The Home Devo (Page 47)

  DISCUSSION:                                                        The Bible is very clear that one day our Lord will return to this world and reward those who have served him; but it is also clear that on that day the Lord will execute His wrath on the wicked (2 Thessalonians 1.5-11).    Whenever we read the New Testament about the wrath of God, we are reading about His judgment.  The wrath of God is not something that any of us…

  DISCUSSION:                                                       I hate excuses, but sadly that doesn’t stop me from making them.  In the story of Moses and the burning bush, Moses attempts to make excuses.   We might make excuses to our spouse, our parents, or even our teachers about our homework; it may not be right, but it is understandable.  But Moses made his excuse to God!  The all-knowing, all-powerful being in the universe and we cannot forget, Moses’ CREATOR!  What…

  DISCUSSION:                                        The first few chapters of Exodus are filled with information about the events leading up to the exodus of the Hebrews from the land of Egypt.  To begin with, the Pharaoh that knew Joseph had died and a new Pharaoh had come to the throne not knowing of the greatness of Joseph and his God; this lead to a different viewpoint of the Jews.  The Jews had been so blessed by…

  DISCUSSION:                               In Genesis 48-50, Jacob has died and has been carried off to Macpelah to be buried with his ancestors.  Since Jacob has passed, the brothers of Joseph begin to fear that Joseph would now enact his revenge on them for selling him as a slave.  When confronted with their fears, Joseph’s statement must have really surprised them: “you meant evil against me, But God meant it for good ” (Genesis 50.20).  Joseph knew…

  DISCUSSION:                                                      You can almost feel the anxiety in the room as Jacob debates within himself what to do.  If he does nothing, he loses his son Simeon who is being held hostage in Egypt.  He also risks the entire fate of his family due to the famine.  If he says yes, he risks losing the only connection he has left of his beloved Rachel in their son Benjamin.   The famine has been severe, and they…

  DISCUSSION:                                               Isn’t this a sticky situation?  Here we have the ten brothers of Joseph coming to Egypt to buy food for their family due to the famine from none other than their brother Joseph.  The Bible tells us that even though they don’t recognize him, he recognized them.  In the process of meeting with them, he begins to question their intentions and toy with them and make them sweat.  It doesn’t take…

  DISCUSSION:                              ”      The Tribe of Judah is the most significant of all the tribes of Israel, because it is from this tribe that delivers the Messiah.  One would think that if the Bible recorded any story concerning the man from which this tribe originates, it would be one of strength, holiness and godliness.  That could not be further from the truth.  It doesn’t take long for us to see that Judah was a man…

  DISCUSSION:                           Bethel is often mentioned as a place that the Patriarchs would go and build an altar to God to offer sacrifices; it simply means the “House of God”.  Right before God changes Jacob’s name to Israel in Genesis 35, Jacob is instructed by God to rise and go to Bethel and build an altar there to God.  Before Jacob goes, there are a few things that are necessary…

  DISCUSSION:                                We are a funny group of people. We sure are happy. We sue for everything from a hot cup of coffee to hurt feelings. Forgiveness has become a lost art. Now everything is about revenge, getting even, making someone pay. Sadly enough, it’s drifted from the secular world into churches today. When we should love, we are often bitter. As we continue in our journey through the scriptures, I think that we will…

  DISCUSSION:                          Emotions are one of the greatest blessings that God has given us.  However, learning how to control those emotions can be very difficult.  In Genesis 30-31, one can see that Rachel is struggling with some of her emotions.  Rachel is very upset that God has not allowed her to have children and that anger has grown into jealousy and resentment for her sister Leah. Leah is not only…

                                The phrase “like father, like son” has been around for centuries.  I don’t know if it came from some old Chinese proverb or Confucius’ quote, but it could have had its origins here in Genesis 26.  In this story, we have Isaac repeating the same thing that his father Abraham did by withholding the whole truth about their wives.  In the case of Abraham, he lied to Pharaoh (Genesis 12) and Abimelech (Genesis 20) telling them that…

                               A college student had come to take his final exam in his ornithology class (the study of birds). It had been a tough class with a tough professor. The exam consisted of 25 pictures of birds’ feet and he had to identify which birds they were, based solely on their feet. The exasperated student said; “I’m not going to do this. Nobody could pass this test!” The professor replied, “Then I will have to fail…