Monday: Genesis 48

Tuesday: Luke 4

Wednesday: Psalm 17 and 18

Thursday: Galatians 3

Friday: Genesis 48, Luke 4, Psalm 17, Galatians 3

Monday, Genesis 48

Jacob, who has struggled to trust God, Jacob who has wrestled with God, has now come to fully trust the promises of God – even the ones he can’t see yet. He is fully confident that God will bring Joseph and his family back to the land God had given them in Canaan, confident enough to ask for a promise from Joseph that is based solely on God’s promise being true. And I wonder, could I be this confident in the promises of God?

Jacob says to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children, too.” It makes me think of instances in my own life where I almost lost hope, but then God showed up. Times when He exceeded all my wildest expectations. I never expected _____________ and now God has____________.”

Do you have these moments in your life? While you are waiting on what comes next, while hope is deterred in one area of your life, are you able to look back at other situations and say, “I never expected __________ and now God has _________.”

And as we rehearse His faithfulness, maybe this is how we, we who struggle to trust God, we who have wrestled with God, can come to fully believe His promises and be confident enough to stake our futures and our very lives on them.

Tuesday, Luke 4

Even at His very weakest, Jesus cannot be tempted. And the Word became Flesh now uses God’s word as His weapon to battle the enemy, showing us that we can, too. No matter how much He was dishonored and rejected by the world, Jesus continued to press into the Father, showing us that we can, too.

How do you face rejection? 

I don’t know if you are anything like me, but I long for the approval of others (often too much) and rejection wounds me deeply. The only way I know to combat that pain is to remind myself of what my Father has to say about me.

In order to counter the lies of Satan with the Word, we have to know the Word deeply. Spend time memorizing God’s word so that when the enemy throws lies your way you are able to combat them with Truth.

There isn’t one right way to do this, but here are a couple things that have worked for me:

When my children were little we listened to lots of Scripture put to songs (We love Seeds Family Worship). To this day, I can recall most of the songs and sing them to myself when I need some encouragement.

A few years ago, while my bestie and I were both spending inordinate amounts of time nursing and rocking little ones, we began a simple challenge. We would pick a passage of Scripture to memorize. We would write it on a piece of paper to hang on the nursery wall, and save it as the screensaver on our phones. Any time we reached to scroll through our phones, we would instead dedicate that time to reciting and memorizing Scripture.

You don’t have to do it this way, but do make it a point to have memorizing Scripture as a part of your life. Nothing fights the lies of the enemy like the truth of God’s word.

Wednesday, Psalm 17 and 18

Speaking of Scripture memory, if you need a great passage to start with, grab Psalm 18:1-3. When you wake up in the morning and feel completely overwhelmed by the day ahead, whisper, “I love you, Lord, my strength.” When you feel frustrated at all the little details that aren’t going your way, remind yourself, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.” As you grieve whatever loss this holiday season might bring up, “call to the Lord who is worthy of praise.”

His Word never fails!

Thursday, Galatians 3

I am more like the Galatians than I care to admit. Though I know the saving, immeasurable grace of Christ, I’m still often tempted to think I can earn my way into God’s good graces, that enough service, enough do-gooding, enough ministry will somehow cause Him to love or approve of me a little bit more.

I’m still tempted to make the Gospel a checklist – Bible time, Scripture memory, good works, fruit of the Spirit: check. God and I are good.

Daily, hourly, I need to be wrecked by the unmerited grace of the real Gospel. God and I are good, only because of the selfless death of His Son, My Savior. Jesus alone has justified us. Jesus alone has made us righteous. Faith in Him alone has saved us.

Spend some time today reflecting on your own sin and depravity and what it means that Jesus took the punishment for those things. Allow this to cause you to worship a God who saw the depth of your heart and chose you and loved you anyway.

Friday Reflections

I like to spend the day after Thanksgiving reflecting on things I am deeply thankful for.

Would you join me in doing that today?

• Name a few times in your life where you could fill in these blanks:
• I never expected ______________ but now God has ____________. Praise Him for answering prayers in ways we never could have imagined!
• List a few ways that God has grown your trust in Him this year. Spend time thanking Him for drawing us to Himself!
• List a few Scriptures that have been lifelines for you. Spend time meditating on the truth of His Word and thank Him for being a living and active Father who speaks truth to His children!
• Thank Him for His Son Jesus, who has reconciled us to Himself and given us the miraculous gift of Eternal Life!

He is good and kind and faithful, friends. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.