January 24, 2023
“Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are” (Genesis 48:5 NLT). Jacob, who was called Israel, spoke a word of blessing over each of
January 22, 2023
‘Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself”‘ (Genesis 44:18 NLT). When Judah, the fourth son of Jacob’s twelve, stepped forward to act as his brother’s advocate, the future
January 16, 2023
“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won” (Genesis 32:28 NLT). Jacob got a new name after wrestling all night with God. The name “Jacob” means “grasping the heel” or “pulling the
January 15, 2023
“I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps!” (Genesis 32:10 NLT). As Jacob returned to the land of Canaan with his wives,
January 11, 2023
“His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite” (Genesis 25:9 NLT). Isaac and Ishmael buried their father, Abraham, in the same tomb he had bought to bury Sarah. These two sons became two great peoples. The Jewish nation came
January 9, 2023
“Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he worshiped the LORD, the Eternal God” (Genesis 21:33 NLT). As Abraham grew in his relationship with God, more and more was revealed to him concerning the nature and character of God. Often these revelations took the form of a new name of God. Two
January 5, 2023
‘The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you”‘ (Genesis 12:1 NLT). The Lord called a 75 year old man named Abram to leave his father’s house and go to a land that God would show him. And
January 19, 2022
EXPECT GREAT THINGS; ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS The Pharoah of Egypt had a troubling dream and his cupbearer remembered that a Hebrew slave named Joseph had rightly interpreted his dream two years earlier. So Pharoah summoned Joseph and asked whether he could interpret dreams. Joseph answered that it was beyond his power, but that God was
January 18, 2022
BETRAYED BY HIS BROTHERS Jacob’s sons were jealous of their brother, Joseph. He was the favored son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel, who had died giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest of Jacob’s twelve sons. Joseph had made things worse with his brothers by sharing his dreams of them someday bowing down to him.
January 16, 2022
IS YOUR FAITH, YOUR FAITH? As he entered the Promised Land, Jacob built an altar to God near Shechem, just as his grandfather Abraham had once done (Gen. 12:7). However, Jacob no longer referred to the Lord as the God of Abraham and Isaac. Here for the first time, Jacob referred to the Lord as