Thurs.’s Devo - God’s Kingdom

Read: Genesis 18:16-19:38; Matthew 6:25-7:14; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 2:6-15 Abraham walked with God and the two angels as they were leaving. God asked the angels if he should reveal to Abraham what he was about to do since Abraham was going to become a great and mighty nation. God had singled him out to raise his family to keep God’s way and walk in justice and righteousness. So, God told him what he was doing. God had heard from the watchers that Sodom and Gomorrah had become so wicked it needed to be destroyed. *** Abraham began interceding as he and God watched the angels walking toward Sodom. He asked the Lord if he would destroy the righteous along with the wicked, (no doubt he was thinking of Lot who lived there.) Abraham started with fifty and came down to ten. God promised if the angels found ten righteous people in Sodom, he would not destroy it. They parted ways. *** It took the angels till night-time to reach Sodom. Lot was sitting at the entrance of the city and insisted they spend the night at his house. He prepared a feast for them and before they could go to bed, the men of the city came to sodomize the angels. Lot offered his own virgin daughters instead. The angels had to rescue Lot and blind the men outside to save them. He told Lot to gather his family and flee the city because they were there to destroy it for the Lord. *** Lot ran to get his daughter’s fiancés but they thought he was joking. Finally, at dawn, the angels made Lot hurry and leave. He left with his wife and two daughters and was instructed to run to the mountains and not look back or stop till they got there. Lot was afraid of the mountains and begged to go to a village instead. The angels agreed that he could go to Zoar. *** Lot and his family reached Zoar as the sun was coming up and God rained down fire and sulfur from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. They were utterly destroyed along with all the villages except Zoar. Lot’s wife turn to watch and was turned to a pillar of salt. *** Abraham woke that morning and ran to the place where he could see Sodom and Gomorrah and saw the remains of the fire storm. *** Lot ended up going to the mountains after all because the people in Zoar were so evil. He took his two daughters to a cave in the mountain. The two daughters realized they would not have a man to marry and no one to carry on their father’s name so they devised a plan to get their father drunk and have sex with him. They both became pregnant. The oldest daughter named her son Moab and he became the father of the Moabites. The younger daughter named her son Ben-ammi and he became the father of the Ammonites. *** I wonder how different history would have been if the two daughters had prayed for God to bring them a husband. *** In Matthew, Jesus tells us not to worry about where we are going to get our next meal or what we are going to wear. The birds don’t worry about where they are going to find food and the lilies don’t worry about their clothing; we are much more valuable to God than the birds and the flowers. Our job is to seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and to live righteously. Then God will provide all our needs for today and tomorrow. *** Jesus tells us not to judge others but treat them like we want to be treated. We are not to worry about others weaknesses, but to examine our own faults. We are not to waste our holiness on people who are unholy. *** When we pray for something, we are to keep seeking God until we have what we are seeking. He is the one who opens doors and gives us good gifts. We are to remember that the road to God’s Kingdom is narrow and only a few ever find it. *** Lord, may we walk down the narrow road of righteousness, justice and truth. May we not worry about today or tomorrow knowing that you are a good Father who cares for all our needs and desires. May we seek your Kingdom above all else.