January 8 - Morning
"So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left,
I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” - Genesis 13:8-9
Abram and Lot Avoid Conflict
Abram had returned from Egypt through the Negev to area between Bethel and Ai in the land of Canaan where he “called on the name of the Lord” or, openly worshipped Yahweh, at an altar Abram had previously built (Genesis 13:1-4).
Abram’s and Lot’s possessions and flocks along with their herdsman and the people that traveled with them (Abram would be able to call out 318 men born in his household to go to battle against the kings from the East in Genesis 14:14.) had become so large that “the land could not support them while they stayed together.” (13:6). Quarreling arose between the herdsman of Abram and Lot. So, Abram initiated a resolution.
Abram took Lot, it appears, to a high location for the two of them to negotiate a settlement. Abram showed both leadership and selflessness in his sincere desire to resolve the conflict when he gave Lot both the first choice of land and a promise of moving off in the opposite direction. Abram must have had confidence in the Lord’s promise to use this method and this character to resolve the issue.
The Lord responded to Abram restating and reaffirming his promise to give him the land by saying,
“Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” – Genesis 13:14-17
Ro'eh (Hb) - Shepherd (Eng) - ro'eh is the Hebrew participle of the verb ra’ah which means to “graze,” “pasture,” “tend” or “lead.” The participle ro’eh denotes “shepherd” or “herdsman.”
Do I sometimes step aside and give God room to bless me?
Or, do I feel I need to secure the blessing for myself with my own efforts and schemes?
I will focus on doing what is righteous and fair, and allow God room to fulfill his promises to me.
Or, do I feel I need to secure the blessing for myself with my own efforts and schemes?
I will focus on doing what is righteous and fair, and allow God room to fulfill his promises to me.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Relationships at work
Church
Long for Christ's return
Nation
Global presence
World
Church's commitment to Scripture
Someone to Quote
"When you become so blind that the maker of galaxies and ruler of nations and knower of all mysteries and lover of our souls becomes boring, then only one thing is left -- the love of the world. For the heart is always restless. It must have its treasure: if not in heaven, then on the earth." - John Piper
Something to Ponder
It has been discovered in the fossil record from the Cambrian period a rapid explosion of new creatures appear on earth. Darwin recognized this as a problem in his 1859 publication, but he assumed this roadblock for the theory of evolution would be resolved with future discoveries. Now, over 150 years later, when it is estimated that all the fossil species have been revealed evolutionists are forced to admit this sudden explosion of new life is a problem for their theory, while creationist see it matching the biblical record.
Here’s a Fact
Joshua 11:11-13 says that the only city Joshua burnt during his northern campaign was Hazor. Archaeology has revealed a massive destruction by fire of Hazor at the end of the Canaanite’s occupation of Hazor. A extremely violent fire destroyed the Canaanite palace at Hazor. The fire was so hot that the bricks became glazed, clay vessels melted and stones exploded. Artifacts found in the palace were an altar, figurines of deities, a god setting on a tub used to receive drink offerings
Proverb
"Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud." - Proverbs 8:1-3
Coach’s Corner
Refrain from talking about negative things.
Joshua 11:11-13
New International Version (NIV)
11 Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself.
12 Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned.
New International Version (NIV)
11 Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself.
12 Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. He totally destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned.
Genesis 13:1-4
New International Version (NIV)
Abram and Lot Separate
13 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
New International Version (NIV)
Abram and Lot Separate
13 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 9
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Covenant With Noah
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
6
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
The Sons of Noah
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27
May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
New International Version (NIV)
God’s Covenant With Noah
9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
6
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
The Sons of Noah
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27
May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
Genesis 15
New International Version (NIV)
The Lord’s Covenant With Abram
15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
New International Version (NIV)
The Lord’s Covenant With Abram
15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
Job 17-18
New International Version (NIV)
17
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
2
Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3
“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
4
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
5
If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
6
“God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
7
My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
8
The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9
Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
10
“But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.
11
My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
12
turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
13
If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
14
if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15
where then is my hope— who can see any hope for me?
16
Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
Bildad
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2
“When will you end these speeches? Be sensible, and then we can talk.
3
Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?
4
You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?
5
“The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning.
6
The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out.
7
The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down.
8
His feet thrust him into a net; he wanders into its mesh.
9
A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast.
10
A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path.
11
Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step.
12
Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls.
13
It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
14
He is torn from the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors.
15
Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.
16
His roots dry up below and his branches wither above.
17
The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name in the land.
18
He is driven from light into the realm of darkness and is banished from the world.
19
He has no offspring or descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived.
20
People of the west are appalled at his fate; those of the east are seized with horror.
21
Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who does not know God.”
New International Version (NIV)
17
1 My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me.
2
Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3
“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand. Who else will put up security for me?
4
You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore you will not let them triumph.
5
If anyone denounces their friends for reward, the eyes of their children will fail.
6
“God has made me a byword to everyone, a man in whose face people spit.
7
My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.
8
The upright are appalled at this; the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9
Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
10
“But come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you.
11
My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
12
turn night into day; in the face of the darkness light is near.
13
If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
14
if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
15
where then is my hope— who can see any hope for me?
16
Will it go down to the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?”
Bildad
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2
“When will you end these speeches? Be sensible, and then we can talk.
3
Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?
4
You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?
5
“The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning.
6
The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out.
7
The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down.
8
His feet thrust him into a net; he wanders into its mesh.
9
A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast.
10
A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path.
11
Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step.
12
Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls.
13
It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
14
He is torn from the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors.
15
Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.
16
His roots dry up below and his branches wither above.
17
The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no name in the land.
18
He is driven from light into the realm of darkness and is banished from the world.
19
He has no offspring or descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived.
20
People of the west are appalled at his fate; those of the east are seized with horror.
21
Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who does not know God.”