Sun’s Devo - Deliverance!

Read: Exodus 12:14-13:16; Matthew 20:29-21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 6:12-15 The regulations of the Passover were given. We can learn so much about our daily lives by looking into this feast. Passover is the festival that signifies our salvation - the day we come to the cross and acknowledge what Jesus did for us and that he is the Lord of our lives. We then become a new creature. The seven days of this feast represent the days of our lives. During those days we are constantly getting the yeast out of our lives - the sinful habits and past pitfalls. We spend our time, not in labor but in rest. The only thing we busy ourself with is preparation of food - feeding our spiritual man. We go about our daily lives living but not striving. We walk by faith filled with the Spirit of God. That is our focus and goal. It was the father of the house who went out and got the lamb just as it was our heavenly Father who provided the sacrifice of his own son. God gave Jesus freely to us out of love and Jesus laid down his life for us freely out of love. The people of Israel were to practice this every year on the 15th of Nisan as a rehearsal. One day thousands of years later it would be the grand finale and they should have recognized it. The night of the Passover, the death angel passed over the land and struck down the first born of every household who didn’t have the blood on their doorpost. One day, that same death angel will pass over the earth and everyone who isn’t born of God will be reaped for eternal judgment. The children plundered Egypt of their wealth and left Rameses and started for Succoth. Ramses means “evil is the standard-bearer”. God was taking them from that to Succoth which means “booths.” Booths were the structures that the people were to live in during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was to show that God had a place for them not on this earth - this is our temporary dwelling place. Our home is in heaven. Our bodies are our temporary temple but our real spiritual bodies are awaiting us. God told them that this feast was to be a mark on their foreheads and their hand that we are his. Satan mimics this mark with his mark in the end. He doesn’ts have an original thought! There were over one million people who left Egypt. They had been in Egypt for 430 years to the day. What an encouragement to where we are today. God is going to bring us through this and out the other side and it will be his hand of power and deliverance. In Matthew, we have the last things that Jesus did. He opened the eyes of the blind and healed the lame. He cleansed the temple and he defended the children who praised him as the Messiah. Then he cursed the fig tree because it was not ready for his coming. The fig tree was the nation of Israel. Jesus is still opening our spiritual eyes, healing our daily walk and defending those who have childlike faith and know him as their Messiah. He still curses the Jews who have rejected him but one day their eyes will be opened and he will do the same for them. Lord, we thank you that this nation is your nation called by your name and trusting in you. Thank you that our hope is not in a man but in You who alone can save us and deliver us from the evil one.

Sat.’s Devo The Passover

Read: Exodus 10:1-12:13; Matthew 20:1-28; Psalm 25:1-15; Proverbs 6:6-11 God gave his reason for all the plagues and why he had made so Pharaoh stubborn that he wasn’t letting them go. God was waging war on the gods of Egypt and displaying His miraculous signs to his children. They were to tell their children how God made a mockery of the Egyptians so that they would know that He is God. God sent his eighth plague which was locusts to devour what was left of their crops after the hail. I find it funny that the Egyptian leaders asked the Pharaoh how long he was going to let Moses hold them hostage. It was Pharaoh who was holding Moses hostage! God was definitely flipping their script. After the locusts came the darkness to show them that they had become totally blinded to truth. Of course, the Israelites had light because they were walking in God’s light. It was now time for God to lead his people out of Egypt so He told Moses to ask their neighbors for their gold and silver. He told Moses he was going to pass through the heart of Egypt at midnight and kill all the firstborn sons of every family in Egypt and their livestock. God told Moses that from now on, this month would be the first month of the year for them. It was the seventh month on their calendar which is why they go by two calendars. One is the civil calendar and the other is their religious calendar. God was giving them a new birthday just like he gives us one when we are born again. God gave them a token of salvation through the passover he instituted this night. They were to kill a lamb at twilight and take the blood from it and smear it on their door on the two sides and above the door. Then they were to go into the house and cook and eat the lamb. This is a picture of the cross and the places that Jesus shed his blood - his hands and his head where they put the crown of thorns. They were to eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. These pointed to the fact that Jesus wasn’t risen yet and that his death would be bitter. That night, when the death angel passed over, it would see the blood and pass over. What a picture of eternity for the believer. Death has no hold on us. In Matthew, Jesus told the parable about the landowner who hired workers in his vineyard. He hired people at different times of the day but offered the same pay. At the end of the day everyone got the same pay no matter how long they worked and the ones who had worked all day complained. Jesus told this parable to keep us from comparing our suffering to others and our service to others. God has promised eternal life to all who believed that Jesus came in the flesh, died and rose again. The amount of service we do is not our business. Jesus told his disciples exactly what was about to take place. When they got to Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders would arrest him, turn him over to the Romans where they would crucify him but on the third day he would rise from the dead. The mother of James and John asked Jesus if her sons could sit on either side of him when he came to his kingdom. Jesus explained that she was asking a very hard thing. The people who sat at those places would have to drink the same cup of suffering that he did. Also, God was the one who had already chosen who would sit in those places. The way to be exalted in the Kingdom of God was to lay down his life here on earth. Jesus then modeled it for us. Lord, may we celebrate our new birth with gratefulness and joy. May we also be willing to drink the cup that you drank and give up our life for your kingdom.

Fri.’s Devo -The Plagues

Read Exodus 8:1-9:35; Matthew 19:13-30; Psalm 24:1-10; Provers 6:1-5 Yesterday we read about the first plague of the Nile turning to blood and today we read the next six. The next two plagues were frogs that caused the land to stink, and gnats that looked like dust. When the dust turned to gnats, their magicians couldn’t copy it. They proclaimed that it was the “finger of God.” The gnats were also the plague where God made a distinction between the two lands. The gnats did not come to Goshen nor did any of the other plagues from that time till the last one. The fourth plague was flies and the Pharaoh almost allowed them to go and sacrifice. He changed his mind as before and forbid them to leave. The fifth plague was sickness that killed their livestock. There was no confrontation with the Pharaoh, the next plague just came. God told Moses to take soot from the fire and toss it into the air. It became an airborne virus that caused boils to break out on the people and the animals. Moses gave Pharaoh the opportunity to change his mind or a hailstorm would come and devastate the people, the harvest and the animals. Pharaoh refused to budge. Some of the Egyptians hid their animals in shelter because they feared the Lord. All the flax and barley was ruined but the wheat was spared. Pharaoh summoned for Moses and spoke words of repentance. He told Moses to please beg the Lord to end the thunder and hail. When Moses did, Pharaoh still refused to let them go. In Matthew, the parents were bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus. The disciples scolded the parents for bothering Jesus. Jesus rebuked the disciples and told them not to stop the children from coming because the Kingdom of Heaven belonged to them and those who would be like children. A man came to Jesus to ask him what good thing could he do to have eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. When the man said he did all of that, Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and come and follow Him. The man couldn’t because he was very rich. What Jesus was really saying was that for anyone to enter the Kingdom he had to give up everything. It wasn’t his things God wanted, it was his heart. This man’s heart was owned by the world. God has thrones prepared for those who give up everything. The least in the world will become the greatest of God’s kingdom. Lord, may our hearts be totally yours.

Thurs.’s Devo - Yahweh - The Eternal God

Read: Exodus 5:22-7:25; Matthew 18:21-19:12; Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 5:22-23 When Moses left Pharaoh’s palace he went to the Lord and had some complaints. He thought God had told him to go and deliver the people, not go and make them hate him and make their lives worse. God corrected Moses and told him that he would now see what He would do to Pharaoh. When he got through, Pharaoh would be throwing them out. God had revealed his name of El-Shaddai, God Almighty to Abraham, but he was now revealing his name as Yahweh which means Jehovah, the Eternal God. He wanted Moses to know that the covenant he made with Abraham was just as fresh now as it was when he made it. He told Moses all the things he was going to do for them. Moses went to the people and told them all of God’s promises, but they wouldn’t listen to him this time. God told Moses to go tell Pharaoh again to let the people go. Moses argued that the people wouldn’t listen, so why would Pharaoh. Then we have the tribes of Israel down to Levi where it stops. Why? I have studied the names of the children of Israel and they are the timeline. Rueben, the first-born has to do with Adam in the garden. His name means “see a son.” His son’s names mean “initiates, distinguished, court-yard gardener.” That describes Adam. The second son was Simeon which means “hearing” which Abraham was the first to hear the voice of God and obey. His sons names mean “the day of God, the right hand will be united and established in the holiness they asked for.” God called Abraham out of idolatry to be his holy family set apart for the world to see. The third son was Levi which means “attached or joined”. God was going to use this family to join heaven and earth in government and worship. Levi had three sons which describe the three types of people who came out of Egypt. Gershon means “refugee”. His sons names mean “white, famous.” The second group was Kohath’s (to ally oneself) sons which mean “high people, oil, seat of association, strength of God.” The third group came from Merari meaning “bitter”. These people were characterized by his sons whose names mean “sick and sensitive”. So these were the people Moses was dealing with. The list stops here because that was where they were in history. God told Moses exactly what was going to happen, what he was to do and what God would do. The Pharaoh would ask for a miracle just like the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign. Pharoah’s heart would be as stubborn as the Pharisees would be. Moses left them with blood to drink for seven days. Keep in mind, these people were seeds of Satan that drank blood regularly in their sacrifices but now they are innovated with this, making them sick. It is a “flip the script” on them. In Matthew, Peter came to Jesus asking how many times he had to forgive someone. He wanted a number, but Jesus’ answer told him how he should forgive. Seven times seventy means completely and thoroughly. Then Jesus gave them a parable. God is the king who has forgiven us of all our sins we did against Him, shouldn’t we forgive others of one, or a few? The Pharisees came to Jesus to ask him about divorce. He told them that in the law of Moses, God allowed for divorce as a concession to their hard hearts. It was never the woman who could decide this. If a man was unsatisfied with his wife he could divorce her. It was on him to write out a document stating the reason and how he was going to provide for her apart from him. In the New Testament, they were just throwing the woman out with no legal writ of divorcement. She was not legally divorced so if she chose to remarry, she would be committing adultery and so would he. Jesus summed it up: if you are going to have this kind of heart then it would be better if you would not marry. Lord, may we remember our covenant of salvation that you have given us and remember that your covenant is an everlasting one. You are faithful!

Wed.’s Devo - Your Kingdom Come!

Read: Exodus 4:1-5:21; Matthew 18:1-20; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21 God had just given Moses his commission to go back to Egypt and lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses had to remember his last confrontation with his people. They had thrown him under the bus and they were the reason he had to flee. If they didn’t respect him as the second in command of Egypt, why would they listen to him now that he was a nobody? He gave God all kinds of excuses and God gave him all kinds of powerful tools. God gave Moses a staff that could turn into a snake when it hit the ground. He gave him the power to produce and heal leprosy on his hand, then he gave him the power to turn the water of the Nile into blood on the ground. Moses still complained about his speech impairments. God told him He would give him his words. When Moses still wanted God to send someone else, God became angry and gave him Aaron to speak for him. God finally won the argument. Moses returned to his father-in-laws and told him he wanted to return to his relatives in Egypt. Jethro gave him his blessing so Moses and his sons headed back to Egypt on a donkey. God spoke to him and told him that when he got home, he would do all the miracles that he had given him to do but the Pharaoh would refuse to let him go. Then God would kill his first born son. That is interesting because, God then confronted Moses and was about to kill Moses. Zipporah his wife, quickly circumcised their firstborn son. She made the statement, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” The Lord left Moses alone. So what was that all about? I can only guess that the circumcism of their son had been a bone of contention between them and God let them know that it was serious. Zipporah realized, either she obey what God had told them to do or she would lose her husband. If they were going to eventually kill the Pharoah’s first born son, their own son needed to be covered by blood himself. Moses met with Aaron first and then the elders of Israel. They were glad that God had heard their cries and they accepted Moses as their deliverer till it demanded of them a test. When Moses went to Pharaoh and presented his request to him, he was not so receptive. Moses explained that they just wanted to go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord. If the didn’t, he would kill them with a plague or with the sword. Not only did Pharaoh say, no, he ordered the slave drivers to stop supplying them with straw to make their bricks. They had to provide their own straw and still make their daily quota of bricks. The Israelite foremen went to the Pharaoh to beg for mercy for their workers but the Pharaoh accused them of being lazy. As they were leaving the palace, they ran into Moses and Aaron. They blamed them for all the hardship they had caused on the people. Obeying God is not the easy road. It is always met with opposition from people and the devil. But, endurance and obedience always reap the greatest harvest in the end. In Matthew, Jesus was asked who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. He brought a little child and stood him in front of them. He told them that the one with the innocence of a little child was the one who was the greatest. To honor that innocence was to honor him. To cause a weak Christian to sin would be like tying a mill stone around his neck and drowning in the depths of the sea. The world that tempts people to sin is headed for much sorrow in the end. Then Jesus explained how to handle problems with fellow Christians. If they sin against you, you are to go privately. If that was unsuccessful, then you were to take another with you. If he refused to listen to you, then you were to take your case to the church and let them make a decision. If that decision was not received by the person, they were to be considered a pagan. Whatever you allow on earth, will be allowed in heaven and whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven. This is a statement worth contemplating! Lord, help us to stop tolerating the evil in this world. We have all heaven backing us up so we come against the evil lies, deception and murder in our nation and declare your kingdom come in America. May your Kingdom spread to the ends of the earth.

Tues.’s Devo - Moses’ Commission

Read: Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14 Moses grew up. One day he went to see his Hebrew people and saw how they were being oppressed. He witnessed an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew and when no one was looking, he killed them Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. He came back the next day and tried to settle an argument between two Hebrews. They asked him if he was going to kill them like he had killed the Egyptian the day before. Moses realized that his secret was out and would surely reach the palace. He had to flee for his life to the land of Midian. When he arrived in Midian he went and sat beside a well. The priest of Midian had seven daughters who came to draw water from the well. Moses defended them against the other shepherds and helped them water their flocks. Their father found out what Moses had done and sent for him. To thank him, he gave Moses his daughter, Zipporah to be his wife. She bore him a son named Gershom. Gershom means “a desperate stranger” which was how he felt. Meanwhile, the Pharaoh died and the children of Israel cried out to God because of their slavery and bondage. God heard their cries and spoke to Moses out of a burning bush that refused to burn up. He told him that the ground he was standing on was holy and that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had seen the affliction of his people in Egypt and had come down to save them and bring them to a new land of milk and honey. It was the land that was now occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. God wanted Moses to go back to Egypt to bring them out and serve Him on the very mountain he was standing on. Moses asked God what his name was so he could tell the people who had sent him. God said that his name was I AM THAT I AM. Moses was to gather all of their leaders together and and tell them all of this. Together, they were to go to the king of Egypt and tell him that their God had spoken to them and had instructed them to travel three days out of Egypt to sacrifice to their God. God told Moses that the king would not let them go so He would stretch out his hand and smite Egypt with his wonders and then he would let them go. When they left, they were to borrow their neighbors jewels of silver, gold and clothing. They were to put these things on their sons and daughters and spoil Egypt. We have read this a hundred times so it is just a story to us, but can you imagine how that strategy must have sounded to Moses? Crazy! In Matthew, the disciples questions the prophecy about Elijah coming to earth before the Messiah would come. What they were really saying was…if you are the Messiah, where is Elijah? Jesus explained that Elijah’s spirit came in John the Baptist. A man came to Jesus and knelt at his feet begging Jesus to deliver his son from demons. The disciples had tried to but couldn’t. Jesus cast out the demon and the boy was healed. When the disciples asked him why they couldn’t do it, Jesus replied that they didn’t have faith. All it takes is a little faith to do something incredibly big. Jesus was saying this so they would remember that when he was gone. Next, we have the bit about the tax. Jesus was trying to teach Peter a much deeper meaning. Because we are a citizen of earth, we have to obey its laws so we don’t offend the name of Christ, but we are really citizen’s of heaven where everything is free. Jesus proved this by letting Peter get the tax from the mouth of the fish - it cost him nothing. Lord, help us to live on this earth with our mindset in heaven. May we walk in faith and do the works of Christ.

Mon.’s Devo - God’s Deliverer!

Read: Genesis 50:1-Exodus 2:10; Matthew 16:13-17:9; Psalm 21:1-13; Proverbs 5:1-6 Jacob died and Joseph mourned greatly. They embalmed his body which took 40 days and the Egyptians mourned an extra 30. Joseph asked the Pharaoh if he might honor his father’s request and take his body to Canaan to bury him in the land of his ancestor’s Abraham, Isaac, Leah and Sarah. Pharaoh allowed him to go. Joseph went with his brothers and many Egyptians. He returned and ruled in Egypt. His brothers were afraid that now that their dad was gone, Joseph would seek retaliation for all they did to him. Joseph assured them that this had been the plan of God the whole time in order to prepare a place for them of safety and life. Joseph later died at the age of 110 completely living out his destiny. Over the years their family of 70 grew into a multitude of prosperous and powerful people. A new king came to power who hadn’t known Joseph and what he had done for his nation. All he could see is that the number of Hebrews was quickly overpopulating his world and he was intimidated and scared they might usurp his kingdom. So, he set out too depopulated them. He told the midwives to kill all the boy babies. The midwives could not do it and lied to the king saying the Hebrew women were so healthy they had their babies before they could get to them. Next, the Pharaoh told his soldiers to go to every Hebrew house and take all the baby boys under the age of 2 and throw them into the Nile River. So sad! Around this time, a husband and wife from the tribe of Levi had a son. The mother knew there was something very special about this son and tried to hide the baby from the Egyptian gestapo. When it became too dangerous, she took a basket and filled the holes with pitch making a waterproof boat and put the baby in it. His sister watched from the reeds to see what would happen to him. The Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe that day and saw the basket. She had her maid fetch it for her and when she saw the baby and he cried, she fell in love with him and wanted to keep him. She told her maids to go find a Hebrew mother to nurse it for her and Miriam popped out of the reeds and offered her mother. The princess was delighted and told her she would pay her to nurse him. She named him Moses because she drew him out of the water. So, the faith of Moses’ mother was honored and she was allowed to nurse and raise her own son until he was weaned. He would one day return to save the life of her posterity. In Matthew, Jesus asked his disciples who everyone was saying that he was. The reply was that some of them thought he was either John the Baptist, Elijah or Jeremiah resurrected. Then he asked them who they thought he was. Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commended him and told him that his truth came from God’s spirit. He reminded him that his name meant “Rock” because what he said was truth. Upon the truth that he just said, Jesus would build his kingdom and what the people of his kingdom allow on earth would be allowed in heaven and what they forbade on earth would be forbidden in heaven. We forbid lies, corruption, murder, abuse, and treason on this earth! Jesus then warned them not to tell people that he was the Messiah. From that moment, Jesus was able to teach them plainly the plan of what was about to happen because their eyes had been opened to who he was. Peter took him aside and wanted him to retract his statements but Jesus rebuked him and told Satan to get away from him. He recognized the trap Satan was trying to set through Peter’s words even though Peter had no idea what was going on. Jesus told them that the way to life was through death. Six days later, Jesus took them up on the mountain and showed them his glory as he spoke to Moses and Elijah about what was soon to take place. Peter, wanted to make a tabernacle to honor each of them. God spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” How human it is to honor men and want to build statutes to men. I pray that we not rebuild our statutes in America that have been torn down and burned. Maybe the enemy was doing us a favor. All God wants is for us to honor Him. Lord, may we learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. You are the one who is going to save our nation and the nations of the world, not any man. Thank you that you use your people to do your purposes and we pray your anointing upon all of our leaders, but may we never forget the God behind them and your power to save!

Sun.’s Devo - Jacob’s Blessings

Read: Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29-16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20:27 Joseph got news that his father, Jacob would soon pass into death so he took his two sons so Jacob could bless them. Jacob adopted the two boys as his own inheritance and went to bless them. Joseph had strategically placed them where Jacob would put his right hand on the first born and left hand on Ephraim. But, almost-blind Jacob was moved by God’s spirit to cross his arms and place his right hand on Ephraim’s head and his left hand on Manasseh’s making the sign of the cross. When Joseph went to change it, Jacob explained that even though Manasseh was the oldest, it would be Ephraim who would become greater and become a multitude of nations. Ephraim means “double fruitful.” Manasseh means “causing to forget.” God will cause us to forget the pain and shame of our sin and make us doubly fruitful in his kingdom. Jacob called all his children in and gave them prophecies according to their character and name. Some of these blessings don’t sound much like blessings but they all described the destiny of their descendants. Jacob then instructed them to bury his bones in the field that Abraham, Sarah, Rebekah and Leah were buried because he wanted to spend his time in Sheol in their company. In Matthew, Jesus was teaching the Gentiles and healing them of all their diseases. When they got hungry he also fed them with the miraculous multiplication of fish and bread. Seven baskets were taken up of left overs as opposed to the 12 that were taken up with the Jewish crowd. Twelve means government and the Jews were all about the law and God’s government here on earth. Seven is the number of completeness and the Gentiles would bring in the fulfillment of the law. The Pharisees came to Jesus asking for a sign to prove he was from God. Jesus did signs to prove he was from God every day! Jesus had to be frustrated with that question. He told them that they could discern the weather by looking at the sky but could not discern what God brought from the skies. He told them their sign would be the sign of the prophet Jonah. They went away pondering this, I’m sure. Jesus turned to his disciples and warned them of the yeast - the false teachings of the Pharisees. Our Psalm is perfect for the times we are living in. Lord, thank you that you give us our hearts desires and your plans succeed. We are shouting for joy at your victory!

Fri.’s Devo - The Great Reveal

Read: Genesis 44: 1-45:28; Matthew 14:13-36; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 4:11-13 Yesterday, our Psalm said, “To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.” Today, God is shrewdly giving Joseph’s brothers a chance to show themselves pure. Joseph instructs his servants to put the silver back into their bags and to plant his silver cup in Benjamin’s. This was their ultimate test. Before their bags were searched they promised that the person’s bag they found the cup in would die and they would be Joseph’s servants. That is how convinced they were of their innocence. When the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack, they tore their clothes in despair and returned to the city to be Joseph’s slave and watch their brother Benjamin killed. Instead, they were met by Joseph who fell to the ground before them, wanting to know how they could have done something like this to him. (Joseph was a good actor.) Judah answered Joseph and told him that they had all returned to be his slave. Joseph disagreed and said he would only take Benjamin. Judah explained that Benjamin was their father’s life and it would kill him if Benjamin didn’t return. Judah offered to stay in his place. This was the repentance Joseph was looking for and he couldn’t hide his true identity any longer. He revealed himself to them and the reason God had sent him to Egypt. He was the preservation of their family. The famine would last another five years so God had sent him ahead of them to sustain them during this time. Joseph sent them back to get their father and bring him to Egypt. There was a piece of land called Goshen where they could farm and live during the famine. Joseph hugged and wept over each of his brothers and especially Benjamin. When the Pharaoh found out, he was elated and gave them instructions to bring their father and they would be given the best land in Egypt and eat from the best that the land produced. He sent them back to the father with wagons of Egypt’s finest products along with the grain they had come to buy. When they told their father that Joseph was alive and the governor of Egypt, he couldn’t believe them until he saw all the gifts and supplies he sent. In Matthew, Jesus was compelled by the crowd to minister to them. He stepped into a boat where he taught and healed them. When it was late and the people were hungry, his disciples came to him and told him to send everyone home because they needed to eat. Jesus told the disciples to feed them. !!! They explained that they only had five loaves and two fish. Jesus told them to bring it to him. He blessed the food and broke it. Then he gave it to the disciples and they broke it and gave it to the disciples who gave it to the people. There was enough for the over 5,000 people with 12 baskets left over. After supper, Jesus insisted that the disciples leave him there and go to the other side of the lake. Jesus went on the mountain and prayed while they got in their boat and soon found themselves in the middle of a storm. They were on their way to the same place that they had fought the storm before. This time, Jesus came walking on the water. At first, the disciples thought it was a ghost but Jesus assured him it was him. Peter was so pumped, he wanted to do what Jesus was doing and Jesus told him to come. He was doing it until he let the fear of the waves get to him. He sunk. Jesus rescued him and they both got in the boat. When they reached the other side where the demoniac had been saved. He had evangelized the whole area and they were glad to have Jesus return. Amazing, how perspectives change when you see results. Lord, blessed are those who believe who have never seen. Help us to walk in faith and not forget the things the Lord has done for us.

Thurs.’s Deo - Destiny

Read: Genesis 42:18-43:34; Matthew 13:47-14:12; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 4:7-10 Joseph wanted to try his brothers to see if they had changed or if they were the same selfish men they were when he was with them. He told them to select one of them to stay there while the rest went and got their other brother. When Joseph saw Benjamin, he would believe they were not spies and set them all free and they would be able to trade with him. They agreed, but Joseph did the picking. He picked Simeon to stay. The others went home to tell their father the bad news. They found the gold they had given Joseph in their bags and were even more concerned. Jacob refused to let Benjamin return immediately. After the famine wiped out most of the grain he had to send them back. Jacob finally agreed and off they went with Benjamin. Joseph was overcome with emotion when he saw Benjamin and told his slaves to bring them to his house to eat. They feared they were being brought to his house to be his slaves and started confessing about the money they had found in their bags. Joseph’s manager told them not to worry about that. They were brought in and greeted by Joseph. He didn’t get very far into his conversation before he had to excuse himself and go and cry. He came back out and seated them according to their birth order which would be how they sat at every meal. The brothers were astonished. Joseph fed them from his table and gave Benjamin five times as much. What a picture of Jesus who is veiled from the Jewish nation right now but will come back and reveal himself to the Jews and they will see him for who he is now - the King of kings and Lord of all lords. In Matthew, Jesus continued explaining his parables to his disciples. He taught them that when a teacher of the religious law became one of his believers they would have a wealth of truth to share because they would understand the law in a whole new light. Jesus went back to his hometown in Nazareth and taught in the synagogue. At first the people were amazed at his wisdom and power to do miracles but then they scoffed because they knew Jesus’ parents and that he was just an ordinary man. Jesus told them that a prophet was never honored in his own hometown and could do little miracles because of their unbelief. Herod had married his brother’s wife, Herodias and John the Baptist had condemned him for doing it. Herodias was out to put John to death for it and found her chance at Herod’s birthday party. She set him up and it worked. John was beheaded but his body was buried. Both of these stories have to do with God’s chosen men being misunderstood by the people who knew them before they were exalted to their destiny. It was hard for them to allow them to rise to honor because of their unbelief, jealousy, insecurity, etc. What a lesson to us. When God wants to elevate a person it is for His glory and we should support them and choose to see them through God’s perspective and not ours. Lord, help us to be pure to the pure and shrewd to the crooked. Thank you for your great plan for our nation.

Wed’s Devo - Dreams Fulfilled

Read: Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 4:1-6 Pharaoh told Joseph his dream of the seven healthy cows being eaten by the seven weak cows and his second dream about the seven full heads of grain eaten by the seven blighted heads of grain. Joseph made sure the king knew that God gives interpretations to dreams. Then he told him the interpretation of his dreams. The seven healthy cows and healthy wheat represented seven prosperous years while the next group represented the seven years of blight. He had the dream twice to show that it was happening soon. Joseph counseled the king to get an intelligent and wise man to administrate gathering in one-fifth of the nations harvests during the good years and store it away for the lean years. The king was so impressed with Joseph’s wisdom that he put him in charge of this great project. He put Joseph in charge of his whole land of Egypt and gave hi his signet ring to use as he needed. He dressed him in fine linen and hung a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command and gave him a new Egyptian name that means “God speaks and lives.” During the good years, Daniel married Asenath and had two sons. He named the first one Manasseh, meaning “causing to forget” and the second son Ephraim, meaning “double fruit.” God had caused Joseph to forget the pain of his past and had blessed him doubly. Joseph continued to store up grain until the end of the good seven years. Then the seven years of famine began. The people came and bought grain from the abundance Joseph had stored up. Canaan was also having a famine so Jacob send his sons, except Benjamin, to Egypt to buy grain. They arrived and bowed down to Joseph unknowingly. He recognized them but pretended not to. He gruffly asked them where they were from and why they had come. They answered and Joseph was reminded of his dreams which were now coming true. Joseph accused them of being spies so they would spill the beans about their life. He then gave them a test to prove that they were not spies. They would have to stay in prison till they brought the other son to prove that what they had told him was true. He really just wanted to have them all there. They remained in prison for three days. In Matthew, Jesus told them another parable. He built on the other parable. Weeds were sown among the seed during the night and when the crop came up it had grain and weeds. The owner of the field told his workers to let them grow together and when they are harvested he would separate the wheat out. Jesus explained that the good seed were the children of God and the bad seed was the children of Satan. They would grow together on the earth but in the end they would be separated. The next two parables were the same. The mustard seed and the yeast were small grains that would grow and produce great things. That is what the Kingdom of Heaven was like. Jesus was the small grain that went into the earth and died so that he could produce much fruit. The last two parables had to do with the Jew and the Gentile. The Jew was the treasure in the field and the Gentile was the pearl. God gave everything he had to purchase them for himself. Lord, thank you that your love for us is so great that you would give your only son for us. May we carry your kingdom throughout the earth and bring you a harvest.

Tues.’s Devo - Joseph’s Faithfulness

Read: Genesis 39:1-41:16; Matthew 12:46-13:23; Psalm 17:1-15; Proverbs 3:33-35 While Joseph was at Potiphar’s house, he was excellent in all he did and brought much success to his boss. Potiphar raised him to be in charge of his whole household while he was away. There was peace among the workers and God blessed everything Potiphar had for Joseph’s sake. Satan also noticed Joseph and tried to ruin him. He put lustful thoughts in to Potiphar’s wife’s ear and she tried to seduce him. Joseph ran from her and escaped every time till one day she was able to catch is sleeve. Joseph just let her have his cloak and ran out of the house. When Potiphar’s wife realized she couldn’t have Joseph, she set out to discredit him. She accused him of trying to take advantage of her. When she told her husband, he was so furious, he threw Joseph in the jail he oversaw in the king’s palace. There, God made him a favorite once again and the warden put him in charge of all the other prisoners and everything that happened in the prison. After a while, the king’s cup-bearer and baker offended the king. The king must have thought one of them was trying to poison him. They were the only ones handing him food and drink. So they were both thrown into prison pending investigation. They both dreamed on the same night and told Joseph their dreams. Joseph told him that God had the interpretation of dreams but was able to interpret both of them. The bake was guilty and would be hung in three days. The cup-bearer was innocent and would return to his job in three days. Joseph asked the cup-bearer to remember him to the king when he got out because he was in prison on a charge he was not guilty of. In three days, it happened just as Joseph had said, but the cup-bearer forgot Joseph. God had another plan, but it would not manifest for another two years. At just the right time, Pharaoh had two dreams that he knew were significant. He looked for someone to interpret them. That is when the cup-bearer remembered Joseph and told the king about him. The king immediately sent for Joseph. Joseph shaved and changed his clothes. He wanted to look like an Egyptian so the king could relate to him and receive him. In Matthew, Jesus established that he had no favorites; those who obeyed him were his brothers, his sisters and his mother. Then he told the parable that all the parables would hang on. His disciples asked him why he always used parables to teach and he explained that what he was teaching was only for the remnant to understand and it wasn’t for those who could not receive it. He had told the crowd a parable about seeds and soil. He explained the parable to his disciples. The seed is the Word of God and the soil is hearts of people. The condition of the soil constituted how it would be able to receive the seed. If the heart was good soil, the Word would be understood and obeyed producing a harvest of up to a hundred fold. Lord, may your Word produce a hundredfold harvest in our hearts and may we share our harvest with the world.

Mon.’s Devo - Tamar’s Story -1-18-21

Read: Genesis 37:1-38:30; Matthew 12:22-45; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 3:27-32 Jacob dwelt in the promised land of Canaan where Abraham had only been allowed to walk and claim for his posterity. Isaac was the picture of Jesus that linked Abraham to Jacob. Because of Isaac, Jacob was able to multiply and dwell in the land. Joseph was now 17 and watched the flocks for his father’s flocks but worked under his half brothers. Joseph would tell his father the bad things they did which made them really upset with him. Jacob loved Joseph the most, probably because he reminded him of Rachel. He had a special robe made for Joseph. This made his brothers hate him even more. One night Joseph dreamed that he and his brothers were out in the field tying up their sheaves. Their sheaves bowed down to his. They interpreted the dream to say that they would one day bow down to him. This did not help their jealous relationship. Then he dreamed again that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed to him. Joseph told this dream to his father and he knew it meant that he and his mother would bow to him. (Strange, since Racel was dead.) They believed in life after death. His brothers were jealous of his dreams but his father pondered them. Later, his father sent Joseph to Shechem to help his brothers with the sheep. When they saw him coming, they plotted his death. They would assure his dreams didn’t manifest. They didn’t realize you can’t stop what God has planned. He found them in Dothan. They surrounded him and threw him into a dried up well. Rueben planned to come and take him out, but while he was away, they sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver to a caravan of Ishmaelites. They took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the place guard. Meanwhile, Joseph’s brothers took Joseph’s robe and dipped it in the blood of animals and took it to their father lying that they had found it. He assumed some wild animal had killed him. Jacob was grieved beyond comforting. Judah left home alone and moved to Adullam where he stayed with a man named Hirah. He married his daughter, Shua. They had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah picked a wife for Er named Tamar. Er was so wicked that God killed him. Judah made Onan marry Tamar to have a child that would be accounted as Er’s. Onan didn’t want to have a child for Er, so God killed him also. Judah promised Tamar that when Shelah was old enough, he would give him to her. He sent her home to wait. Judah’s wife, Shua died. Judah went with Tamar’s father to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep. Tamar found out and plotted a plan. She realized that Shelah was old enough to marry her and he had not been given her as promised. She desperately wanted a baby to carry on a future for herself. She dressed like a harlot and set up a booth along the way that Judah would take. She seduced him to come in and lay with her. He had no money so she asked for his staff, his signant ring and his cord that held the ring. She would return them to him when he brought her a young. He agreed. Judah sent Tamar’s father to find her and give her the goat, but when no one could tell him anything about a prostitute, he went back empty-handed. She became pregnant and went home and lived as usual. Word got to Judah that she was pregnant and he wanted to have her stoned. She sent him the things he had given her and said that the owner of these things was also the owner the seed she was carrying. Judah realized that she had found a way to get what he had promised her but was withholding. He was realized she was more righteous than he was. Tamar was carrying twins. In child-birth, one baby reached out its hand and they put a scarlet thread around it. Then the other baby came out first. They named him Perez because he “broke out first.” The boy with the scarlet thread was named Zerah. In Matthew, Jesus heals a man that is deaf and blind and the people wonder if he could be the Messiah. The rabbis had taught that the Messiah would be able to do three specific things: heal a Jewish leper, heal a man deaf and dumb and heal a person born blind. This was the third requirement Jesus had fulfilled, so the people looked at the leaders to see what the leaders would say. There was no way they were going to claim that Jesus was the Messiah because of their jealousy, so they claimed that Jesus did his healing under the power of Satan. This was the defining mark and was their declaration of rejection of Jesus. Jesus’ ministry would change from this moment on. They had just blasphemed the Holy Spirit and it would not be forgiven. When the teachers of the law came and asked him for a sign that he was the Messiah, he rebuked them. Every day he gave them signs and they refused to see them so the only sign they would see was that he would be buried for three days and then rise from the dead. But instead of giving them eternal life, it would condemn them. Lord, may we not miss the everyday signs you give us every day that you are with us and are doing something wonderful in the earth.

Sun.’s Devo - New Names, New Challenges

Read: Genesis 35:1-36:43; Matthew 12:1-21; Psalm 15:1-5; Proverbs 3:21-26 God told Jacob to get up and go to Bethel and live there. He was to build an altar where God had spoken to him before. First, Jacob had all his household get rid of their idols and bury them under the great tree near Shechem. Years later, Joshua would bring the multitude of Judah’s descendants back to this very place and make them do the very same thing. He would ask them if they were going to serve the gods of their past or the true God. They chose God, so Joshua put another stone under that same tree as a declaration that they were cleansing themselves of false gods. (Joshua 24) Everywhere they went their enemies were afraid of them. God appeared to Jacob this time and changed his name from Jacob to Israel. This is another clue that the angel Jacob wrestled with was not the Lord. Also, when Jacob asked the man he wrestled with what his name was, he wouldn’t give it. God came and revealed his name in person. He revealed to Jacob that He is God Almighty. Jacob set up a stone and poured a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. He called the name of the place Beth-el, meaning “house of God.” They traveled from Beth-el to Ephrath, later named Bethlehem where Rachel, like Mary, had her baby. Ephrath means “fruitfulness”. How appropriate that both Joseph and Jesus would be born there. Sadly for Rachel, she died there but her fruit lived on. Rueben did the unpardonable when he slept with his father’s concubine, Bilhah. Bilhah was Rachel’s maid that bore Dan and Naphtali. I wonder how they thought about that. Jacob made it all the way to Mamre where his father Isaac lived and died in Hebron and was buried with Abraham, Sarah and Isaac lay. Both Esau and Jacob buried him. We are given the genealogy of Esau and see how his family grew and spread across the earth. In Matthew, the Pharisees complained that Jesus’ disciples were not wearing their masks, I mean, that they were plucking ears of corn and eating them on the Sabbath. According to their laws, that was work on the Sabbath. Jesus tried to explain that David did the same thing when he ate the shewbread only the priests could eat. Jesus was trying to tell them that it was not their righteous acts of piety that got God’s attention. He knew their evil hearts. Then he did an act of mercy to prove what God loved. He healed the man’s withered hand. Not working on the Sabbath had more to do with not working for yourself and giving that day to help others. Jesus defied their yokes of bondage which made them so mad. He was taking their control away from them and setting the people free. That is exactly the war we are in right now. The elite want to keep us under their control, but the new age is about setting the people free. They are fighting it with all they have but God’s kingdom is coming and no man can stop it. Lord, thank you for the days we are living in. May we discern the day and live with power and love.

Sat.’s Devo - Our Wrestlings

Read: Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 141-7; Proverbs 3:19-20 Jacob was traveling through the country where angels lived. Jacob was about to face Esau and was fearful for his life and the life of his family. He prepared a huge gift of 540 animals to give to Esau as a pact of peace. This tells us how much Jacob had if this was only half. Then Jacob cried out to the Lord and reminded him of his promises to him and his descendants. That night he put his family in a safe place and went over the ford Jabbok and wrestled with a mighty man. The word used here for “wrestled” means “to float away as vapor; to bedust or grapple” We know so little about this man but I am wondering if he wasn’t the principality of the area. Jacob would not give up and this “man” didn’t want to be seen in the light. When he saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he struck him violently in the thigh, making his tendon to shrink. Even then Jacob refused to let him go till he blessed him. (Even sorcerers can give a blessing. Balaam blessed Israel three times and all of those blessings were from God and came true.) He did bless Jacob and changed his name to Israel which means “God fights” because he knew that God had fought with Jacob that night. The man refused to tell Jacob his name but Jacob named that place Peniel beaus he knew that God had fought with him that night also. He had encountered God face to face and they had won. Once Jacob defeated his unseen enemy, his seen enemy was a piece of cake. Who knows if Esau hadn’t started out with his army to defeat Jacob and when Jacob defeated that “man” everything changed in the realm. Esau was so friendly, he humbly received his gift and offered to travel with his people and help them safely arrive in Seir. Jacob must not have trusted Esau because he refused to have Esau help him, insisted that he take his gift and told him he would meet him at Seir. He never intended to do that. Instead, Jacob went to Succoth and built shelters or booths. “Face to Face” is a term the Jews give to the Day of Atonement because that is when the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the nation for the past year and pray for favor for the coming year. That is what Jacob did that night he wrestled with the angel. He was atoning for his sins and fighting for future blessings. Seven days later is the Feast of Tabernacles where they set up booths or succots all over Jerusalem to remember what Jacob did and what Moses did when he left Egypt. They both landed in Succoth and set up temporary tents or booths. This represents the fact that Jesus is coming one day to take us to our eternal dwelling but now we are temporary dwellers living in temporary buildings and temporary bodies. Jacob bought his first piece of land in the promised land. He bought the land called Shalem from Hamor for 100 pieces of silver. Shalem became Jerusalem. There he built an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel which means “God, the God of Israel.” The story of Dinah tells us about their culture. Dinah went out to discern the woman of the land but ended up being defiled by Shechem, Haman’s son. He loved her and wanted to marry her. Dinah’s brothers knew she had been defiled and they were out for revenge. The schemed up a plan to get back. When Haman came to Jacob to make a covenant of peace with them and seal it with marriage, Leah’s brothers told him that they would agree if they would agree to be circumcised. They agreed and the whole town was circumcised. On the third day, when all the men were sore, Simeon and Levi came with their swords and slew all of the men. Then they spoiled the city to bring vengeance to Dinah. When Jacob heard about what they had done, he was upset that they had made his name a stink among the people of the land. In Matthew, Jesus had just addressed John’s disciples. He then rebuked the people because they judged John because he wasn’t what they wanted. He rebuked the towns that he had done so many miracles in and yet they had refused to repent because Jesus wasn’t what they wanted him to be either. But he commended the disciples, the least likely, the poor in spirit because they had received him. He offered this same blessing and gift to anyone who wanted it. Thank you, Father, that you have revealed yourself to us and we have received you. Thank you that you chose us and we are so grateful. May we please you and glorify your kingdom through our lives.

Fri.’s Devo - Jacob’s Escape

Read: Genesis 31:17-32:12; Matthew 10:24-11:6; Psalm 13:1-6; Proverbs 3:16-18 Jacob set out for Canaan where his father lived. Rachel stole the household gods of her father and they fled secretly. When Laban found out, he gathered up his relatives and set out in hot pursuit. They caught up with Jacob seven days later. Right before Laban confronted Jacob, God visited him and warned him not to harm Jacob. He accused Jacob of deceiving him when his whole history with Jacob he was the deceiver. Everything he said to Jacob was laced with lies and deceit. He finally got to the main point. His idols were missing. Jacob expressed his mistrust in Laban and pronounced a curse on Rachel unknowingly. It manifested in childbirth. She deceived her father but lost in the end. When Laban couldn’t find his idols, Jacob unloaded on him and told him things he had held in for 20 years. Laban told Jacob that everything Jacob had was really his. In truth, God had taken Laban’s daughters, and flocks and given them to Jacob but it came with a price. Jacob had come to Laban’s house as a trickster and met an even bigger trickster in Laban. God used Laban to be the mirror in front of his face and work that out of him. Laban and Jacob made a covenant of peace but they were also setting a boundary line between their people. They would have peace as long as that boundary line was not crossed. They parted and angels came to meet Jacob to welcome’s him. Jacob sent messengers to tell his brother Esau that he was coming home in hopes of peace. The messengers met Esau who was coming to meet him with an army of 400 men. This was terrifying news to Jacob so he divided his group into two groups. He reminded himself of the promises God had given him. In Matthew Jesus taught that since the students were not greater than their teacher, they would be called princes of demons like he was. But, their accusers were the ones whose evil deeds would be exposed. All of their secrets will be made public. They can only kill our bodies but they can not take our souls. God cares for his weakest and smallest of creations, the sparrows, so we can rest assured he will take care of us. He intimately knows every detail about us, even how many hairs are on our heads. What we do on earth will determine our place in heaven. If we love God above even our own families, God will honor us in heaven. All who receive us because we are Christians, will be blessed by God and all who reject us because of Christ will be rejected by Him. Jesus finished his sermon and sent out his twelve to the towns throughout the region so they could teach and preach. John the Baptist was in prison at the time. He sent a friend to Jesus to ask him if he was the Messiah. John was wavering because he was the one who paved the way for him and now he was sitting in prison. I’m sure he was wondering when Jesus was going to come and set him free. Jesus told his friend to tell John all the signs and wonders he had done and then told him not to be offended in what he was not doing but be joyful in what he was doing. That is a great reminder to us when God doesn’t do what we think he should when we think he should do it. God is always working and his plan is constantly being played out on the earth. We have to concentrate on the things we do see happening instead of complaining and losing faith over what we don’t see him doing. Lord, help us to stay the course and keep our eyes on you. We chose to remember the things you have done for us in the past and know that you are going to do even greater things in the future.

Thurs.’s Devo - The Race For Love

Read: Genesis 30:1-31:16; Matthew 10:1-23; Psalm 12:1-8; Proverbs 3:13-15 We continued Rachel and Leah’s competition over Jacob. It played out in their ability to have children of which Rachel was barren. Leah was winning 4-0. Rachel begged Jacob to give her a child and Jacob fought back. He was not God and not the problem. So Rachel came up with a solution. She gave him her handmaid, Bilhah. Bilhah had Dan which means “to judge.” Then she had Naphtali which means “struggle” pointing to Rachel’s struggle with Leah. Now the score was 4-2. Not to be outwitted, Leah gave Jacob her handmaid, Zilpah. Zilpah had Gad, meaning “a troop,” and Asher which means “happy”. Now the score was 6-2. Leah’s son, Rueben came in with some mandrakes which were known for their fertility power. Rachel begged Leah for some. Leah gave her some for a few nights with Jacob. Rachel granted her that and told Jacob. He slept with Leah that night and she became pregnant. She had her fifth son and named him Issachar which means “he will bring a reward.” She also had Zebulon which means “habitation.” Leah was hoping that this son would mean Jacob would live with her instead of Rachel. Then, Leah had a daughter named Dinah. Dinah means “justice.” God did bring justice but it was to Rachel. God opened her womb, not the mandrakes she had gotten years ago. She named her son Joseph which means “let him add.” It is so sad to see their desire for love from Jacob. I think that the spirit of competition was far greater than their love for Jacob. The issue was between Rachel and Leah. They had a father who didn’t love them. Rachel reminds me of Jacob as a boy who was chosen of his mother. Leah reminds me of Esau who just couldn’t get it right in all his efforts. Leah’s name means “weary.” She was the picture of striving. My heart goes out to both of them because they both were born into rejection. Jacob had had enough of Laban’s heavy hand. He told him he wanted to go back to his home but needed to start being paid so he could have his own money. He reminded Laban of the wealth he had made for him. Laban asked him what he wanted for his salary and he told him that he wanted to separate the cattle and he would take the spotted and speckled goats and sheep. Laban would be getting the better deal so he quickly agreed. Jacob put three days journey between his cattle and Laban’s and fed Laban’s before he left. Then Jacob used his gift of mating to increase his cattle. God helped him also and his flocks multiplied while Laban’s diminished. Laban’s sons complained about it and Jacob noticed Laban’s attitude had changed to be against him. God spoke to Jacob and told him it was time to go back home. Jacob called in Leah and Rachel to tell them and they both agreed they had no ties to their father or him to them. Jacob had a dream showing him that it was God’s favor on him that caused the cattle to grow. He told him it was time to leave. Rachel and Leah agreed. In Matthew, Jesus called his twelve disciples, including Judas and gave them power to cast out unclean spirits and to heal sicknesses and diseases. He gave them instructions not to take anything with them but to rely on God to take care of them. God had people everywhere who would put them up and help them. The towns that receive them would receive a blessing and the towns that didn’t receive them would receive the judgment worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus spoke into their future telling them that one day they would be handed over to the courts and flogged with whips in the synagogues. They would stand trial before governors and kings because they were his followers. But this would be their chance to tell them about Jesus. At that time, God’s Spirit would give them the word’s to say. Family members would turn on each other. They would be persecuted, but before they had gone through all the cities of Israel, the Son of man would come. Lord, may we endure till the end and be willing to die for you.

Wed.’s Devo - Visions and Miracles

Read: Genesis 28:1-29:35; Matthew 9:18-38; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 3:11-12 Isaac sent Jacob to his uncle Laban’s house to marry one of his daughters. He blessed him again with many descendants and reminded him that God had given Abraham the land they were living in. Esau saw that his father had blessed Jacob and sent him away and knew that Jacob disapproved of his Canaanite wives so he visited his uncle Ishmael and married one of his daughters. Esau had no idea how to get Jacob’s or God’s approval because he didn’t know God’s ways. On his way to Haran, Jacob stopped to camp for the night. He laid his head on a rock and had the most vivid dream of a stairway that reached up to heaven. God’s angels were going up and down the staircase. God was at the top of the staircase and spoke to Jacob. He told him that he was the God of Abraham and Isaac and the ground he was lying on was his and his descendants. They would spread out in all directions and bless all the families of the earth. He promised to go with Jacob and protect him and one day, bring him back to this land. He would not leave him until everything he promised him happened. When Jacob woke up he was very aware that God was in that place. He called it the house of God, the very gateway to heaven. He set up the rock he had used as a pillow as an altar and changed the name from Luz to Bethel. Luz means ‘perverted’ and Bethel means ‘house of God.’ Jacob promised that if all that came true and he returned to that place then he would give a tithe to the Lord. He continued his journey till he came to a well where many women shepherds were waiting for all of them to arrive. Then they would be able to remove the stone from the top of the well. Jacob inquired if anyone knew a man named Laban. They did and pointed to his daughter walking up to the well. When Jacob saw her, he removed the stone and watered all of her flock. He told her who he was, kissed her and she invited him to her house. Jacob worked for room and board for Laban. After a while Laban offered him wages. Jacob asked for Rachel as his wife and offered to work for 7 years for her. Laban agreed. After the 7 years Jacob asked for his bride. There was a wedding but instead of giving him Rachel, he was given Leah because she was the oldest. Laban told the very mad Jacob and he could have Rachel for another 7 years of labor. Jacob agreed. Leah started having children because God saw that she was not loved by Jacob, like Rachel was. Leah birthed Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. She never got the affection from Jacob that she wanted but by the forth son, she was able to praise the Lord. Then she stopped having children. In Matthew, a leader of the synagogue came to him and told him about his daughter who had just died. He told Jesus that if Jesus would go and touch her, she would come back to life. That was faith! On the way to see her, a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touched the hem of his robe and immediately received healing. Jesus felt healing leave him and turned to see the woman. He told her that her faith had made her whole. When Jesus arrived at the man’s house the mourners were wailing and Jesus told them to leave because the girl was only sleeping. They laughed at him but he went in and took her by the hand and brought her walking out to see the crowd. They stopped laughing. On his way home, two blind men followed him all the way into his house. He asked them if they believed he could make them see. When they said that they did, he touched them and their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone but they went out and told everyone. A demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus. Jesus cast out the demon and the man could talk. The Pharisees had to make a decision about Jesus because he had done all their requirements for the Messiah. Instead of proclaiming that he was the Messiah, they said that he was a messenger of Satan. He did all his miracles through Satan’s power. Jesus continued to preach and heal and set people free. He didn’t need the approval of the religious Sanhedran. He had the approval of his heavenly Father. Lord, help us to realize that this world is not suppose to accept us or understand us. We will be misunderstood and hated by the world but we can rejoice because You have overcome the world!

Tues.’s Devo - The Blessing

Read: Genesis 26:17-27:46; Matthew 9:1-17; Psalm 10:16-18; Proverbs 3:9-10 Abimelech had sent Isaac away from the Negev because his family was growing so big and he was becoming too powerful. He was posing a threat to Abimelech’s kingdom, so Isaac moved his people to the Gerar Valley. Isaac went to where Abraham had dug wells and he dug them up again. The Philistines had filled them with dirt after Abraham died. The reason they did this was because whoever dug the wells and maintained them owned the land around them. So, now when Isaac redug them, the Philistines claimed them as their own because they claimed that Abraham’s wells had not been maintained. The herdsmen of Gerar claimed the land around them. Finally, on the third well, no one claimed it and Isaac named it Rehoboth meaning “broad places” because God had made room for them in the land. Isaac moved to Beersheba where the Lord appeared to him and told him not to be afraid for he was with him and would bless him and multiply his seed to become a great nation. Isaac built an altar and worshipped the Lord. They dug another well there. King Abimelech came and made a covenant of peace with him. After the covenant was made, Isaac was told that his servants had hit water and he named the well Beersheba which means “well of the oath”. At the age of 40, Esau had married two Hittite women who vexed Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac knew he was growing old and about to die so he called in Esau to give him his blessing as the first born. He sent Esau out to kill venison and cook it for him, then he would bless him. As soon as Esau left, Rebekah called in Jacob and told him the plan to get the blessing. Rebekah knew the prophecy of her sons and she wanted to help God make it happen. (Wrong choice, but she had to live with the consequences.) She helped Jacob dress like, smell like and look like Esau. He did trick his father and got the blessing. When Esau arrived, it was all over. The blessing had been given to Jacob and it would stand. Esau would live by the sword and one day break the yoke of his brother. Until then Esau’s descendants would serve Jacob’s. Esau planned to kill Jacob as soon as he buried his father but Rebekah learned of his plan. She told Jacob and told him to flee to Haran and live with her brother, Laban, until Esau cooled off, then she would send for him. In Matthew, Jesus looked at a paralyzed man and assured him that his sins were forgiven. They believed that if you had a sickness it was due to sin. Jesus wanted the man to know that it was not his fault he was paralyzed. The teachers of the law thought forgiving sins was blasphemy so Jesus asked them, “Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to ’Stand up and walk’? Then he turned and told the man to stand up and walk. He did! Then Jesus told him to take his mat and go home. The fear of God swept the crowds. Jesus called Matthew, a tax-collector to be his disciple. Tax collectors were most hated by all. Matthew had a great feast that night and invited all his friends to meet Jesus. The Pharisees disapproved of Jesus’ eating with sinners. Jesus rebuked them saying that he was not called to bring the righteous to salvation but the sinners. One of John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked him why his disciples didn’t fast like the Pharisees did. Jesus told them that it was not time to fast because the bridegroom was here; it was time to eat and feast. One day, he would be taken and they would fast again. Then he gave them a very important tip. The new was coming and everything would have to adjust to it, not vice versa. Jesus was the new wine. They would have to adjust their wineskins to receive him. Jesus was not coming to do away with the old but to fulfill it and preserve the past and the future. Lord, may we welcome everything new that you are bringing yet hold on to our basic foundations. You are the rock that we stand upon and you don’t change.

Mon.’s Devo - Set Ups

Read: Genesis 24:52-26:16; Matthew 8:18-34; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 3:7-8 When Laban and Penuel agreed to let Rebekah marry Isaac, the servant presented them with the bride price he had brought. He wanted to leave the next morning and bring Rebekah home. Laban wanted her to stay an extra 10 days but when they asked Rebekah what she wanted to do, she agreed to go with him. When Isaac met Rebekah, he was very pleased and loved Rebekah deeply. Abraham had married Keturah with which they had six sons. Abraham left all he owned to Isaac but sent his other sons to the east (Arabia) with gifts. When Abraham died, he was buried beside Sarah. Isaac went to Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev. Beer-lahai-roi means ”the well of the vision of life.” It was named for the well where the Lord met with Hagar (Gen 16:7 14.) Just like God told Hagar it would happen - Ismael’s sons lived in open hostility toward all their relatives. Ishmael had 12 sons who became princes that occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. Rebekah was barren so Isaac went to the Lord about it. God heard his prayer and blessed Rebekah. When she was carrying her baby, there was so much turmoil in her stomach that she went to the Lord about it. God told her that she was carrying twins and they were fighting in her womb. They would become two rival nations. The older son would be the lesser nation and would serve the younger son. When Rebekah delivered, the first son was hairy and red. They named him Esau which means ‘red’. The other son was born grasping Esau’s heel. They named him Jacob menacing ‘he will take by the heal’. They were opposites in temperament and character. Esau was a skillful hunter and Jacob loved the quietness of being at home around his mother. Jacob loved Esau for his game and Rebekah loved Jacob. One day, Esau came in from hunting, starving for food. Jacob was cooking a pot of stew. He made Esau sign over his rights to the first born before he would feed him. Esau preferred his moment of satisfaction over his future inheritance. The right to the first born gave Jacob twice the inheritance of Esau. Esau despised his birthright over a bowl of stew. A famine came to the land so Isaac moved his family to Gerar where Abimelech lived. God warned Isaac not to go to Egypt because he was giving him this land and he needed to stay in it. His descendants would be as the stars in the sky. Just like his father had done, Isaac told Rebekah to tell them that she was his sister. The thing was… she wasn’t. When Abimelech found out that he had been tricked again, he sent for Isaac. Jacob got chewed out by Abimelech and a proclamation was sent out threatening death to anyone who touched either of them. That season, Isaac planted and harvested a crop 100 times what he planted. He also became very wealthy, so much that it made the Philistines jealous. Finally, Abimelech cast Jacob out of his land and told him to go somewhere else because he was getting too powerful. In Matthew, the crowds were forming but Jesus called for the boat and escaped. It was not time for him to be king. As they were crossing to the Gentile side, a huge storm arose. Jesus was asleep and the disciples went down to wake him. They were hysterical. Jesus calmly got up and went up to see. Jesus asked them why they had so little faith, then he rebuked the wind and the waves and it immediately became calm. The disciples were amazed. When the reached the other side, two men met them who were possessed by demons. The demons in them were angry that Jesus had come to interfere in their plans. They knew their time was out so they begged to be sent to the pigs. Jesus let them and the pigs ran off the cliff and drowned in the water. The herdsmen of the pigs saw the whole thing and ran into town to tell everyone. The whole town came and begged Jesus to leave. Jesus knew that change is a process and takes time. Set backs were not set backs to Him; they were set ups. Jesus was setting up his next visit because after the demoniacs had some time to prove their change, the town would welcome Jesus the next time he came. Lord, help us to learn this lesson when we are rejected for the truth. We walk through this life planting seeds of truth. It takes time to grow. May the seeds we plant fall on fertile hearts.

Sun.’s Devo - Isaac Gets a Wife -

Read: Genesis -23:1-24:51; Matthew 8:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 3:1-6 Sarah died when Isaac was 28 years old. Abraham bought his first and only piece of land in the promised land to bury her in. He purchased Kiriath-arba for 400 pieces of silver. This later became Hebron, a city of refuge. This piece of land included the place where Abraham had offered up sacrifices to the Lord. Abraham knew he was getting old and wanted to find a wife for Isaac before he died. He didn’t want him to marry a Canaanite woman so he sent his servant back to his homeland to find a wife from his relatives. He made him make an oath not to let him move there. If the woman refused to come with him, he would be free of his oath. The servant took 10 camels loaded down with gifts and traveled to Aramnaharaim. When he arrived he went straight to the town well to water his camels. He prayed that God would give him success and let the woman who offered to to not only give him a drink but to water his camels. Along came Rebekah who did both of those things. When the servant found out that she was Abraham’s great niece, he praised the Lord for hearing his prayer. She was very beautiful and just the right age to be married. He gave her two bracelets and a gold ring for her nose and asked her if her father had room to put his entourage up for the night. Rebekah’s brother, Laban ran out to meet the servant when he saw the gold jewelry he had given Rebekah. Laban was an opportunist. He brought them home and treated them like royalty. The servant refused to eat until he had told them his mission. Once Rebekah’s father, Bethuel and Laban her brother heard his story they agreed that Rebekah should go with him. In Matthew, a man with leprosy came to Jesus to be healed. He was a Jew so Jesus healed him and told him to go straight to the priest and take the offering required by Moses for those who had been healed of leprosy. These things he would need to have were two live birds, cedar wood, scarlet and hyssop. No one had ever been healed of leprosy except Naaman, the Syrian. So, this ceremony found in Leviticus 14 had never been done. Who knows if this man knew what Jesus was talking about or if the priest would have know how to do it. Jesus left the mountain and went to Capernaum where a Roman officer had a servant who had become paralyzed and was in great pain. Jesus agreed to come and heal him. The officer stopped him and told him that he was not worthy that he should come to his house but all he had to do was to speak the word and he would be healed. Jesus marveled at this man’s understanding of faith. He told the crowd that this Roman was a picture of the future influx of Gentiles that would come into the kingdom while the Jews who the kingdom had been prepared for would miss out. Jesus sent the centurion home where he found his servant had been healed the very hour Jesus said he would be. Jesus continued to Peter’s house where his mother-in-law was in bed sick with a high fever. Jesus touched her and she became well. Many brought people who were demon-possessed and they were delivered. Lord, thank you that your power has not diminished in the least. Thank you for all the people you still heal and are going to heal of not only diseases but their souls.

Sat.’s Devo - The Tests

Read: Genesis 20:1-22:24; Matthew 7:15:29; Psalm 9:1-12; Proverbs 2:16-22 Abraham lied about Sarah for his own safety. This time he was not in Egypt but in Gerar which is in the south on the border of Palestine. It was ruled by Abimelech. Sarah was once again take into the kings harem but God protected her once again. God sent a disturbing warning dream to Abimelech telling him he was a dead man because Sarah was married. He was told to return Sarah to Abraham or he and all his people would die. We see how Satan wanted to implant his seed in Sarah but God wouldn’t let him. Abimelech called Abraham in and scolded him for not being honest with him and had threatening his whole kingdom with his actions. Abraham’s excuse was weak because he had trusted and feared man and not God. Abemelech gave Abraham some of his sheep, goats, cattle, and male and female servants, Sarah, 1,000 pieces of silver and his choice of his land. He apologized to Sarah for any harm or stress that he might have caused her and cleared their reputation. Abraham in return, prayed for Abimelech, his wife and their servants so they would become fruitful again. God had put a curse on them which had made them infertile. Sarah benefited from that prayer for their enemies and she became pregnant also at just the right time. She gave birth to Isaac and Abraham circumcised him after 8 days. When it was time for Isaac to be weaned, Sarah asked Abraham to get rid of Ishmael and Hagar because now she had the promised child. Abraham was very upset because Ishmael was his seed also. God reassured Abraham not to be concerned about Ishmael and Hagar because Sarah was right in the fact that his descendants would be counted through Isaac. Ishmael would be the father of many nations also. The next morning, Abraham prepared Hagar and Ishmael for their journey and sent them out to roam Beersheba. They left and walked until their water ran out. He told Ishmael to stay in the shade of a bush and walked away so she would not see him die. Hagar and Ishmael both cried in despair. God heard Ishmael’s cry but spoke to Hagar. He told her to go back and comfort Ishmael and showed her a well full of water. They lived in the wilderness where Ishmael became a skilled archer and settled in the wilderness of Pagan. Hagar arranged a marriage between him and an Egyptian woman. Abimelech came to visit Abraham to make a covenant of peace with him because Abraham was becoming so powerful, he wanted to be his ally and not his enemy. Abraham agreed after he settled the issue over a well in Beersheba. I can’t help but think this would be the same well that saved Ishmael and Hagar. Abemelech made the treaty giving him authority over the well. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree beside the well. This well is all through their history. It represents the well of living water. The tree signified a temple. Next, God tested Abraham’s allegiance to him. Abraham was to take Isaac to the mountain, Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering to Him. Abraham immediately obeyed. It took him and Isaac three days to get to the place. When Abraham was about to bring the knife down on Isaac, God rescued him commending Abraham for his faith and allegiance to Him. A ram was waiting in the thicket for Abraham to sacrifice and Isaac was set free to live. God blessed Abraham with a blessing that would bless the whole earth through his descendants. Abraham returned with a blessing and his son. He heard the good news that his brother, Nahor had had 12 sons from his wife and concubines. One of those sons would bear the wife of Isaac. In Matthew, Jesus continued his sermon. He warns us against false prophets. We can tell they are false, not only by their doctrine but by their fruit. They will produce bad fruit. The fruit is evident in their actions. Many would be deceived until they reach the judgment and then they will understand they followed the wrong voice. They broke God’s laws to follow man’s laws. Lord, thank you for your Word is the Rock that we stand on. We will stand as long as we stay focused on what your Word says and are not swayed by the empty words of the false teacher. Thank you for your Word.

Fri.’s Devo - The Way

Read: Genesis 18:16-19:38; Matthew 6:25-7:14; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 2:6-15 The men who visited with Moses continued to Sodom. Moses walked with them for a while and they decided to share with Moses what their mission was. They were on their way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because their sin had reached to heaven. Abraham knew that Lot was there so he arbitrated for his sake. They finally agreed that if they could find 10 righteous people they would not destroy it. When they reached Sodom, Lot was sitting at the gate as a judge. He begged the men not to stay in the village square because he knew they would not live through the night. When the men learned there were two strangers in their city staying at Lot’s house, they came to do what they always did to strangers - rape and abuse them. They banged on his door and yelled for Lot to turn them over to them so Lot went outside to beg them to leave them alone. When they were going to hurt him to get to the men, the angels reached out and pulled Lot into the house, shut the door and blinded the men so they could not find the door. This is a picture of the Jewish nation that would abuse and crucify Jesus. They would be blinded to the fact that he was the Messiah and not be able to find “The Door”. The angels told Lot what their mission was and to get his family and flee, immediately. When Lot hesitated, the angels took his hand and the hand of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city. Once out the gate, they ordered them to “Run for their lives and don’t look back.” Lot begged them not to send him to the mountains because he didn’t know how to survive without civilization, so the angel sent him to a little town called Zoar. It took them all night to get to Zoar and just as the sun was rising, God rained down fire and sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah utterly destroying it. Lot’s wife just had to turn and watch. God turned her into a pillar of salt. Abraham got up after it was done and saw the smoke rising from the cities like smoke from a furnace. Abraham didn’t turn into a pillar of salt because his heart was different. Lot didn’t stay in Zoar long because the people were just as wicked there and they didn’t know him. It wasn’t safe for him so he ended up just where the angels had told him to go - the mountains. Lot hid out with his two daughters and they thought they would never be around people again and never have children to carry on their posterity. They did not trust God to have a plan and devised their own. They got Lot drunk and had sex with him producing the Ammonites and the Moabites. In Matthew, Jesus addressed all our fears. He started with basic survival. God wants us to live so that He is our survival. He provides for us food and shelter and covering if we trust him. God gave us nature all around us to show us his love for us. He loves and takes care of all he makes - even the sparrows and the lilies. So we can be assured that he will take care of his most prized creation - his children. God has our future planned. If only Lot’s two daughters had known this. They would have known that He could bring them a husband. If only Sarai had believed this. She would not have had to use Hagar to give her God’s promise. Jesus told us not to worry about other’s sins but to just concentrate on our own lives. He also told us not to give to unholy people what is holy. They will not understand and trample our revelations in the ground. We should keep seeking, asking and knocking on God’s door in prayer and not give up. He hears our earnest prayers and will grant us our petitions. Even the law teaches us to treat others like we want to be treated. The only way to enter God’s Kingdom is through Jesus’ blood. It is the Door. The way in is difficult and undesirable on the surface, but fulfilling and life to those who enter. Lord, thank you that you have opened our eyes to see life and not destruction - to see good and not evil in everything that you do. May we walk unwavering into your gate and find peace and rest.

Thurs.’s Devo - Heaven’s Perspective

Read: Genesis 16:1-18:15; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; Proverbs 2:1-5 The clock was ticking and Sarai had not had a child yet. Satan had planted his seed right in the middle of their lives - Hagar, the Egyptian servant. “Hagar” means “ensnaring”. She was the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She was available and full of seed. Once again it is Eve (Sarai) who entices man to sin. Abram took the bait and ate. Instead of bringing the peace and joy that they had anticipated, it produced strife and jealousy. Hagar finally fled but God sent his angel to turn her around because she was carrying Abram’s seed. God told her that her son’s name would be Ishmael but he would be wild and untamed and hostile toward everyone and especially against his own relatives. Hagar returned and had her son when Abram was 86. Thirteen years later God declared it was time for God’s word to come to earth. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham which means the “father of a multitude of nations”. He was giving him the entire and of Canaan to be his descendants forever. God instituted circumcism as the sign of his covenant with man. Then he told her that Sarai’s name would change to Sarah. “Sarai” means “my princess” to “Sarah” which means “Princess”. She was to be a princess to the world. When Abraham turned 100, they would have Isaac, the son of promise. He would be the father of twelve princes and become a great nation. Abraham quickly circumcised his family and servants. Ishmael was thirteen. God sent three angels to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy them. They stopped to see Abraham first. While Sarah was preparing food for them they asked about Sarah. They told him again what God had said about her having a son. This time she heard it with her own ears. She laughed sarcastically in the tent thinking they couldn’t see or hear her. The Lord who knows all and sees all called her out on it. Their rebuke was, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” What a great question to ponder. Nothing is too hard for the creator of the universe. Matthew reiterates this very thing. We should do our good deeds for heaven to see, not earth. The same goes for our prayers. We are praying to God so he is the one we address and talk to. It is not in the length of our prayers but the sincerity of our hearts. Jesus gave us a short but powerful prayer to pray. He talked on about forgiveness, fasting, and investing. It all goes back to the heart. How we see things affects our heart. If we let the light of God be what we look at, it will affect our whole perspective. Lord, help us to keep our eyes on You. You are the one who gives and blesses and it is all for your good pleasure.

Wed.’s Devo - Renewing the Covenant

Read: Genesis 13:5-15:21; Matthew 5:27-48; Psalm 6:1-10; Proverbs 1:29-33 Lot had become rich and materially blessed like Abraham and their servants began to fight over land for their flocks. Lot and Abraham met and decided they needed to split and go separate ways. Abraham gave Lot first pick of the land. Lot chose the fertile valleys that were already civilized with cities. The problem was the people living in the cities were extremely wicked. After Lot left, God spoke to Abraham and gave him all the land including Lot’s as far as he could see. He promised him that his descendants would be countless. Abraham’s commission was to walk his land. Abraham moved to the oak grove belonging to Mamre and built another altar to the Lord. War broke out among the tribes that were tributaries to Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam. They rebelled and fought. These were some of the tribes where Lot lived so he was right in the middle of their war. Lot’s city was captured and he and his family taken as spoil. Abram found out about it and took 318 of his family to get him back. They attacked at night and chased them to Damascus recovering all the goods and people they had taken. On his return home, Abram was met with the king of Sodom and the King of Salem, Melchizedek. (Two kings from two different spiritual kingdoms.) Abram had communion and gave a tithe to God’s High Priest - Melchizedek. Abram refused to take any reward from King of Sodom which was unheard of in that time. God came to Abram later and told him that his reward would be great. What a lesson to learn. God’s rewards are always in the future, but so much greater than what we can get from our enemy right now. Abram could only see the here and now and argued that the only way he could be rewarded in his future was to have an heir. The only heir he had was his servant, Eleazer. God assured him that Eleazer was not his heir. His heir would come from his seed and multiply like the stars in the sky. God had Abram prepare a sacrifice, then came with fire and light and a word to secure it. He told him that his land would span from Egypt to the Euphrates River and he would be given the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Pephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites. That gave Abram something to think about. In Matthew, Jesus continued going through the Ten Commandments giving spirit to the law. It all went back to the heart and soul of the person. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and can be ours by a change of heart and a renewing of our minds. One of the greatest weapons we have is love - not just to those of our spiritual family but our enemies. Ouch! Lord, only through your spirit can we fulfill the law but that is what grace is all about. We pray for your grace to be upon us to do what we cannot do in our humanity.

Tues.’s Devo - Abrams Beginnings

Read: Genesis 11:1-13:4; Matthew 5:1-26; Psalm 5:1-12; Proverbs 1:24-28 Ham’s descendants went east and found a plain in the land of Babylonia. They wanted to do something that would give them a name and an important marker on the earth. They decided to build a city with a tower that would reach into heaven. This tower would keep them from doing what God had told them to do which was to spread and multiply. When God came down to look at the building of the city and the tower he saw how united the people were in their rebellion. The counsel of heaven decided to confuse their languages which would make them scatter like he had told them to do. The name of this city was Babel. Next, we have an account of Shem’s family from whom Abram came from. Abram’s father Terah fathered both him and Sarai by different wives. Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah and a son, Lot. Milcah married Terah’s other son, Nahor. They kept it all in the clan! Nahor died leaving Lot to be taken care of by his father, Terah. Terah decided to leave Ur and go to Canaan. He took Abram, Sarai, and Lot with him. He got as far as Haran, a place named for his deceased son that was full of his family and couldn’t leave. Terah died there and Abram continued his pilgrimage to Canaan. Haran would be the city that Jacob would live in with his father-in-law Laban years later. God told Abram to leave Haran and go to the land He would show him. There he would become famous and be blessed so he could be a blessing to others. Abram took Sarai and Lot with him and left with all his wealth and all the people from Haran’s household since he had died. When Abram got to Canaan, God spoke to him and told him that all this land would be his descendants one day. Abram built him an altar that day beside the oak of Moreh. This plain that he was in was the plain between the two mountains Ebal and Gerizim. Years from then, Moses would lead his descendants to this very place and read them the curses and the blessings and make them make a covenant to follow God and receive the blessings. Moses was forced to go to Egypt to escape the famine coming to the land of Canaan. There he told Sarai to just tell them she was his sister, which was true, and not his wife, which was not true. This would save his life and the life of his family. She did and was taken into the harem because of her beauty. When God struck the land with a plague, the Pharoah’s sorcerers were able to tell why and gave Sarai back to Abram with a rebuke. Abram was allowed to keep all the cattle and presents that the king had given him for Sarai and was escorted out of his country. Abram left Egypt and went back to the place he had offered his sacrifice. In Matthew, we have Jesus’ wonderful sermon on the mount. He started with his blessings on all whose hearts are his. They are given the Kingdom of Heaven, comforted, will inherit the whole earth, will be satisfied, will see God, and will be called the children of God. Then he reminds us that we will be rewarded when persecuted. We must stay salty and controversial to the world. We must not stop doing good or hide from the dark. Jesus did not come to do away with the law given to Moses but to accomplish every jot and tittle of it. Then Jesus went through the Ten Commandments explaining the heart behind them. Our goal is to be at peace with all men, even our enemies. Lord, help us to understand that it is the journey and our growth along the way that you are most interested in.

Mon.’s Devo - After the Flood

Read: Genesis 8:1-10:32; Matthew 4:12-25; Psalm 4:1-8; Proverbs 1:20-23 When God had finished cleansing the earth, he caused a wind to blow across the earth and the floodwaters to recede. The waters that came from the abyss and the waters that came from heaven stopped after 150 days of flowing and raining. The ark rested on the 17th of the 7th month upon Mt. Ararat. “Ararat” means “the curse reversed.” It took 85 more days before Noah opened a window and sent out the raven and the dove. The raven left and just flew back and forth until the waters dried up. The dove kept coming back to give Noah information. That is the difference between Satan’s messengers and God’s. God wants to keep us informed about what he is doing. Satan is only concerned about himself. On the first day of Tishri, their New Year, Roshashana, Noah lifted the cover to see dry land. When it was completely dry, Noah released the animals and his family. The first thing Noah did was to build an altar to the Lord and sacrifice the animals he had seven of. God was pleased with his sacrifice and promised never to curse the ground nor kill everything living as he did in the flood. Seasons would continue. God blessed Noah and his sons telling them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. He put fear between the animals and man because he told man he could now eat meat as well as plants. But, they were never to eat an animal still living. He placed the rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant with man to never destroy man with a flood of water. The sons of Noah are mentioned but special attention was given to Ham. He is the father of Canaan. He was the bad seed. We see that in the next story. Noah got drunk over his own wine. The fact that he planted this vineyard and it produced grapes tells us that this took years to happen. What Ham saw or did in his father’s tent is not really spelled out for us but it was more than just noticing that his father was naked. It was something more that Noah knew instantly when he woke from his sleep. Shem and Japheth didn’t want any part of it and wanted to save their father from shame. Ham wasn’t cursed but his son, Canaan was. So, it was probably something that Canaan was doing with Noah that Ham either participated in or saw and told his brothers. Canaan was cursed to be a servant to servants. Shem and Japheth were blessed with God’s name. Canaan would eventually serve them both. Noah lived 350 years after the flood. Japheth’s descendants went to the countries that were accessible by sea like Europe, the peninsula of Lesser Asia and regions east of that. The sons of Ham immigrated south to Arabia, and Egypt. Nimrod was most famous of Ham’s children who became a mighty hunter. He founded the first kingdom in the world - Babel. Nimrod conquered the kingdom of Assur and named it Nineveh. This was in Shem’s territory making him the rebel who revolted against God’s divine distribution of land. (We are getting a clue to who Ham was.) Shem is distinguished as the ancestor of the Hebrews. He is given the countries of Armenia, Mesopotamia and Syria. His land included the valley of Shinar and Eden. There was an earthquake and Peleg was born and given his name in memory of the event. “Peleg” means divided. In Matthew, When Jesus heard of John’s arrest he continued John’s ministry of bringing light to the Gentiles. He began to teach John’s message of repentance. Jesus found 4 fishermen and called them from their fishing for fish and invited them to join him in fishing for men. They were Peter, Andrew, James and John. As Jesus traveled preaching and healing every disease, news quickly spread. He cast demons out of people freeing them of epilepsy, and paralysis. He soon had a huge following. Lord, thank you that your deliverance comes when we need it the most.

Sun.’s Devo - Baptisms

Read: Genesis 5:1-7:24; Matthew 3:7-4:11; Psalm 3:1-8: Proverbs 1:10-19 In the last chapter, God cursed man but now he blesses them and calls them all Adam’s or human beings. In Chapter five we are given the line of Adam to Noah. Noah was tenth from Adam and his father lived 777 years because the time was complete and it was time for a change. In Chapter six we read the reason God had to destroy the earth with water. Satan’s angels came down and had sex with human women and they produced famous warriors who were memorable. Evil had so grown on the earth that only Adam’s line had remained pure on the earth from this cross-breeding of Satan and man. So God had to destroy the earth and cleanse it with water. God told Noah to build an ark and told him the exact dimensions and how to make it. When it was built, to the mockery of the people, God sent two of every animal that was living and told him to bring them aboard. When Methuselah died, Noah went onto the ark with his family and all the animals. Then it began to rain for 40 days and nights filling the earth with a flood. All life was killed and the waters covered the mountains. The waters stayed on the earth 150 days. In Matthew, there were many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to John’s baptism’s. He called them “brood of vipers” and asks who had warned them from the impending wrath that was coming. They could not depend on the fact that they were Jews to get a free pass; they had to repent also. Their fruit was the evidence that they had repented or not. John told them that he was the forerunner, but the Messiah would come and take up where he stopped and finish the task. He spoke of Jesus coming who would be so much greater than him. He would not just baptized them will water, but with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus came to be baptized but John recognized him as the Messiah and didn’t feel worthy of baptizing him. He also thought he wouldn’t need to be baptized. Jesus disagreed and told him that he needed to do this to fulfill the scriptures. When he was baptized the Spirit of God like a dove came down and settled on him. After being baptized, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan. Jesus had fasted for 40 days and night and Satan tempted him first with food. He told him to turn the stones to bread. Then he tempted Jesus to jump off the temple then he took him to a high mountain and told him that if he bowed down and worshipped him, he would give him all that he saw. Every temptation, Jesus fought back with the Word of God. He knew the he was the rock that would be turned to bread. He was the one who would die and be resurrected and he was the one who would inherit all the kingdoms of the earth. Right now it was not worth it to go ahead of God’s timing and bypass the cross. The devil left and angels came and ministered to Jesus.