Abraham: Faith under siege | Diet 6

FAITH DEFEATS THE ENEMY 

Did you know that the first general mentioned in the Bible is Abraham? Abraham led the first war mentioned in the Bible? He was an aggressor. He went after the enemy! They did not attack him—he went after them. Do you think faith is for sissies? No, real faith is strong. Faith is a general at war.

 Five kings took over Sodom and Gomorrah, but in Genesis 14:14 we read, "When Abram heard that his brother (which was his nephew Lot) was taken captive, he armed his trained servants,..." Abram had his own private army; he was a dangerous man. It says he had three hundred and eighteen men born in his own house, and he armed them with swords and spears. Verse 14 says, "He pursued them unto Dan." 

But Abraham was in Beersheba, so a couple hundred of the worst miles on the face of the earth separated the two. When he got to Dan, "He divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night..." (Genesis 14:15). Talk about strategy? Faith is strategy. He divided all three hundred and eighteen servants and pursued thousands of soldiers at night. He smote them and pursued them into Hobah, which is on the left side of Damascus.

By daybreak it was all over. He had won the battle and rescued Lot and all of his family. He found the kings that had been taken prisoners and they had a jubilee march back toward home. They marched across the mountains and passed through Jerusalem. They could have gone down the river Jordan, which would have been the quickest way back to their town, but instead Abraham led them across the top of the mountain shouting and praising God—and that is when they met the king of Salem, Melchizedek. "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all" (Genesis 14:18-20). Abraham paid tithes of everything he had and he was a very wealthy man

I have never met a great man of faith who was not a liberal giver. It is the liberal soul that is made fat, the Bible says in Proverbs 11:25. 

Giving not only money, but your life, passion, time and gifting. 

Most people do not want to think of faith in that way. They think that faith is saying to God, "Give me, give me, oh God, oh God." You will never get anything. Faith is being liberal. Faith is a warfare. Abraham said, "The people have done wrong and I'll correct it." Faith is being a general for God.

Author: Lester Sumrall 

Compiled and edited by: Peter O. Olutoyese