"My prayer is that you read and study these devotional passages with me in an earnest desire to seek the Lord" (Phil)
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Put on the full armor of God
THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Our God is so awesome, He doesn’t just live in our bibles or hang on a cross that may hang in your house. He is omnipotent (Almighty; possessing unlimited power; all powerful) and omnipresent (Present in all places at the same time; ubiquitary). Our conversations with God, our prayers, need to reflect His magnificence.
“3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. 5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. 6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. 7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. 10 All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. 11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; 12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.”
Psalm 145:3-12 (KJV)
Genesis 26
Did Isaac follow in his father’s footsteps and lie to the same Abimelech, king of Gerar, concerning his wife being his sister?
Abraham
Genesis 20:2 (KJV), “And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.”
Isaac
Genesis 26:6-7 (KJV), “6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.”
Genesis 26:9 (KJV), “And Abimelech [1 And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar] called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.”
“Abimelech” was a dynastic title, so Abraham and Isaac did not lie to the same person, but to different people who held the same office at different times.
God blessed Isaac so abundantly that fear grew in the land
Genesis 26:16 (KJV), “And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.”
In a similar fashion as He did with the Jews who fled to Egypt after the famine with Joseph
Exodus 1:12 (KJV), “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.”
Isaiah 17
At this time, both Syria and Ephram joined forces against Judah and God was going to bring destruction against Damascus, the capital of Syria
Isaiah 17:1-3 (KJV), “1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Israel as well was being punished for its heathen ways
Isaiah 17:4-5 (KJV), “4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.”
Isaiah 17:10 (KJV), “Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips.”
Rock of thy salvation
Strong’s Lexicon (6697) – tsur: Rock, Cliff, Boulder. Brown-Driver-Briggs – 2. a. figurative of God (33 t.) as support and defence of his people.
[1] In the midst of judgment mercy is remembered to Israel, and a gracious promise made that a remnant should be preserved from the calamities and should get good by them (Henry)
Isaiah 17:6-8 (KJV), “6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. 8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.”
And God’s punishment on the Assyrian army for their part against Jerusalem
Isaiah 17:12-14 (KJV), “12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! 13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.”
Psalms 13
We all go through a trying time in our lives where we pray continuously and ask God for deliverance from whatever is going on in our lives at the time. I personally am going through and have been going through a very trying time in my life. I ask God continuously for deliverance and for guidance and it seems like nothing is being done. I know God is there but I only wish I knew what His plans were for me.
Psalm 13:1-3 (KJV), “1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? forever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”
But then, we must think back in a time when God had delivered us from something that was troubling us. We must continue steadfastly in our faith in God for He knows so much more than we do.
Psalm 13:5-6 (KJV), “5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6 I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.”
Read Proverbs 21
In this Proverb, God is giving us examples of righteous living. He is guiding us in daily practices of right and wrong. This Proverb provides examples of common every day practices so we can use them in our daily walk with Him. They are to help us get through complex situations and to make us think.
The righteous man’s character is directed by God
Proverbs 21:1 (KJV), “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, …”
Though God gives us free will, He knows before the creation of the earth what each of our destinies are
“… as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”
Proverbs 21:2 (KJV), “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes [free will]: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.”
We are saved by faith not by works
Proverbs 21:3 (KJV), “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”
Think before you act
Proverbs 21:5 (KJV), “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.”
We are to earn our way through life by our merit and not deceiving or bribery
Proverbs 21:14-15 (KJV), “14 A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath. 15 It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.”
As often instructed in Proverbs, your tongue can be a powerful weapon
Proverbs 21:23 (KJV), “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”
Intelligence alone is no contest against God
Proverbs 21:30 (KJV), “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.”
[1] Matthew Henry
Grow in the Word of the Lord 