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.