"The Examination"

 "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do." (John 6:5-6 KJV)

  "Some time later, God tested Abraham's faith. "Abraham!" God called. "Yes," he replied. "Here I am." "Take your son, your only son - yes, Isaac, whom you love so much - and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you."" (Genesis 22:1-2 NLT) 

 If there were an easier way to explain this, I think it would be bottled and sold, much like an Elixir that might have been sold from those traveling Medicine-men, that travel around selling their goods. I think they traveled as they did, because there was really nothing of any lasting affect to what they sold; if they stuck around, people would demand their money back. 

 An easy way to show this, without getting too far into speculation, is with Abraham's testing by God's request for him to sacrifice Isaac. Much as it was during the creation of this earth, God always knows in advance what He is doing, why He is doing it, and what will be the result of what He started with. As it was with Abraham, God already knew, before He even called Abraham, that which Abraham would be doing with this request, and why he would not hesitate moving forward. 

 First things first: establish in your heart that God is Almighty, that He knows the beginning to the end, that He can create anything from nothing, and that He absolutely unconditionally loves you! Based upon those facts, it is easier to step out in faith, even if what you are doing seems to undo what has already been done; if God said to do it, then He will be glorified in it, no matter what! 

 That is by far the hardest part of this thing we call faith! We cannot see what God is doing, or why; but if we believe in those established facts, then we know that God's ways always are the best, even though we can't see how, even if it looks bad, or, shall we say, paganistic; even if it makes no sense, and is a completely impossible idea; God can and will be glorified in all that He does, or in this case, all that He will ask us to do! 

 I really don't have all day, so let's cut to the chase. The examination is not for God's benefit, it is for our examination of God and all that He is doing; not only around us, but in us, and through us. God does need to know anything; as Pastor Mike says, "God cannot learn!" There is nothing that can take place, where God might say, 'I did not know that,' because He knows everything there is to know!

 Do we understand that? and is it how we live out our life? But, you say: 'Why then does He allow things like this to happen?' 'Why is this or that not right?' 'Doesn't He care what I am going through?' 'Is He even listening to my prayers?' All these things and more, seem to be based upon one simple fact: We don't see what God sees! 

 Jesus looked and saw an opportunity to do something amazing! He didn't question how it would be done, but He questioned the one that questioned the possibilities; thus, going low, He will be lifted high! Okay, so I guess we will need to continue this again! In the meantime, think about where you were when you first came to Christ: Did you have your guard down, or was it up? Were you looking for a miracle, or were you pessimistic? 

 Having known what you now know, do you believe that God knows what He is doing? This is what God does, as He makes us examine ourselves; we get to see Him more, because we need Him more and more...

"Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means "the LORD will provide"). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."" (Genesis 22:13-14 NLT)