Mon.'s Devo - 1-1-24

Happy New Year!!! Every year I ask for a word for the year and this year it is more than one word. It is “healing for the nations”. Our Psalm today talks about us being trees of righteousness by the water that bring forth fruit for every season. Our leaves will not die or wither. Revelation 22 says: Revelation 22:1-2 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. This is what I believe God wants to do this year. He wants to heal our families, our nation and our hearts. He wants his righteous Church to become trees of righteousness to heal the nations with their leaves. Our leaves are like our hands and the works of our hands. Mon’s Devo - 1-1-24 Read: Genesis 1:1-2:25; Matthew 1:1-2:12; Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 1:1-6 The account of creation is full of concepts about God. He took a formless empty earth and breathed life into it and created a beautiful place for man to dwell. That is what he does to every sinner who comes to him. He breathes his life into their formless dead soul and creates life and transforms them into the beautiful person they were meant to be. *** God placed the sun to represent him and told it to rule the day. We as his children are children of the day. He placed the moon in the sky to rule the night and children of the night are Satan’s off-spring. They do their evil works at night. We get the word “lunatic” from “lunar”. *** God created man in his image to rule the earth. God planted a garden in Eden and placed man in the garden. It had everything Adam would need. God also placed two trees in the middle of the garden. One was the tree of life and one was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam that he must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but he could eat of the tree of life and all the other trees in the garden. *** He wanted man to have a mate so he had Adam name the animals. Adam realized for himself that he had no help meet. God then put Adam to sleep and took a rib from his side to create the woman. He wanted her to be from him. Adam was very pleased. *** God does the same thing with us. He arranges circumstances where we can realize a need we have but we have to ask for it. Then God can give it to us. God wants relationship with us. *** In Matthew we have the genealogy of Joseph, Jesus’ father. He was of the lineage of David. Joseph had asked Mary to marry him. Before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph didn’t understand that this was the Lord so he planned to break the engagement quietly as not to embarrass her family. *** The angel of the Lord came to see Joseph and told him not to be afraid to marry Mary for she was indeed pregnant by the Holy Spirit and she would have a son they were to name Jesus. He would save God’s people from their sins. This was what Isaiah had prophesied. *** Joseph married Mary and when he was born, Joseph named him Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem during the time King Herod reigned. Wise men came to see Herod from the east saying they had seen a star denoting a king was born for the Jews. They knew the king was in Bethlehem. King Herod slyly told them to go and find the king then come tell him so he could go and worship him also. *** The wise men followed the star and it led them to Joseph and Mary and Jesus. When they saw them they bowed down and worshipped. They gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They left another way because an angel had warned them not to go back and tell Herod where the king was. *** Lord, may we be trees of righteousness that bring healing to the nations. May we bear the fruit of the Spirit.