Genesis 14

Ok I know, I've been slack! Genesis 14 from the first few verses seemed too hard, so I've been putting it off. I still dont get alot of the "who attacked who" bit but I guess thats cos I dont have a historical context. I gleaned what I could, hope you enjoy! This kinda picks up half way through, when the Sodomites take Lot away from Abram.

Satan loves to attack what we value the most. For Abram it was his family. For us it may be many things - our self esteem, our confidence, our pride, our loved ones….Satan sees weak spots and tries to break us down. We have to be ever vigilant and watchful of when and WHERE satan attacks, and be careful to respond as GOD would have us respond, and not necessarily just respond out of emotion or reaction

We too can use whatever we have to fight Satan. We have something even BETTER than 318 men, we have the Holy Spirit. We can attack Satan any time anywhere, and we should be aware of the power we have as Christians to do so. Abram's men would have been small in number compared to his opposition, and yet Abram with God's help was able to overcome. We too may have very little at our disposal physically, but spiritually we can press into God and access greater power than we could ever imagine!
When we trust God, we can beat the odds. The odds were stacked up against Abram, and yet Abram prevailed. Abram had faithful loyal servants who loved him, nad we have the HS, who loves us and seeks nothing but good for us.

When we see someone experience victory over a battle, we too should bless them and encourage them.
Abram protected both his relationship with God AND his reputation here. Abram was making sure that he wouldn't "owe" anyone anything, especially to wicked men. Abram wanted to keep himself pure, and uncorrupted, and so he denied himself what would usually be the right of any victor in battle. Abram acted upon God's instructions, and gave the glory to GOD instead of taking it for himself. Abram set an example to his enemies, that he serves God FIRST over anything else. It would ahve been awfully tempting to take all those goods and riches from his foe, and in the law he would have been quite right to do so, he won the battle he earnt it. But Abram saw further - Abram saw that just because it was LEGALLY his doesnt mean it was good for him. It is the same with us - we may be entitled by law to far more than God wants us to seek. We may be presented with an opportunity that may seem too good to pass up, but we know deep down it's not God's calling for us. At times like this we need to seek God FIRST, because if we dont we make posessions and money become the god rather than God himself. We put things above our Lord, and we lose that relationship we have with Him. We have to be so careful to do as GOD wants, even if that means denying ourselves what may seem totally innocent and walking away from things we are technically entitled to. Notice also that Abram does not make his men do the same as he - he allows THEM to have their spoils. We too have to allow others to make their own paths with God, to make their own decisions about what they will and will not do. Too often we try and impose OUR decisions on others, thinking we are somehow more holy than they are because we are doing something for God that is different from them. Things like fasting, tithing, service, ministry, they are used too often as weapons to hurt ohters, to put them down, either in our own minds or to their faces, we subtly pull out these knives and dig them in in the hopes of changing others to be more like us - where in reality we're all on different paths in life. We're all at different stages, and it is unfair to compare our walk with anyone elses. We have to let everyone else make their own choices, because at the judgement seat, they will face Jesus Christ alone. We can only lead by example, and explain why WE do what we do, but we cannot make anyone do the same. Abram didnt, he said WHY he was denying himself the spoils of war, but did not impose this on anyone else. We can learn a valuable lesson here, that just because we have decided or have been told by God to do something for Him, doesnt mean everyone else should follow. We all have to come to that point of decisions ourselves.


Application Prayer - Father God, thankyou for this short study. Thankyou for the opportunity to glean as much as I can from it, even though that is so little! Help me as I continue to study to understand more and more the historical context of what we're talking about here. Lord, I pray that you continue to lead me in exactly the way you want me to go. Help me to listen for your voice always. When Satan comes to attack what I love, Lord help me to use what I have at my disposal to fight. Let me not be concerned with how little I have, b ut instead have the courage and the confidence to strike back as YOU would have me do. Lord keep me from reacting out of pure emotion, as this can lead to sin, but instead keep me pure at heart and attack out of instruction from you. Lord, help me to encourage and bless those who I see succeeding in life. Help me to not be jealous or envious of their achievements, but instead to genuinely rejoice in them. And Lord, help me above all else to NEVER use my decisions for you as a weapon towards others. Keep me from comparing my walk with others, as tempting as it is, nad instead keep my eyes fixed on YOU instead of what everyone else is doing. Help me to simply state what I am doing and why, and keep my motives clean and clear. Help me to never use that as an excuse to subtly hurt others, to feel superior to others, or to attempt to prompt someone else into the same action as what I am taking. Help me to be fully aware that everyone is on a different path to me, and that in time they will experience revelations that are relevant to THEM, but that may not be my own. Let me never shame someone into thinking they're not doing enough for you! My way may not be someone elses way, help me to always remember that! Keep me humble, keep me honest, and keep me pure in heart, in Jesus name. AMEN