Daily Devotional #1

Day 12

Today we're continuing in Genesis, Matthew, and Proverbs.

Abraham married again. His new wife was named Keturah. She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The people of Asshur, Leum, and Letush were descendants of Dedan. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these sons came from the marriage of Abraham and Keturah. Before Abraham died, he gave some gifts to his sons who were from his slave women. He sent them to the East, away from Isaac. Then Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac.

Abraham lived to be 175 years old. Then he grew weak and died. He had lived a long and satisfying life. He died and went to be with his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. This cave is in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar. It was east of Mamre. This is the same cave that Abraham bought from the Hittites. He was buried there with his wife Sarah. After Abraham died, God blessed Isaac. Isaac was living at Beer Lahai Roi. This is the list of Ishmael's family. Ishmael was Abraham and Hagar's son. (Hagar was Sarah's Egyptian maid.) These are the names of Ishmael's sons: The first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar was born, then Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These were the names of Ishmael's sons. Each son had his own camp that became a small town. The twelve sons were leaders over their own people. Ishmael lived to be 137 years old. Then he died and went to be with his people. His descendants settled throughout the desert area from Havilah to Shur. This area begins near Egypt and goes toward Assyria. Ishmael's people were often at war with the other descendants of Abraham. This is the story of Isaac. Abraham had a son named Isaac. When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was from Paddan Aram. She was Bethuel's daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac's wife could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac's prayer, and he allowed Rebekah to become pregnant. While Rebekah was pregnant, the babies inside her struggled with one another. She prayed to the Lord and said, "What is happening to me?" The Lord said to her, "The leaders of two nations are in your body. Two nations will come from you, and they will be divided. One of them will be stronger, and the older will serve the younger." When the right time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. The first baby was red. His skin was like a hairy robe. So he was named Esau. When the second baby was born, he was holding tightly to Esau's heel. So that baby was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob and Esau were born. The boys grew up. Esau became a skilled hunter, who loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man, who stayed at home. Isaac loved Esau. He liked to eat the animals Esau killed. But Rebekah loved Jacob. One day Esau came back from hunting. He was tired and weak from hunger. Jacob was boiling a pot of beans. So Esau said to Jacob, "I am weak with hunger. Let me have some of that red soup." (That is why people call him "Red." ) But Jacob said, "You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son." Esau said, "I am almost dead with hunger, so what good are these rights to me now?" But Jacob said, "First, promise me that you will give them to me." So Esau made an oath to him and sold his rights as the firstborn son to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil soup. Esau ate the food, had something to drink, and then left. So Esau showed that he did not care about his rights as the firstborn son. (‭Genesis‬ ‭25‬:‭1-34‬ ERV)

Now there was a famine. This was like the famine that happened during Abraham's life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. The Lord spoke to Isaac and said, "Don't go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I commanded you to live in. Stay in this land, and I will be with you. I will bless you. I will give you and your family all these lands. I will do what I promised to Abraham your father. I will make your family as many as the stars of heaven, and I will give all these lands to your family. Through your descendants every nation on earth will be blessed. I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed my words and did what I said. He obeyed my commands, my laws, and my rules." So Isaac settled in Gerar. His wife Rebekah was very beautiful. The men of that place asked Isaac about Rebekah. He said, "She is my sister." He was afraid to tell them Rebekah was his wife. He was afraid the men would kill him so that they could have her. After Isaac had lived there a long time, Abimelech looked out of his window and saw Isaac and his wife enjoying one another. Abimelech called for Isaac and said, "This woman is your wife. Why did you tell us that she was your sister?" Isaac said to him, "I was afraid that you would kill me so that you could have her." Abimelech said, "You have done a bad thing to us. One of our men might have had sex with your wife. Then he would be guilty of a great sin." So Abimelech gave a warning to all the people. He said, "No one must hurt this man or this woman. If anyone hurts them, they will be killed." Isaac planted fields in that place, and that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much. Isaac became rich. He gathered more and more wealth until he became a very rich man. He had many flocks and herds of animals. He also had many slaves. All the Philistines were jealous of him. So they destroyed all the wells that Isaac's father Abraham and his servants had dug many years before. They filled them with sand. Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country. You have become much more powerful than we are." So Isaac left that place and camped near the little river of Gerar. He stayed there and lived. Long before this time, Abraham had dug many wells. After he died, the Philistines filled the wells with sand. So Isaac went back and dug those wells again. He gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac's servants also dug a well near the little river and found fresh water. But the men who herded sheep in the Valley of Gerar argued with Isaac's servants. They said, "This water is ours." So Isaac named that well Esek. He gave it that name because it was the place where they had argued with him. Then Isaac's servants dug another well. But there was an argument over this well too. So Isaac named that well Sitnah. Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No one came to argue about this well. So Isaac named it Rehoboth. He said, "Now the Lord has found a place for us. We will grow and be successful in this place." From there Isaac went to Beersheba. The Lord spoke to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Don't be afraid. I am with you, and I will bless you. I will make your family great. I will do this because of my servant Abraham." So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord in that place. He set up camp there, and his servants dug a well. Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought with him Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army. Isaac asked, "Why have you come to see me? You were not friendly to me before. You even forced me to leave your country." They answered, "Now we know that the Lord is with you. We think that we should make an agreement. We want you to make a promise to us. We did not hurt you; now you should promise not to hurt us. We sent you away, but we sent you away in peace. Now it is clear that the Lord has blessed you." So Isaac gave a party for them. They all ate and drank. Early the next morning each man made a promise and a vow. Then the men left in peace. On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. The servants said, "We found water in that well." So Isaac named it Shibah. And that city is still called Beersheba. When Esau was 40 years old, he married two Hittite women. One was Judith the daughter of Beeri. The other was Basemath the daughter of Elon. These marriages made Isaac and Rebekah very unhappy. (‭Genesis‬ ‭26‬:‭1-35‬ ERV)

Jesus called his twelve followers together. He gave them power over evil spirits and power to heal every kind of disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: Simon (also called Peter), Andrew, the brother of Peter, James, the son of Zebedee, John, the brother of James, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, the Zealot, Judas Iscariot (the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies). Jesus sent the twelve men out with these instructions: "Don't go to the non-Jewish people. And don't go into any town where the Samaritans live. But go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that are lost. When you go, tell them this: 'God's kingdom is now very near. ' Heal the sick. Bring the dead back to life. Heal the people who have leprosy. And force demons out of people. I give you these powers freely, so help others freely. Don't carry any money with you-gold or silver or copper. Don't carry a bag. Take only the clothes and sandals you are wearing. And don't take a walking stick. A worker should be given what he needs. "When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in his home until you leave. When you enter that home, say, 'Peace be with you.' If the people in that home welcome you, they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished for them. But if they don't welcome you, they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them. And if the people in a home or a town refuse to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet. I can assure you that on the judgment day it will be worse for that town than for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. So be smart like snakes. But also be like doves and don't hurt anyone. Be careful! There are people who will arrest you and take you to be judged. They will whip you in their synagogues. You will be taken to stand before governors and kings. People will do this to you because you follow me. You will tell about me to those kings and governors and to the non-Jewish people. When you are arrested, don't worry about what to say or how you should say it. At that time you will be given the words to say. It will not really be you speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you. "Brothers will turn against their own brothers and hand them over to be killed. Fathers will hand over their own children to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and will have them killed. Everyone will hate you because you follow me. But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. When you are treated badly in one city, go to another city. I promise you that you will not finish going to all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes again. "Students are not better than their teacher. Servants are not better than their master. Students should be happy to be treated the same as their teacher. And servants should be happy to be treated the same as their master. If those people call me 'the ruler of demons,' and I am the head of the family, then it is even more certain that they will insult you, the members of the family! "So don't be afraid of those people. Everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be made known. I tell you all this secretly, but I want you to tell it publicly. Whatever I tell you privately, you should shout for everyone to hear. "Don't be afraid of people. They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is God, the one who can send the body and the soul to be destroyed in hell. When birds are sold, two small birds cost only a penny. But not even one of those little birds can die without your Father knowing it. God even knows how many hairs are on your head. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than a whole flock of birds. (‭Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭1-31‬ ERV)

Listen! Wisdom is shouting in the streets. She is crying out in the marketplace. She is calling out where the noisy crowd gathers: "Fools, how long will you love being ignorant? How long will you make fun of wisdom? How long will you hate knowledge? I wanted to tell you everything I knew and give you all my knowledge, but you didn't listen to my advice and teaching. "I tried to help, but you refused to listen. I offered my hand, but you turned away from me. You ignored my advice and refused to be corrected. So I will laugh at your troubles and make fun of you when what you fear happens. Disasters will strike you like a storm. Problems will pound you like a strong wind. Trouble and misery will weigh you down. "Fools will call for me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me. That is because they hated knowledge. They refused to fear and respect the Lord. They ignored my advice and refused to be corrected. They filled their lives with what they wanted. They went their own way, so they will get what they deserve. "Fools die because they refuse to follow wisdom. They are content to follow their foolish ways, and that will destroy them. But those who listen to me will live in safety and comfort. They will have nothing to fear." (‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭20-33‬ ERV)