Day 19 Bible Reading

Genesis 38 & 39, Matthew 13: 36-68, Psalm 11

Genesis 39: 20-23 (ESV)

“And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.”

Verses 20-23 from Genesis 39 shows that if God favors you, you will succeed no matter where you go. Poor Joseph! It seems as if he had no luck when he got thrown into prison on false charges. But even in prison, Joseph did well. He was put in charge of all the prisoners. And if you know the story of Joseph, this was all part of God’s plan. How many times have I been upset that I had bad luck and thought in that instant, God was not looking out for me. But in hindsight, the bad luck ended up being a good thing. When I moved and changed jobs, I made a financial decision to take my money out of an investment because I wanted to manage the money myself. It was the right thing to do because of the move, but if I hadn’t moved I would have left the money in that investment. A year later that investment fund went belly-up, and if I hadn’t taken my money out because of the move I would have lost a very large amount of money. So what I thought was bad luck turned out to be the best thing in the world for me financially. So the move in many ways turned out to be the best thing for me in more ways than one. God always seems to have a plan for our lives that works out for the best, even when we can see only see in in hindsight.

Day 18 Bible Reading – skipped a day. This was supposed to have been posted on January 20, but I fell asleep.

Genesis 36 & 37, Matthew 13: 18-35, Psalm 10: 12-18

Matthew 13: 31-32 (ESV)

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.””

I love the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13: 31-32. If you’ve ever held a mustard seed in your hand, you know how small it is. It’s so hard to believe that this tiny seed will go into a tree. I discovered on YouTube last year a channel called WorshipMob. I believe they call themselves “Jesu Co”. This group of various worship leaders from different churches in the Colorado Springs Colorado area. All of the singers are amazing worship leaders. The musicians are excellent as well. I love this song they do on the parable of the mustard seed.

Day 17 Bible Reading

Genesis 34 & 35, Matthew 12: 46-50, Matthew 13: 1-17, Psalm 10: 1-11

Matthew 13: 8 (ESV)

“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Verse 8 from Matthew 13 stood out to me today. I feel at times my Christian life is like the seed that fell on good soil, but the yield is often different from year to year. For the last three years, the seed has produced much grain which increases year by year. But the last three years prior to that, the seed produced barely any grain. I was trying to find a church to join, and I wasn’t having much luck. I did find a wonderful church where they had a 5 pm Saturday service that I loved. The pastor preached great sermons and the singing was very good, but that church was so far away from where I lived. Growing up we always walked to church, and I knew that if the church I joined was too far away I would find excuses not to attend. Three years ago I finally found a church I liked that’s a 10 minute drive from where I live, but I waited a year to join because I wanted to be sure it would be a good place for me to deepen my Christian faith. Holy Spirit led me to this church and I’m glad I followed God’s plan, because this church has exceeded my expectations of everything I was looking for in a church community.

Day 16 Bible Reading

Genesis 32 & 33, Matthew 12: 22-45, Proverbs 2: 1-11

Genesis 32: 24 (ESV)

“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.”

Verse 24 from Genesis 32 struck me today. Jacob wrestled with God, only he didn’t know it was God until the morning. I like to think that I sometimes wrestle with God in my mind at night when I can’t sleep because of an issue I am pondering. This seems to happen when the issue is about something that I want to or need to do, and I don’t know whether doing the thing would be good for my life. I lie in bed, and I pray to God for guidance for the right course of action to take. Sometimes I lie there for hours praying and waiting for Holy Spirit to whisper something in my mind. And when I get an answer that I don’t particularly like, that’s when I feel like I wrestle with God. And yes, God always wins, and I do the thing he wants me to do. And of course, it always works out for the best in the end.