Faith Is the Victory

Veterans Day is an official United States public holiday, observed annually on November 11, that honors military veterans; that is, persons who served in the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with other holidays, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I; major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. The United States previously observed Armistice Day. The U.S. holiday was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

Abraham

Abraham the Watcher (14:1-12)

His Attentiveness

Matters that did not concern him

Matters that he could not influence

His allies (v. 13)

He worked hard at making allies

Abraham the Warrior (14:13-16)

Be Obedient 2. Abraham the Warrior (Gen. 14:13–16)

His attitude.

His Attitude

Abraham was separated, but not isolated

Abraham was independent, but not indifferent

His Army

They were born in his house (v. 14)

"This is a war of the unknown warriors," Churchill told the world in the summer of 1940, "The whole of the warring nations are engaged, not only soldiers, but the entire population, men, women and children. The fronts are everywhere. The trenches are dug in the towns and streets. Every village is fortified. Every road is barred. The front lines run through the factories. The workmen are soldiers with different weapons but the same courage."

They were armed (v. 14)

They were trained (v. 14)

I hated shining shoes in Basic Training. There were other things I would rather be doing instead of sitting on the floor with a brush and mounds of cotton balls stained with black Kiwi shoe polish! If our boots and dress shoes were not perfect we paid for it dearly! During one of our trips to the Base Exchange, one of the guys in our unit discovered a "Shine Sponge" that was supposed to give us an effortless shine. Nearly every single person in the unit bought one. When we got back to the barracks, we applied the sponge (which appeared to be some kind of clear oil) to our footwear, and they shone like a mirror! It left a coat of some sort of oil on them which produced an almost unearthly shine. We were confident that when our Training Instructor came by (as he always did) in the middle of the night that we would not have our bunks tipped over due to a less-than-perfect shine on our boots and shoes. Most of us were rudely awakened on the cold floor with a bunk bed lying on top of us. Why? Our boots had no shine! We got the biggest chewing out since the beginning of training. The lights came on. We were wide-awake now. Our boots! Our shoes!! They were the most ugly dull things we had ever seen. Why? The oil had soaked into the leather and made the leather more dull than the day we had them issued to us. The only ones who had shines on their shoes were the ones who didn't use the shine sponge on them. There are some things in life that you can't cut corners with. The Bible says, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly discerning the word of truth ()."

During one of our trips to the Base Exchange, one of the guys in our unit discovered a "Shine Sponge" that was supposed to give us an effortless shine. Nearly every single person in the unit bought one. When we got back to the barracks, we applied the sponge (which appeared to be some kind of clear oil) to our footwear, and they shone like a mirror! It left a coat of some sort of oil on them which produced an almost unearthly shine.

We were confident that when our Training Instructor came by (as he always did) in the middle of the night that we would not have our bunks tipped over due to a less-than-perfect shine on our boots and shoes.

Most of us were rudely awakened on the cold floor with a bunk bed lying on top of us. Why? Our boots had no shine! We got the biggest chewing out since the beginning of training. The lights came on. We were wide-awake now. Our boots! Our shoes!! They were the most ugly dull things we had ever seen. Why? The oil had soaked into the leather and made the leather more dull than the day we had them issued to us. The only ones who had shines on their shoes were the ones who didn't use the shine sponge on them.

There are some things in life that you can't cut corners with. The Bible says,

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly discerning the word of truth ()."

Trained with the idea of experience

They believed in their leader

They were united

They were single-minded (v. 15b)

They pursued them as far as Hobah

Hobah] Probably a place about 50 miles north of Damascus. Skinner rightly points out that “it is idle to pretend that Abram’s victory was merely a surprise attack on the rearguard, and the recovery of part of the booty. A pursuit carried so far implies the rout of the main body of the enemy”

His Achievement

Enemy driven out

Chased them back into their own land

Abraham the Worshiper (14:17-24)

A New Battle

Against Pride

He honored Melchizedek

In Texas, when a cold air mass moves down from Canada, people sometimes refer to it as a "Blue Northern," and it makes its presence felt! You can feel the wind blow as the high pressure cold air rushes into the warmer area of lower pressure. The greater the difference in pressure between the high and low, the greater the wind speed.

Prayer creates in us a kind of low pressure area as we bow in humility before the Lord. The "lower" we can become through prayer, the stronger the wind will be when the high pressure of the Spirit blows in. He will make His presence felt in our lives and in our cities.

A Gift

A Tithe

A New Blessing

Abraham lived by the blessing of the Lord, not the bribery of the world

He brought his gifts to Jesus Christ in the person of Melchizedek

He was prompt in his giving

He was proportionate in his giving

He gave because he loved God and wanted to acknowledge His greatness and His goodness