The Essential 100, Day 10 Reconciliation. As family, Jacob and Esau had always been against each other. Now, God wants us to see that he is a God who brings reconciliation. Read Genesis 32 and 33. Jacob encountered God and as a result, he was not the same. Jacob no longer was trying to trick and deceive Esau. Jacob sent gifts and presents to try to help his brother see that he was a changed man. Only God can save us and change us and make us who he wants us to be in Him. Will we let God have the freedom to work in our family relationships? He may…

The Essential 100, Day 9 How do your family relationship encourage or discourage your relationship with God? Read Genesis 27 and 28. God places us into families and his desire is that they are a place that we can learn and grow in Him. Sometimes that’s the case, and sometimes it’s not. However, God desires that we love and respect our families. Even Jacob and Esau with all they were going through, God desired that they treat each other like a family. How are we allowing our families to encourage us to be more obedient to Christ and how are we allowing our families to discourage us? If our families…

The Essential 100, Day 8 Trust during Trial. Abraham had his prayers answered and he had a son. Now it seemed that God was taking him away. Still, Abraham was obedient and he trusted God’s bigger plan so he was faithful during his trials. Read Genesis 21 snd 22. Such rejoicing and happiness with the birth of Isaac, only to be met with being asked to sacrifice him in the very next chapter. How do we show that we trust God? Every day we experience difficulties and trials that seem to go against what we thought God meant for us. We learn more about ourselves and we have a chance…

The Essential 100, Day 7 God made a promise, or a covenant with Abram. It was a fantastic, unbelievable kind of promise that Abram had no way of confirming that God would do it. Yet, even with such a great potential to doubt, Abram believed. Read Genesis 15. Through this chapter, we see all that God does and has Abram do in order to demonstrate just how serious God was about fulfilling this promise. And even though it seemed completely crazy that it would be possible, Abram believed. Do we believe God’s promises? Do we believe all of God’s promises, even the amazing and fantastic ones that we can’t begin…

The Essential 100, Day 6 A calling. God had called Abran, later named Abraham, and gave him purpose. God does the same for us. Read Genesis 11:1-17. God is the one who gives us purpose. God is the one who calls us. When we look at our lives, do we recognize God’s call on our life? No matter who we are or what we do, God has called us. We are to follow that calling. When was the last time you thought about your calling from God? For me, it has been quite a while. Our calling becomes our passion. It becomes our focus and what energizes us. If we…

The Essential 100, Day 5 Pride. As we continue through the Essential 100 reading plan in YouVersion, we are looking at a short passage today, just 9 verses. But they are a very sad 9 verses indeed. Read Genesis 11:1-9. As the world has continued, man has looked around and decided they are the best and deserve the best. Unfortunately, they didn’t look to God and realize that God is the best. Man, in his pride, decides to build a tower to reach the heavens. God, in his wisdom, stops him. God knows what is best for us and when we lose sight of God in our life, we will…

The Essential 100, Day 4 Long before a rainbow meant anything else, the rainbow was a symbol of God’s covenant with the entire world. Read Genesis 8:1 – 9:17 as day 4 of The Essential 100 reading plan with YouVersion. God made a covenant with the world, not just the people in it. The rainbow was set to remind God of his covenant, not us. Whatever we may think a rainbow is, to God, it a reminder not to flood the entire world in judgment through water again. God will continue to judge because he continues to be holy. But, he will not use a planet-wide flood to do it.…

The Essential 100, Day 3 The third essential truth about God is found in Genesis 6:5 – 7:24. Here we see the account of the flood. As a reminder, this is based on The Essential 100 reading plan from YouVersion. Noah was alone. He alone was faithful to God and served Him. Because of the sin of the rest of the world, God made the decision to judge the earth. Noah would be saved, and his family. God is just and must punish sin. God is also faithful to save those who seek Him from that judgment. Do we feel alone? We may be, like Noah. But, God is with…