Fri.’s Devo - God’s Power Manifested on the Earth

Read: Genesis 23:1-24:51; Matthew 8:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 3:1-6 Sarah died at the age of 127, which means Isaac was 28 years old. Abraham owned no land in Canaan so he went to the Hittites to buy a plot of land to bury his wife and future family. He had such favor with them that they offered him their best land for free. Abraham chose the cave and field at Machpelah and insisted on paying 400 pieces of silver for it. It was done legally and fairly and the land was his. *** Abraham was getting old and wanted to find a wife for Isaac before he died. He did not want him to marry one of the local Canaanite women’s he sent his trusted servant to go to back to the land he came from and find a wife from his family. He made him vow to find a wife for Isaac. If she refused to come back with him, he would be released from his vow. He told the servant that an angel would go ahead of him and prepare the way so he would be successful. *** The servant took 10 camels and traveled to the town Nahor, Abraham’s brother had settled in. He prayed that God would give him success that day. He saw the women coming to the well to draw water and asked the Lord to let the one he asked for a drink, not only give him a drink, but offer to draw water for his camels also. *** No sooner than he had finished his prayer, he saw Rebekah coming with her jug. It played out just as he had prayed. When she had finished, he rewarded her with a nose ring and two gold bracelets for her wrists. 
 *** He asked her who her father was and if they had room to put him and his camels up for the night. He was delighted to learn that she was Abraham’s niece and they had plenty of room and food for him and his camels. *** The servant bowed and thanked the Lord while Rebekah ran home to tell her parents what had happened. When her brother, Laban saw the jewelry Rebekah had been given he knew this was no ordinary wanderer. He ran out to meet him and brought him to his house to stay. Laban fed his camels and provided water for the servant and the camel drivers to wash their feet. Then he served them all food. *** The servant said he had something to say, first. He told them the assignment he was on, who had sent him, and how the Lord had led him to Rebekah. Laban and Bethuel, her father both recognized that this was the Lord’s plan and gave Rebekah to the servant to take back with him. *** This is the perfect example of how the Lord guides our steps and wants us to succeed in his purposes. He doesn’t set us up for failure, but success. He works everything for our good, but even in the “working,” it might not be instant like our story today, many times it’s a process that refines us along the way. *** In Matthew, we read that Jesus healed a leper and sent him to be a witness to the priests. Then he met a Roman officer who amazed Jesus with his faith. He understood the authority Jesus had with God and compared it to his own position as an officer in the army. He told Jesus to just command his servant to be healed from where he was and it would go to where the servant was. Jesus made the statement that he hadn’t seen faith like that in all Israel. Then he prophesied that the Gentiles from all over the world would come to the Jewish faith and feast in the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are examples of who he was talking about. Jesus added that many Israelis would not make it into God’s kingdom and would be thrown into outer darkness. *** Jesus told the man to return home; he would find his servant healed. Then Jesus returned to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a high fever. It took one touch and she was healed. So much so, that she rose up to prepare a meal for Jesus. *** That night, many people brought Jesus their sick and demon-possessed and they were all healed. He fulfilled Isaiah’s words, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.” *** We are walking into a day when we will put our hands on the sick and they will immediately be healed; when we say the word, people a long way away will be healed. Jesus said we would do greater works than him and I believe that is coming soon. *** Lord, with expectation we look forward to what you have in store for us as the extension of your hand. Your Kingdom is coming to earth and we are privileged to be here to see it and be a part of its manifestation. Glory to your Name!

Thurs.’s Devo - God’s Will will be Done

Read: Genesis 20:1-22-24; Matthew 7:15-29; Psalm 9:1-12; Proverbs 2:16-22 Abraham and Sarai moved to Gerar on the southern border of Palestine. It was ruled by Abimelech. Abraham had introduced Sarai to the people there as his sister because technically, she was since they had the same father. Sarai was so beautiful that Abimelech sent for her to be a part of his harem. *** God showed Abimelech in a dream that he was a dead man and his people also, if he didn’t give Sarah back to her husband. Abimelech called in Abraham and was very angry with him for lying about Sarah. Abraham explained he did it to save his own life. Abimelech returned Sarah to him and also gave him sheep, goats, cattle, servants and 1,000 pieces of silver. Abraham prayed for Abimelech and God opened the wombs of the women of Harar which he had closed. *** God also opened Sarah’s and she became pregnant and had Isaac at the exact time he had said. Abraham was 100 years old. *** When Issac was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a great feast to celebrate the occasion. Sarah noticed Ishmael making fun of Issac and she complained to Abraham. Sarah wanted Hagar and Ishmael to leave. This upset Abraham greatly because he loved Ishmael. God came and comforted Abraham and told him to do whatever Sarah said because Isaac was the son through which he would count his descendants. God would also make a great nation of Ishmael because he was his son. *** Abraham gave Hagar some water and food and sent her and Ishmael away. When they ran out of provisions, Hagar knew they would die so she went apart from Ishmael so she wouldn’t have to witness him dying. God heard the cry of Ishmael and called to Hagar. He told her to go and comfort Ishmael because he was to become a great nation. Then he showed Hagar a well full of water. They were revived and learned to live off the land in the wilderness. Ishamael became a great archer and when he was old enough, Hagar arranged a marriage for him with an Egyptian. *** Abimelech came to Abraham to make a peace treaty between their families. Abraham agreed and then complained about a well that he had dug but Abimelech’s shepherds tried to take. Abimelech knew nothing about it. Abraham gave Abimelech sheep, goats and cattle and they made a treaty and in it, Abraham got the well. Abimelech left. They made this treaty in Beersheba - “well of the oath”. Abraham planted a tree here to mark it and made an altar to the Lord. *** God tested Abraham’s allegiance to him. He told him to take Isaac and sacrifice him on a mountain in Moriah. The day he chopped the wood for the sacrifice was his day of death. It symbolized the day Jesus was hung on the cross. Three days later he made it to the mountain and strapped Isaac to the wood. As he was drawing his knife to kill him, God stopped him. That was his the day of his resurrection. God told him that now he knew that Abraham would do anything for him. Abraham saw a ram caught in the thicket and sacrificed him instead. He named the place Yahweh-Yireh which means “the Lord will provide”. *** God confirmed his covenant with Abraham that he would bless him and multiply his descendants beyond the number of the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. His descendants would conquer the cities of their enemies. And through them all the nations of the earth would be blessed. He was speaking of us! We will conquer the cities of God’s enemies and this is happening now! *** Abraham got news that his brother Nahor and his wife Milcah had had eight sons. His concubine had given him four other children. One of his sons, Bethuel would have a daughter named Rebekah and she would marry Issac. Spoiler alert! *** Jesus in Matthew warns us of false prophets who would be disguised as harmless sheep but they would really be vicious wolves. This describes the main stream media to a tee. They prophecy nothing but fear, harm and destruction. They produce bad fruit. *** Jesus explains that it is not everyone who speaks the Lord’s name that is going to be saved but it is the ones who do what he says. It is not even the gifting that will save a person, it is the ones who truly know God. To know what the Bible says and not obey it is just asking for a fall. *** When Jesus finished his sermon, the people were amazed because he actually spoke with authority, not like the religious teachers of the law did. *** There are many pastors preaching sermons who are not walking in what they preach. It will catch up with them. God is exposing every lie. This is the time for us to be completely honest with God. *** Lord, may our hearts be pure and completely devoted to You and your truth. May we obey you in all you tell us to do. Thank you for this new year of prosperity and life. May your goodness lead many to repentance.

Wed.’s Devo - God is the Perfect Judge

Read: Genesis 18:16-19:38; Matthew 6:25-7:14; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 2:6-15 Abraham was entertaining the Lord and two of his angels. When the meal was over, the Lord decided to share with Abraham why they were there. The Lord explained that Abraham had been singled out by God to raise his family to keep the way of the Lord by doing what was right and fair. He was to be God’s representative on the earth of what righteousness looked like. He had received reports about the wickedness and sin that was being done in Sodom and Gomorrah. He had come to see if it was as bad as he had heard. *** The two angels went toward Sodom as the Lord remained to talk with Abraham. Abraham asked him if he would destroy the righteous in Sodom along with the wicked. Would he do it if he found 50 righteous people? God said he would not. Then Abraham whittled it down to 10. God promised he would not destroy the whole city if there were 10 righteous. Turns out, they only saved 3, and that was only because of his mercy. *** The two angels reached Sodom, and Lot was sitting at the entrance of the city which means he was an important person. When he met the men he begged them to stay at his house with him. *** That night the men of the city came to have sex with the angels. Lot offered his daughters but they tried to break down the door to get to the men. The angels pulled Lot into the house and bolted the door. Then they struck the men outside with blindness and they gave up trying. *** The angels told Lot to gather all his family and flee because they were about to destroy the city. Lot tried to convince the fiancés of his daughters to come with them but they only laughed in unbelief. At dawn, the angels hurried them out and told them to go to the mountains and hide. Lot begged to go to Zoan, a small village. The angels allowed him to do that but told them to run and not look back. Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughter made it to Zoan just as the sun was rising. The Lord rained down fire and sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying all of them and other near-by cities and villages, except for Zoan. Abraham saw it from afar. *** Zoan didn’t end up being the safe refuge Lot had thought it would and he ended up going to the mountains after all with his two daughters. *** The two daughters didn’t think they would ever get married and have children to pass their lineage along, so they came up with a plan to get their father drunk and have sex with him. It worked and they both got pregnant and had sons. They named them Moab and Ben-ammi. Moab became the ancestor of the Moabites and Ben-ammi the ancestor of the Ammonites. *** How differently this story might have gone if Lot had not lived in Sodom - maybe he wound’t have lost his wife to its lusts. If Lot had gone to the mountains first, God would have been able to destroy Zoan and gotten rid of its wickedness, too. If Lot’s daughters would have had faith that God could have given them a husband, the enemies of Israel would not have been produced. All of these things happened because those involved did not trust God in their impossible situations. God can make a way where there seems to be no way. We just have to let him do his will, in his timing. *** In Matthew, Jesus is still preaching. He tells us not to worry about the everyday worries of life. He gives us the birds as examples. They live without worry and God provides all they need. He will do even more for us. *** Jesus warns us not to judge others, that is his job, when it is time. If we judge, we will be judged by our own standard. If we would just work on perfecting our own weaknesses, we won’t have time to worry about making others perfect. This will make everyone happy. *** Jesus tells us not to waste our time on those who are bent on being sinful and have no desire to follow God. That is like throwing your pearls before swine. They will just laugh at you and dishonor your faith. Instead, find someone who is hungry for God and spend your time mentoring them. *** We are to keep asking God for things we know are his will, and he will give them to us. We are to keep seeking him, and he will be found. We are to keep knocking on his door, and it will be opened to us. God is a good father who loves to give us good gifts. We are to treat others like we want to be treated. That is what the law and the prophets are all about. *** The way to God’s kingdom is through the narrow gate of justice and law. It is not the easy way and it is full of difficulties. Few find it. The way to Satan’s kingdom is easy and wide and many find it. *** Lord, may we enter into your gates with thanksgiving and joy. May we not be afraid of trials and difficulties but grateful you are here with us.

Tues.’s Devo - God Almighty

Read: Genesis 16:1-18:15; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; Proverbs 2:1-5 Sarai was barren and knowing God was expecting them to have descendants, she suggested that Abraham have a child through her servant Hagar. When a slave was given to a woman before she was married like Hagar was, the slave was the total property of that woman’s. Sarai, alone had the right to give Hagar to Abraham as a secondary wife for the purpose of having children. *** Abraham agreed and Hagar became pregnant. When she did, she began to treat Sarai with contempt. Sarai took her grievance to Abraham and he told her that Hagar was her servant, so she had to handle it. Sarai began to treat Hagar so badly, till she finally ran away. *** God met Hagar and told her to return and submit to Sarai because she would have a son and God would give her so many descendants she would not be able to count them. Her son would be wild and not have any allies in his family. *** Hagar was so overwhelmed that God had seen her in her desperate state that she named the well she was at, Beer-lahai-roi, which means “the One who sees me.” *** Abram was 86 years old when Hagar delivered Ishmael. *** When Abram was 99, the Lord introduced himself to Abram as El-Shaddai - “God Almighty” He told Abram to serve him faithfully and he would give him countless descendants. He covenanted with Abraham to make him a father of a multitude of nations. He changed his name to Abraham which means “Father of nations.” Kings would be among them. *** God would give him the land of Canaan and it would be their possession forever, and He would be their God. *** It was the responsibility of Abraham and his descendants to obey the terms of the covenant. All the males must be circumcised and all after him - the eighth day after their birth. *** Sarai’s name would be changed to Sarah and God was going to bless her with a son. She would become the mother of many nations and kings. *** Abraham worshiped the Lord and wondered how he would become a father at 100. Abraham wanted Ishmael to live under this blessing but the Lord said, “No” - the covenant would be to Sarah’s descendants. Ishmael would be blessed and multiply to become the father of 12 princes and become a great nation. But God’s covenant would be with Isaac, who would be born to Sarah the next year. *** Abraham immediately circumcised all the male under him. Ishmael was 13 at the time. *** One day Abraham was sitting under the shade of the trees in the grove when he saw three men standing nearby. He ran to welcome them. He begged them to stay and let him take care of them. As Abraham was waiting on them, they asked where Sarah was. He answered that she was in the tent. The one told him that when he returned next year, she would have a son. *** Sarah heard what he said in the tent and laughed silently in disbelief. The man (the Lord) asked Abraham why Sarah laughed and doubted God could do this. Sarah was so afraid, she lied saying she didn’t laugh, but the Lord rebuked her. She did laugh. *** This is a great reminder to us that we can’t fool God with our excuses. He knows every thought and intention of our hearts and he would rather have our honesty than our defensive answers. *** Jesus addresses this very thing in Matthew. He calls it hypocrisy. We are to do our good deeds in secret and not act to please others to look good in front of them; it is God who is going to reward us, not them. 
 *** God gave us an example of how to pray. First acknowledge who we are praying to. Then pray his will which is his Kingdom to come to earth. Then pray for our needs and for forgiveness. Realize that we have to give to others what we want from God. We cannot get the forgiveness we need until we give it to others. *** When we are suffering for the Lord, we are to learn that we are storing up treasures deep inside and like Mary did, we need to learn how to hide them in our hearts. We can not be divided in our devotion to God, we must serve him only. *** Lord, may we be honest with you and acknowledge our need for you. You are the God who sees our inmost parts and chooses to walk with us despite our weaknesses. May you be strong where we are weak and may we be humble and teachable in the places think we are strong.

Mon.’s Devo - God’s Covenant with Man

Read: Genesis 13:5-15:21; Matthew 5:27-48; Psalm 6:1-10; Proverbs 1:29-33 Both Abram and Lot had become so blessed with provisions and animals that their herdsmen argued over land. Abram met with Lot and wanted to part in peace. He offered Lot his first choice of land and he would go the opposite direction. Lot chose the fertile plains of the Jordan, so Abram went toward Canaan. *** Lot ended up living near Sodom and settling among the cities there. The people there were extremely and constantly wicked against the Lord. *** When Lot left his conversation with Abram, God spoke to Abram. He told him to look in every direction as far as he could see, because God was giving it all to him and his descendants. Abram moved to Hebron and built an altar there. *** War broke out among the seven kings of the land. It was four against five. The five had been paying tribute to Kedorlaomer of Elam for 12 years and finally rebelled. Kedorlaomer gathered his three allies and began attacking the land. They conquered four nations before they met the four nations that had rebelled against them. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other two nations assembled to fight back. They met in the valley of the Dead Sea or Siddim. When the people of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of them fell into the tar pits in the Dead Sea. They captured Lot and carried off all he owned. *** Abram was notified about what happened and called his 318 men who had been born in his household. They caught up with Kedorlaomer’s army at Dan. Abram recovered all they had stolen as well and Lot and all his family. *** On Abram’s way home, the king of Sodom met him in the valley of Shaveh as well as Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the king of Salem which means “peace” and he was also a priest of God’s . He brought bread and wine and blessed Abram. Abram received his blessing and gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoils. *** When Abram met with the king of Sodom, he gave him everything that was his and refused to keep any of it for himself. He would only keep some of the goods for the three friends from Mamre who had helped him fight. *** God told Abram that he would protect him and his reward would be great! Abram had done all that for Lot and received nothing in return. But, God wanted to reward Abram and his reward was greater than any man could have given him. God’s protection was priceless and his reward is the very best. *** Abram replied that though God’s blessings were great, they would die with him. Since he had no son, his servant Eliezer would inherit all his wealth. God disagreed. God told him to look up in the sky and try to count the stars. He would have that many descendants - uncountable. Abram believed what he said and his faith pleased God. *** When God told him again that he was going to give him the land, Abram asked how he could be sure he would possess it. God told Abram to bring him a 3 year old heifer, female goat, and ram and a turtle dove and young pigeon. Abram did and cut them down the middle and laid them sit by side. He had to chase the vultures away, but eventually, as the sun was setting, he fell asleep. *** God showed him that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land where they would be slaves for 400 years. Then the Lord would punish the nation that had enslaved them and they would come out of it with great wealth. Abram would die in peace after living a long life. After 4 generations his descendant would return to this land. *** Abram then saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the animals he had offered. The Lord made a covenant with Abram and promised him the land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River. All the land at the time was occupied by the 10 “ites.” In Matthew, Jesus took the Commandments and added life and relevance to them. He explained that committing adultery or any sin began with the heart. It is the desire for sin that provokes the action. If you deal with your heart, it won’t mature to the action. Jesus also dealt with the seriousness of covenants. They were not to be taken or broken lightly. Making vows is a serious thing to the Lord. It is better not to make them than to make them and break them. *** But the greatest of these is love. As a Christian, we are not to just love those who are easy to love, but we are also to love those who don’t love us back. That is how Jesus loves. That is how we are his witnesses. *** Lord, help us to love those that persecute us and hate us. May your love permeate our relationships and cause us to become more like you.

Sun.’s Devo - The Journey

Read: Genesis 11:1-13:4; Matthew 5:1-26; Psalm 5:1-12; Proverbs 1:24-28 It has been about 50 years since the flood and man is already building towers to take the place of God. They had traveled east and settled in the place they called Babylon. This tower was to be a portal to get to heaven. When God saw they would succeed, he confused their languages and they couldn’t communicate. So, the building stopped. The city was called Babel because of their confusion. The people eventually scattered all over the world. *** Lifespans became much shorter than before the flood. Shem’s line is given, and it eventually led to Terah who fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot and two daughters - Milcah and Iscah. Nahor married Milcah, his niece. Abram married Sarai. Haran died in Ur. Terah, the father took Abram, Sarai and Lot and was headed for Canaan, but they stopped at Haran where they settled. Terah died there. *** The Lord told Abram to leave and go to the land he would show him. He would complete what his father didn’t finish. God promised to bless him and those who helped him would be blessed. Those who didn’t respect him would be cursed. *** Abraham was 75 years old when he left with Sarai and Lot and all he had and headed toward Canaan. He traveled 400 miles to Shechem and went to the terebinth tree of Moreh. Canaanites, which were giants, were then living in the land. Abram traveled to a place between Bethel and Ai and built an altar to the Lord and prayed to him. This is the valley between the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim where Joshua would later have them read the blessings and the curses (Joshua 24:25). *** There was a famine in the land so Abram went down to Egypt to live there. In Haran, there had been a custom of adopting ones wife as their sister in order to have some special privileges such as inheritance rights. Abram used this as a justification for his lack of faith. He told Sarai to tell them she was his sister because she was so beautiful; he was afraid they would kill him for her. She agreed. Pharaoh did learn of her and sent for her. He gave Abram gifts for her, but the Lord was not pleased. He cursed Pharaoh’s house with plagues because he took Sarai. Pharaoh learned that Sarai was Abram’s wife and called him in. He was very mad at Abram and sent them away from Egypt. By this time, Abram was rich in gold and livestock. *** Abram went back to his altar and called on the name of the Lord again. *** In Matthew, we have Jesus’ famous sermon where he taught his followers about the Kingdom of God. Jesus began with his blessings on those who were hungry for God and realized they needed a savior. He blessed those who went through pain and suffering because they wanted to please God and do what was right. He told them their reward would be great in heaven. He encouraged them to keep standing for what was right and letting their good deeds shine because it gives glory to God. *** Jesus didn’t come to do away with the law but to accomplish everything it said. Every law would be fulfilled and was important. It is important that we obey the law and teach others to also. He told them that their righteousness needed to be better than the righteousness of the teachers of the religious law in their day. It wasn’t just the law that needed to be obeyed, it was the spirit of the law. He gave the example of murder. It was not just that you didn’t murder, but your dealt with the desire to murder. The root of murder is anger. The root of anger is unforgiveness. If you deal with that then God will have mercy on you. *** Life in Christ is a journey and we are all on it to find God. Lord, may we see you in every leaf of every tree. May we find you in our weaknesses and trust you in the hard times and the good. We are devoted to seeing your Kingdom Come.

Sat.’s Devo - A New Beginning

Read: Genesis 8:1-10:32; Matthew 4:12-25; Psalm 4:1-8; Proverbs 1:20-23 The floodwaters decreased exactly 150 days after they started or 5 months later. That tells us that their months were exactly 25 days long. I have Jewish calendars and their months last 29 days. This also tells me that only God knows what month and year we are really in. *** Three months later, the ark rested on the top of Mt. Ararat. At the end of the forty days, Noah opened the window and sent out a raven which flew back and forth until the waters dried up. He also sent out a dove, but it came back to show Noah that there was no place that was dry yet. Ten days later, he sent out the same dove and it came back with an olive leaf in her mouth to show Noah it was time. *** This is the difference between Satan and God. The raven represented the devil who roams to and fro looking for things to devour. The dove is like the Holy Spirit who is our helper and leads us to truth. *** Noah waited another seven days before he sent the dove out and this time it didn’t return. He knew then that it was safe to come out. He removed the covering of the ark and saw that the ground was dry. They had been in the ark one year and ten days. Noah set all the animals free except the ones he needed for a sacrifice to the Lord. God told them what he had told Adam and Eve - be fruitful and multiply. *** God then told Adam that he could eat meat and fish where before they had only eaten grains and herbs. They could not eat meat while the animal was still alive. If they did, their lives would be required to atone for that animal. If anyone killed a person, his life would be required to atone for him. *** God made a covenant with man that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood, and gave the rainbow as the sign of the covenant. *** Noah planted a vineyard and became drunk on the wine. He became naked in his tent and Ham went in and saw him. He told his two brothers Shem and Japheth who they took a garment on their shoulders and backed in to cover him with out having to look at their father’s naked body. They showed honor to their father where Ham had not. *** When Noah sobered up and heard what had happened the day before, he cursed Ham’s son, Canaan. He said that Canaan would be a servant of servants and serve his brothers. Noah blessed Shem to rule over Canaan and blessed Japheth to dwell with Shem. *** Noah lived 350 years after the flood, dying at the age of 950. *** In Matthew, Jesus heard that John had been arrested and returned to Galilee. He went to Nazareth, his home town and took up the message that John had been preaching, “Repent and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” *** Jesus was walking by the sea one day and saw two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew. He called to them as they were throwing their net into the water. Jesus asked them to come and follow him and he would show them how to fish for men. They immediately left their nets and followed him. *** Further down the shore they ran into two other brothers, James and John. They were helping their father, Zebedee repair their nets. Jesus called to them to follow him and they also left immediately, leaving their boat and their father behind. *** They traveled throughout the region of Galilee preaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons. These are all signs that the Kingdom of God has come from heaven. When we see these signs happening through us, we are going to know that what Jesus prayed about the kingdom is happening. *** Both Noah and the disciples were walking into a brand new dispensation of the Lord, a brand new era. God was going to rebirth, restore and bring about something new that the world had never experienced before. We are at that time in history. God is doing something totally new and we get to be a part of it! *** Lord, we wait in great expectation for what is coming! May your kingdom come on earth just like it is in heaven.

Fri.’s Devo - God’s Perfect Timing

Read: Genesis 5:1-7:24; Matthew 3:7-4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 1:10-19 Adams’s descendants were called mankind because God made them after his kind. Adam lived 800 years after they had Seth and he and other sons and daughters. After Seth the line went: Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, then Methuselah. Everyone lived to be around 900 years old. *** When Enoch had Methuselah, Enoch began to walk with God. Enoch walked with God right off the earth. Methuselah’s name means “when he dies, it will come”. The day Methuselah died, Noah walked onto the ark and the flood came. Methuselah had Lamech, and Lamech had Noah. Noah was born 93 years after Enoch left the earth. Lamech lived 777 years and died. That tells me that everything about Lamech’s life was completed. Noah didn’t begin to have children until he was 500 years old! I wonder how old his wife was. They had Shem, Ham and Japheth. *** Chapter 6 gets interesting. Jude tells us that fallen angels come down to earth and had sex with human women and their offspring were famous. Many believe they were the gods of the Olympian myths. They were the giants who ate all the animals and plants until they became scarce so they begin to eat humans. The Lord saw this wickedness and that every thought of man was evil. It grieved the Lord that he had made man. God wanted to destroy the men and the beast they had produced, but Noah found favor with God. Noah walked closely with the Lord. His generation had not become tainted with the DNA of demons. *** God told Noah to prepare an ark three stories high with a window and to put the door on the side. God would destroy the earth with floodwaters, but he would establish his covenant with Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives. He would also preserve the birds and animals. They would come to him - two of every kind and seven of the clean animals and the birds to keep their species alive on the earth. *** In a week it would begin to rain and it would continue forty days and nights. Everything on the earth would be destroyed. This happened on the six hundredth year of Noah’s life on the seventeenth day of the second month. Noah and his family entered into the ark that day along with all the animals and God shut the door. *** Water came up from the ground and down from the heavens. It filled the whole earth and everything died. The waters stayed on the earth 150 days after the waters stopped. *** In Matthew, John the Baptist noticed a group of Pharisees and Sadducees had come to watch him baptize. He called out to them, calling them vipers, and asked them who had warned them of the wrath to come. He warned them to repent. Just because they told each other they were safe because they were descendants of Abraham, they were wrong. That wouldn’t save them. God would put his axe to the very root of their generations and chop down every person who was not bearing the fruit of righteousness. *** John proclaimed that he was only baptizing with water, bur one was coming who would baptize in fire and the Holy Spirit. He would separate the chaff from the wheat and clean up his “church”. He would gather the righteous into his safe arms and burn up the rest with fire. He is doing that very thing right now. God is cleaning out his church, the government, and the whole earthly system. *** Jesus came to John to be baptized and when John was hesitant, Jesus told him that he had to to fulfill all righteousness. John was satisfied with his answer and baptized him. When he brought Jesus up from the water the heavens opened and John saw the Spirit of God descending on him like a dove and alighting on Jesus. John heard the voice of God say, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” *** Jesus was then led into the wilderness to fast and to be tempted for forty days and nights. The devil came to him and gave him three “ifs.” “If “he was the Son of God, he could command the stones to become bread. “If he was the Son of God, he could throw himself down front the pinnacle of the temple and not die. “If” you would worship me, I will given you all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” Jesus answered all of them with quotes from God. Man lives by God’s word and cannot be tempted. He told Satan to leave because he would worship the Lord and serve him only. The devil left and angels came and ministered to Jesus. *** All the temptations that Jesus was given by Satan were the promises God had given to him. He would become the bread of life that was once on written on stone tablets. He would be thrown down to the earth in death and rise again. One day the kingdoms of the earth would be the kingdoms of God and Jesus would rule them. Satan was trying to give him the promises of God before it was time. Satan’s way would have bypassed the cross and the only one saved would be Jesus. But Jesus came to save the world! ***Thank you, Jesus, that you endured the temptation to take the fast way to the throne. Thank you that you chose the hard way - God’s way - through the cross that brought salvation to us all! May we remember this in our lives when we don’t see the answers to our prayers immediately. There is a better way through waiting on You and your timing.

Thur.’s Devo - The Perfect Sacrifice

Read: Genesis 3:1-4:26; Matthew 2:13-3:6; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 1:7-9 One day, the serpent came to the woman and asked her what the Lord had told her about the fruit from the trees in the garden. She told him that the only tree she couldn’t eat from was the one in the middle of the garden. Ever wonder why God didn’t put that tree hidden away and not in the center of the garden? *** The woman told the serpent that you weren’t suppose to even touch it or you would die. She exaggerated a little there, so Satan found his entrance and took it. He told her that God knew that in the day she ate it, her eyes would be opened and she would be like God, knowing both good and evil. *** This lie caused the woman to see the tree in a different light. Now, the tree looked pleasant to her and like the fruit might taste good, where before, she had avoided the tree. Eve took a fruit from it and ate it then turned and gave some to Adam and he ate it also. *** Their eyes were opened and now they felt shame for the first time. They gathered fig trees to cover their nakedness. When sin is revealed to us, we have a choice to try to hide it or to bring it to God and repent. They chose to hide it. *** When they heard God coming to fellowship with them, they hid. When God called for them, they confessed they hid because they realized they were naked. When God asked them how they knew this, and if they had eaten from the forbidden tree, Adam spoke first and blamed the woman. When God asked the woman, she blamed the serpent. *** God began with the serpent and cursed him to crawl on his belly and eat dust. There would always be hostility and hatred between the serpent and the woman - between satan’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. Her offspring would strike the head of the snake and the snake would strike his heel. *** To the woman, God said she would have labor pains and she would desire to control her husband, but he would rule over her instead. Because the man listened to the wife, the ground would be hard and he would work all his life to bring food from it. *** Adam then named his wife, Eve because she would be the mother of all living. God sacrificed an animal to give them clothes to wear. Since they had become able to know both good and evil, God had to banish them from he garden before they ate from the tree of life and lived forever in that state. An angel with a flaming sword was put to guard the way to the tree of life. *** Adam and Eve became pregnant and had two boys. The first one who came out was Cain. Then Abel was born. One was good and one was evil. We have to remember that all the trees in the garden had seed in them that was to produce fruit. The fruit from the tree was both good and evil, and it produced Cain and Abel. One was good and one was evil. *** Abel grew up to be a shepherd of sheep and Cain, a gardener. At the time of harvest they presented gifts to the Lord. Cain gave some of his crops to the Lord while Abel brought the best of his firstborn lambs. *** God did not respect Cain’s offering which made Cain very angry, but did respect Abel’s offering. Abel had offered a lamb which was a blood sacrifice. But it was more about Abel’s heart which was right in God’s eyes. God was trying to teach them what pleased him for future generations to glean from, but Cain was unteachable because of his pride. *** God had a talk with Cain and told him that he had not done well, which was why his gift was not accepted. It had to do with his heart. If he didn’t get control over his pride and anger, it would control him. *** Cain didn’t get control of his anger and when he and Abel were alone, Cain killed Abel. The Lord came to Cain and asked him where Abel was and he refused to take responsibility. God told Cain that Abel’s blood cried from the ground for vengeance. Cain was cursed and he would not produce fruit but be a vagabond and a wanderer throughout the earth. To protect him from being killed, God put a mark on him that told people not to kill him or they would receive sevenfold punishment. Cain went and settled in the land of Nod to the east of Eden. *** Cain and his wife had Enoch, who had Irad, who had Mehujael, who had Methushael, who had Lamech. Lamech had two wives: Adah and Zillah. Adah had Jamal who was a shepherd who lived in tents and Jubal who was a musician. Zillah had Tubal-cain who was a blacksmith and a sister named Naamah. One day Lamech came home announcing that he had killed a man in self-defense and was afraid for his life. *** In the meantime, Adam and Eve had another son and named him Seth which means “substituted”. He was a substitute of Abel. Seth had a son named Enoch which means “mortal man”. People began to worship the Lord by name at this time. *** In Matthew, the wise men had brought their gifts and left. An angel appeared to Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt because Herod was going to try to kill Jesus. They left that night and stayed in Egypt until the death of Herod. *** Herod was furious when he realized he had been tricked by the wise men. He sent soldiers to kill all the baby boys who were two and under. This fulfilled the prophecy in Jeremiah about the women weeping for their children. *** When Herod died, an angel told Joseph it was safe to come back to Israel. He was warned to stay in Nazareth so they raised Jesus there fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3. *** In the meantime, Jesus’ cousin, John, began prophesying about the Lord coming. He told the people to prepare their hearts for the Messiah to come. John baptized his followers in the Jordan River. *** Lord, it is amazing how you protected your lamb so he would be presented as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins. Nothing is impossible with you. May our sacrifices of praise be a sweet smell to you.

Wed.’s Devo - Our New Beginning

Read: Genesis 1:1-2:25; Matthew 1:1-2:12; Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 1:1-6 We could spend hours on these passages, they are so deep. “In the beginning” reads in the Hebrew: “in the dateless past”. It is hard for us to wrap our minds around eternity past and future. The earth has been around for a very long time. It was formless, empty and dark and had very deep waters until God hovered over it and commanded light to be. He said that the light was good and separated it from the darkness meaning the darkness was not good. First Thessalonians 5:5 says that we are children of the light and the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. God was making a distinction between good and evil. This was the first day. *** On the second day, God put space or a firmament between the waters on the earth and waters in heaven. This firmament is called the skies. Waters represent “spirit’ so God separated the spirit of the world from the spirit of heaven. *** On the third day, God gathered the waters on the earth together to make seas and dry ground appeared. He called the ground to sprout with seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees. The seed was meant to multiply and produce new plants just like the seed of the Word. We bear fruit when the seed of God’s Word is in us. *** On the fourth day, God called lights to appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They were to be signs and seasons, and for days and years. God would speak through the sky and it would be our time markers and determine our seasons. The greater one governed the day and the lesser one governed the night. Spiritually, the sun represents God and the moon the devil. The sun ruled the children of the day and the moon ruled over the children of the night. But God put stars to be the light during the night. They represent his children. We are called to be the light of the world. *** On the fifth day God spoke the fish and birds into existence. They were to represent the spirits that soar in the heavens and the demons that dwell beneath us. *** On the sixth day God spoke the animals to come out of the earth. Then he spoke to Jesus and said, “Let’s make man in Our image.” They will rule over the fish, the birds and the animals, wild and tame. So God made both man and woman with his own DNA, after his image. He blessed them and told them to be fruitful and multiply. He gave them the plants and the fruit for nourishment. *** On the seventh day, God declared the day as holy and rested. He had finished his work on the earth. *** God explained how made man out of the dust and breathed his breath in him to receive God’s life. God planted Adam in the garden of Eden just as he planted the seeds and trees in the earth. Adam would be God’s seed, his gift to the world. *** The garden had river that divided into four branches. I would say that they went north, south, east and west but I have no proof of that. Pishon ran in the land of Havilah which was abundant in gold. Gihon ran in the land of Cush and Tigris in the land of Tigres. The fourth branch was called the Euphrates. *** In the Garden of Eden, Adam was to tend and watch over it. Adam was told he could eat freely of all the trees except the one in the middle which was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he ate of it he would die. *** God determined that it was not good for Adam to live alone so he would make him a helper. Adam needed to see for himself he needed a helper so God made it apparent. He brought all the animals before him and gave him the task of naming them. Adam realized they all had mates, but none of them was his match. So God put him in a deep sleep and did surgery on him. He took out his rib and closed him up. From the rib he made a woman and when Adam woke up and saw Eve he knew she was his match. They were totally transparent and naked before each other and had no shame. *** We have to come to that same conclusion. God gives us a natural mate - our spouses - but he also wants to give us his helper, the Holy Spirit. *** In Matthew, we have the ancestral records of Joseph who was to be the earthly father of Jesus. In his ancestry is the names of the kings because Jesus’ Father is the King of kings. Four women are mentioned which is rare in genealogies. They are Tamar who played the harlot; Rahab, who was a harlot; Bathsheba who was made a harlot, and Mary who was pure and a virgin. What a group! They all contributed to the birth of the Messiah. *** Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit when she was engaged to Joseph. As he was contemplating how to end the engagement, an angel came to him and explained to Joseph what happened to Mary and told him not to be afraid to marry her. She would give birth to a son and they would call him “Immanuel” because God was coming down to be with man. *** Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. King Herod was ruling at the time. Wise men came from the east and went to Herod asking him where the newborn king of the Jews could be found. They had seen his star rise and had come to worship him. *** Herod had no answer for them so he met with the Jewish priests and asked them what the prophets had written about the king and where he would be born. When they told him Bethlehem, he called the wise men back in. Herod asked them when the star had appeared and told them to go to Bethlehem and search for him. When they found him they were to come back and tell him so he could worship him also. *** The wise men continued to follow the star and it did lead them to Bethlehem where they found Mary, Joseph and Jesus. They gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. When they left, they went a different way home because God had warned them not to go and tell Herod. *** Every year I ask the Lord for a word for the coming year and this year he gave the the word: “beyond”. I looked the word up in the dictionary and it said: on or on the other side of: later than. Out of reach or sphere of; past. Over and above; above, as in dignity, excellence or quality of any kind, as beyond expression. Over and above. That which lives outside of immediate experience; interests, etc. *** Wow! That is exactly what I believe God is going to do for all who will dare to put their faith in the God of the impossible. He will go beyond all we can hope or think. This is the time to dream big, bigger, biggest! God wants to do through us what we cannot even imagine which is pretty much! God will fund what he wants done according to his riches in heaven and he has a storehouse of abundance and body parts and healings and miracles. I can’t wait for 2025 to begin! *** Lord, may you put in our hearts what you want us to start imagining and putting our faith for. May we build your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven with your resources, plans, and power. We love you!