Category: Genesis

Faith is an Action

Genesis 12, Proverbs 7, Matthew 4

I am pleased today to share words from Jeffrey Fletcher, a pastor, chaplain, husband, father and regular writer for SeekGrowLove and Church of God publications. We mourn the death of Pastor Jeff, we look forward to celebrating with him at the resurrection, and we are thankful that his Godly words of wisdom and his example of faith live on for us today. The following is part of an article titled True Abrahamic Faith which was published in the July-Sept 2025 edition of The Restitution Herald (Vol 114 No 3).

If we say we have the faith of Abraham, shouldn’t we understand what that really means? The fact of the matter is … when we study the life of Abraham, we find very little spoken about what he actually believed in a structured, systematic way. Abraham left behind no creed or statement of belief about God. So to understand what faith meant to Abraham, we have to look at what he did by way of response to God. 

First, we see in Genesis 12 that Abraham took his wife, his nephew, and his servants, left Haran, and went down to the land of Canaan, where he pitched his tent and built an altar to the LORD who had appeared to him. From this, we discover three things about the faith of Abraham: 

1. He had a personal relationship with God – Abraham believed that God was a personal God. 

Abraham was not an atheist, who doesn’t believe in God. 

He wasn’t an agnostic, who won’t say one way or another if there’s a God. 

He wasn’t a deist, who believes that God is a kind of higher power who simply wound up the universe at the beginning and then pretty much left us on our own to do as we please. 

He wasn’t an animist, who believes that an immaterial force called nature — Mother nature, Gaia, etc. — inhabits the universe and occupies all living things (had he believed that, he never would have killed an animal and offered up a sacrifice at the altar). If you want to know more about animism, just watch the Disney film Pocahontas, which reflects a prevalent 90s animistic belief that things like trees have spirits. 

He was not a pantheist, who believes in and worships all gods. This popular belief holds that all religious truth is equally valid. All gods are equally valid and can justly be worshipped – whether they be called Buddha, Lord Krishna, or YHWH. 

Abraham believed in God and God alone as the true God. Not a higher power, which is a kind of politically correct term for God among many 12-step groups. Yes, God is a higher power, but He is more than pure power, energy, or even impersonal spirit. God is a personal being with whom we can enter into a real, personal relationship. 

We know these things about Abraham not because of what he said to others about God, but because of the way he responded to God. 

2. He made worship a priority – notice that wherever Abraham settled, he built an altar. He came to Shechem; he built an altar to worship God. He went to Bethel; he built an altar to worship God. Later, he moved to Hebron; again he built an altar to God. Everywhere he settled, he built an altar to God. Worship was a priority to him. And remember too – this was not because of some religious law or empty ritual Abraham was following. The laws of Moses, which prescribed the type and frequency of offerings to God, were not given until over 400 years after the time of Abraham. Abraham selected animals from his flocks as a way of recognizing that everything he had was from God and really belonged to God. Abraham was willing to offer up his best as an act of worship to God. 

This priority of worship was demonstrated when Abraham, after being victorious in battle against the confederacy of kings from Sodom and Gomorrah, as an act of worship, brought to Melchizedek, a priest of God, a tenth of the spoils of war. The very first tithe in the Bible does not come as a result of an ecclesiastical law, but as an offering of worship and display of faith on the part of Abraham. Abrahamic faith makes worship a priority and demonstrates it through sacrificial giving and tithing. 

3. He believed God – he packed up his tents and moved based on a promise that God had given him. He believed God and demonstrated that belief by his actions. Had Abraham stayed in Haran, would he have had true faith? What if he had said to everyone in Haran, “Listen, I believe in God, I believe God keeps His promises, I believe that God will give me the land of Canaan and make a great nation out of me” and then never packed up his tents, never loaded up his camels and donkeys, never tightened his sandals, never pulled out his walking stick and never journeyed south to Canaan? Would that have been true faith? 

You see, so much of what passes for “faith” these days isn’t really faith at all. Part of the problem is that faith in the English language is a noun. 

Listen to the Dictionary – faith (fEth) n. 

1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, an idea, or a thing. 

2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or ma-terial evidence. 

3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance. 

4. The theological virtue is defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will. 

5. The body of dogma of a religion. 

6. A set of principles or beliefs. 

A noun is a person, place, or thing, whereas a verb is an action. English is one of the only languages that has the word “faith” as a noun. In other languages, it is a verb. Why is that significant? Because Abrahamic Faith is a verb. Abrahamic Faith requires action. There’s no room for couch potatoes in Abrahamic Faith. Abrahamic Faith is not a spectator sport. 

One of the problems with American religion today is illustrated by the weekly football game, where we have 22 exhausted men who desperately need some rest being observed by thousands of spectators sitting around eating junk food and drinking beer, who desperately need some exercise. 

Abraham set down his beer, put down the remote control, packed up his stuff, and began a journey that would last for the rest of his life. He didn’t know how many stops, how many detours, how many frustrations, how many dis-appointments, how many battles, how much pain there would be on the journey. But then again, none of us on this journey of faith knows what we will encounter along the way. We travel out on faith, trusting that the God who has called us to the promised land will never abandon us on that journey, and that the land that awaits us is truly a good land. 

The complete article can be found here, starting on page 7. THE RESTITUTION HERALD is owned and published by the Church of God General Conference, a nonprofit Christian corporation located at 2020 Avalon Parkway, Suite 400,
McDonough, GA 30253, which is also the site of Atlanta Bible College.

Reflection Questions:

  1. What is involved in having a personal relationship with God? How is that the same or different from what you have seen in religion today? Do you have a personal relationship with God? It is healthy to continually look for ways to improve relationships. How can you improve your relationship with God?
  2. How do you worship? How might God want to see you worship, in addition to what you typically do now? What happens when we don’t make worship a priority? Would God say that you make worship a priority?
  3. Do you generally think of faith as a noun or a verb? Who have you seen live out their faith? What have done or currently do to demonstrate your faith? What might God be asking you to do next?

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you because you are a real, personal God who desires a relationship with your creation. We thank you for the examples of faithful fathers, for the men and women recorded in your Word, as well as the ones who have lived since then, who though not perfect, go beyond talking about faith to demonstrate a living, breathing, moving, active faith in you. Help me to have a faith that gets me off the couch and even beyond my comfort zone. Show me, Father, how you want me to live out my faith next. May my worship of you be pleasing to you and a priority in my life. I pray these things in Your Son’s name. Amen.

SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

The Almighty Ark Architect

Genesis 6-8, Proverbs 5, Matthew 3

Devotion by Marcia Railton (IN)

I have always been fascinated by the account of the man who built the magnificent boat to save the animals and his family from the floodwaters that covered the earth. When it was time to choose a nursery theme for our first born – it didn’t take long to land upon the man with the full white beard surrounded by every animal imaginable as they made their way into the safety of the big gopher wood boat. What a great story to rock any infant to sleep.

Who is the main character in this classic Bible story found in Genesis 6-9? The boat builder extraordinaire, the floating zoo animal wrangler, the father of 3, a “preacher of righteousness” amongst unbelieving, corrupt and violent neighbors (2 Peter 2:5 and Genesis 6:11), the man who “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Yes, Noah is the man. “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9) So, God chose Noah.

And because of the way Noah responded to God’s choosing and instruction, he earns himself a spot in the Faith Chapter of faithful witnesses. Hebrews 11:7 (ESV) says, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” You can find this verse in many English translations here – to see some potentially helpful variations on the wording such as: “motivated by godly fear” (CSB), and “By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong. And he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.” (ICB)

There is so much we can learn from this man of faith! As a wife and mom I am also very curious about his unnamed wife! What role did she play? What did she think of this all? How did she help, assuming she did? What might their conversations have sounded like as they lay in bed at the end of a hard work day, or on the 150th day of life on the rocking, animal-filled boat, or as they gazed at the very first rainbow in the sky (coming in chapter 9)?

And what about the wives of Noah’s 3 sons? Can you imagine marrying into the ONLY family that will be saved from the floodwaters? I am hoping for a chance to talk to Noah and his wife and their family during the Kingdom of God on the earth after it will be cleansed again – this time not by water but by fire.

As instrumental as Noah was in his role of man of faith and boat building, and as intrigued as I am by his family, there is actually one more character I will suggest as the MAIN character of the account of Noah and the Ark – and that is the One who saw, chose, directed, provided for and remembered Noah. While seeing the corruption, wickedness and violence of the world, God also saw the one faithful.

The Lord Almighty is the ark architect. God gave Noah all the details needed for him to successfully build a boat that would hold all the occupants (perhaps about 96,000 square feet of floor space). The boat would also weather the torrential flood and then the winds that would dry the earth while remaining water tight for over a year. Professional marine engineers today still marvel at the accurate dimensions and plans given so long ago by the ALL-Knowing God that would indeed be necessary to create such a floating vessel. Here’s one article written by one such engineer and architect. Can you imagine what sort of ark Noah might have tried creating if he hadn’t been given God’s accurate details? The joy of being God’s servant is that He provides what is needed to do the job He asks you to do, if you will listen and obey.

Once the ark was built and waterproofed (on the inside and out – what a task!) it was time to add the animals. I am sure God had a large hand in orchestrating or ordering this task as well, in one way or another. Even knowing all of the species to collect, and getting the correct number of each of the two genders, and tending to their needs and the food! No doubt Noah and his family had work to do, but Genesis 6:20 also indicates they would not be acting on their own: “two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive”.

God is also the one who shut the door of the ark, both saving those inside, and keeping the unrighteous out. He sent the rain to cleanse the earth of the corruption and then the wind to dry the land to prepare it once again for Noah, the animals and the generations to follow, including you and I and your favorite furry, scaly, or winged creatures that move along or over the earth.

Our God provides what we need to live righteous lives doing the jobs He has for us to do. Our God sees and saves. He alone is the creator of the master plan of salvation for the human race. In Genesis he saves through the work and faith of righteous Noah. He saves again many times throughout Scripture. As we read through the Bible this year watch for how He saves. In your own life, take note of how He sees and saves and provides over and over again. And, perhaps most importantly, keep watch, for He is saving again, through the promised return of His Son Jesus. Will you be ready? Don’t be one of the unbelievers when that door shuts!

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you admire about the characters of Genesis 6-8? What questions would you like to ask Noah, his family, and the Almighty Ark Architect (amongst His MANY other titles and jobs)?
  2. Reread Hebrews 11:7. What might God want to see you do, motivated by godly fear? Where do you see the world as being wrong? In what ways can you help show that the world is wrong? And how can you help show that there is a God who not only can save, but wants to save all those who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
  3. Consider the plans of God to save the world. Compare and contrast His plans to save through Noah and His plans to save through His Son Jesus. Thank Him!

Dear Almighty God, we thank You for your plan of salvation and how You save over and over again. Thank you for this account of Noah that shows Your love and provision for those who walk with You, even when surrounded by the wrong world who will face judgment and final death. We praise You for being All-knowing! There is nothing You don’t know – and You graciously let us know what we need to know to do Your will well. We marvel at Your knowledge, wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, love and just judgments. Help us walk with You all our days. Help us see the evil of the world for what it is and not be a part of it. Help us follow Your directions to complete the tasks You have for us. Help us with reverent fear be preachers of righteousness. Prepare us and our families, including those we can invite in, for Your perfect plan of salvation. In the precious name of Your Son Jesus we pray.

SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

O Brother!

Genesis 4-5, Proverbs 4, Matthew 2

Devotion by Marcia Railton (IN)

Do you have a brother? Did you ever fall short, at a time when your brother did not? Have you ever felt jealousy or anger? Have you ever acted on your feelings, severing a relationship? Even if you don’t have a brother, there is much to be learned from this short account of two brothers in Genesis 4, the first set of brothers born to Adam and Eve – Cain and Abel.

Both brothers brought an offering, or sacrifice, to God. Cain, a farmer, brought fruit of the ground. Abel, a shepherd, brought a firstborn sheep. It seems good and logical to us. Offerings to God are good. But, some are better than others. And some, God says, are not accepted/respected/pleasing to Him (depending on which translation you use). Throughout Scripture much more will be written about offerings (including many different types of offerings in Leviticus, the widow’s 2 mites, a cheerful giver, etc…). We do not have a written record of how God conveyed His expectations to Cain and Abel before this, but we do know that God desires relationship with His children and He sees into the heart and if He wasn’t pleased, there was a good reason for His displeasure.

We all have been in the position where God is not pleased with what we have brought, done, or said. But where do we go from there? Do we see jealousy, anger, sin of any kind for what it is and seek to make correction? Or do we dig in deeper into our self-righteousness as we inch (or sprint) further and further from God and who He wants us to be? God gave Cain a choice, just as He gives each one of us. He said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6,7 ESV)

Cain didn’t do well. He did not find a way to control his thoughts and actions and anger. He did not rule over/master the sin that desired to have him. He killed his brother. He was not accepted by God.

In Genesis 3, God had asked Adam “Where are you?” and one chapter and generation later God asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And I don’t think God was too impressed with Cain’s answer: “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). Yes, as we seek to have mastery over the sin in our own lives, we are also to be looking out for our brothers (and sisters – even those not through blood lines). How does my sin affect those around me? How am I bringing down others with my attitudes, actions, anger, lack of self-control, and sin?

We can be thankful for the examples of those who have gone before us – both the examples of what they did right and what they did wrong. How they handled it when they didn’t measure up? What they could have done better? What happens when jealousy is allowed to fester and take over? What is the problem with anger? Both Cain and Abel were used as very real examples in the New Testament by multiple writers –

1 John 3:12 – Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.


Jude 1:11 – Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error… (Perhaps a “Profitable” clue as to why Cain’s offering wasn’t pleasing to God.)

Both Matthew and Luke record Jesus speaking of Abel to the Pharisees (those with heart issues over sacrifices, perhaps similar to Cain’s). Matthew says: “from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah” (Matthew 23:35, see also Luke 11:51).

And Abel, although his life and example were cut short, he becomes the very first named example of faith and righteousness recorded in the great list of witnesses known as the Faith Chapter of Hebrews 11. After commending those who believe the universe was created by the word of God, the writer says: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (Hebrews 11:4 ESV)

What is Abel’s faith and example saying to you, today?

Reflection Questions

  1. In worship today, what makes a sacrifice acceptable, pleasing and respected by God? What sacrifices today are not acceptable, pleasing and respected by God? What sacrifices or offerings have you brought to God as part of your worship to Him? Are there some that are not too impressive? Are there some that are not given with the right heart, or are not much of a sacrifice at all?
  2. When might God ask you, as He asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” When have you been jealous of what others have brought to God or jealous of another’s ability to please God? When has comparing yourself to others, and God’s acceptance of them, left you bitter and angry? What do you do with your anger? What did God tell Cain that would be good for you to hear, too? (Take a closer look at Genesis 4:6&7.)
  3. In what ways can we use the examples of both Cain and Abel to “do well” today? What ought we to do? What ought we to not do? How can we rule over the sin that desires to have us? If God were to come asking YOU the whereabouts of your brother/sister (in blood or in faith), how would you answer? How can you take a positive step toward being a helpful “brother’s keeper” this week?

If you were hoping for a devotion and questions on Matthew 2, here’s a link to one for SGL posted on January 2, 2022.

SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

Hide and Seek

Genesis 3, Proverbs 3, Matthew 2

Devotion by Aaron Winner (SC)

Our two-year-old’s favorite game is probably hide and seek. She is actually pretty remarkable at staying still and quieting her breaths so she will not be found. The only problem with her strategy is that she always chooses the same hiding spot—the curtains in our master bedroom. For her, the game is not about actually remaining hidden. It would lose its appeal quickly if she stayed concealed too long. Her joy is ultimately to be found and to be reunited with family, “Daddy, you found me!”

In today’s reading, we see God playing the seeker as He looks for His favored creation in the garden. No matter how still Adam and Eve remain, God knows the hiding place. When He asks, “Where are you?”, it is a loaded question from the one who knows us most intimately, both our physical location and hearts. God is not met by the joyful giggles of a toddler, but by the shameful chagrin of sin (Prov. 3:7). Even though God knew where He would find them and did not withhold discipline (Prov. 3:12), by His infinite grace, He still searched for them.

That same grace carries forward into the arrival of the Son of Man. God hung a star in the east to announce the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the hope first spoken in Genesis, the One who would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). Though the distance was far, men who were seeking found a child, guided by both the heavens and the Word of God (Matt. 2:6). God makes His mercies known.

And so, when we are searching, we are always led to the same place. If we are looking for rest, we look to Jesus. If we are looking for meaning, we look to Jesus. If we are looking for hope, we look to Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament, again and again, God “hides” His promise of His Son in plain sight some 300 times, all pointing toward the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ, who conquers sin once and for all.

So who are we fooling if we think we can remain hidden among the foliage and unseen by God? If we feel distant from him, the heavens and His word are still declaring we need only turn to the same place where our faith begins, Jesus Christ. Unchanged is the place where grace and hope begin.

Let us pray this together:

Abba Father, I have been desperately hoping you would find me. I will trust in You with all of my heart. I won’t lean on my understanding but Yours. Give me correction along with your grace that is greater still. In all Your ways, let me submit to You, for I know You will make my path straight. Lead me to the advent of Christ, to be found among the faithful who seek You. In your name of your Son, whose resurrection gives us hope. Amen

Reflection Questions

  1. It is good for us to remember we do not have the mind of God – but what tone of voice do you imagine God used when asking, “Where are you?” Why might He have started with a question, and this specific question? What tone of voice might He have used when giving correction and consequences?
  2. How are you like Adam? How are you like Eve? How did God show grace and correction with consequences to Adam and Eve? How have you experienced both grace and correction with consequences from God? What is the purpose of each?
  3. Adam and Eve obviously didn’t have Proverbs 3:5-7 on their refrigerator. How might it have helped them to know these verses of wisdom? How can you better live out Proverbs 3:5-7? When do you most need to hear these verses? How can you memorize them and/or plaster them in your life so they will be part of your first line of defense against temptation so you can spend less time hiding from God.
  4. From today’s readings, what are some beautiful things about God’s plan of salvation through His Son Jesus?
SGL.2026.CalendarDownload

Blessings

Genesis 48-50

At the end of their lives the patriarchs bless their children.  The ancients believed words matter.  If you asked them, “What’s wrong with the world?”  or “Why is the world broken?” they would answer, “The curse.”  What’s wrong with the world is that God cursed it–using words.  So, how should we expect the world to find healing and redemption?  How does God plan to undo the consequences of our first parent’s rebellion?  He blesses.  First he calls Abraham and blesses him.  Abraham calls Isaac and blesses him.  Isaac calls Esau, but Jacob impersonates him to receive the blessing.  Even so, now Jacob has come to die and he wants to pass on the  blessing to his twelve sons who will become the twelve tribes of Israel.  Somehow or other, God is going to use this dysfunctional Abrahamic family to initiate his master plan of redemption that will one day culminate with making everything wrong with the world right.  Jacob is here playing his part in God’s agenda.

What’s interesting about how he blesses his children is that for several of them, the blessing sounds more like a curse.  For example, to Levi and Simeon he says, “Cursed be their anger…I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.”  Through Jacob’s words, God is prophesying about the future.  Indeed Levi was scattered throughout the tribes and Simeon was absorbed into Judah.  What’s so fascinating about the blessing is that Israel passes over his first born, Reuben, as well as his second and third born, Simeon and Levi, and he jumps to boy number four–Judah.  He compares Judah to a lion and then says, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49.10).  This prophesy is rather staggering as we look forward to the rest of the bible.  The great king David and his successors were from Judah.  Ultimately, Jesus, himself, descended from Judah.  So, how did Jacob know which of his children would hold the scepter?  The odds of guessing it right are only one in twelve–about 8%.  God was working with this man of faith to know what to say and whom to say it to.  Jacob might be old, but he is still walking with God, right up until his last breath.

After Jacob dies, we learn about how Joseph forgives his brothers rather than taking vengeance into his own hands.  Ultimately, Joseph himself arrives at death’s door.  We read in the New Testament hall of faith the following about Joseph:

Hebrews 11.22
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

Out of everything that Joseph went through, his heroic perseverance and faith in God, this is what he is remembered for.  When he came near to death, that same Abrahamic promise that had burned in Israel’s heart, blazed in Joseph’s as well, even while he came to the end of his life.  He expressed his faith by this last request:

Genesis 50.24-25
24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”  25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

Look at the faith of this man!  He’s suffered so much in the course of his life and yet he never gave up on God.  He had been elevated to the highest office in the land, next to Pharaoh, and he still retained his faith.  In the end, God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would not die.  One day he would return to the land of his childhood.  It would be centuries, but eventually, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, they carried Joseph’s sarcophagus with them through the desert and laid him to rest in the promised land.  Whether you experience hardship or prosperity, be like Jacob and Joseph and keep faith your in God’s promises to bring the kingdom.

-Sean Finnegan

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove – back when it was Grow16BibleReading – on August 8, 2016 – our first full month of daily devotions!)

Reflection Questions

  1. What can we learn from Jacob and his blessings for his offspring? What part of Jacob would you like to display in your life?
  2. What can we learn from Joseph and his relationship with his family, with Egypt and with God? What was important to him? What part of Joseph would you like to display in your life?
  3. Why is “the land” important? What have we seen happen throughout the book of Genesis in regards to the land?
  4. What have you learned from the book of Genesis about God and how He works? What characteristics does He have? What is important to Him? What is God’s agenda? How has He interacted with His people? What has been a genesis/beginning in your relationship with God? What blessings are awaiting God’s children?
SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload
SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

The Big Reveal

Genesis 45-47

Next to the greatest story ever told, the story of Joseph is by far my favorite Bible story. There are so many valuable lessons one can learn from reading it. Some lessons that stand out to me are the sovereignty of God, the importance of trusting God even in the midst of tragedy and suffering, and the beauty and power of forgiveness. 

I have often asked myself if I would have had Joseph’s attitude in the midst of a seemingly unending chain of absolutely horrific events. In spite of the terrible hand that he continued to be dealt, we don’t see him being consumed by anger, self-pity or a quest for vengeance. There’s something very powerful about Joseph’s unwavering faith in God that inspires me. He seems to possess a quiet assurance that everything is ultimately going to be okay. 

In this 45th chapter of Genesis, we see Joseph revealing his true identity to his brothers. We know he had risen to a very prominent position of power as second in command of Egypt. The stage could have been set for him to get the “perfect revenge” against his brothers. We read in verse 5 right after Joseph reveals his identity to his brother: “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” I find it especially poignant that not only does Joseph not want to exact revenge in this situation, he actually chooses to comfort his brothers in this moment rather than “giving them what for.” We know from earlier scriptures that Joseph was clearly hurt by their previous actions, but he wants to spare them the hurt of being angry with themselves or beating themselves up because of their actions. He points them to an understanding of God’s sovereignty and that they were players in God’s plan. 

How differently that 45th chapter of Genesis could have played out if Joseph had been bent on vengeance. Instead, we see the true beauty and power of forgiveness and a reminder that God is in control even in the midst of our darkest hours. 

If we choose to be consumed with anger or self-pity, we miss the important lessons God is trying to teach us. We read in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Perhaps the answer in those dark times is to focus on loving God even more deeply and purposely than ever before.

-Kristy Cisneros

Questions for Reflection and Discussion


1) When you encounter hardships and tragedies, does your attitude reflect one of unwavering faith in God? If not, how can you further nurture and strengthen that faith so that it is at the ready when life’s storms come your way?

2) What action can help us love God more deeply and purposely than ever before?

3) What other lessons can you learn from the story of Joseph?

(originally posted for SeekGrowLove on February 6, 2020)

SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload
SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

Who Hurts?

Genesis 42-44

Joseph, from the Old Testament, was a very godly man.  He endured many hardships, but held onto his faith. But along the way, he picked up some bitterness and resentment toward his brothers.  When he had the chance, he tormented them, exacting some measure of revenge.  At that time there was such severe famine that Joseph’s brothers were forced to go back to Joseph a second time and buy grain.  This time, Joseph started by being kind to his brothers, and then he veered off, continuing to emotionally torment them.

In Genesis 44, everything finally came to a head.  Joseph deceived his brothers further, and made it appear that he was going to force the youngest brother, Benjamin, to stay there with Joseph in Egypt.  This plan may have seemed like another fine way to punish his brothers, but there was a huge problem.  His brother Judah approached Joseph, and said, “If you keep the boy Benjamin here, our elderly father will die from sorrow.”  Perhaps Joseph hadn’t considered the pain he was about to cause his own father–or the pain he had already caused him.  At this point, Joseph just about had an emotional breakdown (in tomorrow’s reading in Genesis 45).  All along Joseph had been trying to hurt his brothers, but he was the one who was hurt the most.  The pain he wished for them turned out to be the pain he felt.

At some point in your life, you may have someone really hurt you.  Maybe you already have.  And maybe at some point you will have a chance to hurt them back.  Maybe even hurt them back really bad.  Consider this: it will come with a huge cost to you.  You may want to hurt them back, but it will cost you something very real and something very big.  It would be better for everyone involved if you can somehow forgive them, and not pay them back in the way they deserve.

-Jason Turner

(Originally posted Oct 26, 2018 for SeekGrowLove)

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you seen “Hurt People Hurt People” in action? When have you seen someone rise above their hurts to forgive and show compassion?
  2. What emotions do you think Joseph is feeling in today’s reading? Are there any that ought to win? Are there any that you want to see him overcome? What does it take to overcome an emotion?
  3. Who has hurt you in the past? Are you still hanging onto pieces of bitterness and resentment? Can you see any evidence in your life that this bitterness is hurting you? Who else could be feeling the effects? What would it take to let it go?
SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload
SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

A Prosperous Slave and a Successful Prisoner

Genesis 38-41

In the beginning of Genesis 39, Joseph has just been sold to a new master named Potiphar.  During the course of the chapter, Joseph is falsely accused and thrown into prison.  The chapter ends as Joseph goes from being a slave to being a prisoner.  Sounds pretty bad, right?  Strangely enough, the chapter starts out by saying of Joseph the slave, “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.”  The chapter ends by saying of Joseph the prisoner, “The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.”  So God was with Joseph and gave him success and prosperity even as a slave and a prisoner.  Sounds very strange to me.  It would seem to me that success would be not being a slave and not being a prisoner.  But Joseph understood some things that many of us never understand.

We can learn a lot of good things from Joseph.  Whatever happened in his life, he kept on trying to live for God.  He continued to have a good attitude and he continued to work hard.  He didn’t pout, become discouraged, depressed or cry out, “Why me?”

How about you?  When you go through tough times, do you continue to seek God and discover His will?  Do you try to keep a positive attitude?  Would you keep working hard if you were in Joseph’s shoes?  We will soon see how God’s plan unfolded in Joseph’s life.  Feel free to read ahead in the Bible on this story of Joseph.  It is way more interesting than a TV show.

-Jason Turner

(Originally posted for SeekGrowLove on October 23, 2018)

Reflection Questions

  1. How about you?  When you go through tough times, do you continue to seek God and discover His will?  Do you try to keep a positive attitude?  Would you keep working hard if you were in Joseph’s shoes?
  2. What do you think about the phrase, “God was with Joseph”? What might that look like to others? What might that feel like to Joseph? What does it cause Joseph to do?
  3. Do you feel like you can say the same thing about “God was with (your name)” during your hardest trial thus far? Can you say it today? What might that look like to others? How does it make you feel? What does it make you do?
SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload
SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

When Struck by Jealousy

Genesis 34-37

Today we are going to start on the beginning of the story of Joseph and I am pretty pumped for Joseph. He is a really awesome character of the Bible. There are a ton of lessons that you can learn from his life.

Have you ever caught yourself being jealous of another person? It may not even be their whole life but just like parts of. I know I totally have areas where I’m jealous. My personal areas are intelligence, athletic abilities, leadership style, their writing ability or musical talent.  Here is the thing I like about me. I do. I think God made me great and I think through God’s grace and patience he is continually making me better in the characteristics that he will use to build his kingdom. You are great too and God made you with the strengths that you have for a reason; to build his kingdom and glorify him. Yet, 99% of us still have issues with jealousy and the other 1% have pride problems. Hahaha.

Let’s get started on Joseph though. The first mention we have of Joseph is Genesis 37 and it starts out with his dreams. You definitely should go read this chapter. It will help out tremendously with understanding this devotion. Joseph was the one of the last born of Jacob’s children and because of that Jacob loved him more than his other sons. To demonstrate his love for his son, Jacob gave him a robe of many colors. His brothers noticed that their father loved Joseph and hated him because of it.

When Joseph was older he had a dream that said that his brothers will bow down to him. Remember, Joseph was the younger brother. After a half second of contemplation you would totally understand why Joseph’s older brothers would not be blessed by this dream. This made them hate him even more. Then another night he had a dream that his whole family including his mother and father would bow down before him. In verse 11 it says “And his brothers were jealous of him…”.

I can empathize with his brothers at this point. I have totally been jealous of some people that I have seen being used by God. I don’t think this is the worst thing in the world. I just want to be able to glorify God like they are and that is not a terrible thing to want. What Joseph’s brothers choose to do next is definitely not good.

Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery when he was out in the field one day and then lied to their father and said that he had been killed by a wild animal.

Now, why do you think that his brothers did that? I am going to make a huge leap and say they were probably jealous. I know I am way out there on this one.

They were jealous of him for something small back in the beginning of the chapter and now their jealousy grew and grew and grew until they were selling their brother into slavery. They let it build and simmer under the surface until they did something crazy and harsh. I will go out on a limb here and say that if you were to tell the brothers that they would sell their brother into slavery at the beginning of the chapter they would have called you a liar.

Have you ever noticed that if you are jealous of someone, you have a hard time being friends with them? Maybe there is a little extra hostility in your voice that you didn’t intend or you secretly wish they would make a mistake or some sort of small harm would derail them.

I don’t think that what happened to Joseph’s brothers was all of a sudden. They had been jealous of Joseph for a while and because they didn’t resolve this jealousy, they did something that they would come to regret. Love leaves no room for jealousy. It is impossible to love God, love people and be jealous of them. These feelings of envy and jealousy when unkept turn into anger. That is why it is impossible to love someone and be jealous of them.

So how do we keep jealousy from building into anger like what happened to Joseph’s brothers? None of us want unkept jealousy that will ruin our joy and make us do things that we don’t want to do. I am not the authority on this but I can tell what has worked for me. I have found it to be really hard to compliment people I was jealous of. So, I went ahead and complimented them and bragged about them and became a supporter of them. I would tell other people how great I thought they were and it did something weird in my heart. I was no longer jealous of them but I was happy for them and rooting for them.

Another thing that you will need to do is find your strengths, the good things about how God made you, and talk yourself up. Remind yourself that you are made in the image of the maker of heaven and earth and all good things dwells inside of you. If you need help finding your strengths ask a friend what they are and then ask God to help you find your value and worth in Him.

I do all of these things on a semi-regular basis. Let’s keep an eye on that jealousy and remind ourselves of who we are in God, so that we can stay joyful and love others.

Daniel Wall

(Originally posted for SeekGrowLove on Jan 24, 2020)

Reflection Questions

  1. When has jealousy stolen your joy and love for others? How did you treat the object of your jealousy?
  2. Who would you like to work on complimenting and becoming a supporter of?
  3. What are your God-given strengths? How can you work at remembering them and growing them?
  4. What would you suggest to a friend or child who has been struck with jealousy?
SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload

SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

What’s in a Name?

Genesis 31-33

“What’s in a Name?” This famous quote from Romeo and Juliet implies that a name is simply and solely a name, that the true value lies in the person who bears the name – and, in the case of Shakespeare’s tragic play, that the person should be loved for who they are rather than hated merely for their family line. While I agree that the person who bears the name is more important than the name itself, I would also argue that names are very powerful and personal, as one thing that a person deeply owns forever. Referring to someone by name can have a profound effect on them. When we go to a restaurant, my husband makes a point to always speak to our servers by name as a way to connect with and respect them as a person rather than simply a service provider. 

What does your name mean? Mine (Rachel) means “ewe,” which seems appropriate since the biblical Rachel was a shepherdess. Rachel was the second – but favorite – wife of Jacob, who was known to be a trickster. While there is some discrepancy about the true meaning of his name, Jacob is commonly accepted to mean “supplanter,” and when you read his life story, you will see him live up to his name many times over. In today’s reading, we observed Jacob and Rachel duping her father (who had also deceived them! It must be a family trait on both sides!). Jacob gathered his family for the journey back to his homeland to reconcile with his brother Esau, from whom Jacob had swindled the birthright blessing many years before. Then Jacob found himself alone during the night, thrust into a wrestling match with God (or man or angel, as some translations indicate). Jacob persevered through a fierce fight, but before he would let his mysterious competitor raise the white flag, Jacob demanded to be blessed. 

The Wrestler’s response: “What is your name?” 

Full stop. Don’t you think this being knew Jacob’s name? Of course. But remember, Jacob had assumed a false identity when he masqueraded as Esau to hoodwink his father into giving him Esau’s birthright, and Jacob had continued in his shifty ways. Maybe Jacob needed to be reminded of who he was so he wouldn’t continue to swim aimlessly in the pool of his own deception. Perhaps the Wrestler wanted Jacob to ponder his delusive choices (which, frankly, had caused a concatenation of unfortunate events) and be a willing participant in God’s bigger, better plan despite his sketchy past – a fresh start as a new man changed by God’s grace. 

Jacob answered honestly with his given name and then was granted a new name with a new  meaning: “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won” (Gen 32:28). The Wrestler chose to keep his own name a secret, but he did leave Jacob/Israel with the requested blessing – and a bum hip, probably so he would be sure to never forget the experience. 

The meaning of the name “Israel” is disputed; some possibilities are, “he wrestles with God,” “a man seeing God,” “God perseveres.” Whatever the meaning, Israel indicates a closeness with God and a promise for a new nation. In recent chapters, we also read about Abram and Sarai receiving name changes to Abraham and Sarah to symbolize their new relationship and covenant with God. 

God is in the business of changing lives AND names! Did you know that we, too, will be given new names in the Kingdom? Passages in Isaiah (62:2, 65:15) and Revelation (2:17, 3:12) indicate that our names will be changed when we receive our inheritance of eternal life! How awesome will it be to bear names especially chosen for us by our Creator as we live with Him forever! 

-Rachel Cain

Reflections:

When you committed to join God’s mission, your name was written in the Lamb’s book of life. Enjoy this song about God changing us and writing our names on the Kingdom roster! (or click here if you want to see some of our own youth perform the same song in ASL at Ohio’s camp!)

Think of who you used to be, and how God has changed you – and continues to change you – into who He wants you to be. What areas of your life do you need to give over to him to allow that to happen? How can you use your story to encourage others? 

SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload