world and declared to be a pilgrim and a sojourner. He died in faith; not living as if he obtained the promise. So remember God is not concerned about making every Christian the next Bill Gates, which is on the mind of tons of Christians. Wealth is Ok, but it shouldn't be seeked as a number one calling in life. We are to seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and everything else falls into place, if you happen to be the next Bill Gates then you are blessed of the Lord. If you seek His Kingdom before everything else and you happen to be the next Paul you are blessed of the Lord, who was condemned to death, made a spectacle to the world, a fool for Christ's sake, weak while you were strong, dishonored, hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, beaten and homeless, laboring and working with his own hands, reviled and persecuted and was made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now (1 Corinthians 4). This is all in Chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians, first Paul tells the Corinthians that they are rich and that they are "already" living as kings, yet he declares that they are not truly reigning because if they were Paul would be too, but instead Paul decided to tell them how he lives which I listed above briefly. Verse 14 Paul says he didn't write any of those things, which I listed above, to make them feel bad about there life but as a father in faith he was "Warning" them. And then in verse 16, Paul urges them after his warning to instead live like him, to "Imitate" him (as he listed in detail). Paul understood that even if God had blessed him above and beyond with earthly wealth as He did to Abraham, that he should still live a life seeking God's Kingdom above all else and to not live with worldly pleasures. Not to make a kingdom here on earth when there is a Kingdom ready for us to reign in the heavens as Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you".

I am not saying this in a impure religious way condemning the prosperity gospel as if Gods principals are not true, but I am saying that if you are sowing for the purpose of being rich and that is your earthly focus then you have truly missed the mark. God didn't put seed time and harvest here on earth to make you a King but to bring forth a harvest. He is the King. In Israel, the tribes were led by God and the judges that God gave the oracles too. There was no King until man rejected God as King and Saul was given in His place; with a "warning" I might add. Then God choose David as the next King and it wasn't because God was saying OK to having a King but instead David was a man after God's own heart. God warned man what Kings would do to them. God gave them the choice and the warning. They suffered the consequences, even till this day they are reaping what they sowed. We don't need to be ex-halted by our own measures but in Humility brought low until the time is right for God to to let us reign.  Anyone who temps you to make a Kingdom for yourself here on earth is not speaking with the Words that come from God. We are to seek His Kingdom above all else. Don't worry about making one for yourself. Why would you, when it is promised that Jesus Himself is preparing yours already. Your mansion is already being prepared. You will have it in the right timing. This life is but a vapor why spend that vapor building your pleasures when you can't take them with you. But instead spend that vapor seeking God's Kingdom, making Christ known. Let that be your number one goal. If you happen to be the Next Bill Gates then don't live like Bill, but instead live like Abraham, and with your wealth take care of the less fortunate, sow into the mission field, give, give, give. You will be happier in the end when you realize none was worth it. The car, the house,  the fancy this and fancy that, none is eternal but what was built in the Kingdom of God. Don't let people speak into your lives that take your focus off of God's Kingdom and make it a self-gospel. If they make your focus withing yourself than how could it be based on LOVE. If you become a Bill, I suggest you spend the majority of your money on clothing and then give it all away to those who are naked. Spend it all on food and then what you can't eat, give it all away to the hungry. Spend it all on houses that you can't live in, then give them all away to the homeless. You will be blessed on earth and in heaven. Live like a servant and not a King. Rich or not, leave your pleasures far behind you so they don't hinder your Kingdom WALK here on earth. Abraham never stopped his search, never stopped to build his kingdom, never stopped to indulge in many pleasures. He was focused on finding the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Now it is here in our days, we have God's grace, we have His Spirit to empower us, His Kingdom is all around us. Focus on it, live in it, not your own. Expand it, pray for more of it on earth. 

You can't walk by faith and only be building a place for you to Reign when it is not time for you to Reign. If you do you will be very unhappy in the end, because you would have only reigned for a vapor, it will all be gone in no time and you would not have had time to enjoy it. None will pass through fire and remain, but those who endure till the end as bond-servants will reign for eternity. Servants are not kings, but they serve their Master and obey His word. Abraham is the model of our faith. God sent him blessings but he was faithful and felt no need to be the first Hebrew King but instead the father of the Hebrew/Christian faith. Walk in His footsteps. If God tells you to be a King then by all means make yourself a kingdom and live your life in pleasure like the Rich Corinthians were doing. God blessed them and they began to reign before their time according to Paul. Instead I suggest you get a vision from God, a true vision from God, and when you have it, run with it. Keep focused on it, walk by faith with it. Don't be afraid of wealth but don't make it your focus either. Remember Abraham was given a promise and i am sure that he had temptations with all the wealth he had to be a the first King of the Hebrews but instead he was called to be the first Father of the Hebrews. He focused and focused and never stopped believing, He was made righteous because of this.