Daily Devotional #1

Day 16

Jacob also left that place. While he was traveling, he saw God's angels. When he saw them, he said, "This is God's camp!" So Jacob named that place Mahanaim. Jacob's brother Esau was living in the area called Seir in the hill country of Edom. Jacob sent messengers to Esau. He told them, "Tell this to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have lived with Laban all these years. I have many cattle, donkeys, flocks, and servants. Sir, I am sending you this message to ask you to accept us.'" The messengers came back to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you. He has 400 men with him." Jacob was very frightened and worried. He divided the people who were with him and all the flocks, herds, and camels into two groups. Jacob thought, "If Esau comes and destroys one group, the other group can run away and be saved." Then Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham! God of my father Isaac! Lord, you told me to come back to my country and to my family. You said that you would do good to me. You have been very kind to me. You did many good things for me. The first time I traveled across the Jordan River, I owned nothing-only my walking stick. But now I own enough things to have two full groups. I ask you to please save me from my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and kill us all, even the mothers with the children. Lord, you said to me, 'I will be good to you. I will increase your family and make your children as many as the sands of the sea. There will be too many to count.'" Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He prepared some things to give to Esau as a gift. He took 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. He took 30 camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. He gave each flock of animals to his servants. Then he said to them, "Separate each group of animals. Go ahead of me and keep some space between each herd." Jacob gave them their orders. To the servant with the first group of animals he said, "When Esau my brother comes to you and asks you, 'Whose animals are these? Where are you going? Whose servant are you?' then you should answer, 'These animals belong to your servant Jacob. He sent them as a gift to you, my master Esau. And he also is coming behind us.'" Jacob also ordered the second servant, the third servant, and all the other servants to do the same thing. He said, "You will say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. You will say, 'This is a gift to you, and your servant Jacob is behind us.'" Jacob thought, "If I send these men ahead with gifts, maybe Esau will forgive me and accept me." So Jacob sent the gifts to Esau, but he stayed that night in the camp. During the night, Jacob got up and began moving his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons across the Jabbok River at the crossing. After he sent his family across the river, he sent across everything he had. Jacob was left alone, and a man came and wrestled with him. The man fought with him until the sun came up. When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he touched Jacob's leg and put it out of joint. Then the man said to Jacob, "Let me go. The sun is coming up." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go. You must bless me." And the man said to him, "What is your name?" And Jacob said, "My name is Jacob." Then the man said, "Your name will not be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel. I give you this name because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But the man said, "Why do you ask my name?" Then the man blessed Jacob at that place. So Jacob named that place Peniel. He said, "At this place, I saw God face to face, but my life was spared." Then the sun came up as Jacob left Peniel. He was limping because of his leg. So even today, the people of Israel don't eat the muscle that is on the hip joint, because this is the muscle where Jacob was hurt. (‭Genesis‬ ‭32‬:‭1-32‬ ERV)

Jacob looked and saw Esau coming with 400 men. Jacob divided his family into four groups. Leah and her children were in one group, Rachel and Joseph were in one group, and the two maids and their children were in two groups. Jacob put the maids with their children first. Then he put Leah and her children behind them, and he put Rachel and Joseph in the last place. Jacob himself went out before them. While he was walking toward his brother Esau, he bowed down to the ground seven times. When Esau saw Jacob, he ran to meet him. He put his arms around Jacob, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both cried. Esau looked up and saw the women and children. He said, "Who are all these people with you?" Jacob answered, "These are the children that God gave me. God has been good to me." Then the two maids and the children with them went to Esau. They bowed down before him. Then Leah and the children with her went to Esau and bowed down. And then Rachel and Joseph went to him and bowed down. Esau said, "Who were all those people I saw while I was coming here? And what were all those animals for?" Jacob answered, "These are my gifts to you so that you might accept me." But Esau said, "You don't have to give me gifts, brother. I have enough for myself." Jacob said, "No, I beg you! If you really accept me, please accept the gifts I give you. I am very happy to see your face again. It is like seeing the face of God. I am very happy to see that you accept me. So I beg you to also accept the gifts I give you. God has been very good to me. I have more than I need." Because Jacob begged Esau to take the gifts, he accepted them. Then Esau said, "Now you can continue your journey. I will go with you." But Jacob said to him, "You know that my children are weak. And I must be careful with my flocks and their young animals. If I force them to walk too far in one day, all the animals will die. So you go on ahead. I will follow you slowly. I will go slowly enough for the cattle and other animals to be safe and so that my children will not get too tired. I will meet you in Seir." So Esau said, "Then I will leave some of my men to help you." But Jacob said, "That is very kind of you, but there is no need to do that." So that day Esau started on his trip back to Seir. But Jacob went to Succoth. There he built a house for himself and small barns for his cattle. That is why the place was named Succoth. Jacob safely ended his trip from Paddan Aram when he came to the town of Shechem in Canaan. He made his camp in a field near the city. He bought the field where he camped from the family of Hamor, father of Shechem. He paid 100 pieces of silver for it. He built an altar there to honor God. He named the place "El, the God of Israel." (‭Genesis‬ ‭33‬:‭1-20‬ ERV)

Then some people brought a man to Jesus. This man was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon inside him. Jesus healed the man, and he could talk and see. All the people were amazed at what Jesus did. They said, "Maybe he is the promised Son of David!" When the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man uses the power of Satan to force demons out of people. Satan is the ruler of demons." Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. So he said to them, "Every kingdom that fights against itself will be destroyed. And every city or family that is divided against itself will not survive. So if Satan forces out his own demons, then he is fighting against himself, and his kingdom will not survive. You say that I use the power of Satan to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use when they force out demons? So your own people will prove that you are wrong. But I use the power of God's Spirit to force out demons, and this shows that God's kingdom has come to you. Whoever wants to enter a strong man's house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house. Whoever is not with me is against me. And anyone who does not work with me is working against me. "So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sinful thing they do and for every bad thing they say against God. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. You can even speak against the Son of Man and be forgiven. But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven-not now or in the future. "If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. You snakes! You are so evil. How can you say anything good? What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts. Those who are good have good things saved in their hearts. That's why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that's why they say things that are evil. I tell you that everyone will have to answer for all the careless things they have said. This will happen on the day of judgment. Your words will be used to judge you. What you have said will show whether you are right or whether you are guilty." Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law answered Jesus. They said, "Teacher, we want to see you do a miracle as a sign from God." Jesus answered, "Evil and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle as a sign. But no miracle will be done to prove anything to them. The only sign will be the miracle that happened to the prophet Jonah. Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights. On the judgment day, you people who live now will be compared with the people from Nineveh, and they will be witnesses who show how guilty you are. Why do I say this? Because when Jonah preached to those people, they changed their lives. And you are listening to someone greater than Jonah, but you refuse to change! "On the judgment day, you people who live now will also be compared with the queen of the South, and she will be a witness who shows how guilty you are. I say this because she traveled from far, far away to listen to Solomon's wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is right here, but you won't listen! "When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places looking for a place to rest, but it finds none. So it says, 'I will go back to the home I left.' When it comes back, it finds that home still empty. It is all neat and clean. Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today." (‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭22-45‬ ERV)

My son, pay attention to what I say. Remember my commands. Listen to wisdom, and do your best to understand. Ask for good judgment. Cry out for understanding. Look for wisdom like silver. Search for it like hidden treasure. If you do this, you will understand what it means to respect the Lord, and you will come to know God. The Lord is the source of wisdom; knowledge and understanding come from his mouth. He gives good advice to honest people and shields those who do what is right. He makes sure that people are treated fairly. He watches over his loyal followers. If you listen to him, you will understand what is just and fair and how to do what is right. You will gain wisdom, and knowledge will bring you joy. Planning ahead will protect you, and understanding will guard you. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭2‬:‭1-11‬ ERV)