Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Instigation of Peace” – Monday, 21 July 2014 - Scripture: Genesis 13:1-18

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Instigation of Peace” – Monday, 21 July 2014 - Scripture: Genesis 13:1-2 So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.
3-4 He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God.
5-7 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn’t support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn’t both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time.
8-9 Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”
10-11 Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God’s garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east.
11-12 That’s how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.
13 The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God.
14-17 After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I’ll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I’m giving it all to you.”
18 Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God. 
“Instigation of Peace” by Lisa Mueller
In Genesis 13 Abram sets a pattern of behavior for us; peaceful resolutions nearly always rely on self-sacrifice. When Abram and Lot came to the place where they needed to part ways, Abram as the elder had every right to choose his land first. Instead Abram’s selflessness was evident when he allowed Lot to choose first. Lot chose what he thought was the best option—for himself. Lot's choice landed him devastingly close to Sodom
In every domestic argument, in every conflict, there comes a moment when both or one of the parties can step back and prevent the situation from deteriorating further. This was that moment. Abram brought peace through sacrifice. It was generous of Abram to allow Lot to choose. Lot’s choice, however, landed him close to sin, and close to the consequences of it.

We make many of our choices are made without fully understanding the consequences. When they come from self-interest, we may find ouselves perilously close to sinful situations that are difficult to get out of. If we would take that initial moment, when the choice lies before us, and chose the interests of others, we might find our long term circumstances more conducive to our spiritual well-being.

Hymn for Today:

“Where the Spirit of the Lord Is” by Stephen R. Adams copyright 1993 by Pilot Point Music (ASCAP), Box 419527; Kansas City, Missouri, United States 64141. All rights reserved.
Chorus
Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is peace
Where the Spirit of the Lord is
There is love
There is comfort in life's darkest hour
There is light and life
There is help and power in the Spirit
In the Spirit of the Lord
Verse 1
The winds of His Spirit
Are blowing thro' our land
And the proof of God's presence
Is being seen on ev'ry hand
Like a gentle breeze from heaven
Like a breath of love and care
God is pouring out His blessings
On His children everywhere
Thought for Today:
“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.”(Matthew 5:9)
Prayer Needs:
Many People in the Republic of South Sudan will come to know Jesus the Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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