Week 4 Tuesday
Family drama fills our Genesis reading today, David protests his innocence in the face of false accusation, and we watch Jesus' power on full display - calming a storm and healing many.
Genesis 27
📖 What are we reading?: Much family drama fills this passage! Isaac tries to prematurely give Esau his blessing, but Rebekah gets Jacob to impersonate his brother and steal the blessing.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: Importantly, we must note that God's plan still came through in spite of their rebellion. He is not thwarted by our scheming, even when it is used to bring about His purposes.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Deception may seem to "work" in the short term, but it leaves a trail of broken relationships in its wake - as we see with Jacob and Esau. God does not need our manipulation to fulfil His promises.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Genesis, meaning "beginnings", was written by Moses around 1400 BC, and covers the story of creation, the fall, and the origins of God's chosen people, Israel.
Psalm 17
📖 What are we reading?: David has been falsely accused and here he protests his innocence before God.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He is the one who tests our hearts and knows the truth, even when others accuse us wrongly. He is the keeper of those who take refuge in Him, keeping them as the apple of his eye.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Are we bold enough to open our hearts for God to probe? May it be that he finds us as those who have held to his paths and not stumbled (verse 5).
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
Luke 8:22-56
📖 What are we reading?: Jesus calms a violent storm with a word, delivers a man tormented by a legion of demons, heals a woman who had suffered bleeding for twelve years, and raises Jairus's daughter from death.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: We see His power at work - calming a storm and healing many. Nothing is too wild, too broken, or too far gone for Him to restore.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Each person in this chapter comes to Jesus in desperation - the disciples in a storm, a tormented man, a woman who had spent everything on doctors, a father with a dying daughter. Their desperation led them to Jesus, and that is exactly where our own desperation should lead us too.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's Gospel was written by Luke, a Greek physician and companion of Paul, around AD 60-62. It is the most detailed account of Jesus' life, and is especially attentive to the poor, to women, and to outcasts.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, You are not thwarted by our scheming, and You test our hearts and know the truth of every accusation brought against us. When storms rage and burdens overwhelm us, may our desperation always lead us to You, for nothing is too broken for Your healing hand. Amen.
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