Here's a recap of my devotions from last week.
Sunday
Elisha
(2 Kings 4:38-44)
Elisha is sometimes portrayed as performing miracles almost flippantly. Especially when those around him are being big whiners. How does this relate to today? As Elisha was a prophet of Yahweh, and he spoke for Yahweh, I think that the message here is God saying, “Stop whining, I got this.”
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 10, Matthew 12-13, Genesis 34-35)
Psalms – Sometimes it can feel like God isn’t paying attention, and it’s ok to ask Him where He is. In fact, that probably just strengthens your prayer life. Don’t be scared to ask God where He’s been, what He’s been up to. Don’t be scared to seek out that answer.
Matthew – We need to be sure to look at the parable of the sower and the seed correctly. I think that too often we look at like some happenstance thing. Well, some fell here and some fell there. But, we play a huge role in this. We need to make sure that we have the right type of soil. We need to remember that we are the soil in this parable. If there are thorns, it’s because we let them grow up.
Genesis – Simeon was the first born of Jacob, and he would’ve been in line to get the first born blessing (Reuben was first born but he also lost the privilege because of his later act of sleeping with Bilhah), and his would’ve been the line which rightfully would’ve been king. It was because he acted rashly, even in the face of what he considered righteous retribution, that he lost this privilege (and Levi, as well), and the kingly line passed on to Judah.
When Reuben slept with Bilhah it wasn’t just Reuben wanting to get busy, it was a power play. At that time, when a son wanted to take power from his father, he slept with his mother to show who “the man” was in the house. Now, at least Reuben showed the “class” to not sleep with his actual mother, but with his mother’s maidservant, but the meaning was the same.
Monday
Elisha
(2 Kings 5:1-27)
Naaman sought out the supernatural, and when it didn’t appear to him in the way which he had expected it, he denied it. He wanted Elisha to have his hands, or to make him to do something amazing (like maybe climb a mountain and claim a prize at the top) but when Elisha said to simply wash in the Jordan 7 times, he felt like he was being cheated his supernatural experience. How often do we do the same thing?
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 10, Matthew 13, Genesis 36-37)
Psalms 10 – Even though, sometimes, it seems like God isn’t listening, have no doubt about it. He is listening and He will, eventually, make it known to you. So you may as well just be secure in this now. Even if not now, it will happen later.
Matthew – God can’t just take away all of the evil in the world. If He does this, he may uproot some of those who will be led to salvation, as well. When you see evil, see an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons. Just make sure you have that sweet, sugar that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There’s something here to look into. Oftentimes yeast is used to represent sin. But this time yeast is meant to represent the Kingdom of Yahweh. I need to remember to search into this and see what the deeper meaning could be.
Genesis – This first chapter was a list of names. I tried to be attentive, but I’m sure I missed something. I just have to keep reminding myself that they are there for a reason. God doesn’t put things in there which aren’t going to be called upon later.
Two lessons from this early part of the telling of Joseph. Number 1: God can use you even when you are being an immature idiot. Number 2: The more you tell people that you’re better than them, the more they want to kill you.
Tuesday
Elisha
(2 Kings 6:1-7)
Elisha made a fallen ax head float so that it could be retrieved from the river. I think there’s more here than meets the eye. He used a stick which he had cut off, from a tree that had been cut (probably by the ax head which was lost) to get it back. I can see this meaning that we can lose things, but God will restore them to us if it is something that is in His plans, but stay close to His plans because He just may use that thing to help the restoration process.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 11, Matthew 13, Genesis 38-39)
Psalms – In Psalms 11:5 we see that God loves the righteous but that He hates the wicked, and the lover of violence. Does God really love the sinner but hate the sin? It doesn’t say that He hates the love of violence, He hates the loveR of violence.
Matthew – One thing often overlooked, when looking at the pearl of great price, is that pearls probably would’ve made you unclean. Oysters are an unclean animal and they would not have been allowed to eat them, and the pearl is made in the oyster, so the pearl in general probably would’ve been looked at in a Hebrew context as something of an abomination. And yet, it is shown in this parable to be as the kingdom of heaven.
Genesis 38 – We get the story of Judah and Tamar thrown in here. It’s important to remember that this is the lineage of Yeshua. While Tamar is not a temple prostitute, we see the character of Judah here.
Genesis 39 – The moral of the story with Potiphar’s wife just might be to wear extra clothes when you’re hanging around whores. But it should probably be to avoid whores altogether
Wednesday
Elisha
(2 Kings 6:8-23)
Elisha’s prays that his servant would have his eyes opened up so that he can see the supernatural realm. In contrast to this, Elisha prayed that the physical army surrounding them would be struck blind. And then they are shown mercy. How often am I, like Elisha’s servant, devoid of faith so that I don’t see God moving around me? And, how often am I on the other side? How often do I move with those moving against God, and am blinded TO God because of my ignorance?
1 Year Bible
(Proverbs 2:12-22, Matthew 14:1-21, Genesis 40-41:40)
Proverbs – Don’t succumb to the enticement of evil. Even if evil looks like good.
Matthew – John the Baptist is killed for speaking truth. What I want to relate to is not the normal thing. If I were Herrod, would I have the strength to hear rebuke? Would I just want to have John the Baptist silenced? These are the losses we don’t often pay attention to.
Genesis – Joseph has grown so much since the days of his youth when he was telling his brothers he would reign over them. Now he gives all credit to God. This is still a thing I have trouble with. Do I give credit where it’s due? Am I even willing to?
Thursday
Elisha
(2 Kings 6:24-33, 2 Kings 7:1-20)
There was no faith and there was a famine in the land of Israel. The people didn’t gain any faith, but when the king threatened the life of Elisha, God’s prophet, the faith of Elisha was enough for Yahweh to produce a mighty miracle.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 12, Matthew 14:22- 15:9, Genesis 41-42)
Psalms – Even when all of the faithful seem to have disappeared, we need to seek the favor of Yahweh.
Matthew – Jesus walks on water and Peter almost does, too. Too often we overlook that the others did nothing, and we focus on Peter not quite making it. Just remember, he did a heck of a lot more than the rest of them.
Genesis – Joseph’s Egyptian name was Zaphenath, and his Egyptian wife was the daughter of the priest of On. I have to wonder how this marriage went, with Joseph being so close to his own God, and she being indoctrinated in the cult of On.
Joseph began his service at the age of 30, the same age which Jesus began his ministry on the Earth.
It would seem that Jacob still needs to work on that favoritism thing, even after Joseph was taken away from him.
Friday
I don’t know what it is about Friday’s but I didn’t’ do devotions last Friday, and today has been a struggle, too. But, I’m not going to fall behind!
Elisha
(2 Kings 8:1-6)
There’s no such thing as coincidence. God will put in our path the very things that need to happen. But, right now, I want to think about the reverse of this. Sure, it’s awesome when God makes things happen in our lives, but we need to realize that when God put someone in our life, that other person was there, too. How often should we have been that other person and God had to farm it out to someone else? I need to be more open to being the instrument through which God shows blessing to someone. It’s kind of exciting to think about it that way.
Saturday
Elisha
(2 Kings 13:10-21)
It strikes me today that Elisha (and other Prophets of Yahweh) do some strange things when obeying God and having His will come about. Since they were acting on behalf of God, should we really expect the answers to our prayers to come out looking like the neat, tidy things we expect? Shouldn’t we expect something totally unexpected?
Elisha
(2 Kings 4:38-44)
Elisha is sometimes portrayed as performing miracles almost flippantly. Especially when those around him are being big whiners. How does this relate to today? As Elisha was a prophet of Yahweh, and he spoke for Yahweh, I think that the message here is God saying, “Stop whining, I got this.”
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 10, Matthew 12-13, Genesis 34-35)
Psalms – Sometimes it can feel like God isn’t paying attention, and it’s ok to ask Him where He is. In fact, that probably just strengthens your prayer life. Don’t be scared to ask God where He’s been, what He’s been up to. Don’t be scared to seek out that answer.
Matthew – We need to be sure to look at the parable of the sower and the seed correctly. I think that too often we look at like some happenstance thing. Well, some fell here and some fell there. But, we play a huge role in this. We need to make sure that we have the right type of soil. We need to remember that we are the soil in this parable. If there are thorns, it’s because we let them grow up.
Genesis – Simeon was the first born of Jacob, and he would’ve been in line to get the first born blessing (Reuben was first born but he also lost the privilege because of his later act of sleeping with Bilhah), and his would’ve been the line which rightfully would’ve been king. It was because he acted rashly, even in the face of what he considered righteous retribution, that he lost this privilege (and Levi, as well), and the kingly line passed on to Judah.
When Reuben slept with Bilhah it wasn’t just Reuben wanting to get busy, it was a power play. At that time, when a son wanted to take power from his father, he slept with his mother to show who “the man” was in the house. Now, at least Reuben showed the “class” to not sleep with his actual mother, but with his mother’s maidservant, but the meaning was the same.
Monday
Elisha
(2 Kings 5:1-27)
Naaman sought out the supernatural, and when it didn’t appear to him in the way which he had expected it, he denied it. He wanted Elisha to have his hands, or to make him to do something amazing (like maybe climb a mountain and claim a prize at the top) but when Elisha said to simply wash in the Jordan 7 times, he felt like he was being cheated his supernatural experience. How often do we do the same thing?
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 10, Matthew 13, Genesis 36-37)
Psalms 10 – Even though, sometimes, it seems like God isn’t listening, have no doubt about it. He is listening and He will, eventually, make it known to you. So you may as well just be secure in this now. Even if not now, it will happen later.
Matthew – God can’t just take away all of the evil in the world. If He does this, he may uproot some of those who will be led to salvation, as well. When you see evil, see an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons. Just make sure you have that sweet, sugar that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There’s something here to look into. Oftentimes yeast is used to represent sin. But this time yeast is meant to represent the Kingdom of Yahweh. I need to remember to search into this and see what the deeper meaning could be.
Genesis – This first chapter was a list of names. I tried to be attentive, but I’m sure I missed something. I just have to keep reminding myself that they are there for a reason. God doesn’t put things in there which aren’t going to be called upon later.
Two lessons from this early part of the telling of Joseph. Number 1: God can use you even when you are being an immature idiot. Number 2: The more you tell people that you’re better than them, the more they want to kill you.
Tuesday
Elisha
(2 Kings 6:1-7)
Elisha made a fallen ax head float so that it could be retrieved from the river. I think there’s more here than meets the eye. He used a stick which he had cut off, from a tree that had been cut (probably by the ax head which was lost) to get it back. I can see this meaning that we can lose things, but God will restore them to us if it is something that is in His plans, but stay close to His plans because He just may use that thing to help the restoration process.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 11, Matthew 13, Genesis 38-39)
Psalms – In Psalms 11:5 we see that God loves the righteous but that He hates the wicked, and the lover of violence. Does God really love the sinner but hate the sin? It doesn’t say that He hates the love of violence, He hates the loveR of violence.
Matthew – One thing often overlooked, when looking at the pearl of great price, is that pearls probably would’ve made you unclean. Oysters are an unclean animal and they would not have been allowed to eat them, and the pearl is made in the oyster, so the pearl in general probably would’ve been looked at in a Hebrew context as something of an abomination. And yet, it is shown in this parable to be as the kingdom of heaven.
Genesis 38 – We get the story of Judah and Tamar thrown in here. It’s important to remember that this is the lineage of Yeshua. While Tamar is not a temple prostitute, we see the character of Judah here.
Genesis 39 – The moral of the story with Potiphar’s wife just might be to wear extra clothes when you’re hanging around whores. But it should probably be to avoid whores altogether
Wednesday
Elisha
(2 Kings 6:8-23)
Elisha’s prays that his servant would have his eyes opened up so that he can see the supernatural realm. In contrast to this, Elisha prayed that the physical army surrounding them would be struck blind. And then they are shown mercy. How often am I, like Elisha’s servant, devoid of faith so that I don’t see God moving around me? And, how often am I on the other side? How often do I move with those moving against God, and am blinded TO God because of my ignorance?
1 Year Bible
(Proverbs 2:12-22, Matthew 14:1-21, Genesis 40-41:40)
Proverbs – Don’t succumb to the enticement of evil. Even if evil looks like good.
Matthew – John the Baptist is killed for speaking truth. What I want to relate to is not the normal thing. If I were Herrod, would I have the strength to hear rebuke? Would I just want to have John the Baptist silenced? These are the losses we don’t often pay attention to.
Genesis – Joseph has grown so much since the days of his youth when he was telling his brothers he would reign over them. Now he gives all credit to God. This is still a thing I have trouble with. Do I give credit where it’s due? Am I even willing to?
Thursday
Elisha
(2 Kings 6:24-33, 2 Kings 7:1-20)
There was no faith and there was a famine in the land of Israel. The people didn’t gain any faith, but when the king threatened the life of Elisha, God’s prophet, the faith of Elisha was enough for Yahweh to produce a mighty miracle.
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 12, Matthew 14:22- 15:9, Genesis 41-42)
Psalms – Even when all of the faithful seem to have disappeared, we need to seek the favor of Yahweh.
Matthew – Jesus walks on water and Peter almost does, too. Too often we overlook that the others did nothing, and we focus on Peter not quite making it. Just remember, he did a heck of a lot more than the rest of them.
Genesis – Joseph’s Egyptian name was Zaphenath, and his Egyptian wife was the daughter of the priest of On. I have to wonder how this marriage went, with Joseph being so close to his own God, and she being indoctrinated in the cult of On.
Joseph began his service at the age of 30, the same age which Jesus began his ministry on the Earth.
It would seem that Jacob still needs to work on that favoritism thing, even after Joseph was taken away from him.
Friday
I don’t know what it is about Friday’s but I didn’t’ do devotions last Friday, and today has been a struggle, too. But, I’m not going to fall behind!
Elisha
(2 Kings 8:1-6)
There’s no such thing as coincidence. God will put in our path the very things that need to happen. But, right now, I want to think about the reverse of this. Sure, it’s awesome when God makes things happen in our lives, but we need to realize that when God put someone in our life, that other person was there, too. How often should we have been that other person and God had to farm it out to someone else? I need to be more open to being the instrument through which God shows blessing to someone. It’s kind of exciting to think about it that way.
Saturday
Elisha
(2 Kings 13:10-21)
It strikes me today that Elisha (and other Prophets of Yahweh) do some strange things when obeying God and having His will come about. Since they were acting on behalf of God, should we really expect the answers to our prayers to come out looking like the neat, tidy things we expect? Shouldn’t we expect something totally unexpected?
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