The Army of God (Gen. 14:13-16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05/26/2006

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Army of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                               Reference:  Genesis 14:13-16

            Message of the verse:  “13 Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were allies with Abram.  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.  16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.”

           

            In this section Dr. Wiersbe compares the battle that Abraham is fighting to get Lot back with the believers battle that they fight each day.  There was nothing wrong with Abraham going to war with his enemies because it was for a just cause.  I will go through some of the comparisons on this SD and then will hopefully continue to go through some more in the next one.

           

            Abrahams Army:  Abraham was a man of peace; however he was ready for war and must have had an agreement with others in his area in case there was a need to go to war.  (See Verse 13)  Abraham was not fighting for material gain, and this will be seen in later verses, Abraham was fighting to get his nephew back.

1.     The army was born in his house (V-14)  Looking at this from a Spiritual way it is good to look at 1 John 5:4 where is says, “whatever is born of God overcomes the world.”  When a person is born they are born into the family of Adam, and Adam was a looser, but when a person is born into the family of God through Jesus Christ they are born into a Winner’s family, for Christ is the Victor.  See Eph. 1:19-23:  “19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”      

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This section reminds me of the song “I’m so glade I’m a part of the family of God,” and the reason is that no matter what happens to me on this earth, and there are some things going on right now that are really hard, I will one day be with my Lord forever.  Not only that but having the Lord as my Savior while living on this earth give me the resources that I need to live life to the fullest each day.

The Word of God was refreshment to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  I am thankful to the Lord for my father-in-laws healing well after his surgery, and I continue to pray for his spiritual condition.  I trust the Lord to continue to teach me from His Word so as to direct my path.  I continue to ask the Lord to work out our investment problem and believe He will in a way that will be according to His will, and to continue to teach me contentment, and give me the grace I need each day.