Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Dec 5, 2024, 1:32 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 13-16
Meditation Verses: 15:4-8
Thought
The Lord promised to give the land of Canaan and more to Abram's descendants. But Abram pointed out that the Lord had given him no children, so how could he inherit the land? Then the Lord promised to give him a son and make his descendants like the stars in the sky for number.
Dec 4, 2024, 1:34 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 9-12
Meditation Verses: 9:26-27
Thought
Not only is this a curse to reveal the future condemnation of Canaan, but also a foretelling of the future of all peoples. Japheth is the oldest and should be most prominent according to normal custom, but Noah is exalting Shem above Japheth by saying Japheth will live in the tents of Shem.
Dec 3, 2024, 1:35 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 5-8
Meditation Verses: 8:14-16
Thought
Noah was on the ark a year and ten days. The Lord commanded him to enter the ark, and as much as Noah did to check and see if it was safe to leave the ark, he waited until the Lord commanded before he actually left it. There was perhaps some anxiousness, some eagerness, or some trepidation. It's unclear whether they were eager to leave the ark or content to stay with what they knew, where they felt safe.
Dec 2, 2024, 1:37 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 1-4
Meditation Verses: 4:5-7
Thought
It was God who disdained Cain's offering, not Abel. Cain's problem was with God, and God graciously came to him to draw his attention. Cain had not necessarily done anything wrong at this point, he'd just offered a sacrifice God wasn't interested in. If he responded correctly and made the right adjustments, he would be accepted.
Dec 2, 2023, 12:52 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 45-48
Meditation Verse: 48:11
Thought
No one ever tells Jacob how Joseph really got to Egypt. Joseph and his brothers know, and his brothers probably live in fear that Joseph will tell on them, but he never does. It hangs over Joseph's brothers like a heavy cloud, but Joseph never seemed to use it against them. He is fully convinced that all was done by the hand of God for the saving of everyone's life. Yet they never come to him and ask forgiveness either, until after the death of their father, and even then they present it like a command from Jacob. And then Joseph again assures them that he holds no grudge.
Dec 1, 2023, 12:54 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 41-44
Meditation Verses: 42:21-22
Thought
It is no small thing to hate a brother so much you'd consider killing him, even though in the end you only sold him into slavery. Who knows what would become of the brother you sell into slavery? Joseph was protected by God, though a slave for many years in a powerful man's house, then imprisoned for at least two years in a prison for high level offenders. All things considered, he had it pretty good. But his brothers didn't know that.
Nov 30, 2023, 12:55 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 37-40
Meditation Verses: 39:10-14
Thought
Surely the other men of the household, the other slaves, knew what was going on. They surely had seen and heard what Potiphar's wife was doing to Joseph. But what could they do? As slaves they couldn't argue with their master's wife. Joseph couldn't defend himself and accuse his master's wife of lying and discredit her by saying she was stalking him! He had no standing as a slave, no defense against the woman's accusation.
Nov 29, 2023, 12:56 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 33-36
Meditation Verses: 34:2-4
Thought
This appears to be the culture in Canaan and beyond: Take the girl you want, then negotiate with the father (or brother). It happened to Abraham twice, Isaac was warned about the same thing possibly happening, and now Shechem does it to Dinah. Abraham was afraid of the wrong thing, though in truth, if this is how they "take" a wife, then maybe he was right to expect someone to kill him to take his wife! Abraham, on the other hand, sent a servant to negotiate with his family for a wife, not to take one by force, then negotiate a bride price.
Nov 27, 2023, 12:57 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 29-32
Meditation Verses: 31:11-13
Thought
If it ever occurs to Jacob to leave, he didn't do it, not until the Lord tells him to. Though he is oppressed by his uncle, he keeps his word to serve, even though there was no time limit on the service, and even though Laban keeps changing the terms of his wages. But God sees what is happening to Jacob, and prospers Jacob no matter what Laban says. And finally, after six years of it, God tells Jacob to return home. Only then does Jacob leave.
Nov 26, 2023, 12:59 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 25-28
Meditation Verses: 27:1-2
Thought
Isaac had to be at least eighty, and he would live at least another twenty years, the time it took for Jacob to pay his debts to Laban and return. He had gone blind and felt his age, and so decided to prepare for his death by blessing his sons. His concern was premature, though not a big deal. He didn't have to wait until shortly before his death before blessing his firstborn.