Walking by Faith

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Gen 15:7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

Gen 15:8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

Gen 15:10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

Gen 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

Gen 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

Gen 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Gen 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Gen 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Gen 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Gen 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

Gen 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

Gen 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Here we have in this passage, a glimpse into a real, live, example of a human being. There are times when we read Scripture too quickly and we tend to raise those who are hero’s in the Old Testament as bigger than life figures that we could never identify with. But when we stop and look at times like these for example, we see a complete and total human being dealing with the God of the universe but feeling the same things that we do and dealing with them in the same manner as we do these days.

Doubt, insecurity, worry, and fleshly thinking.

Gen 15:7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

Gen 15:8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

We have already dealt with the fear that Abram felt, even when God had given him His Word. Now we see a hint of worry. “This is my land, How do I know that I will inherit this land?”

We still see that Abram is flesh and blood. He is a mortal, limited human being speaking to an unlimited God, and yet the Lord still deals with him with such grace and mercy, just like He deals with you and me today.

Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

Gen 15:10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

God gives Abram a sign and this comes in the form of what would be used in confirming covenants – Jer 34:18,19

Gen 15:11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

Gen 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

Many times, in Scripture, birds are pictures of evil. Abram had done exactly what God has prescribed for him to do. He has taken each animal and divided them as God described, but pretty soon, the birds get a whiff of the picnic laid out there before them. So Abram drives them away, but he wears himself out.

How many times do we do the same thing. We have done exactly what God has described. We have done exactly what He lays out for us, we have our work set out, laid out for God to use when He sees fit. So we wait on the Lord and right in the middle of our work for the Lord we get side-swiped with evil. We get hit with sin. The birds of evil come down to devour what we are doing and to get us side-tracked or focused on what we are doing, or our fight.

So we decide to do things on our own. We decide to please God by how hard we are working.

The natural thing is to want to drive it away, to fight for what the Lord has given us, to hit sin head on.

But that will only lead to one thing if we rely completely on our own power and our own works

Burn out!!!!!

We will quickly find ourselves in the same situation that Abram found himself in, we will be wore out, beat up, burned up, and sleep deprived when all God wants us to do is rely on Him. Yes there are things that we need to do and things we must take care of, but we must rely on the Lord for what He gives us to do.

Gen 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Gen 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Gen 15:15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Abram must have been wondering what his future would be like, because God seems to throw this in. Again, this shows just how human Abram is, and it shows how our nature is. Right in the middle of all this, he is worried about himself. We also see something that many folks don’t seem to want to acknowledge – the mercy of God

Many times we hear how the God of the Old Testament is a God of death and judgment and how the God of the New Testament is a God of life and mercy but I am here to tall you that they are completely wrong.

400 years God gives the Amorites to give up their lewdness and disobedience before judgment will be handed down.

Gen 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Gen 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

Gen 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

Gen 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

When two individuals come together in the ceremony of a covenant, they would take the carcass of the animal to be sacrificed and cut it into two parts. Both parties would then walk between the two halves and shake hands as a binding thing between them. The blood would signify that these two meant business and that if either one broke this covenant, there was blood to pay, meaning the outcome was death for the one who broke this promise.

Abram wakes us to see that God does not just enter into a covenant with Abram – He becomes the surety of this covenant between them, meaning that God takes the initiative to take responsibility for this covenant.

The smoking furnace and burning lamp possibly mean that the sacrifice was completely consumed, meaning that God was satisfied with what is going on.

God then proclaims the total listing of the land that Abrams seed will occupy. The Israelites have yet to receive the total given by God.

Gen 15:1  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen 15:2  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Gen 15:3  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Gen 15:5  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Gen 15:6  And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Gen 15:1  After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Abram has faced many enemy troops, he worshipped the King of Peace and turned away the King of Sodom and these are the after theses things that Scripture speaks of before us today.

He has experienced a great victory in battle and in spiritual realms but now he is living out something that we all tend to face after such great episodes—DEPRESSION!

What was it? FEAR!

Now God has come to Abram and tells him not to fear. Perhaps he is looking at all the new enemies he has made or perhaps he is thinking that he has messed up by not taking the spoils of the battle, either way it is something that we all tend to face when we have such great victories in our lives, especially in our walk with Christ.

God is telling Abram “Don’t be afraid! I am your shield!, I am your protection!” and He is also telling him “I am your reward!, don’t worry about money! I will take care of you!”

Fear and faith almost alwaysseem to go hand in hand and these usually happen together in order to draw out the other. Many times a faithful happening or an enormous spiritual  experience that builds faith usually is followed by fear of some sort. The good news is that God knows us completely and He knows how we work and so He will use these times of doubt, these times of fear to build our faith.

Gen 15:2  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Gen 15:3  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir

In Abrams day, not having an heir was not a good thing and if you didn’t then your servants first-born would become your heir instead.  God tells Abram that his heir will in fact come from his own bowels. This child will be Abrams.

Notice that Abram is real. He is not some whitewashed fake illustration that we can look up too. He is asking a question that we all still ask God, especially during these times when God is so quiet.

He asks God “What are You going to give me?”

OK God You are my shield and my reward but what are You going to give me? He asks God even after God has given him His word. Notice that God is so loving and patient with Abram and that gives us hope and satisfaction that God deals with each of us in such a loving way. He doesn’t get mad, or impatient with Abram He just answers him again.

Thankfully, that is how God still deals with His own. He is still patiently answering our questions, using fear if it comes up to build our faith!!

Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Gen 15:2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

Gen 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

Gen 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Here we see a marvelous picture of the omnipotence and omnipresence of our Almighty All-knowing, All-seeing God.

Now God had promised seed to Abraham and in his haste to help out God he looks to external circumstances, which doesn’t always work, especially when dealing with God. Abraham does what we all do and he gets impatient in wanting to see the work of God, but we also get to see another aspect of the characteristics of God – His timing. His ways are not ours, His time is not ours, yet His time is perfect!!!

What does this tell us?

That God is not shackled to time and space as we know it, but that He sees the end from the beginning. He does not see our lives, as we see it. He sees our begininning and the end of our lives at the same time. He knows all and He sees all. He knows the choices that we will make and the end result from which we will end up.

What does that mean in the grand scheme of things?

I am not sure how He works in regards to our lives and outcomes, mainly salvation. The Bible tells me that He loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son in order for all to be saved. In Peter’s epistle, he tells us, through the penmanship of the Holy Spirit, that God wishes for all to be saved. But not all will be saved because not all will choose Him.

I don’t fall into the party lines of those who wish to believe that we are chosen beforehand as the elect, as some see it. Nor do I choose to believe that we are all predestined to either be saved or damned. But that is just me and how I choose to interpret Scripture.

Now whether God chooses us beforehand or whether in His infinite wisdom and for-knowledge, knowing that we will choose Him instead of our own way, He calls us because we will choose Him is another rabbit trail that I am not ready to get into but it does make certain passages make sence to me

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Mat 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

Mat 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Mat 22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Mat 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

Mat 22:5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

Mat 22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

Mat 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Mat 22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

Mat 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

Mat 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

I don’t believe that He would ever limit Himself in order to give us a chance to choose His way or our own. He knows us and is He sees our whole lives in an instant than He knows the choices we will make.

Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

The most important thing to remember is that God loves His children and He will provide for what they need. He sees much further than we do. He knows what is best for us. He knows much better than we do. What a Great and Almighty God we serve!!!!!

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Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

After these things, what things? This came right after the war and the resulting battle between Abraham, his followers, and these evil kings. Perhaps he was regretting turning down the King of Sodom and God might be letting him know here that he did make the right choice.

I am convinced more and more that we are in almost the very same situation that Abraham and his future descendants were in. We are in an age where great faith is needed and will undoubtedly be tested in various ways and for various degrees with each beleiver. Although faith has always been tested and streached by God in order to make us grow because, to be honest, we are generally lazy mortals who usually need a little prodding and pushing in order to grow because we usually get comfortable and adjust well to just about anything that comes our way. We mope and whine about our circumstances and how God doesn’t love us, or we aske what we must have done to make Him mad at us, or whether we made a bad choice and now we are paying or it.

Then we either get bitter and walk away and faith dies in us or we get better and we grow from the experience and we move on with what God is doing and we find that He has something wonderful planned for us that would require such rigorous training. Training that only our present trouble could provide.

I once heard a fiend say “We, as beleivers, are either in the middle of trouble, getting out of trouble, or fixin to get into trouble”. Trouble is and will always be around us and this is by fa the only way that faith can be allowed to grow when God is dealing with us because it is the only way we learn and train. He brews also tells us that this is the only way to properly please God ao then we must look at troubles in a different light than we once did.

We are in the midst of what seems and feels like an economy and community, here in America that is about to either change significantly or crumble into non- existance, but that is what could possibly be just paranoia on our part. You see, we really have always had it prety good here, especially religiously but I do believe that it will all change someday for the worse. I am not sure if our generation will see it but only God knows that.

In Hebrews we have what has always been called “The Hall of faith.” One good reading from it would actually stop a lot of the whinning and complaining, especially for those who have had it as well as I have. I know this for a fact because I read it today.

I say to my shame that I have complained, murmmurred, whinned, and cried about some really useless things to God. I have pouted and griped because my work environment has changed, I have lost wages, lost study time, and I have had to redo everything.

But I have also had to rethink everything, and I do mean everything.

“What did I do/not do?” was the standard cry to God.

“How did I sin?”, “Why are you chastising me so much?” was the cry heard from my lips.

“Where is my reward for being a good little boy?”

God had abandoned me. God had given up on me. God had let me down. You see He had not done what He said He would do.

The truth is He had not done what I thought He was supposed to do and how I love Him so much that He still blesses stupid!!!

You see, when I read the next few verses, I see where I have no reason, nor room to complain or whine at my circumstances.

Heb 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

Heb 11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

Heb 11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

Heb 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Heb 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Another friend made the following comment the other day regarding faith

“I was talking with B**** this morning and was saying that we have always been
told…”anything worth having is worth working for”.  Sounds good and makes a lot
of sense.  That is until it comes to the gift of salvation.  It is so worth having, but
we can’t work for it.  B**** then said no we can’t, but when times get tough and
you face a struggle, having and maintaining your faith then becomes work.  How
easy is it for us to give up and blame God for the things happening around us. “

So now the passage from James has a whole new meaning

James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

It takes work for faith to stay and grow and that is exactly where God wants us

He has caused me to re-think everything. My relationship with Him as my Father, my family, the Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life, salvation, church, and life in general. I am still in he wilderness, learning how to be a nobody who can be used by God, and I am not there yet but I have faith and that is all that matters. Gid is my shield, He has been and will protect me and my family regardless of what comes our way and He is my reward. He has supplied Himself as my reward for the future. The things that I have yet to see

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:

      “ Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
      Possessor of heaven and earth;

 20 And blessed be God Most High,
      Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

   And he gave him a tithe of all.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

As we shall soon see, this Melchizedek is a shadow or type of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is called “King of Salem, King of Peace, and King of Righteousness”

He has no family, or no genealogy

He issues the first recorded communion service

Hebrews 5

5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

      “ You are My Son,
      Today I have begotten You.”

6 As He also says in another place:

      “ You are a priest forever
      According to the order of Melchizedek”;

   (Psalm 110:3-5)

 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Hebrews 6

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7

The King of Righteousness

 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Need for a New Priesthood

   
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies:

      “ You are a priest forever
      According to the order of Melchizedek.”

   
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is thebringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

Greatness of the New Priest

   
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

      “ The LORD has sworn
      And will not relent,

      ‘ You are a priest forever^[d]
      According to the order of Melchizedek’”),^[e]

 22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

But notice who else decides to speak out and bless Abraham

21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

The King of Sodom, a type or shadow of Satan, the king of this world, comes to Abraham and tells him “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

“You keep the stuff, but I want the people, I want the souls”

Satan is like a roaring lion

1 Peter 5

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

He is seeking the souls, he is seeking mankind, to devour and hurt our walk and relationship with God, especially those who don’t know the Lord

We need to be steadfast like Abraham. He tells the King of Sodom “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

Satan can bless mankind, this blessing is missed so many times by people as coming from God but it is usually a problem waiting to happen. This blessing is the blessing of stuff, provisions, material possessions, monetary gain. We sometimes mistake these gains as coming from God. Now God can bless us with all these things but not all of us are able to handle them and He knows that. The problem comes when we entertain this little desire.  “I will take care of you, I will give you what you need, forget about God and others, He, they don’t care about you”

Or we gain in some way and we become unusable because of how the stuff has effected us because we either want more or we spend all our time worrying about someone taking what we have.

We become bitter or paranoid and we have been what Peter describes as being devoured by Satan.

Take the example of Abraham and don’t give the king of Sodom an inch, because if you do he will become your ruler!!

Abraham knew Who was taking care of him and he knew that he didn’t have to worry about provisions

Matthew 6

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 7

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Take the example of Jesus!!!

Matthew 4

 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

      ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’

   and,

      ‘ In their hands they shall bear you up,
      Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you, but we must be washed in the Word of God in order to know where our blessings are coming from.

Which blessing do you want?

From the king of Sodom, the king of this world, Satan

or the king of Salem, the King of Righteousness, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him

 “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

Here in the end of chapter 13 we begin to deal with the specifics of the covenant and promise from God towards Abraham

There are eight total covenants in Scripture:

1.       The Edenic covenant – Genesis 2

 15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

2.       The Adamic covenant – Genesis 3

 14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

 15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

3.      The Noahic covenant – Genesis 9

 1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.^[a] 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

 6 “ Whoever sheds man’s blood,
      By man his blood shall be shed;
      For in the image of God
      He made man.

 7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
      Bring forth abundantly in the earth
      And multiply in it.”
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants^[b] after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

4.       The Abrahamic covenant – Genesis 12

1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

5.       The Mosaic covenant – Exodus 20

1And God spake all these words, saying,

 2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

 3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

 4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

 5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

 6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

 7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

 12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

 13Thou shalt not kill.

 14Thou shalt not commit adultery.

 15Thou shalt not steal.

 16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

 17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

6.       Palestinian covenant – Deuteronomy 30

1And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,

 2And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

 3That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

 4If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

 5And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

 6And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

 7And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

 8And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

 9And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:

 10If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

 11For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

 12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

 14But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

 15See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

 16In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

 17But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

 18I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

 19I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

 20That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

7.       Davidic covenant – 2 Samuel 7

1And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;

 2That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

 3And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.

 4And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,

 5Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?

 6Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

 7In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

 8Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:

 9And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.

 10Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

 11And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.

 12And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

 13He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

 14I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

 15But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

 16And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

8.       The New covenant – Hebrews 8

1Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

 2A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

 3For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

 4For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:

 5Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

 6But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

 7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

 8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

 9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

 10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

 11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

 13In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him

Notice that before God speaks to Abraham, Lot had to be removed from the picture. Lot is a picture of one who walks in the flesh or lives in complete SELF righteousness. He wanted to move to the best places to graze and he chose that way. He walked by sight. Sometimes we go through days, weeks, or months where we don’t hear from God and like Lot we forget and walk by sight instead of the leading of the Spirit. We might use everything at our disposal, feelings, felt needs, wants, desires. From the previous verses we can tell that Lot was using his feelings to lead him to pick the better place for his livestock to graze. This made me think about a few things.

1. Lot was just doing the obvious thing. He was choosing the better place for his livestock. This is how he fed his family and how he was judged by outsiders. Wouldn’t that be the obvious choice for someone who had that much to take care off?
2. Lot was doing the obnoxious thing. He had stepped out of place. Abraham had given him the first choice but he should have submitted to his Uncle and given him the first choice instead.

His actions show a selfish decision on his part that ends destructively and will destroy his family. This all happens because he felt the need to take care of himself instead of doing the right thing. Yet in his mind, he might have talked himself into believing that it was alright, after all Abraham did give him first choice and he had to take care of his family.

This forces me to look at myself and weigh my actions and choices in light of this passage.

Sometimes the obvious is not the best choice.

Sometimes that is what we want, feel, need, desire but it is not what God wants.

It is also difficult to think of others when you are in a place where decisions will cost someone.

Either you make a decision and you win out or you loose, and usually there is always someone else who either benefits or suffers from it.

This causes us to take more time for prayer and self examination. More times than not, I have been guilty of choosing what can be obvious over what God wants in my life. I also have a knack for twisting it into whatever form of religiosity that I need too.

I have also been guilty of choosing the obnoxious, by deciding to please man rather than God. By looking for a place or position rather than the will of God through prayer. This is where I have found myself from time to time. The desire to teach or preach has caused me to trade placement over prayer, position over mission, and religion over relationships. We get sidetracked with service, or our own goals. We seek to draw attention to ourselves rather than the Lord and then we don’t even notice that we stop hearing from God. We are too busy doing our religious activities to listen, or actively seek God, because we think we already have His will in our hands.

I hope you never find yourself in this situation because you can make bad, bad choices thinking you are in God’s will when all the while, our own hearts and desires have been leading us along.

Get back to where you left God. Draw nigh to Him, separate from the flesh in prayer and then you can hear His voice again

5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

God had blessed Abraham as he left Egypt and now he and his nephew were running into trouble. Their stuff, their belongings, and livestock had become so great that they were no longer able to dwell together. They were running out of green grass to feed all their livestock and I am sure that is why their herdsmen were butting heads, or herds. What were they going to do?

Now Abraham does something wonderful here and it shows the true nature of his heart. He lets his nephew Lot pick which area he wants to live in. He had all the right in the world to demand that he have the better part and that Lot would just have to live with it and yet he does the opposite.

By now Abraham seems to have learned a lesson when it comes to dealing with God and others. Something that we can still benefit from now.

We must die to others in every situation. What does that mean? It means that in any type of conflict, in any type of situation, somebody has to die. Not physically but someone has to give in or give way.

It means dying daily, as Paul puts it (Rom 12). It means putting others interests before our own. It means dying to our own needs and putting their need first. It can actually be one of the few things that we can actually control in life. Our reactions to others and to God.

How do we react when we are faced with making a decision about provision. As fleshly men and women we almost can’t help but be concerned with the material from times to time and if you say that you are not effected then you are a liar.

We can’t always rely on the circumstances to be the answer for us. Abraham had all the right in the world to believe that he had the right to the best part of the land. He was promised all the land so he had all the God given right to take control of any part that he wished.

I would like to believe that Abraham had finally learned something from his previous episode because now he reacts to situations in a different fashion. Instead of choosing to follow his need and flee when God had not called him, he decided to die to his need and trust God and here is the key.

Jesus said “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (the material – what you need) will be added unto you” Matthew 6:31-33

Abraham gave his needs over to God. He trusted that God would take care of him regardless of where he was or the present circumstances. He died to self and gave way to service. He died to the situation.

But if you notice, He received what Lot greedily coveted and he was blessed because of it.