Tues.’s Devo - Abram’s Blessing

Read: Genesis 13:5-15:21; Matthew 5:27-48; Psalm 6:1-10; Proverbs 1:29-33 Both Abraham and Lot owned great amounts of cattle and there was not enough land to support both herds. It was beginning to become contentious between the shepherds so Abraham thought it best for them to separate. He gave Lot first choice of the land. Lot chose the land in the Jordan Valley because it was well-watered and had good soil. Once Lot left, God spoke to Abraham and told him that He was giving Abraham all the land, as far as he could see, for his descendants. Abram moved to Hebron and built an altar to the Lord. *** Lot moved to the Jordan Valley and lived in the city of Sodom. The people of this area were extremely wicked and sinned against the Lord continually. *** War broke out among nine of the the evil kings of the area - four against five. Lot’s king of Sodom was one of them. They fought and Lot’s king lost, so the people of Sodom along with Lot was captured and carried off. *** Abram was told this and gathered 318 of his trained men who worked for him and they went to rescue Lot. They met them at Dan and with their little army they won. They returned Lot and all his possessions and all the people of Sodom to their land. *** On his way back to Sodom, Abram met Melchizedek, the king of Salem and the priest of the Lord’s. He blessed Abram and offered him wine and bread. He blessed Abram as being of the most high God, who possessed heaven and earth. Abram gave Melchizedek tithes of all his spoils. The king of Sodom then met with Abram and told him he could keep all the spoils, he only wanted the people who belonged to his city. Abram refused to keep any of it because he didn’t want to give the king of Sodom credit for making him rich. He did let the men who helped him take their share of the spoil. *** One night the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and told him that he would protect him and his reward would be great. Abram asked him what good would it do to him when he had no son to pass it down to. His slave, Eliezer would inherit all his wealth. *** The Lord assured him that Eliezer would not be his heir. He would have a son and his descendants would be like the stars - so many they would be uncountable. God reiterated that all this land would one day be his. Abram questioned how this could happen. *** The Lord asked him to bring him a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dow and a young pigeon. He told Abram to kill them and cut them in half, all but the birds. Abram kept the vultures away until night. *** Abram fell into a deep sleep and the Lord showed Abram the future. His descendants would be strangers in a foreign land and be oppressed as slaves for 400 year. Then God would punish the nation that enslaved them and they would exit with great wealth. Abram would die in peace but after four generations his people would return to this land and destroy the Amorites. *** After this, Abram saw a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses he had filleted. The Lord made a covenant with Abram and told him that this land was given to his descendants from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates. The land at the time was full of 10 “ites”. *** In Matthew, Jesus continued his sermon showing the law to be spiritual and so much more than the letter of the law. It had to do with the heart. *** He spoke of marriage and divorce. What keeps a marriage together is faith. When that is broken, the covenant is broken. Only forgiveness and new faith can heal it. *** Jesus spoke against making vows swearing by something. He told them just let your “yes” or your “no” be enough. He told them to give forgiveness, not revenge. They were even to love their enemies which is going far beyond what the world does. Jesus was giving us the conduct of the Kingdom of God which is opposite of the kingdom of this world. God’s kingdom is ruled by love. *** Lord, may we choose love above fairness or retaliation. You are our protector and defender. May we be like little children and love everyone.

Mon.’s Devo - Right Relationships

Read: Genesis 11:1-13:4; Matthew 5:1-26; Psalm 5:1-12; Proverbs 1:24-28 The people of the world all spoke the same language and all had the same purpose. They wanted to build a tower to heaven. This tower would be a portal and when God saw it, he knew this was not his plan for mankind. They would be successful if he didn’t intervene. *** They named the city they were building the tower Babel which means “confusion.” God confused their languages so they would not be able to communicate and finish the tower. They ended up leaving their project and scattering across the earth. *** We are given an account of Shem’s family. Abram was the ninth generation from Shem. His father was Terah who had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot, then Haran died. Lot went to live with his grandfather Terah. Terah took his son Abram who had married Sarai, and Lot with him to the land of Canaan. Meanwhile Abram’s other brother Nahor stayed in the land of the Chaldeans and married Milcah. Abram’s wife, Sarai was barren. *** Terah didn’t make it to the land of Canaan because he stopped in Haran and stayed until he died. Then, the Lord told Abram to continue the journey and God would lead him to a land and make him a great nation. He would bless him and make him famous. He would be a blessing to those who blessed him and a curse to those who cursed him. Abram obeyed and took Lot with him. Abram was 75 years old. *** They came to the land of Canaan and settled in Shechem beside the oak of Moreh which means “teacher: former rain.” God appeared to Abram and told him he would give this land to his descendants. Abram built an altar and dedicated it to the Lord. Then he traveled south and camped between Bethel and Ai. *** Famine hit the land of Canaan and Abram was forced to move to Egypt for a while. He told Sarai to tell everyone that she was his sister to save his life because she was so beautiful. Sure enough, Pharaoh was told of her beauty and he gave Abram sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels in exchange for Sarai. Abraham, apparently thought he had no choice. *** God watched over Sarai and caused terrible plagues to hit Pharoah and his household. (A precursor to the plagues God would hit them with again with Moses.) They must have consulted their wise men and found out the source of the plagues because Pharaoh summoned Abram and demanded why he had done this to him. Abram told him it was to save his life. Mercifully, Pharoah didn’t kill Abram but gave Sarai back and kicked them out of his land. He let Abram keep everything he had given him so he left wealthier than he had arrived. *** Abram and Sarai traveled toward Bethel and camped again between Bethel and Ai. He worshiped the Lord at the altar he had built the first time he was there. *** In Matthew, Jesus was preaching his famous Sermon on the Mount sermon. He blessed those who realized their need for God, those who mourned, the humble and those who cried out for justice. He blessed all who were merciful, those who had pure hearts, those who worked for peace, and those who were persecuted for doing what was right and those who followed him. He told them to be happy and glad because their reward in heaven was great. He reminded them that the prophets were all persecuted for speaking for God. *** Jesus was not just talking to them at that time, but his followers throughout time. He called us the salt of the earth that needs to stay salty. He called us the light of the world that is not to be hidden but were created to give light to the world. *** Jesus made it clear that he was not here to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Every detail of God’s Word will be fulfilled. We are to obey the law. Jesus also made it clear that the teachers of the law at that time were not righteous. They didn’t even obey the law but they did observe all the ticky laws they had added to God’s laws so they would appear to be righteous. *** Jesus then explained how they were to obey the law. He took several of the laws in the Ten Commandments and explained how they were not just to obey the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law. *** Jesus made it clear that relationships with people affect right relationship with God. He related murder with anger and offering with offenses. *** Lord, help us to get our relationships right with people so they will be right with you. Thank you that you want a relationship with us.

Sun.’s Devo - Be Fruitful and Multiply

Read: Genesis 8:1-10:32; Matthew 4:12-25; Psalm 4:1-8; Proverbs 1:20-23 Noah and his family were on the ark for over a year. When the earth was finally dry, God told Noah to leave the boat and release all the animals. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord using the animals and birds that he had brought just for that purpose. God told him he would never curse the ground because of man again no matter how evil they become. He would never destroy all living things. While the earth remains there will always be seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night. *** God blessed Noah and his sons and told them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Now, the animals, the birds and the fish would fear man because they will be food for man just as grain and vegetables had been up to this time. Man was never to eat meat from a live animal. It must be dead, first. *** Any person who takes the life of another must die by human hands. Any animal who kills a person must die. The reason being, man was made in God’s image. *** God confirmed his covenant with Noah and his sons and all the animals and birds on the earth. Never again would he destroy the earth with a flood. The sign of his covenant with them was a rainbow which is seen after a rain. It is there to always remind us of his promise. *** After the flood, every person came from the lineage of Noah. They began to cultivate the ground and planted a vineyard. One day, Noah drank so much wine from his vineyard that he became drunk. He lay naked in his tent and Ham saw that he was naked. He told his brothers what he had seen and Shem and Japheth took a robe and held it over their shoulders. They walked backwards and covered their father without looking at him. In this way, they honored their father where Ham had not. *** When Noah sobered and heard what Ham had done, he cursed Ham’s son, Canaan and blessed the descendants of Shem and Japheth. He prophesied that Ham’s sons would always be servants of Shem’s descendants. Shem and Japheth would be prosperous and have much territory. Years later, God would give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. *** In reading their genealogies, Ham’s was full of names like Cush, Nimrod, Babylon, Assyria, Nineveh, the Philistines which were all enemies of Israel. Ham’s descendants also included all the “ites” in the Promise Land that God told Joshua to destroy. Japheth settled in Europe and Asia. Abraham came from Shem’s descendants who possessed the land of Canaan. Canaan’s descendants also settled in Egypt and Africa. *** In Matthew, Jesus heard that John had been arrested and he returned home to Nazareth. From there he went to the area of Galilee and began preaching John’s message to repent because the Kingdom of Heaven was near. *** While walking on the shores of Galilee, Jesus called two brothers, Peter and Andrew to stop their fishing and come follow him. He promised to show them how to fish for men. They immediately left their fishing and followed him. Later, he met another set of brothers, James and John. They were with their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and they immediately came with Jesus. *** Jesus took them throughout the region of Galilee teaching in the synagogs proclaiming the Good News about the Kingdom. He healed every king of disease and illness. The news spread and many came to him and were healed and delivered of demon possession. *** Lord, thank you for your promises never end. Every time we see a rainbow were are reminded that you are the same yesterday, today and forever.

Sat.’s Devo - God’s Image

Read: Genesis 5:1-7:24; Matthew 3:7-4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 1:10-19 Chapter five begins with God creating man in his own likeness then says in verse 3 that Adam had a son, Seth, after Adam’s own likeness, after his image. Mankind is born in God’s image but we also take on the image of our earthly fathers. It is our responsibility to conform ourselves back to the image of God. Romans 12:2 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. *** The average life-span before the flood was between 900 and 1,000. There were 10 generations before the flood. After the flood the life-span began dropping drastically till after 10 more generations it was around 175 (which was the age of Abraham when he died). *** Jude 14 tells us that Enoch was the seventh from Adam. His name means “dedicated”. When Enoch had Methuselah, he began to walk with God for the rest of his life. Enoch walked right off the face of the earth and didn’t experience death. If you read the Book of Enoch you will learn that God showed Enoch what was going to happen at the end of the world. The world was about to end to most of mankind in a few years. *** Methuselah’s first-born was Lamech who was the father to Noah. When Noah was born, his father said he would bring comfort concerning how hard it was to work the land that had been cursed. Noah means “rest” and yet Noah spent 100 years building the ark. He had to work to enter his rest. Noah had three sons, Shem. Ham, and Japheth. *** While Adam’s family was growing, so were other families until there were many people on the earth. The fallen angels saw the women born to man and found them beautiful and wanted to marry them. They took them and had relations with them. These women had children who were half demon - half human. In ancient books it says that the babies were so big it ripped the women’s wombs. The book of Enoch tells of how the offspring of these unions ate humans for food. These hybrid beings began to fill the earth. The fallen angels who came to mate with woman also gave mankind information of how to make weapons of mass destruction, hallucinogenic drugs from the plants, and gave them many dark secrets of the occult. *** God had to bring a stop to this corruption or mankind would have ceased to exist. Noah walked with God and his DNA had not been tainted with this demonic seed. God told Noah he was going to destroy all flesh and he was to build an ark. He told him exactly how to build it. It would save him and his family from the floodwaters that were going to come on the earth. It would destroy everything. God would establish his covenant with him, his wife, and their sons and their wives. He was to take male and female of all the animals and birds. They would come to him to be saved. He was to take seven of all the clean animals and birds. *** God was going to cause it to rain for forty days and nights and during that rain it would destroy all those living on the earth. *** On the 17th day of the second month of Noah’s 600th year, it began to rain. Noah and his family and all the animals entered the ark. The waters stayed on the earth for 150 days while all died who were not in the ark. *** In Matthew, many Pharisees came to hear John and see what he was doing. John addressed them as a brood of vipers and asked them who had warned them of the judgment to come. Then he told them how to avoid being judged. They had to repent and turn to God. If they didn’t produce good fruit they would die. He told them that just because they claimed to be children of Abraham, it didn’t mean that they were automatically saved from God’s judgment. God would even sever the roots of the trees that did not produce good fruit. *** John told them he was baptizing those who wanted to repent of their sins and be cleansed, but one was coming who would baptize with the fire of the Holy Spirit. He would separate the wheat from the chaff and the chaff would be thrown into the fire while the wheat would be stored in God’s barns. *** Jesus came to John and insisted that he baptize him to fulfill God’s requirements. When Jesus came out of the water, John saw the Spirit of God like a dove descending from heaven and settling on Jesus. He heard a voice from heaven saying “This is my beloved Son, who brings me great joy.” *** Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for 40 days and nights. He was tempted to use his power to fulfill his immediate desires, to show the world his power by doing something spectacular, and to worship the devil to gain the kingdoms of the world. *** Jesus saw through Satan’s temptations and used the Word of God to defend himself and God’s will. *** Jesus told Satan to leave and angels came and ministered to him. *** Satan’s goal has always been to erase God’s image from the face of the earth. We are God’s image-bearers and the great deterrent to Satan’s success. He will never win because this earth has been given to us, God’s people, as our inheritance. *** Lord, may we remember when we are being tempted to use the Word of God to defend ourselves and shield us from Satan’s darts. May we stand in the power of the Holy Spirit and wait for God’s deliverance. Thank you for your promises.

Fri.’s Devo - Man's Fall and God's Response

Read: Genesis 3:1-4:26; Matthew 2:13-3:6; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 1:7-9 The serpent was the shrewdest of the animals, so Satan choose to indwell him. He went to Eve and started sowing seeds to make her doubt God’s love for her. He made her think that God was withholding some great secret knowledge from her. When she explained that if she ate from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil she would die, Satan told her she wouldn’t surely die. Now, he was calling God a liar. She examined the fruit and saw that it didn’t look evil, in fact, it looked delicious. She took a bite and gave some to Adam who was right there. When nothing happened to her, he took a bite. *** The first emotion they felt was exposure. Exposure led to shame and shame led to fear. By the time God showed up they had sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves and had hidden in fear. When God questioned them about eating from the tree they started blaming anyone but themselves. Adam blamed both Eve and God because he had given her to Adam. Then Eve blamed the serpent. God didn’t ask the serpent. He cursed it and told him he would now crawl on his belly in dust. God would cause him and the woman and her offspring to be forever hostile to one another. The serpent might strike man’s head, but mankind would strike his heel. In other words, the serpent might look like he is winning in the start, but man would get the final say and win in the end. *** The woman was cursed with pain in childbirth. She would have the desire to rule her husband, but man would rule over her. God cursed man by cursing the ground. Man would have to work hard to make it bring forth food. He would die and return to the earth. *** Adam then gave Eve her name and told her she would be the mother of all who live. God sacrificed one of his animals and gave them the pelts from it to cover themselves. *** Since man now knew good and evil, God had to kick them out of Eden so they wouldn’t eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in that state. So God sent them out of Eden and placed mighty cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the entrance to Eden. *** Adam had sex with his wife and she had two sons Cain and later… Abel. Abel became a shepherd and Cain worked as a farmer. At harvest, they both brought a gift to the Lord. Abel brought the best first-born lambs of his crop. Cain gave some of his crops to the Lord. The Lord was pleased with Abel’s gift but not Cain’s. Cain felt angry and rejected. The Lord warned Cain of what would happen if he didn’t deal with his anger. He told him that sin was crouching at the door, eager to control him; he must subdue sin and be its master. Cain didn’t listen to the Lord and became a slave to sin. *** In his jealousy, he killed Abel and buried him in the field. God came to Cain and asked him where Abel was. When Cain deflected his answer, God told him that Abel’s blood was crying out from the ground. He banished Cain from the place he had buried Abel, which was probably the field he worked. He told him that he would no longer be a successful farmer but be a homeless vagabond. He put a mark on him that warned anyone who might want to kill him. They would be punished sevenfold. Cain left there and went to the land of Nod. There he and his wife began their family and it grew and spread. One of his off-spring, Lamech, killed a man who had attacked him. He made the statement that whoever killed him would be punished seventy-seven times. Shedding blood was becoming more and more costly. *** Meanwhile, Adam and Eve had another son and named him Seth which means “Substituted”. He was to take the place of Abel. Seth had a son and named him Enosh which means “mortal man.” At that time people first began to worship the Lord by name. *** In Matthew, the wise men went back east and an angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt because Herod would try to kill Jesus. God would tell them when it was safe to return. Joseph left that night for Egypt. They stayed there till the death of Herod. *** Herod was so mad when he realized the wise men were not coming to tell him where the king was. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys around Bethlehem who were two years old and younger. This was what Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 40:3. *** When Herod died, an angel told Joseph he could return home. The angel warned him not to go back to Bethlehem, so he went to a town called Nazareth. *** John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness. People from all over Judea went to hear him. He told them to repent and confess their sins and be baptized in the Jordan. Many repented and were cleansed in the water. *** Lord, thank you for the blood of Christ that makes us free from the power of sin. May we be a servant of righteousness instead. Thank you that you have redeemed us from the curse and showered us with blessings.

Thurs.’s Devo - In The Beginning

Read: Genesis 1:1-2:25; Matthew 1:1-2:12; Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 1:1-6 When God first created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and empty. Darkness and water covered the surface. God’s Spirit shook over the waters and God commanded light to shine. In everything God created he was teaching us principles. The number one principle is that he is Lord and Creator of everything. The next thing he did was to separate light from darkness and give them both names. So our next principle is that there is good and there is evil. Isaiah 45:7 says “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7) *** The third principle is that God makes a separation between good and evil. On the second day, God created sky to do this. He let the waters under the sky flow together and form dry land. Seed-bearing plants and trees grew in the soil. The fruit conformed to the seed inside them. Man was to live on the land and eat the fruit of the trees. God was explaining that whatever seed that was inside the fruit, was what the fruit would become. God sent us his seed, the Word and if we have it in us, we will grow to look like the seed planted in us. *** On the fourth day, God spoke lights into the sky to separate the day from the night. They were to shine down on earth and bring it light. The larger light was to rule the day. The lesser light was to rule the night. The sun represents God who rules our kingdom of light. I Thessalonians 5:5a calls us sons of the day and of the light. The lesser light is the moon and it is ruled by Satan. I Thessalonians 5:5b tells us that we are not of the night nor of darkness. This is the kingdom of Satan or the Kingdom of Darkness. So our fourth principle is that there are two kingdoms: the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness. *** The fifth day, God created fish to live in the waters and birds to fly in the sky. He told them to be fruitful and multiply. The birds and the fish represent spirits that soar in the heavenly places and spirits that dwell under the earth in dark places. There are good and evil spirits living in both areas. God drew us out of the sea of humanity and placed our feet on solid ground so that we could walk as children of light. *** The sixth principle has to do with what he did on the sixth day. God created animals and man. Man was created to be God’s image-bearer on the earth and was given the authority to rule over the fish, birds, animals and wild animals. He gave us all we needed to succeed: seed-bearing fruit (the Word), all the birds in the sky (the angelic host of heaven), and the small animals that scurry along the ground (meat of God’s Word). These were the things God gave man to eat and sustain life. Then God’s seventh principle was rest. This is probably our hardest one to understand and submit ourselves to. We must learn to rest in God’s promises that we know are true, even when they haven’t manifested yet. *** God watered the earth from springs in the ground. He made man from the dust of the earth and created his breath of life into him. He planted him in the garden of Eden and told him to take care of it. There were two specific trees in the garden that God made reference to. One was the Tree of Life. They were able to eat its fruits and the fruits of all the other trees except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were told it they at its fruit they would die. *** God then told Adam to name the animals. As he did this he realized each of them had a counterpart - a mate - except him. When Adam realized this, God put him to sleep and took a rib out of his side and created woman with it. The whole plan of God was to create the world to find a bride for his son, Jesus. He showed us this in the story of Adam and Eve. *** In Matthew, we have the lineage of Joseph, Mary’s husband and Jesus father on the earth. His line was full of patriarchs, prostitutes, kings, and sinners. It included three sets of generations: Abraham to David, David to the Babylonian exile, and the Babylonian exile to the Messiah. *** God sent an angel to Mary, the woman chosen to bear God’s son. She was engage to Joseph, but they weren’t married yet. Mary became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. When Joseph found out she was pregnant it took a dream and the Word of Isaiah 7:14 to convince him to marry her. When she bore her baby, Joseph named him Jesus, like the angel had directed him. *** Wise men from the east came to Herod to ask where the newborn king was because they had seen his star in the sky. Herod found out through written prophecy that the king was to be born in Bethlehem and told the wise men to come and tell him when they found the king. The wise men did find Jesus and gave Mary and Joseph gives of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They were warned in a dream not to tell Herod and went home a different way. *** From the very beginning, God had to hide his plan from Satan and preserve the promise to the world. God is still at work behind the scenes dispelling the works of the enemy to bring forth his promises on the earth. *** Lord, thank you for your principles that never change. Thank you that you are the same and your power never diminishes and you are always Good.

Wed.’s Devo - The Beginning and the End -

Read: Malachi 3:1-4:6; Revelation 22:1-21; Psalm 150:1-6; Proverbs 31:25-31 Malachi proclaimed the coming of the Messiah to earth. He spoke of John the Baptist who would come and call the nation to repentance and tell the people to prepare their hearts to receive the Lord. John would speak against the evil of his day and call out deceivers and sinners. *** Malachi answered every question they would have. They had turned away by not obeying his laws. They had cheated God by not giving their tithes and offerings to him. They had complained that there was nothing to gain by serving the Lord because they saw no consequences for sin. He reminded them of God’s scroll of Remembrance that recorded the names of all who feared him and honored his name. The names in that scroll would be the ones who would be spared in judgement and be his special treasure. *** The day of judgment was coming and the arrogance and wicked would be burned up. Those who feared his name would go free, leaping with joy. They will tread upon the wicked. *** Malachi reminded them to remember the law that Moses gave them on Mt. Sinai. God would send his prophet Elijah (John the Baptist) who would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and vice versa. If they don’t turn, they will be struck with a curse. *** In Revelation, the angel showed John the same river flowing through the Temple that the angel showed Ezekiel. The river had trees on both sides whose leaves had healing in them. They were used as medicine to bring healing to the people of all nations. There was no more curse in the land because God and the Lamb will be there. The people will see them and bear their name on their forehead. God and the Lamb will be the light. *** The angel made it clear that all this would happen an it would happen soon. He would’t let John seal this part of the scroll because it was so imminent. He also told him to let everyone continue to live their lives as they determined to do, but the Lord was coming soon and bringing rewards for everyone’s deeds. *** Those who repent and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse their lives will be blessed and allowed into God’s holy city. They will enjoy the fruit from the Tree of Life. Those who lived in wickedness and refused to repent would be allowed to live outside the city because they loved to live a lie. *** Jesus told John that he had sent the angel to give this message to the churches. Jesus created David and is also the heir to his throne. He is the bright and morning star. *** Jesus blessed anyone who hears this prophecy and believes it. He also cursed anyone who tries to twist or add to this prophesy. Their names will be taken out of the Book of Life. He proclaimed that He is coming soon. *** Lord, may the grace of the Lord Jesus be with your people. May we faithfully wait for you to come and serve you with loving hearts and good deeds. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.