Weekly Devotion

Thirteen years after Ishmael's birth, God appeared to Abraham again and reconfirmed His covenant with Abraham. In the process of reconfirming the covenant, God changed Abram's name to Abraham, meaning the 'father of many'. He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah, meaning 'princess'. He changed it to 'princess', because she will be the mother of many nations, and kings will be among her descendants! What a blessing.

And in this process of reconfirming the covenant with Abraham, God also gave Abraham something to do. God told Abraham the following:

"Your part of the agreement," God told Abraham, "Is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised; the flesh of his foreskin must be cut off. This will be a sign that you and they have accepted this covenant." Genesis 17:9-11

God gave Abraham also a part to play. God will do the amazingly, 'impossible' thing of making Abraham into a father of many nations and giving his descendants the land, and Abraham had to obey and be circumcised and also circumcise all the males in his household.  How wonderful is our God. He never gives us the difficult things to do, He wants us to be obedient with what we can do, and then He will go forth and do the 'impossible' for us.

God stepped forth and promised Abraham descendants through his wife, Sarah. And when He did, Abraham laughed to himself in disbelief. He couldn't believe it, despite God Himself promising it to him. He was one hundred years old and Sarah, ninety. It was truly difficult for him to fathom. But God continued and promised him once again that Sarah will be the one through whom His covenant will come to pass.

So basically here Abraham had a choice. He could both continue in his unbelief and not trust God to fulfil His promises, or he could accept the covenant and circumcise all the males in his household. Abraham chose the latter and that is why we still admire him to this day. Despite his unbelief, despite the overwhelming odds against him, he decided to believe God. Verse 23 says that Abraham circumcised all the males in his household on that very same day. He didn't wait a moment longer, but immediately acted on God's command. He chose against his unbelief and he chose God.

Sometimes it is just as difficult for us to trust God. Our unbelief hovers in our minds and it takes control of our actions. It is difficult for us to trust God when things seemingly go wrong, when things just don't go our way, when promises of years gone by hasn't come to fulfilment. It is very difficult and much easier to walk away from God and rather handle situations on our own. But Abraham teaches us a valuable lesson. Despite unbelief in our minds, we should still step forward and do the right thing. Sometimes we will know what the right thing to do is, God will lead us to it, but even if we don't know, we can continue living according to His Word and live according to His principles. The rewards for living according to His Word are priceless. Do not allow your ego to get in the way of receiving all that God has planned for you. Say 'no' to your 'carnal' mind and 'yes' to the Spirit inside. You will find that you will be enjoying your life much more. You simply need to take the first step.

Thank you Father that You are always faithful and true. Thank you that we can trust in You. Please help us to take the first step in showing that we believe in You, even if our flesh is screaming against it. Please give us the strength, we want to follow You. In Jesus Name. Amen 

Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, God appeared to Abram once again. I don't know about you, but thirteen years is a very long time, even in those days. For thirteen years, Abram heard nothing of the Lord. He didn't have the Holy Spirit inside of him like we do, he didn't have the Bible to inspire him and he didn't have preachers and gospel music to lift his spirit. He only had his faith. He believed in God and that what God promised him twenty four years ago when he left Haran, will still come to pass. And God was pleased. God rewarded Abram's faith and He appeared to him once again to establish a lasting covenant with him.

"This is My covenant with you: I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations! I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them! I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between Me and your offspring forever. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. Yes, I will give all this land of Canaan to you and to your offspring forever. And I will be their God." Genesis 17:4, 6-8

Wow what an amazing thing to hear, God was rewarding Abram's faith. He even changed his name from Abram, meaning 'exalted father', to Abraham meaning 'Father of many'. And everything He promised to him came to pass. Abraham did indeed become the father of many nations. He was the father of Ishmael, Isaac and six other sons through his wife Keturah whom he married after Sarai died. Therefore he became the father of many physical descendants, resulting in many nations. But he also became the spiritual father of all Christians as we have seen a couple of weeks ago. Abraham is the father of all who believe.

God also promised Abraham and his offspring the land of Canaan forever. And as we know, the Israelites did indeed occupy the land from the invasion of Joshua, until they were exiled to Babylon about 600BC. Thereafter the Israelites returned and stayed in the land, although they were under constant Gentile rule. It was only in 1948 that they officially owned Israel again. And if we read Revelation and end time prophecies carefully we also know that most of the events happening will be centred around Israel. We also know that when Jesus returns, His feet will land on the Mount of Olives which is in Israel too. Israel will be His main land from where He will rule. Abraham's descendants will indeed live there forever just as God promised, until the earth is destroyed and a new Jerusalem will descend from the heavens.

My point today is that God's promises can be trusted. Biblical prophecies are extremely interesting and when you study it, it will strengthen your faith. If you read those that have come to pass already, you will be amazed and when you read those that still need to happen, you will be encouraged, filled with hope and faith for a better tomorrow. God will reward your faith. Faith is the key to unlock the heavenlies.

"Since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory." Romans 5:1,2

We have peace with God and we will share in His glory. Can you truthfully imagine that? How amazing that is going to be! Look forward to your destiny, the reason you were born. Look forward to it, God's promises are true and will come to pass. We will be with Him forever, hallelujah!

Thank you Father that we can look forward to the day where we will share in Your glory, where we will be partakers of all the good You have planned for us. Thank you so much Father. We believe in You and in Jesus that took away all our sins and clothed us in righteousness. And we are so grateful for that. Thank you Jesus. Amen

Sarai couldn't wait for God's promises to come to pass and gave her servant, Hagar to Abram to bear his children. Hagar became pregnant and started to treat Sarai with contempt. Sarai blamed Abram for this and Abram in turn told Sarai to do with Hagar what she wanted. Sarai started to treat her harshly and due to this treatment Hagar ran away. And it was in her hopeless situation that God appeared to her, blessed her and told her to return to Sarai and to submit to her authority, which she did. And in due course Ishmael was born.

Abram treated Ishmael as his rightful heir, his son in every aspect. And for 13 years Abram believed that Ishmael was the answer to God's promises. It was only after 13 years that God told Abram otherwise. Now I would like us to stop there and reflect on the life of Ishmael for a moment.

Imagine you were Ishmael. Your mother is the servant of the mistress and your father is the head of the household. You grow up hearing that you are the heir to all your father has. You are the only descendant he has and you are in line to inherit everything. You are treated by your father as a respected son and he loves you. But you do feel the tension in the air between your mother and the mistress, knowing that you were born 'out of wedlock' so to speak. But you could handle that, because for your father, you were everything.

Then one day you hear that your father's wife is pregnant and before long you had a baby brother. Now you hear that he is in fact the rightful heir. All of a sudden you are no more than the 'servant's son'. You are not the rightful son you always thought you were. And out of a jealous rage you decided to poke fun at your little brother. And because you did, you are chased away.

I cannot help but feel sorry for Ishmael. He shouldn't have poked fun at Isaac, but he was rejected. None of it was his own doing. He didn't ask to be born into this situation. He didn't ask to be the result of one woman's impatience. He didn't ask to be born out of sin.

There are many of us that feel like Ishmael did, rejected, the 'black sheep' of the family, born into the 'wrong' family on the 'wrong' side of the tracks, stuck in the middle due to other people's sins etcetera. But do not allow that to shape who you are. You are not the black sheep and you are not defined by your circumstances and where you came from. God went ahead and blessed Ishmael. He turned Ishmael into a great nation, with twelve princes as his descendants. And He will bless you too, no matter where you came from or what situation you might find yourself in. Do not wallow in your circumstances and do not become depressed about it. And above all do not relish in sin, using your background as an excuse to do it. God has a special place for you, just as He had for Ishmael. Rather focus on that and strive to be all you can be in the Kingdom of God, because in His kingdom you are a rightful heir. You are a rightful son with all the privileges of royalty and no one can ever take it away from you. No matter what you have been through, I can promise you that your eternal future is bright and filled with love and acceptance.

Father, thank you so much that we can know that we are rightful heirs. Thank you so much that we can be part of Your royal kingdom. Thank you that we can rejoice and know that we are forever safe with You. Please help us to forgive those that have wronged us, to accept where we came from and to live in the new life that You came to give us. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Sarai gave her servant Hagar to Abram as a wife in order to have children through her. Sarai and Abram didn't want to wait any longer on God's promises, but decided to take matters into their own hands. They wanted to 'force God's hand' so to speak. Their plan worked and Hagar became pregnant with Ishmael. At first it looked as if God was helping them and approved of their plan, but then the trouble started. Trouble came because they had acted outside of God's will.

Hagar started to treat Sarai with contempt; Sarai yelled at Abram for doing this to her and in turn Abram told Sarai to do with Hagar as she pleased. So she allowed her insecurity to take hold of her and began to treat Hagar harshly. Hagar couldn't handle it and once she has had enough she ran away.

When I read this, I cannot help but feel sorry for Hagar. In those days servants didn't have any rights and when Sarai made the decision to give Hagar to Abram to bear his children, she didn't really have a choice in the matter. She was forced into this situation. She was made a part of her mistress' impatience. Now when she became pregnant, she shouldn't have treated Sarai with contempt. That was a mistake on her part, but now her life was made miserable. Her so called 'husband' didn't care about her, and her mistress treated her harshly despite her pregnant condition. It was so terrible that she ran away with no place to go and no resources. She was lost. She had no future.

But God saw her and sent an angel to comfort her. And not only that, God also made a promise to her that she will have more descendants than she could count. He also told her to name her son 'Ishmael' which means 'God hears'. Isn't it beautiful? God was there for her even when no one else was. God knew that she was forced into this situation and He reached out to her and was kind to her, even blessing her. But God also knew that she sinned against Sarai by treating her with contempt and therefore He sends her back to make it right:

"Return to your mistress and submit to her authority." Genesis 16:9

God knew her situation and He promised to help her and bless her, but He also told her to go and sin no more. And she did. She went home and had her baby there.

God knows your situation too. He knows that people have forced you into situations that are unfair. He knows that you haven't been treated with the respect and dignity that you deserve. He knows that you are sad and lonely, running away from your circumstances. But He wants to tell you today that He will be with you. He will bless you and He will help you. But He also wants to tell you to go and sin no more. Where some of the 'unfairness' has been your own fault, go back and make amends. Even if you didn't start the whole debacle, go and say you are sorry for the part you played, go and sin no more. That is all God asks of us. He wants us to love Him and portrait His character to a lost world. Then you can stand up as the heir that you are, heir to everything that God has in store for you, in this life and definitely in the life to come. God blessed Hagar and He is more than willing to bless you, His son.

Thank you Father that we can know that You are always there for us, always ready to reach out to us, always trying to help us. Please forgive us our sins and please help us to sin no more. Philippians 2:13 tells us that You give us the power to do what pleases You. We claim that power over our lives today. In Jesus' Name. Amen

God promised that Abram will become the father of a great nation. He promised Abram the land and descendants as numerous as the sand on the sea shore and the stars in the sky. But unfortunately ten years after arriving in Canaan, Abraham still didn't have an heir, no descendants to speak of. He was already 85 years old and hope of the chance to have children was fading away. So Sarai and Abram in their desperation made their own plan to force God's promise to come to pass.

"But Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children. So Sarai took her servant, an Egyptian woman named Hagar, and gave her to Abram so she could bear his children. "The Lord has kept me from having any children," Sarai said to Abram. "Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her." And Abram agreed. So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife." Genesis 16:1-3

Sarai had become impatient. She didn't want to wait a moment longer. She no longer trusted God for His provision of His promises. She took matters into her own hands. And what a terrible disaster that was. The moment Hagar found out that she was pregnant; she began to treat Sarai with contempt. This in turn led to heartache and conflict. Sarai immediately took the problem to Abram and blamed him for her predicament:

"It's all your fault! Now this servant of mine is pregnant, and she despises me, though I myself gave her the privilege of sleeping with you. The Lord will make you pay for doing this to me!" Genesis 16:5

I couldn't believe Sarai's reaction when I read this. This whole debacle was her idea in the first place and now she is blaming Abram for it! She couldn't wait for God a minute longer, so she took matters into her own hands and started to blame others when things didn't go her way. But then I realised that we are just like her. We are all the same. We tend to blame other people for the mistakes we make too. We rush forward, we don't think of the consequences and then when things go haywire, we blame the first one that comes to mind, instead of accepting responsibility for our own actions.

Sometimes God tests our patience and our faith by allowing us to wait on His perfect timing. Sometimes other things need to fall into place first, before the Lord will allow us to proceed with our calling. Sometimes He wants to build our character during the time of waiting. Whatever the reason may be, God has a plan and He knows what is best for us. Do not rush ahead and jump the gun. Things will not work out nearly as well as it would have if you just waited. Sarai had Ishmael to deal with for the rest of her life. He was a real part of Abram and nothing could undo what she did out of impatience. You might also have 'Ishmael's' in your life that you need to 'deal with' for the rest of your life, just because you couldn't wait.

Of course first prize would be that you had waited for God's perfect timing in the first place. But second prize is that you ask God how to deal with the 'Ishmael's' in your life, due to your own impatience. God helped Hagar and Ishmael and He turned him into a great nation as well. God does work around our mistakes, and if we ask His forgiveness and His guidance, He will never leave us or forsake us, but He will help us on our route ahead. God is faithful and true and forgives all our sins and will help us to deal with the 'Ishmael's' in our lives. Please allow Him to. He knows best.

But if you are still in the waiting season, take heart, you will not wait forever. Persevere and cling unto God's promises. It will be worth the wait!

Father God please give us the patience and the strength to wait on Your perfect timing for us. Please come to our rescue and give us peace that we are on the right track. But Father please forgive us if we haven't waited and if we have made a mess of things. Please help us to stand up again and help us to handle the situation to Your glory and honour. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Abram was promised a multitude of descendants by God, despite the fact that he seemingly cannot have children. Yet God told him that all things are possible. Not only will he have a son, he will have so many descendants that it will be difficult to count them.

"Then the Lord brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that, too many to count!" Genesis 15:5

And in Genesis 22:17 God reaffirmed His promise to Abram and told him again that his descendants would be too many to count.

"I will bless you richly. I will multiply your descendants into countless millions, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore."

God is faithful and He kept His promise. From Abraham's son, Isaac, came Jacob and Esau and from Jacob, came the twelve patriarchs of the Jewish tribes. The Jews multiplied and we know today that they indeed became countless millions just as God promised.

But today I would like to share something with you that God placed on my heart. Abraham's physical descendants are the Jewish people as we all know. They are from his physical seed; therefore they are like the sand on the seashore.

We as Christians on the other hand are not physical descendants of Abraham. But Romans 4:11 tells us that we are descendants of Abraham, if we believe:

"So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are made right with God by faith."

Galatians 3:16 also tells us that God's promises to Abraham was made to Abraham and his Child (singular), meaning Jesus Christ. And as we all know, we are the Body of Christ on earth, therefore all of God's promises to Abraham was made to us as well. We are therefore spiritual descendants of Abraham. We are in a spiritual sense the stars in the sky, too many to count. The Jews are like the sand on the seashore and we are like the stars in the sky.

What does all of this mean to you and me? Well, it means that we are like the stars in the sky. We need to shine our light for all to see. Despite the darkness all around us, we should not be intimidated, but we should be like the stars, shining no matter what. We are also children of the Most High God and therefore we are far above all of life's problems. We should look down on earth and see life through heaven's eyes. We shouldn't participate in the huddle and muddle of this life, as we are not part of it. We should bring hope to the world so that when they look at us they should marvel at our beauty. Our faces should shine like Moses' and Stephen's. We should know that as stars our prayers are way up high and that our prayers reach the Most High Place in heaven, where our Father is more than willing to listen.

Don't despair; don't walk around with the demeanour of a slave trapped in a world of misery. No, lift your head up high, and shine like the star you were created to be. Enjoy your life as a star of God. May His light and His favour shine on you and be with you all.

Thank you dear Father that You see us as the stars in the sky. Thank you that we have the ability to life above life's troubles. Thank you for the opportunity to shine Your love out to all. Please give us the strength to do just that. We love you Father. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Abram just defeated King Kedorlaomer and returned home. He might have been a bit scared that the king's allies might come for him in revenge, but God comforted him:

"Afterward the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great." Genesis 15:1

God immediately reassured Abram that all will be well. And not only that, God again confirmed that he will have children and this time He told him that they will be as many as the stars in the sky.

"Then the Lord brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that - too many to count!" Genesis 15:5

God's blessings were so much more than Abram can ever dare to hope for or dream. He didn't only promise him a son, but a multitude of descendants, too many to count. God's promises are so rich and full of miracles. And how did Abram react to this? He did two things. Firstly he:

"And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith." Genesis 15:6

Abram believed. How beautiful. He believed what God told him and God declared him righteous. And secondly Abram asked confirmation of what God just told him:

"But Abram replied, "O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that You will give it to me?" Genesis 15:8

Abram wanted confirmation. Abram was just human. And it is beautiful to see is that God didn't get angry with him, no He made a covenant with Abram, an unconditional covenant. He helped him to overcome his human tendency to doubt later on when things don't happen as God promised.

We can learn from these two things in our lives too. First of all when God promises something to you, believe it. God blesses faith. He wants us to ask Him for His Will and then act upon it. He tells us that clearly in James 1:6, 7

"When you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord."

Do not have a doubtful mind, but rather believe and have faith in our God that can do the impossible. And then you are allowed to ask confirmation from God as we've seen now with Abram. Ask God to confirm to you what you have experienced in your heart. Confirmation can come in many different shapes and sizes. God can speak to you through the Word. Maybe today one verse will speak to your heart in such a way that it is impossible to deny the Spirit's working. Or you can ask Godly friends to pray for you and let you know what God places in their hearts. Or you can go to your Godly mentor and ask for guidance, after you've both prayed about it. Or maybe God will even send someone to come and give you Word from Him. I have even heard testimonies that the Lord used small birds to come and bring the confirmation that people needed. God also speaks to me through numbers.

Whatever the means He decides to work, confirmation will come. Stay in prayer, stay close to God, keep on believing and never waver in His promises. God wants to bless each of us and wants us to grow spiritually. He knows best, trust in Him.

Father thank you for Your multitude of promises and blessings. Thank you that we can hold on to it. And thank you that You will also aid us in our human nature by sending confirmation to us. We praise Your Holy Name. Amen

Abram did the right thing and went to rescue Lot. When he returned from his victory, the King of Sodom came out to meet him as well as Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High. Melchizedek brought him bread and wine and blessed Abram with this blessing:

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, Who has helped you conquer your enemies." Genesis 14:19, 20

How wonderful. Immediately praises were given to God for helping Abram. God sent one of His priests to proclaim a blessing over Abram at a time when he was most probably tired after the battle. God also provided food for Abram through Melchizedek. God looked after Abram on a spiritual as well as a physical side. Abram recognised this blessing from God and in turn gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.

Then Abram was offered goods as well:

"The king of Sodom told him, "Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered." Genesis 14:21

But Abram refused.

"I have solemnly promised the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take as much as a single thread or sandal thong from you. Otherwise you might say, "I am the one who made Abram rich!" Genesis 14:22, 23

What a wonderful man. He wanted all the honour to go to God. He wanted God to get all the praises for making him rich and not the ungodly king of Sodom. Abram didn't think only of himself, but he looked at his actions and thought how he could please God and be a testimony to His greatness.

We should do the same. We should not think of what is best for us, but what is best for His Kingdom and His Glory. We should give honour to God where it is due.

We shouldn't think that we are so healthy because we drink all the right supplements, we shouldn't think that we are so wealthy because we work so hard, we shouldn't think that we are successful businessmen just because we did the right marketing, we shouldn't think that we are such great sportsmen because we train so hard and have all the right coaches etc. God is the One that keeps us healthy, He is the One helping in our business and He is the One making us successful. Of course we should look after our health, of course we should work hard and do the right marketing, of course we should train hard and get the best coaches possible, but give the honour to where it is due. Without God, we are nothing. Without God we won't even be able to get out of bed. He is in control, He is our Lord and Saviour and He should get all the honour and glory due to Him.

We praise Your Name.

Father we praise Your glorious Name. We know that without You we are nothing. All the success in our lives is because of You and we honour You for that today. Even when we are at a low point You are there as well and we honour You for the work You are doing in our lives. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Lot went to live close to Sodom and Abram was camped at the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Now the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela had been subject to King Kedorlaomer for twelve years and had to pay tributes to him. But in the thirteenth year they rebelled. King Kedorlaomer heard about it and a year later he arrived with his allies for a full on war. In a rather quick war, he defeated the five kings that rebelled against him. He and his allies plundered Sodom and Gomorrah, taking all their wealth with them. And lo and behold, they also captured Lot and all he owned. Living close to Sodom wasn't the best choice after all.

Luckily one of Lot's men managed to escape and came to tell Abram what happened. And what did Abram do? Did he gloat and say, "Well Lot deserved it; he wanted to take the best land for himself, so let him feel what it feels like to be cheated." Or did he say something like this, "Well it must be God's way of punishing him for living so close to the evil city of Sodom. It must be God's way of dealing with him." No. Let's see what Abram did.

"When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called together the men born into his household, 318 of them in all. He chased after Kedorlaomer's army until he caught up with them at Dan." Genesis 14:14

What an amazing man. He didn't even once stop to think about what Lot did to him and to gloat in what happened to him. No, he immediately reacted to go and help Lot. And not only that, he risked his life by going to his aid. Abram wasn't a trained fighter as far as we can gather and here he wants to take on a king who just defeated five kings and their armies. Kedorlaomer was a trained fighter, who kept five cities under his control for twelve years. He was a force to be reckoned with. But Abram didn't let that deter him. And in one amazing turn of events, Abram and his household defeated this mighty king and recovered everything.

"Abram and his allies recovered everything - the goods that had been taken, Abram's nephew Lot with his possessions, and all the women and other captives." Genesis 14:16

This was supernatural. But with God all things are possible. Abram did the right thing and reacted in helping his nephew without even thinking of the possible consequences of his actions and God blessed it. God helped him every step of the way and gave him the courage to stand up for what was right.

No matter what someone has done to you, be prepared to help them in their time of need, no matter how difficult it might be for you. Don't gloat when things go wrong for them, don't rejoice in their downfall, rather reach out a helping hand. I know you might not want to do it, but sometimes we need to let go of our feelings and surrender to the Word of God. Be an ear to listen, take food to them if they need it, pray for them, do whatever you see they need. Be like Abram and stand up for what is right. God will smile from above.

Father it is so difficult for us to help those that have hurt us. It is easy to help those that have always been good to us, but difficult to help those that have been nasty to us. Please help us to put aside our feelings and to reach out in their time of need. We will only be able to do it with Your help. Thank you Jesus, Amen

Abram and Lot were both very wealthy. They had so many sheep and cattle that the land couldn't support them all. They had to split ways and as we have seen last week Lot took the best land for himself. Even though the Lord promised Abram the land, Lot decided to take the best for himself. This revealed a part of Lot's character to me. Through his actions one can clearly discern that he was selfish. Even though he knew in those days that the older partner had first choice, he gladly accepted Abram's proposal. And to top it off he certainly knew that God had a very special relationship with Abram, but that didn't bother him. He wanted the best and that was it! He was greedy and didn't once consider the needs of his uncle.

After splitting with Abram Lot moved towards Sodom.

"So while Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom, among the cities of the plain. The people of this area were unusually wicked and sinned greatly against the Lord." Genesis 13:12, 13

Lot moved out on his own for the first time. For the first time he was out under the good influence of his uncle Abram. And the first thing he did was to move to a place, known for being notoriously evil and known for being against the Lord. We don't know his reasons for moving close to Sodom. Maybe their wicked life style didn't bother him, maybe he thought he could be a good influence on them, or maybe he liked the area and the vibe it brought. We don't know. But what we will learn in future weeks is that moving there was a big mistake. Making choices without God is normally the worst choices of our lives. Plus I don't think he was spiritually as strong as his uncle was. I say that because the instances where it is recorded that Abram built an altar to the Lord and Abram worshipped the Lord, Lot's name wasn't mentioned. This makes me wonder at his spiritual wellbeing. And his choices and actions later on will confirm my suspicion.

The lesson for me here is twofold. Number one; always ask God's guidance on big decisions in your life. Always ask Him to lead you unto the best path for your life. Decisions made without God's guidance could prove disastrous.

And number two; don't think you are stronger spiritually than you really are. Scripture tells us to reach out to the people living in 'Sodom' around us. It tells us to show them how to live for Christ, and how to be a child of God and to draw them closer to Him. But please make sure that you influence them and not them you. The moment you notice that their bad influence over you is growing, try to take a break for a while until you feel you can reach out to them again, spiritually stronger. It can so easily happen that you get pulled down, as it is much easier to pull someone down from a wall, than to pull someone up on one. Rather make sure that you have close Biblical friends, read your Bible regularly and spend time alone with God.

Don't be like Lot. He never influenced anyone in Sodom as we will see later with its destruction. In fact he later went to live inside of Sodom, showing us that he actually liked their lifestyle. Learn from his mistake. The moment their lifestyle seems enjoyable and even acceptable to you, get out and grow spiritually with God before reaching out to them again. You first need to be sober before you can mean something to your alcoholic friends. Ask God to help you, He most certainly will.

Father, please help us to be the example You want us to be. We can so easily be influenced Lord, please help us to stand strong and not accept immoral behaviour as the norm. We love You Jesus and want to be just like You, walking along the sinners, without becoming a sinner Yourself. Please help us. Amen