-
Christian Devotional – January 29, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 44 VERSE: Genesis 44:33–“Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.” TRUTH: Joseph was testing them to see if they still resented their father’s favoritism. With Joseph gone, Jacob now favored the youngest son, Benjamin. So, Joseph wanted to see whether the brothers had truly learned anything from the way they had treated him. Judah, who had been one of the leaders trying to get Joseph killed and who had sold Joseph into slavery, now is the very one offering to become a slave himself in order to spare Benjamin.…
-
Christian Devotional – January 28, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 43 VERSE: Genesis 43:9–I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I don’t bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. TRUTH: This was not the first brother to offer to be responsible for Benjamin. Jacob had another son who had offered as well. Reuben, the firstborn, had offered to take responsibility for Benjamin, but Judah was the only person who had guaranteed Benjamin’s life with his own. As we seek to follow and serve God, God will ask us to do many different things. We must…
-
Christian Devotional – January 27, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 42 VERSE: Genesis 42:21–They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come on us. TRUTH: Many years had passed since Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery, yet they remembered exactly what that day had been like and the expression on Joseph’s face. When we are doing things that we should not be doing, we are not able to easily move one and forget. If we have unconfessed sin in our lives, God will continue to bring…
-
Christian Devotional – January 26, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 41 VERSE: Genesis 41:16–“I can’t do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” TRUTH: Do we recognize what God can and does do through us, or do we take credit ourselves for the things that God does in and through us? When we have successes, we have to recognize who gave us the skills, knowledge, and opportunity to be successful. Only God is able to make things come together for success. God will not be pleased if we are busy taking credit for the things that God has done. This can be difficult to do and it goes against our…
-
Christian Devotional – January 25, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 40 VERSE: Genesis 40:23–The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. TRUTH: It’s never good to be forgotten. Someone promises to do something for us and we wait expectantly for that to happen, day after day, but then nothing ever does. There’s that awkward moment of trying to decide if we say something to the other person or just let it go. However, we have all been that other person before as well. We’ve all promised something to another person that we’ve not fulfilled. Today, let’s take that step to be people who keep our promises. Go back and fulfill a promise that may…
-
Christian Devotional – January 23, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 39 VERSE: Genesis 39:9–“No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” TRUTH: Joseph understood something very important about temptation. He knew that if he gave in to temptation, he wouldn’t be sinning against Potipher, although it would damage their relationship for sure. He wouldn’t be sinning against the wife, although she is the one begging for him. He wouldn’t even be sinning against himself, although he would most certainly endure the consequences of his actions. Joseph knew that…
-
Christian Devotional – January 22, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 38 VERSE: Genesis 38:7–But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord put him to death. TRUTH: Sin has consequences and as Romans 3:23 says, “the wages of sin is death.” In this case, we don’t know exactly what Er did or didn’t do, we just know that he was wicked. The Lord will always see justice done and while sometimes the timing of the consequences doesn’t make as much sense to us, we still can trust that God will deal with the wicked. Don’t be deceived, you can’t hide your wicked acts from God for just like Er, everything we do is…
-
Christian Devotional – January 21, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 37 VERSE: Genesis 37:5–Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. TRUTH: Following God doesn’t mean you’ll be popular and well liked. In fact, often the exact opposite is true and you’ll be hated and despised because you follow God. Joseph experienced this. He had an experience with God and then went to share it with others and they hated him because of it. We have to realize that we follow God and not others and as a result, we don’t have to worry about the opinions of others. That can still be very difficult, but as…
-
Christian Devotional – January 20, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 36 VERSE: Genesis 36:6–Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. TRUTH: Esau had a very practical reason to move. He had a lot of stuff. He knew that he would not be able to support his livestock when they were so close to all the livestock that his brother had. So, he picked up and moved. Unfortunately, this meant that he moved farther away from his brother and the…
-
Christian Devotional – January 19, 2016
Read Genesis chapter 35 VERSE: Genesis 35:1–The God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” TRUTH: It had been over 20 years since Jacob had left, running for his life, all alone. Now, God was bringing him back to that place. Jacob had been through a lot and had seen a lot, but he had not stayed as committed to God as he had promised to be. Here, God even has to remind him which God is talking to him as we se later in the chapter that…