Abraham Was Blessed After Lot Was Gone

I. EXORDIUM:

Are you blessed because of the company of the LORD?

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that we need to stick with same company of the blessed.

1 Corinthians 15:33 (Amplified Bible)

Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.

IV. TEXT:

Genesis 13:14 (Amplified Bible)

The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;

V. THESIS:

We need to stick with same company of the blessed.

VI. TITLE:

Abraham was blessed after Lot was gone

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Moses, commonly accepted

B. Date written: 1450 - 1410 B.C.

C. Purpose: Book of Origins

D. To whom written: people of Israel

E. Main theme: Man's sin and initial steps taken for his redemption by GOD.

F. Keyword: Beginning

G. Key verse:

Genesis 3:15 (Amplified Bible)

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.

VIII. MAIN BODY:

A. The LORD talked with Abram

"The Lord said to Abram: Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;"

The LORD's message to Abram is one that will bless him and will not run out for the rest of his life and his descendants after him.

Abram was a peace maker and he got blessed for it because:

a. he took the initiative in resolving the conflicts rather than being part of the conflict

b. he let others have the first choice, even if that means not getting what he wants or his will be second choice

c. he puts family peace above personal desires.

Abram was an exact opposite of his nephew Lot.

Isaiah 49:18 (Amplified Bible)

Lift up your eyes round about and see [the returning exiles, ready to rebuild Jerusalem]; all these gather together and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you [Zion] shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament and bind them on you as a bride does.

Isaiah 60:4 (Amplified Bible)

Lift up your eyes round about you and see! They all gather themselves together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried and nursed in the arms.

B. After Lot had left him

"after Lot had left him,"

1. Reasons:

a. Lot was not glorifying the LORD GOD

Genesis 13:5 (Amplified Bible)

But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

He was also made rich because of his uncle Abram's relationship with the LORD GOD, Abram saw this clearly that the LORD GOD was prospering him, therefore acknowledging Him in worship but Lot failed to see this like some people does. They thought their blessed because of their own abilities and talents forgetting to acknowledge and thanking the LORD GOD for everything good that happened in their lives.

b. Lot likes to argue - argument is strife.

Proverbs 17:1 (Amplified Bible)

BETTER IS a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting [on offered sacrifices] with strife.

Proverbs 17:14 (Amplified Bible)

The beginning of strife is as when water first trickles [from a crack in a dam]; therefore stop contention before it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out.

Quarelling or strife resulting from argument will not give you a blessing but instead ask GOD about it.

James 4:2 (Amplified Bible)

You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask.

1 John 3:15 (Amplified Bible)

Anyone who hates (abominates, detests) his brother [in Christ] is [at heart] a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding (persevering) within him.

As GOD's steward, we are not to quarrel.

2 Timothy 2:24 (Amplified Bible)

And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone and mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing and willing to suffer wrong.

Abram disliked strife and thus correcting his nephew, Lot.

Genesis 13:7-8 (Amplified Bible)

And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain].