Today’s Verse: So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. ~Genesis 20:7 Did you know that you are a VIP? By this, I am asking do you grasp the power of intercessory prayer. Within the context of our devotion this morning, I would like for us to consider what it means to practice “Valuable Intercessory Prayer.” There is the principle of intercession. Intercession means to petition on behalf of another perso

Today’s Verse: Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. ~Genesis 40:23 Are you someone who is forgetful? Do you forget where you put your keys? Do you forget your username and password for login purposes? I think that most forgetfulness is not malicious but due to distraction, information overload, or lack of concentration. Joseph was in prison for a crime that he was unjustly accused of. An opportunity came about where he could possibly be released. He t

Today’s Verse: And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. ~Genesis 19:16 One of the most powerful phrases in Scripture is when Isaiah says repeatedly, “His hand is stretched out still.” The hand of God speaks of His strength, involvement, power, and omnipotence. The very fingers of God speak of His grea

Today’s Verse: Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. ~Genesis 40:23 Are you someone who is forgetful? Do you forget where you put your keys? Do you forget your usernames and passwords? I think most forgetfulness is not malicious but due to distraction, information overload, or lack of concentration. Joseph was in prison for a crime he was unjustly accused of. An opportunity came about where he could possibly be released. He told the chief butler, “But

Today’s Verse: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. ~Genesis 1:31 As Christians, we believe in the Genesis account that God is our Creator. Dr. George Wald (co-Nobel Prize winner in Biology and professor of Biology at Harvard) said: “There are only two possibilities as to how life arose; one is spontaneous generation arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God, th

Today’s Verse: Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; ~Genesis 44:30 If you have ever sent a package by mail, you know the importance of wrapping it very securely so that the packaging does not come apart while it is in transit. Wrapping it securely requires extra heavy wrapping paper, a lot of tape, and, sometimes, tying strong strings around it. Our passage this morning describes th

Today’s Verse: And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. ~Genesis 15:11 Have you ever heard of the saying “This is for the birds”? This saying means that the thing being referenced to is worthless and has no value. It is used to describe something that is not worth your time or effort. In our passage this morning, God is about to “cut the covenant” with Abram. Cutting the covenant represented laying animal sacrifices on two sides with a path betwe

Today’s Verse: And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. ~Genesis 37:8 As children, many of us wanted to be at the front of the line. As soon as the teacher cried out, “Who’s first?” there would be a mad scramble to be in first place. Joseph had an incredible dream that depicted his brothers bowing down to him. He did not know when or how this wo

Today’s Verse: After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. ~Genesis 15:1 Abraham was in deep distress. He had just returned from a very successful conquest of the five kings who had taken his nephew Lot as a captive. He started to think about the fact that those kings might consider taking revenge on him and his household. He thought about his small army in comparison to their m

Today’s Verse: And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. ~Genesis 30:1 Have you ever been threatened by someone who said to you, “Do this, or else?” If so, you may have felt like an unreasonable demand was placed upon you. You may have felt pushed against a wall and faced incredible pressure to do something that requires more than just you to get it done. Rachel made a strong demand of

Today’s Verse: Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die. ~Genesis 42:1-2 Are you someone who is proactive or reactive in nature? People that are proactive are characterized by an aggressive, spirited, and zealous nature. They are people who desire to be ahead of the cur

Today’s Verse: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ~Genesis 4:7 Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you did not know what to choose, and someone told you to flip a coin? The idea behind flipping a coin is that when someone is at a crossroads in making a difficult decision, the flipping of a coin makes the decision for him. Using a nicke

Today’s Verse: And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth… ~Genesis 14:22 Abraham is considered one of the great men of faith. His testimony concerning his faith is mentioned at length in Hebrews 11. Romans 4:20 tells us that he was strong in faith, not doubting the promise of God. He is such a great example that we are told in Isaiah 51:2, “Look unto Abraham.” In our devotion this morning,

Today’s Verse: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ~Genesis 2:7 Breathing is a vital and necessary part of life for us. We inhale air so that we can take in oxygen. We exhale air so that carbon dioxide is released out of us. Breathing is a necessity for living. When CPR is administered to someone unconscious, we seek to breathe air into their lungs to restore their breathing. W

Today’s Verse: And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. ~Genesis 37:5 Guards who stand on duty to protect people, property, and security do so at great cost to their bodies and lives. They accept their responsibility, knowing the cost. There is a cost associated with doing anything important or doing it for someone who is important. This morning, let us see the cost of duty as seen in the life of Joseph. Joseph pictures for us

Today’s Verse: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. ~Genesis 35:3 Jacob made a costly mistake in moving down to Shechem. From the moment he pitched his tent there, one mishap after another happened. The final blow was when Simeon and Levi took swords and killed all the incapacitated men of Shechem. Jacob told his sons, “Ye have troubled me to make me

Today’s Verse: And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. ~Genesis 24:56 Perhaps one of the most frustrating thigs for me is when I encounter an unexpected delay. A delay could hinder you from being at an appointment at a certain time or receiving an answer that you were anticipating at a certain time, could be through travel plans that are interrupted, or could be an arrival that is put off. We try to

Today’s Verse: And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali. ~Genesis 30:8 Wrestling is one of the oldest contact sports. Two opponents grapple each other to determine which has the finesse, strength, and technique to make the other lose by points or submission. Wrestling requires a lot of endurance and adaptability. No wrestling match is ever light. They are always intense. We see some valuable

Today’s Verse: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. ~Genesis 28:22 Jacob set off for a journey to find a wife in the country of his uncle Laban. On the first night of his journey, he stopped to rest. He chose some stones that he used as a pillow for his head. That sounds somewhat hard on the neck and head for me, but that’s what the Scripture tells us. He had an incredib

Today’s Verse: And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ~Genesis 28:12 I think most adults and children are fascinated by firetrucks and the all the equipment and devices on them. I have always been especially intrigued with the long fire trucks that carry the extended ladders. These ladders can enable a firefighter to reach great, extended heights for rescue purp