Pleased
Press In To Press On #3
Mark Geppert
Abel had a Rhema. He didn’t have to spend weeks in prayer. He was never instructed in sacrifices. There was no law to follow; but, in the course of time, Cain prepared an offering to the Lord and Abel also prepared an offering. Cain offered the fruit of his given calling. Abel offered the first fruits of the flock, a lamb. God honored Abel’s sacrifice but not that of Cain. (Genesis 4:4)
Abel offered according to the fullness of his heart, the inner man. He perfectly matched the heart of God who would, one day, offer the Lamb, the first-fruit as a sacrifice for sin. He knew in the inner man what would be well-pleasing to the Lord. Abel had a personal and timely leading of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to prepare a living picture of the plan and purpose of God. Abel believed God and the Bible records that he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. (Hebrews 11:4)
You have it “in your heart” to serve the Lord. There is no doubt about it. That is one of the reasons you are receiving this letter. I believe that God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe has sent you to the earth at this time with a Rhema in your heart. Just as Abel was able to press into the Rhema he had, and prepared an acceptable sacrifice for the Lord; so, you also, are in the midst of preparing a life sacrifice to the One who has given you life.
The idea is in your heart, and as you press into it, you will, through faith, receive the details of how that sacrifice will be. Just like Abel preparing the lamb, you will also hear direction from the Spirit of Truth in preparing the sacrifice of your life, and the things that pertain to your life, to be a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God. (Romans 12:1) Your life is multiplying into the lives of many others, and when your time on earth is finished, like Abel, you will continue to speak through the lives of those to whom you have given yourself.
Just as death released the blood of Abel, which still cries out, and the blood of the martyrs which speaks before God, so your burial of the old man and resurrection in newness of life in Christ have caused the multiplication of righteousness in your family. (Romans 6:6) You are the standard to which they will turn in generations and declare, as God declared of Abel, “He was a righteous man.” (Hebrews 11:4)
By faith, Abel reached into the Spirit and laid hold on God’s promise to all mankind. He turned that promise of the sacrificial blood of Jesus into an offering which was the perfect picture of God’s heart, and offered it back to the God to whom it belonged, and belongs and always will belong. Abel transcended thousands of years, hundreds of generations, and seized upon the promise.
You, through prayer, are doing the same thing. You are reaching into eternity to grasp the plan and purpose of God. Through prayer you are receiving a Rhema; and, as you press into that Rhema, detail will flow until you see it begin to manifest. Press in. Press in in prayer and practice. Press in until the thing which can not be seen becomes visible in your spirit and, finally, comes to physical reality.
Abel pressed in and became the example for those of us who press on. By faith he prepared that sacrifice according to the pattern in his heart. By faith he selected the lamb. By faith he chose the knife that shed the blood. By faith he built the fire and by faith he offered the lamb. And God was pleased.
Abel had faith and pleased God. So do you.
Mark
