Genesis Fourteen….(v.21-24) Love of Money.
Verses 21-24….
How much do we love our money? We are told that the LOVE of money is the root of all eveil and causes people to err from their faith (1 Timothy 6:10). Notice it is not the money that is evil, it is the love of it. It all depends what place it has in our lives….the believer is to love the Lord with ALL his heart, soul and mind and keep his thoughts of money to a minimum…
Here we see Abram doing just that. When the king of Sodom offered him all the spoil, he refused to take it. He had already made a pact with God that he would not accept even a shoe lace from this wicked king in case he said later that he had contributed to Abram's riches.
Abram only wanted what God provided for himself, but he saw to it that those who helped him were well paid and he accepted the cost of the army's food. What a lesson this is to us! Not only that, but Abram gave a thank offering to God through Melchisedek. Abram kept his money in the right place and his faith remained in God, not in his money. The more money we have, the less we have to look to the Lord to provide for us!
Is our heart towards the Lord, With our thoughts towards His Word?
Does love of money come between, And cause our souls to be quite lean?
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Genesis Fifteen….(v.1-21) God's Time….Not Yet!
Verses 1-21….
Abram's life seemed to be one series of tests after another….some he passed and others he failed. Whenever he passed a test, God spoke to him again and re-iterated His promise. Sometimes many years passed before he heard God's voice, but still Abram remained faithful to God and kept his faith in Him…..
By this time Abram was around 84 years of age with Sarah ten years younger and he was resigned to the fact that he was still childless and planned to give his faithful steward his inheritance. This, in spite of all the promises that God had already given him about his descendants!
Now God was telling once again that he WILL have children of his own. Abram was no different to the rest of us. "How can this be so? How can I know for sure?" he asked.
God told him to prepare a sacrifice, and that evening Abram fell into a deep sleep and felt a sense of great horror come upon him. God then spoke to him again and told him plainly what the future held for his descendants. Abram then saw a flame and a fiery light pass through the sacrifice pieces, and knew it had been accepted by God. We also see that God's patience with nations runs out in the end, and that one day in the future, the nations would be conquered and their land given to Abram's descendants.
Abram heard God's voice once more, Just as he had the times before,
"A son you'll have, descendants too, This is the thing that I will do!"
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