SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05/29/2006
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The Army of The Lord”
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Genesis 14:14-16
Message of the verse: “14 When Abram heard that his relative had
been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three
hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 He divided his forces against them by
night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as
Hobah, which is north of Damascus Lot with his
possessions, and also the women, and the people.”
Continuing
on with the comparison of Abraham’s army with the army of God:
2 They were Armed (v-14) Just
as Abraham’s army was armed to fight the battle against those who took captive
his nephew Lot, so believers are also armed, and this can be seen in Ephesians
6:10-18 where Paul writes about the believers armor of God. The believer’s best offensive weapons are the
Word of God and prayer. In Acts 6:4 the
Apostles said that they would devote themselves to the preaching of the Word of
God and also to prayer.
3 They were trained
(v-14) Abraham’s army was trained because Abraham knew the type of environment
that he was living in, and new the necessity of having a trained army. The believer is trained in the local church
that he attends, as he is taught the necessity of reading his Bible and of
praying and of fellowshipping with other believers who are in the same
circumstances that he is in. He listens
to sermons which help him to understand the Bible better, and attends Sunday
school and Bible studies to also help in his training.
4 They believed in
their leader (v-15) Verse 15 shows
that Abraham’s army believed in Abraham as their leader, for they traveled 120
miles to where Lot was being held and even were divided into three forces in
order to accomplish their task. Believer
have to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who is their leader, for there are many
times when they have to live by faith and trust the promises that are written
in their Bible in order to defeat their enemies, and those enemies are real.
5 They were united (v-15)
Even though this army was divided into three foresees they still were
united under one commander, Abraham and they new that he was in charge of this
army of his. The Church today is not as
united as they should and could be, for if they were then they could make a
bigger difference. The Church today does
not act like the army described in these verses. The Church should be united in their love for
one another and their love for those who need the Lord.
6 They were
single-minded (v-16-17) Abraham’s army had a single mind on what they
needed to do in order to complete their task, and that task was not personal revenge
or private gain, but it was to get the captives back. 2Timothy 2:4 says: “No soldier in active service entangles
himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who
enlisted him as a soldier.” This was not
always true in different places of the Scriptures. See Josh. 7; Jud. 13-16 and 1Sam. 15. The
accomplishments are seen in verse 16, but it does not seem like Lot learned any
lessons from living in the “world,” as he went right back to Sodom, which is a
picture of the world.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: There are many things that I can learn from
this section of Scripture, but the one I will choose is to stay away from the
world system, for it will not bring anything but heartache and pain to me. I want to live like a believer who has the
things of the Lord as first priority.
The Word of God has been both a challenge and a conviction
to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.
My Steps of Faith
Today: To do the things necessary in
order to keep me winning the battle that I face each day. To ask the Lord for the grace needed for
today and to also ask for the Lord to both direct my path and continue to teach
me contentment.
No comments:
Post a Comment