Tues.’s Devo - God’s Provision

Read: Genesis 46:1-47:31; Matthew 15:1-28; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 4:14-19 Jacob packed up everything he owned and took his family to Egypt. At Beersheba, God met with Jacob and told him not to be afraid to go to Egypt because God was going to make him a great nation there. He would die there and one day God would bring them back to Canaan, *** Jacob’s family had grown to 70 people. Benjamin, the youngest had the most sons… 10 sons. Jacob sent Judah ahead to find out the directions to Goshen and they settled in Goshen. Joseph came to meet them there. It was a sweet reunion full of tears and hugs. *** Joseph took Jacob to meet the Pharaoh and he told him that he was a shepherd and had been all his life. Pharaoh offered him the best land in Egypt and he provided him grain for his household. Jacob took care of the Pharaoh’s cattle. Jacob blessed the Pharaoh coming and going. *** The famine continued until the people had given all their money to buy grain. They came to Joseph to beg for grain. Joseph told them to sell their cattle to him. So he bought their horses, flocks, cattle and donkey and gave them grain for their livestock. The next year they returned and Joseph bought their land. He bought all the land of Egypt for the Pharaoh. He moved the people into the cities and the priests were the only one who owned land. *** The next year he bought the people themselves. When they harvested the land, they were to give a fifth to the government and they could keep the rest for their own family, The people were glad thankful that Joseph had saved their lives. *** Meanwhile, Jacob and his family thrived with land, grain, freedom and wealth. They thrived in the land of Goshen. Jacob lived their seventeen years and died at the age of 147. When Jacob was close to dying he called in Joseph and asked him to promise not to bury him in Egypt but to take his bones and let him die in their burial place (where Abraham, Sarah and Isaac was buried.) Joseph promised he would do that. *** In Matthew, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees who wanted to know why his disciples didn’t follow the traditions of their elders by washing their hands in the ceremonious way. Jesus asked them why they didn’t follow the commandments of God written in his Word. He nailed them for not honoring their parents and teaching others not to. They had told people that instead of taking care of their elderly parents, it was better to give that money to the synagogue, to God. *** Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 saying that the people would honor God only with their mouth but not with their hearts. Instead, they taught the traditions of men as their law. *** Jesus called the multitude and began by saying that it was not what they ate that defiled them but it was what came out of their mouth that defiled them. Their hypocritical lies. *** His disciples came to Jesus and told him that the Pharisees were offended by what he said. Jesus told them that the plants that God didn’t plant would be uprooted. (In other words, they weren’t his people.) The Pharisees were blind guides that would end up falling into a pit. Then Jesus explained the parable to them. *** Jesus went to the area of Tyre and Sidon and a Canaanite woman came begging Jesus to have mercy and deliver her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus ignored her pleas for a while then answered her. He told her that he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel not to her. It was not good to take the children bread (casting out demons) and throw it to the little dogs (the Gentiles). But she wouldn’t give up. She answered that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Jesus pointed out her great faith and healed her daughter from that moment. *** Jesus was not being cruel to the woman. He was using her as a lesson. She wouldn’t give up and that was the way to get something from the Lord even if it was not time. God is moved by faith-filled prayer. *** Lord, may we have the tenacity that woman had in our prayers. May what we put into our eyes and ears reflect what comes out of our mouths. May we speak life, love and faith.