Scripture:
Matthew 1:22 "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet".
Observation:
Just prior to this passage we read the genealogy of Jesus, how Mary became pregnant as a virgin and how an angel came to Joseph in a dream with a prophetic word about what Jesus would do. Then it says, "All this" happened to fulfill what the Lord had spoken.
Application:
There were so many details about the life of Christ that were prophesied in the old Testament that Jesus would have to fulfill, but God fulfilled it perfectly. We need to realize that God will do "all this" to bring about the fulfillment of His word. When God speaks, it will come to pass and He will go to "all this" trouble to make it happen according to His word. His words are accurate and can me trusted. We need to trust that god can still bring about "all this" in our lives.
Prayer:
Father, that You for reminding me that You did "All This" to prepare for the coming of Jesus and that You will do whatever it takes to bring about Your word. I trust that You are working "all this" in my life right now to bring about Your will. Thanks for being concerned about the details in our lives.
Yours,
Jeff
Monday, January 18, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Comfort in Hard Decisions
Scripture:
Genesis 46:3-4 "'I am God, the God of your father', he said. 'Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes'".
Observation:
Israel was nervous about uprooting his family, leaving the land that had been the promise of his fathers, and taking his family to Egypt. He had to leave everything he loved and his father's had worked for and go to a strange place. In that time, God spoke to him and said don't be afraid, the promise is still in effect, and I will go with you.
Application:
When God calls us to do things that will stretch us, He will always comfort us by letting us know we are making the right decisions. When He calls us to do things that may not make sense, or may not feel like His original plan for us, He will take care of us. We can rest assured that where God guides, He provides and He will be with us.
Prayer:
Lord God Almighty, You are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You take care of Your own. When You speak to me, help me to take comfort in the fact that You will be with me, your plans will continue in my life, and that I don't have to be afraid. Help me to be more decisive once I feel something is from You.
Yours,
Jeff
Genesis 46:3-4 "'I am God, the God of your father', he said. 'Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes'".
Observation:
Israel was nervous about uprooting his family, leaving the land that had been the promise of his fathers, and taking his family to Egypt. He had to leave everything he loved and his father's had worked for and go to a strange place. In that time, God spoke to him and said don't be afraid, the promise is still in effect, and I will go with you.
Application:
When God calls us to do things that will stretch us, He will always comfort us by letting us know we are making the right decisions. When He calls us to do things that may not make sense, or may not feel like His original plan for us, He will take care of us. We can rest assured that where God guides, He provides and He will be with us.
Prayer:
Lord God Almighty, You are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You take care of Your own. When You speak to me, help me to take comfort in the fact that You will be with me, your plans will continue in my life, and that I don't have to be afraid. Help me to be more decisive once I feel something is from You.
Yours,
Jeff
Friday, January 15, 2016
Seeing God in the Difficulties
Scripture:
Genesis 45:5 "And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God send me ahead of you".
Observation:
Joseph had just revealed himself to his brothers who had, years before, sold him into slavery. He had now become the most powerful person in the greatest nation on earth. He was now in a position to seriously bless his family. After all he had walked through because of his brothers, Joseph says that it was the Lord who sent him ahead of the others in order to bless them.
Application:
Joseph had realized through the years that God was with him and was doing something with his life, but he probably didn't realize what. Hindsight said God was setting up an entire situation to bless his family. Sometimes in life we go through tough times. When we do, we must remember that God knows the beginning from the end and that He is working, even when it doesn't seem like it, to bring about our blessing. God is at work, even though life seems barren at times.
Prayer:
Thank You Lord for showing me this today. You are amazing! Help me to trust You when I don't understand and it doesn't seem like things are going the way I would like. Help me to trust that You have an overall plan and that You will bring it to pass. I submit myself to You. Lead me every day.
Yours,
Jeff
Genesis 45:5 "And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God send me ahead of you".
Observation:
Joseph had just revealed himself to his brothers who had, years before, sold him into slavery. He had now become the most powerful person in the greatest nation on earth. He was now in a position to seriously bless his family. After all he had walked through because of his brothers, Joseph says that it was the Lord who sent him ahead of the others in order to bless them.
Application:
Joseph had realized through the years that God was with him and was doing something with his life, but he probably didn't realize what. Hindsight said God was setting up an entire situation to bless his family. Sometimes in life we go through tough times. When we do, we must remember that God knows the beginning from the end and that He is working, even when it doesn't seem like it, to bring about our blessing. God is at work, even though life seems barren at times.
Prayer:
Thank You Lord for showing me this today. You are amazing! Help me to trust You when I don't understand and it doesn't seem like things are going the way I would like. Help me to trust that You have an overall plan and that You will bring it to pass. I submit myself to You. Lead me every day.
Yours,
Jeff
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Fruitful in Suffering
Scripture:
Genesis 41:52 "The second son he named Ephraim and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering'".
Observation:
Joseph had been through many years of difficulty starting out with his brothers selling him as a slave and ending up with him in prison after being falsely accused. God brought him out and made him second in charge over all of Egypt. He named his second son Ephraim because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering.
Application:
God has a beautiful way of causing his people to prosper in bad situations. God is able to take the thing in my life that causes me the most suffering and turn it into something fruitful. He is an expert at it. He had been doing it for thousands of years. We must trust God's ability to turn what looks like nothing but frustration into a place of great blessing. He is able!
Prayer:
Father, increase my faith. Thank you for sharing this with me today. Sometimes I feel like Virginia has been a place of suffering for me and my family, but today you let me see that You are going to turn it around and make it the place of great blessing and fruitfulness. Help me to remain faithful to the call until the blessing comes. I know it is coming. I know You sent me here and that You are going to use me here and bring about great fruitfulness. I love You Lord.
Your Son,
Jeff
Genesis 41:52 "The second son he named Ephraim and said, 'It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering'".
Observation:
Joseph had been through many years of difficulty starting out with his brothers selling him as a slave and ending up with him in prison after being falsely accused. God brought him out and made him second in charge over all of Egypt. He named his second son Ephraim because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering.
Application:
God has a beautiful way of causing his people to prosper in bad situations. God is able to take the thing in my life that causes me the most suffering and turn it into something fruitful. He is an expert at it. He had been doing it for thousands of years. We must trust God's ability to turn what looks like nothing but frustration into a place of great blessing. He is able!
Prayer:
Father, increase my faith. Thank you for sharing this with me today. Sometimes I feel like Virginia has been a place of suffering for me and my family, but today you let me see that You are going to turn it around and make it the place of great blessing and fruitfulness. Help me to remain faithful to the call until the blessing comes. I know it is coming. I know You sent me here and that You are going to use me here and bring about great fruitfulness. I love You Lord.
Your Son,
Jeff
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Haters Will Be With You Always
Scripture:
Genesis 37:20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams".
Observation:
Joseph didn't do anything wrong. God gave him some dreams and he told them to his family. The dreams were not his, God gave them to him. His dreams caused his brothers to hate him and to desire to kill him in order to stop his dreams.
Application:
Some people will go out of their way to kill your dreams. God given dreams will cause great blessing in your life, but they will also cause people to hate you. There will always be haters in life. There will always be people who are trying to sniff out your dreams. We must never let the haters win. We must remain faithful before God and He will cause our dreams to come true.
Prayer:
Father, help me to live out Your dreams for my life. Let me never get discouraged by those who don't see the dream that is in my heart. Help me to handle well the people who don't like the dreams you give me. Help me to walk in grace and faithfulness while the haters are hating.
Yours,
Jeff
Genesis 37:20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams".
Observation:
Joseph didn't do anything wrong. God gave him some dreams and he told them to his family. The dreams were not his, God gave them to him. His dreams caused his brothers to hate him and to desire to kill him in order to stop his dreams.
Application:
Some people will go out of their way to kill your dreams. God given dreams will cause great blessing in your life, but they will also cause people to hate you. There will always be haters in life. There will always be people who are trying to sniff out your dreams. We must never let the haters win. We must remain faithful before God and He will cause our dreams to come true.
Prayer:
Father, help me to live out Your dreams for my life. Let me never get discouraged by those who don't see the dream that is in my heart. Help me to handle well the people who don't like the dreams you give me. Help me to walk in grace and faithfulness while the haters are hating.
Yours,
Jeff
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
The Terror of God
Scripture:
Genesis 35:5 "Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around so that no one pursued them."
Observation:
Just before the opening, "then" of this scripture you can see that everyone gave Jacob their foreign gods and he buried them. After he did that step of eliminating the foreign gods from among them, God came and brought fear and terror on the people around them so that no one would pursue them.
Application:
When we are fully submitted to God and doing what He wants us to do, we can also expect God to make our enemies recognize His power. One day the whole world will see the power of our God. He will reign and rule with a rod of iron. The world needs to see how awesome God is. They need to see the terror of the Lord and what He is capable of.
Prayer:
Father God, walk with me closely. Let those around me see You hand upon my life. Let even Your enemies see your power in my life. Replace any idols in my life with more love for You and obedience to you. Demonstrate Your power in my generation so that nobody can deny who You are.
Yours,
Jeff
Genesis 35:5 "Then they set out, and the terror of God fell on the towns all around so that no one pursued them."
Observation:
Just before the opening, "then" of this scripture you can see that everyone gave Jacob their foreign gods and he buried them. After he did that step of eliminating the foreign gods from among them, God came and brought fear and terror on the people around them so that no one would pursue them.
Application:
When we are fully submitted to God and doing what He wants us to do, we can also expect God to make our enemies recognize His power. One day the whole world will see the power of our God. He will reign and rule with a rod of iron. The world needs to see how awesome God is. They need to see the terror of the Lord and what He is capable of.
Prayer:
Father God, walk with me closely. Let those around me see You hand upon my life. Let even Your enemies see your power in my life. Replace any idols in my life with more love for You and obedience to you. Demonstrate Your power in my generation so that nobody can deny who You are.
Yours,
Jeff
Monday, January 11, 2016
But You Said
Scripture:
Genesis 32:12 "But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted'".
Observation:
Jacob was trying to follow the word of the Lord to go back from Laban's house to his father's house. the problem was, he had tricked his brother out of his blessing and his birthright. He thought his brother was going to kill him. In his fear, he reminded the Lord, "You have said..."
Application;
When we go through things in life that are scary and difficult, we can say, 'but you said" to the Lord. We can remind god of what He has promised us. If we have heard the voice of the Lord clearly, or have promises in the Word of God, we can stand on them and remind God of His promises. I need to remind the Lord more instead of worrying about things.
Prayer:
Father, You are good and Your mercy endures forever. I remind You this morning of ever blessing You have promised me and my family. You have things to me about my family and I believe they will come to pass. Let my family fulfill Your will in the earth and let nothing stop it.
Yours,
Jeff
Genesis 32:12 "But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted'".
Observation:
Jacob was trying to follow the word of the Lord to go back from Laban's house to his father's house. the problem was, he had tricked his brother out of his blessing and his birthright. He thought his brother was going to kill him. In his fear, he reminded the Lord, "You have said..."
Application;
When we go through things in life that are scary and difficult, we can say, 'but you said" to the Lord. We can remind god of what He has promised us. If we have heard the voice of the Lord clearly, or have promises in the Word of God, we can stand on them and remind God of His promises. I need to remind the Lord more instead of worrying about things.
Prayer:
Father, You are good and Your mercy endures forever. I remind You this morning of ever blessing You have promised me and my family. You have things to me about my family and I believe they will come to pass. Let my family fulfill Your will in the earth and let nothing stop it.
Yours,
Jeff
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