{"id":55721,"date":"2007-11-12T21:23:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-13T03:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=55721"},"modified":"2022-11-12T21:24:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T03:24:38","slug":"the-courage-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-courage-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"The Courage to Start"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

“<\/em>Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome.“<\/em><\/p>\nLord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield\n

“Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran<\/em>” (Genesis 12:1-4).<\/p>\n

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going<\/em>” (Hebrews 11:8).<\/p>\n

“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness”<\/em>” (Romans 4:16-22).<\/p>\n

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him<\/em>” (Genesis 22:1-3).<\/p>\n

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense<\/em>” (Hebrews 11:17-19).<\/p>\n

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope<\/em>” (Romans 15:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome.“ Lord Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield “Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1126,49],"class_list":["post-55721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-courage","tag-faith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":719,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-abraham-famous-what-did-abraham-care-about-most\/","url_meta":{"origin":55721,"position":0},"title":"How is Abraham famous? What did Abraham care about most?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How is Abraham, or Abram, famous? What did Abraham care about most? Answer: Many, many years ago God promised a man named Abram, \"I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing\" (Genesis 12:2). The blessing was conditional on Abram's willingness to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74252,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-families-of-the-earth-be-blessed-through-abraham\/","url_meta":{"origin":55721,"position":1},"title":"How can the families of the earth be blessed through Abraham?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there! I hope you're well! Romans 2:24, \"Because of you, the Gentiles blaspheme My name.\" Does this contradict Genesis 12:3? How could the blasphemers be not cursed if they are excused by Romans 2:24? Thank you so much. Answer: \"And I will bless those who bless you, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-abram-rewarded-for-lying-to-pharaoh\/","url_meta":{"origin":55721,"position":2},"title":"Why was Abram rewarded for lying to Pharaoh?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read Genesis 12:1-20 and I'm a little perplexed by it. Abram bent the truth concerning Sarai by getting her to say she was his sister rather than his wife when they came into Egypt. I know she was his half-sister by his father, but it was still\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31903,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-from-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":55721,"position":3},"title":"Lessons from the Old Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Leland R. Ping Sentry Magazine, June 2002 Paul wrote to the church at Rome in Romans 15:4 that \"whatever things were written before were written for our learning.\" In a simple statement like this, the persecutor-turned-apostle explained the reason for the Old Testament. In light of a statement like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20997,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fighting-sinking-when-we-are-hit-by-sorrow-upon-sorrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":55721,"position":4},"title":"Fighting Sinking when We Are Hit by Sorrow upon Sorrow","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Fancher Philippians 2:27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Being Hit By Sorrow Matthew 14:10-12 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2132,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-covenants\/","url_meta":{"origin":55721,"position":5},"title":"What are covenants?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the definition of a covenant? Answer: In the Old Testament, the word translated \"covenant\" comes from the Hebrew word\u00a0berith\u00a0which means \"a bond or treaty that joins two parties.\" Making a covenant comes from a Hebrew idiom that literally means \"cutting a covenant.\" It is a reference to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}