Please read Genesis 30:25-43, and Genesis 31.  When you’re done, head on back!  I hope you are finding that these readings are only taking 10-15 minutes each day.  Hang in there, you are making great progress! 🙂 Here’s what I am thinking about today:

So many things going on – difficulties between Leah and Rachel, difficulties between Laban and Jacob.  Knowing how important Jacob is, it’s interesting to see him from his beginning, a young man married and raising his family.  Joseph is born – put a bookmark by his name!  AfterJacob flees from Laban and Laban catches up, they come to peace.  I think maybe a strained peace, what do you think?  Laban can’t really condemn Jacob and he is unwilling to admit his own wrongdoing, so I think he just makes peace and enters a covenant with Jacob (I think) for the sake of his daughters.  At least it’s something!

God can bring true peace, if we let Him guard our hearts. Ask the Lord to bring peace to your relationships – and recognize that we have a part in keeping peace as well!

Please read Genesis 28:6-22, Genesis 29, Genesis 30:1-24, and come on back!  Here’s what stands out to me today:

What an awesome responsibility we have to pray over our children. It stood out to me in Jacob’s dream when God told him He would bring him back and stay with him until all the promises were fulfilled.  I am struck by Jacob’s response to the dream in Genesis 28:16 – “God is in this place – truly.  And I didn’t even know it!”  This won’t be the last time we read about someone not recognizing the Lord.  I pray that I’ll always be able to sense when He is near!

God is all about restoration and returning, and He is always faithful. We have to be faithful too if we are to see His promises come to pass in our lives (and sometimes it takes what seems to us like a long time!).

Good morning, friend! 🙂 Please read Genesis 25:27-34, Genesis 26, Genesis 27, and Genesis 28:1-5, and come on back.  Here’s what I am thinking about this morning:

The history of Jacob and Esau, and how Esau relinquished his birthright is a familiar and sad one.

At the beginning of chapter 26, we are told there was a severe famine, so Isaac moved to Gerar. His intention must have been to continue on to Egypt (I’m guessing because God tells him not to go in Genesis 26:2).  Even in a place where he was a stranger (lonely perhaps), God tells him to stay there and he would be blessed there.  So, in obedience to the Lord, Isaac stayed.  In keeping with His promise to Abraham, God blessed and prospered Isaac there.

Even in times of loneliness or fill-in-your-own blank-here, there is a blessing in following the Lord.  We can’t act based on emotions, we must act on obedience. God is so faithful, every single time!

Please read Genesis 25:1-4, 1 Chronicles 1:32-33, Genesis 25:5-6, Genesis 25:12-18, 1 Chronicles 1:28-31, 1 Chronicles 1:34, Genesis 25:19-26, Genesis 25:7-11, and come on back!  Share your comments below if you like – I’d love to hear what you are thinking too! 

Abraham’s family did expand through Isaac as God promised, and He blessed Ishmael as well.  The genealogies are important, fight the urge to “skim” over them! 🙂 Even though Isaac and Ishmael’s history was atypical at best, they were still brothers. It doesn’t seem like there is animosity between the two of them – they come together at the end of Abraham’s life to  bury him next to Sarah.  The Message translation reads, “he died happy at a ripe old age, full of years” (Genesis 25:8). What a nice way to end a life, happy. The Lord kept His promises to Abraham!

Now on to the next generation – Jacob and Esau!  See you tomorrow!

Please read Genesis 21:8-22, Genesis 22, Genesis 23, Genesis 11:32, Genesis 24, and head on back here.  Want to know what stood out to me today?

Once again, Hagar is turned out.  It must have been hard on Abraham – even though Isaac is the promised child, Ishmael is also his child and he must love him.  Hagar learns in the wilderness that God not only sees her (16:13), but He also hears her (Genesis 21:17).   I always think of Peter saying that God is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) when I see His tenderness in action – so, it follows that if God saw and heard Hagar then, He sees and hears us today.

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham’s faith…. “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (22:2). Knowing the purpose of the trip, Abraham “rose early in the morning…. and arose and went” (22:3).  Go hasn’t told him where he’s going, but He did tell him why he was going there – to sacrifice his promise.  Abraham had no idea that God would spare Isaac, but he trusted and and “went”.  That’s remarkable.

God is always so faithful. His promises endure for generations. ❤ 

Please read Genesis 18, Genesis 19, Genesis 20, Genesis 21:1-7, and then come on back!  Here’s what I’m thinking about today:

Big day! Lots happened in today’s reading! Isn’t it sad – before Isaac was conceived (and after Sarah had received the promise of a child), Sarah abused Hagar to a point where she ran away.  Her frustration and anger was so great, Hagar was abandoned when it was Sarai herself who had made the mistake.  Emotion is so easily displaced – fight the temptation to take out your disappointments on the people around you. Sarah did receive her promise, though she had to wait for it. Isaac was born in chapter 21!

With Sodom, God was so merciful – willing to save the entire city for the sake of a few, yet even a few could not be found.  It is important to notice what happened to Lot’s wife when they were leaving – turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).  When God asks you to move on, please move on!

“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised” (Genesis 21:8).  After all that!  We have the benefit of hindsight, we know the entire story.  Sarah lived, every day, with her uncertainty.  We had no doubt Isaac would be born!

God’s thoughts are higher for sure – it’s so important that we follow the Lord (and not try to come up with our own plans) even when we might not understand.

Please read Genesis 15-17, and come on back! 🙂 Here’s what is on my mind today:

Genesis 16:13 is one of my favorites: “she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, ‘Have I also here seen Him who sees me?’ ” God always notices us, and that’s a comfort.  Do you ever feel unnoticed?  God sees you!

We are all familiar with Abram and Sarai’s story,  and the way Sarai thought to “help” the Lord by giving her maid Hagar to Abraham. Even though Ishmael wasn’t the promised son, he was still Abraham’s son – notice how he prays for Ishmael in Genesis 17:18, “Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!” Even though Sarah had made a mistake, God didn’t mean for Ishmael to be punished – He comforts Abraham by letting him know that Ishmael would be blessed as well, but Sarah’s son would be the son of promise.

Genesis 17:9 stood out to me this morning: “this is the covenant that you are to honor… generation after generation”.  The Living Bible translate it like this: Abraham had a “personal” and “continual responsibility” obey the terms of the covenant.  We have that same personal and continual responsibility! God is always faithful – and we have a responsibility to continue in covenant with Him.  Obedience is daily and consistent.

Please read Genesis 11:1-26, 1 Chronicles 1:24-27, Genesis 11:27-31, Genesis 12, Genesis 13, Genesis 14, and come right back! 🙂 Here’s what I am thinking about today:

Lots of genealogies today – if you find them a little tiring, know that I am with you!  But before we overlook these names, try looking at each one, see if you recognize anyone. Many of these names will come back again.  An important figure is introduced today: Abraham.

Though Abraham will have to go through many trials, he has this initial promise form the Lord to maintain him: “I’ll make you a great nation and bless you.  I’ll make you famous, you’ll be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2 MSG). it will be years before Abram  begins to see this promise come to pass.

The entire Bible is a lifeline to us, God’s character and blessings, full of promises.  It’s the logos word (the written word) straight from His heart to ours.  Whether God gives you a logos (written word) or a rhema (spoken word) to hold on to, be encouraged: He is always faithful to His promises.  Even if, like Abraham, you have to wait. 🙂

Please read Genesis 4, Genesis 5,1 Chron 1:1-4, Genesis 6, and come right back – here’s what I am thinking about today:

The story of Cain and Abel is sad on several different levels.  Cain’s action was extreme (that’s an understatement).  At first look, God’s response to Cain’s offering seems extreme as well. However, when you read the Old Testament, take every opportunity to apply the character of the God you know today to the God of the Old Testament – He’s exactly the same, yesterday, today and forever.  When it seems harsh, take a deeper look. Cain did not give a firstfruit offering, and this may not have even come from his own harvest. Apparently Cain picked a few wild fruits and called it a day, an offering which cost him nothing.  In contrast, Abel brought the best he had to the Lord, a firstborn, a valuable animal that might have brought a price if he had sold it.  Their offerings were not the same – but the Lord wasn’t looking for the same in value (never that, even today), He is looking for the same level of sacrifice. 

I love the reference to Enoch, about how God “took” him. Imagine being so close that the separation of heaven and earth is too much! Wow! God desires an intimate relationship with His children and I am humbled by that thought.