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 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.
Nov 24, 2023, 1:00 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 21-24
Meditation Verses: 21:12-14
Thought
Abraham doesn't want to give up Ishmael, but Ishmael is not the son of the promise, so God tells Abraham to send him away. God promises to take care of Ishmael and multiply him, but he must go. And Abraham, true to form, complies first thing the next morning. At that point, their relationship seems all but broken. Ishmael returns to bury Abraham with Isaac, but there is no further recorded communication between the two, though they live fairly near each other.
Nov 23, 2023, 1:01 AM
Passage Read: Genesis 17-20
Meditation Verses: 18:32-33
Thought
Sodom and Gomorrah are exceedingly wicked; complaints about them have reached heaven. People want justice and God is sending messengers to confirm the complaints. They stop at Abraham's place and God explains what He's about to do. Abraham, perhaps thinking specifically of his nephew, begins to ask if God would sweep away the righteous with the wicked. He doesn't get down far enough, but stops at ten. If there are ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, God will not destroy them.
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