Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 23, Genesis 45-46
So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near.
And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
Genesis 45:4-8 ESV
I have a quick, simple question for y’all. Have you ever been sold into slavery by your brothers? No? Me neither.
Have you ever been hurt by anyone in your life? Yes? Me, too.
When someone hurts you, it can be hard (impossible?) to forgive them. Sometimes it feels like you simply can’t “let them off the hook” by forgiving them. We take on the role of punisher, paying them back for what they’ve done to us.
But let’s think carefully about Joseph’s words here. What if we saw God’s hand at work even in our pain? How would our desire to punish someone who hurt us change if we truly believed that God was working even this pain to bring good? Wouldn’t that make forgiveness a whole lot easier?
The truth is that God is always at work, accomplishing the best ends through the best means for the most people. Sometimes people get hurt during that … And sometimes those people include YOU and ME and OUR loved ones.
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father,
I trust You. I trust Your heart. I trust Your mercy and kindness and grace and power. You have proven Yourself to be good and faithful – in Your Word and in my life. But, Father, sometimes things look really bad to me. In fact, sometimes things really are bad. It’s wrong to sell your brother into slavery. That is wrong. Yet, Lord, you worked through that unthinkable tragedy to bring great good for a great number of people with fruit still being born even today.
I pray that I would trust You with all my heart, soul, and mind. Help me to remember Your steadfast faithfulness to Joseph, and me, now and forever.
In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 22, Genesis 42-44
Genesis 42 kicks off with the famine having spread to the land of Canaan, thereby forcing Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain. Jacob sends ten of his remaining sons, but refuses to send Joseph’s younger brother, Benjamin, the only other son of Rachel, “for he feared that harm might happen to him.” (Genesis 42:4) Jacob is still playing favorites, like I wrote about here.
As though that’s not bad enough, even after Simeon (Jacob’s second son from his unloved wife, Leah) is left behind in Egypt, Jacob continues to insist that Benjamin cannot go to Egypt, saying, “My son shall not go down with you [Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son], for his brother [Joseph] is dead, and he is the only one left.” (Genesis 42:38) In fact, Jacob still has eight other sons in addition to Reuben left at home, namely Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, and Zebulun.
How would you feel if you heard your father say such a thing about one of your brothers?
Wouldn’t you want to scream and cry and stomp your feet, “Hey, Dad, what about me? Don’t you love me? Aren’t I your son? What about me and my children? What if we starve here from this famine?”
When the famine becomes even more severe and all the Egyptian grain has been consumed, Jacob is finally willing to send his sons again to Egypt to buy food. (Keep in mind, Simeon had been left in Egypt as a captive all this time.)
Judah, Jacob’s fourth son who was also born to Leah, solemnly pledges to his father, “From my hand you shall require him [Benjamin]. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” (Genesis 43:9 ESV)
To which Jacob finally relents, “May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” (Genesis 43:14)
Now, put yourself in the shoes of Judah, or one of Leah’s other sons or worse yet one of the sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah or Leah’s servant Zilpah. Imagine hearing your father refer to Simeon, your big brother as “your other brother” while Rachel’s son is referred to by name. Benjamin, Jacob’s last son. Benjamin, the only remaining son of Rachel, Jacob’s dearly loved wife who died during his birth. Benjamin, the “son of my right hand.”
Whether spoken intentionally or not, Jacob’s words communicated to his children that Benjamin is more valuable than they are. Read Judah’s own words to Joseph about his dad at the end of Genesis 44.
“As soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die … Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”
Genesis 44:31a, 33-34 ESV
In spite of the pain that his father has caused him, Judah still loves his dad. He may not be expecting a prodigal son’s welcome home — no father running to him with arms open wide. Rather, he is expecting to arrive home to a father who is looking behind him to see if his baby brother is there. And yet … Judah is still worried about the deep pain that his brother’s loss will cause his father.
Are you having a hard time loving someone who has hurt you again and again? Are you struggling to forgive someone who has repeatedly broken your heart?
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
How I long to see you face to face, to sit at your feet and have every tear wiped away from my eyes! How I ache for the pain and sin and sorrow of this world to be over!
But, Father, in the meantime, help me to love as Your Son loved. Remind me how much You have forgiven me. Show me my sin.
Help me to forgive even those who forget me and reject me and spit in my face. I want to forgive others as You have forgiven me.
Lord, I can’t do this on my own. I need Your strength. Help me to see the log in my own eye, to accept responsibility for where my own sin has contributed to the pain that I find myself in.
I want to overcome evil with good, for You are good and I am Yours.
In the Good and Gracious name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 21, Genesis 40-41
Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
Genesis 41:16 ESV
I love how God works within space and time to reveal Himself to people. Two years ago, just after I finished reading Genesis 40-41 for my daily Bible reading, I received an email about an article that was published by Premier Unbelievable about my testimony of coming to faith in Christ out of atheism. In reading Genesis 40-41, I was struck by Joseph’s humility, his insistence that it was God, not him, who revealed the meaning of dreams. Joseph easily could have become puffed up and patted himself on the back for his accomplishments, but he didn’t. You find this same humility in Daniel and Peter and John and Paul.
“Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.””
Daniel 2:19-23 ESV
“While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name–by faith in his name–has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
Acts 3:11-16 ESV
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ESV
I pray that I would do likewise, that when the Lord opens a door for me to speak or serve or act for His glory, that all the glory would go to Him and Him alone for He is the only one worthy. All that I am and all that I have, is a direct result of the grace that He has lavished on me, a sinner.
I am just a beggar telling you where to find bread. I am a sinner saved by grace. It is only by God’s mercy that I can do anything. He has caused me to be born again to this living hope, and I am eternally grateful. His grace compels me. His power gives me strength. His mercy allows me to be merciful.
Let’s pray together.
Oh, Heavenly Father,
Apart from Your grace, we are all just filthy rotten sinners. I remember all too well who I was. I wanted to be good, I wanted to do right, but I could never do it. Everything I did was tainted by conceit and pride and selfishness. I was lost and without hope. I lived under a cloud of fear and darkness.
BUT GOD! You saved me by Your grace. You took what was dead and made it alive. You took my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. And all I can cry is HOLY! Worthy are You to receive all glory and honor and praise. Worthy is the Lamb. You are WORTHY!
My worth is not in myself – not in what I can say or do, not in what I have said or done – my worth is in YOU. You have made me worthy. You have called me YOURS. You have brought me into Your kingdom and set my feet on the rock. You have brought me to Your banqueting table and spread Your banner of love over me. Thank you, Father. Thank You.
In the Mighty and Merciful Name of Jesus I pray, Amen!
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My Worth is Not in What I Own – Fernando Ortega & The Gettys
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 20, Genesis 38-39
I found it especially interesting to read Genesis 38 and 39 together. Genesis 38 tells the story of Judah, who got his widowed daughter-in-law pregnant, while Genesis 39 tells the story of Judah’s younger brother, Joseph, who successfully resisted Potiphar’s wife in spite of her incredible persistence.
Genesis 38 – Sexual Sin and Human Pride
I mainly want to focus on Genesis 39 today, but before we get there I do want to point out two things in Genesis 38.
About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”
And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
– Genesis 38:24 ESV
Judah is the father of this child. Judah is the reason that Tamar is pregnant. Yet Judah is who demands that she be burned. 🥺😭
How quick we are to point out the sin in other people when we are guilty of that very same sin! How prone we are to hate lying and pride and sin in other people, while overlooking it in ourselves!
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Matthew 7:3 ESV
This is part of loving your neighbor as yourself. Somehow we all manage to forgive our own lying and deceit and sexual sin and pride. We make excuses for our own misbehavior, yet we are quick to point fingers at others. May it never be.
I pray that we desire repentance in ourselves as much as we desire it in our neighbor. May we be merciful as we have been shown mercy. May we not think that we are somehow better than someone else, when we are both eating pig slop.
As a dear Christian sister often reminds me, “We are all just beggars looking for somewhere to buy bread.”
The second thing that jumps out at me from Genesis 38 is that Perez, one of the twin sons who was conceived in Tamar through this act of sexual immorality, is the child that God chose to be in the line of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:3)
God uses all things, sometimes even sinful things, to accomplish His purposes. Does that mean we should continue in sin? May it never be. But does it mean that none of us are beyond hope and that God is able to use even our sinful past to bring Him glory? Yes. Yes, it does.
I have deep regrets over many things I did in the first 25 years of my life – maybe you do, too – yet those things shaped who I am today. I pray my brokenness would be holes for God’s glory to shine out of.
Genesis 29 – Handsome Joseph and Potiphar’s Persistent Wife
Let’s look next at Genesis 29, a completely different reaction to sexual temptation.
Potiphar’s wife, a woman of authority, the wife of his boss, aggressively pursues Joseph – a very different situation than the one Judah was in – and yet Joseph remains steadfast, refusing to even “listen to her.” (Genesis 39:10)
The scriptures are full of encouragement to FLEE from temptation and sin. We must actively train ourselves (and our children) to RUN from temptation.
May we not be like Lot’s wife who kept looking back as she was being forced to flee Sodom. May we not be like the Israelites who thought fondly about their years in Egyptian bondage. Instead, let’s be women who flee from temptation with our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.”
Psalm 119:9 ESV
“For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!” Proverbs 5:3-12 ESV
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
2 Timothy 2:22 ESV
“The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:13b-20 ESV
Will you join me in prayer?
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for Your mercy and grace and forgiveness. I don’t deserve it. I have been Tamar, and I have been Potiphar’s wife. Like 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Such was I, Lord! But, Lord, You have washed me clean in the blood of Jesus. You have given me new desires and new power by Your Spirit at work in me. Praise Your name!
I pray that You would protect my husband and sons. Please, Father, help them to keep their hearts and minds pure. Help them to “think about what they’re thinking about” and to “pay attention to what has their attention.” Show them the way of escape when they are tempted, and give them the wisdom, strength, and desire to flee.
Please protect me and my sisters – and our daughters – from the temptation to be temptresses. Make us honorable women. May we be found faithful, to You and to our husbands. Create in us clean hands and pure hearts, O LORD. Remind us daily that true fulfillment and satisfaction is found only at the feet of Jesus, that we would not seek it elsewhere.
You are worthy. You alone are worthy. Thank you, Jesus!
In the matchless name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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When I Think About the Lord
When I think about the Lord How He saved, how He raised me How He filled me with the Holy Ghost He healed me to the uttermost When I think about the Lord How He picked me up Turned me around How He set my feet On solid ground
That makes me want to shout Hallelujah, thank You, Jesus Lord, You’re worthy Of all the glory, and all the honor And all the praise Oh, makes me want to shout Hallelujah, thank You, Jesus Lord, You’re worthy Of all the glory, and all the honor And all the praise
Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 19, Genesis 36-37
But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
Genesis 37:4 ESV
Why are the brothers mad at Joseph because their dad loves him more? That seems so unfair. Isn’t it their father, Jacob’s fault rather than Joseph’s? … Isn’t that the way of man? And Joseph sure didn’t help matters by bragging about his dreams and being the family snitch.
Have you ever hated someone because you’re jealous of them? I have. In high school I always hated the “pretty girls” … though I see now that was rooted in my own insecurity and jealousy.
And what’s up with Jacob making it so obvious that Joseph was his favorite child? That is so heartbreaking…. But also so easy. A parent can naturally get along better with a certain child. Or a certain child may come into your life at a crucial time or in answer to your fervent prayers – like Joseph did – and ends up being preferred.
I wish I could tell you that my family has avoided the scars left by the childhood struggles of jealousy and favoritism, but that simply isn’t true. I have to confess that my children and I have wrestled long and hard through these issues. It’s not pretty, friends, and it has long-term consequences.
Our culture laughs about the issue of “sibling rivalry” as though it’s just a normal and natural part of childhood. It may be normal and natural in this fallen world we live in friends, but it’s certainly not good.
If you find yourself preferring one child over another, this, too, may be normal and natural, but it’s not good.
Let me encourage you to examine yourself first. Start with you. I believe that a big root cause of sibling rivalry is parental partiality. Do you have some children who are rebellious and other children who are compliant? Do you have one child who demands lots of extra time while your other children easily fade into the background? Watch yourself!
Let me share two ways that I tried hard to help fight favoritism and jealousy in my household.
“Day of the Week”
In our family, each child had one day to call their own. On their day, they got to be the one who picked a game at lunch. That child was the one who prayed over our meal, who picked the bedtime story, who got to ride in the front seat. Wherever there was a choice to be made that day, they got to pick it.
Over the years the day of the week varied a little depending on our family’s schedule, but usually our oldest child got Monday, our second child got Tuesday, our third child got Wednesday, I got Thursday (because this was a busy day for us so there were less choices to be made), and our fourth child got Friday. (Saturday was a family day and Daddy got Sunday.)
Weekly Date Nights
The other thing we did was weekly date nights. It was usually on a Friday night, but not always. The first Friday of the month was for our first child, second Friday was for our second child, third Friday for our third child, and the fourth Friday for our fourth child. My husband and I took turns taking out the kids, so every other month each child had a date with mom and the other month with dad. This intentionality and regularity helped each of our kids to stay connected with each of their parents.
What ideas do you have to fight Favoritism and Jealousy? I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment below.
Will you pray with me?
Heavenly Father,
Sibling rivalry has been around since there were siblings. The first murder was between two brothers and it was rooted in jealousy.
Please, Father, help us as parents to love each of our children fully and with all our hearts. Help us to recognize where we are falling short in this area and to confess and repent.
Lord, each of our children are unique and we naturally gravitate towards one or another.
You know our hearts. You know our motives. You know if they are right or if they are wrong. Feather, we confess our sin to You and ask Uou to forgive us and to create a right heart in us. We pray You would heal whatever scars our children have as a result of our own sin – our own feelings and actions rooted in partiality or favoritism.
We pray that You would heal any scars of bitterness or jealousy in our children. No matter their age. It is never too late. We thank you Lord for the blessing it is to have siblings and pray that You would use this unique bond to richly bless our children.
In the name of Jesus Christ who sticks closer than a brother, Amen
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In today’s reading, I kept thinking about how sometimes people will read a passage of the Bible and then take that to mean that it is the right way to behave. “Abraham lied, so it must be okay for us.” “Jacob had two wives, so that must be okay.”
When we’re trying to understand the meaning of a passage, we have to consider all of the scriptures from beginning to end. In this story about the defiling of Dinah, I don’t think that God is saying that Jacob should have passively stood by while Dinah was taken advantage of, or that his sons should have lied to Shechem and Hamor, or that Simeon and Levi should have killed all of the males of their city. In fact, Jacob addressed his sons’ sinful anger in his blessings over his sons, as recorded in Genesis 49.
“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” Genesis 49:5-7 ESV
Additionally, the Bible specifically tells us,
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 ESV
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Romans 12:19 ESV
My heart was grieved reading the whole myriad of sins recorded in these two chapters, but the Bible records the good, the bad, and the ugly, as an example for us. May we learn from these truths, both in what to do and what not to do.
Let’s pray.
HeavenlyFather, we are surrounded by a culture that glorifies wicked, evil, selfish people. Let us be imitators of Christ and not imitators of the world. Father, help us to overcome evil with good. May we look more like Jesus and less like the world.
Help us to trust that You are a just God who is faithful to carry out the proper justice at the proper time. May we not envy the evil, but recognize that they are suffering for their sin – now in their heartsand someday in eternity.
Let us not be surprised at the terrible trials that we are facing in this dark world. May none of suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer. Rather, may we suffer for the gospel, for righteousness and holiness.
To the glory and praise of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 17; Genesis 33
But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Genesis 33:4 ESV
Twenty years earlier Jacob had fled for his life after lying to his father and cheating his brother Esau out of his father’s final blessing. Jacob was terrified to go back and see Esau again. He expected Esau to kill him, his wives, and his children. At a minimum, we would expect Esau to at least give Jacob a severe tongue lashing, right?
Esau running to embrace Jacob is certainly not what anyone would expect. Forgiveness and reconciliation are rare commodities in human relationships, even between brothers.
Esau’s actions reminded me of the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.
“How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
– Luke 15:17-24 ESV
I’m reading about Esau, but all I can think about is God’s overwhelming, never-ending, faithful love. He loved me while I was yet His enemy. Truly He loved me first. I am able to love Him ONLY because He first loved me!
I confess that I don’t really understand how all this works, but I do know that it all begins and ends with our loving Father. He pursues us. He lavishes His mercy on us, and His mercy draws us to repentance.
Esau’s ability to forgive his selfish, lying, deceiving brother, takes an act of God.
Has someone hurt you? Are you struggling to forgive them? You need God to act. And He CAN! He can do it. Dear sisters, God is able to do it through us! What is impossible for man is possible for God! God can give us the strength and humility to forgive others who have hurt us.
And, let’s not forget, He commands it of us. We must forgive others because we have been forgiven of SO MUCH!
Which reminds me of another parable that Jesus told. This time in Matthew 18.
“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’
So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
-Matthew 18:21-35 ESV
Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father,
Please give us the strength and humility we need to forgive others. Help us to say what our Lord Jesus Christ taught us to say, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Remind us of Christ’s own words as He was being crucified, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Help us to lovingly pursue others while they are sinners, like Jesus pursued us. Help us to overcome evil with good rather than repaying wrong with wrong. Please, Father, make us more like Jesus who was willing to suffer, in order that we could be forgiven and redeemed.
Help us to love others like you have loved us.
By the power of the Holy Spirit and the lavish, overwhelming grace of Christ, we pray this, Amen.
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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 16; Genesis 31-32
And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”
– Genesis 32:9-12 ESV
Like Jacob, I feel incredibly small and unworthy. I started my journey with the Lord as a 21-year-old atheist. God has given me so much, a husband who loves me, four beautiful children, a wonderful daughter-in-law and son-in-law (with another on the way!), two amazing granddaughters, a comfortable home, a fulfilling ministry and career, and so much more!
But, truly, the greatest things that God has given to me are His steadfast love and faithfulness which fill my life with hope and purpose. Because of the promise of God’s faithful love, I can ask Him for anything that I need without fearing His anger or rejection.
Did you notice how Jacob made his requests in the middle of reminding God of what He has promised him? God, You said to me that I should return to my country that You may do me good…. I’m so unworthy of all Your goodness. Now please save me and my children and their mothers…. Remember, God, You said You would surely do me good and make my offspring as numerous as the sand of the sea.
What a great model for us!
Please join me in prayer.
Oh HeavenlyFather, Your Word is full cover-to-cover of Your great promises! You have blessed me beyond measure with the gift of Your steadfast love and faithfulness. You have blessed me with unimaginable blessings – both here and in eternity.
I am not worthy of the least of all the kindnesses You have lavished on me. I didn’t deserve Your grace, Your steadfast love, or Your faithfulness. I am not worthy by my own merit.
Yet, Lord, You have made me worthy by adopting me into Your family and giving me a new name, Your Name, the name that is above every name.
You, Lord are worthy. You are worthy of every song I could sing and every praise I could shout from the darkest cave to the highest heights.
Deliver me from the schemes of the devil. Please, Holy Spirit, extinguish all the fiery darts that the deceiver sends my way. Protect me and my family. Guard us behind the immovable rock of Jesus Christ and hide us beneath the shelter of Your wings.
To the glory and praise of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Click here for more information on reading through the Bible in Two Years.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Psalm 15, Genesis 29-30
“When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, ‘Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.’
She conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.’ And she called his name Simeon.
Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, ‘Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ Therefore his name was called Levi.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘This time I will praise the LORD.’ Therefore she called his name Judah.
Then she ceased bearing.”
– Genesis 29:31-35
Leah viewed her first three sons as tools to get her husband to love her.
Son #1: Now my husband will love me.
Son #2: The Lord has heard that I am hated.
Son #3: Now my husband will be attached to me.
Yet, it’s Leah’s fourth son, Judah, the son whose name means praise, the son whose birth brought Leah to say, “THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE THE LORD,” whom God chose to father the line of Jesus Christ, God’s only Begotten Son and the Savior of the World,
Friends, think about this: it wasLeah, the unloved wife, whom God chose to bear Judah.
I remember my own time of marital pains and infertility. Reading this story about Leah is such an encouragement to me.
God has purpose both in our fertility and in our barrenness. May we bring Him glory in both!
Are you feeling unloved today? I’ve been there. But so has Jesus. He knows how it feels to be rejected by those who were supposed to love Him. And Jesus, the Great I Am, loves you. He is worth a thousand times more than the most perfect husband or a thousand imperfect sons.
Let me pray over you.
Heavenly Father,
You are close to the broken-hearted. You are the God who remains faithful when man is faithless. You love the unloved and the unloveable, the poor, the lonely, the rejected.
You are the good shepherd who pursues His lost sheep.
I pray that we would praise You when life is easy, and we would praise You when life is hard. No matter what, You are worthy of our praise!
We offer our hearts, minds, wombs, and lives to You. Father, fill them as You will in Your perfect timing and for Your perfect purposes. Help us to trust You with our hearts and our hurts.
In the name of Jesus our Savior and King we pray, Amen.
Click here for more information on reading through the Bible in Two Years.
I’ve always liked the name Rebekah, so I was extra disappointed when I read her story in Genesis 27 and 28. Reflecting the meaning of her name, Rebekah is an ensnarer. She wants what she wants, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Jacob, her quieter son, the one who “dwells in the tents,” is her favorite. (Genesis 25:27-28) She deceives her own husband – and orders her son to do likewise – so that he will get his father’s blessing.
Adam foolishly listened to his wife, Eve. Abraham foolishly listened to his wife, Sarah. Now, the son foolishly listened to his mother’s voice.
But we can’t place all of the blame on Rebekah. Jacob chose to lie to his father saying, “I am Esau, your firstborn” and “the Lord your God granted me success.” (Genesis 27:19-20) Did you notice that Jacob said, “the Lord your God” not “the Lord my God”?
Jacob himself even went so far as to insist a third time. After his dad questioned him again, “Are you really my son Esau?”, Jacob answered, “I am.” (Genesis 27:24 ESV) Ouch.
When Rebekah finds out that Esau is so angry that he wants to kill Jacob, she doesn’t go to Esau herself and admit her wrong and seek to help reconcile her sons. Nor does she go beg her husband’s forgiveness and ask for his help. Instead, she calls Jacob to her again, telling him to obey her and flee to her brother, Laban and even gets Isaac in on her scheme to send Jacob away.
Sin begets more sin. Once you open up the smallest pinprick of a stream of deceit, it’s hard to stop the water from flowing.
But, do you know what really blows me away after reading all of this?
God STILL blesses Jacob.
God. Still. Blesses. JACOB.
Why is God so merciful and faithful?
Why doesn’t He take the blessing away from Jacob and give it to Esau?
Dear friends, if we truly believed that God is as good and faithful and sovereign as we say we do, then why are we willing to go to such great lengths to make our lives go the way that “seems right to us”?
God had already promised Rebekah that the older shall serve the younger, yet she still deceived her husband and made her son do likewise, in order to “make it happen.”
Maybe God hasn’t given us such specific promises for our children, but God has promised us SO much! He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He has promised to always be with us. He has promised to take care of us. Check out some of my recent blog posts like this and this for more encouragement.
Sisters, let’s not be ensnarers – or deceivers. Instead, may we “do good” and “not fear anything that is frightening” like we’re told in 1 Peter 3:6. Let’s be women who trust God with our lives and the lives of our children.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but it’s end is the way to death.
Proverbs 14:12
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
I pray that we would be women who trust You SO MUCH that we would not feel the need to take matters into our own hands. May we rightly fear You, Lord, that we would not dare to sin against You. May we trust that You are able to do more than we could even ask or imagine. May we trust that You are indeed for us, so we need fear no man or life circumstance.
Make us women of the Word. Make us women of faith. Make us women whose children can rise up and praise because we have faithfully trained them up in the fear of the Lord.
We love You, Lord. You are faithful even when we are faithless. Grow our faith, Father.
In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
Click here for more information on reading through the Bible in Two Years.
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