Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

February 9, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE TO:

BE MY SHIELD (part 1)

Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

“After these things..”. As we will discuss, God comes to Abraham and announces that He is Abraham’s shield. God does this “after these things”. I assume that God knew that Abraham needed some encouragement after Abraham went through those circumstances. What were those circumstances?

To make a long story short, there were some kings that went to battle with some other kings and Abraham’s family were caught in the crossfire. Some of Abraham’s property was stolen, and some of his family and entourage were kidnapped; including his nephew, Lot. Lot ended up causing Abraham much grief in his life. If only Abraham had completely obeyed the command from God to leave his family. (That is another story for another day)

So Abraham went after his family and property, and God gave him victory. That is the story in a nutshell, with many details and side plots left out. MY POINT IS THIS ! What are “these things” that you have been through? What are some of the battles that you have fought? What are a few of the victories that God has given you? God was able to come to Abraham after the battle, because God fought for Abraham during the battle. When you are a child of God, God always brings you through. God always makes victory a possibility. As the Word of God says, “this to shall pass”. What God brings you to, God will bring you through. I love that phrase, “after these things”. There is always an “after”.

Now you might debate my interpretation of this passage by saying, “Preacher, I have some loved ones that I prayed for that God did not bring them through”. It may be that your argument is that they died anyway, although you prayed. I have a mother that I prayed for through 3 years of cancer, that went to heaven despite our prayers for healing. Some would say that victory was not given by God for her, and our battle. I beg to differ. I see Heaven as the ultimate victory. I also see Heaven as the ultimate healing. I have met many people that after “these things”, they walked out of a hospital, thanks be to God, and went home to good health. In our case, “after these things”, my mom took her first steps in Heaven. In both cases, God gave victory. In some cases, God was their “shield” over sickness. In our case, God was our “shield” over death.

The lesson I am trying to emphasize is this: God can be your shield against kings, God can be your shield against kidnappers, God can be your shield against disease, and God is even your shield against death. Today you might be in the middle of “these things”. Stay patient, because when you are God’s child, there is coming the “after”.

I am persuaded that He is able to be my Shield!