Bible Study & Devotional (January 24, 2021)
🔴 Blessings and Curses
Today’s reading revealed intriguing family dynamics and foreshadowing of things to come. The blessings of the younger over, the older sibling continued in Genesis, and Jacob delivers curses as well. While on his death bed, Jacob’s prophetic words alert us to God’s plan.
Genesis 48:1-49:33, Matthew 15:29-16:12, Psalm 20:1-9, Proverbs 4:20-27
Be Blessed or Accursed:
A blessing is the infusion of God’s favor and protection. Our Lord brings happiness to those He blesses. In contrast, a curse is a pronouncement of ill-fortune because one opposes God’s plans. God may curse a person or a whole nation because of their opposition to His will.
Those in opposition to the will of God may carry a curse.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were searching for reasons to discredit Jesus. The disciples got caught up in the literal meaning of ‘leaven’ but, our Lord wanted them to take it further. May we understand the profound wisdom our God gives through His Holy Spirit.
Matthew 16 continues to show how the religious leaders behaved and their misunderstanding of the Laws. The rage these leaders must have felt by having their sin pointed out.
The Leaven:
As believers, we sometimes have our sinful nature put on display, and everyone sees our real character. The Pharisees were so caught up in their ‘logic’ that they failed to see the Law’s compassion; they missed love. We prove how unenlightened we are by dismissing feelings, danger, or what is happening. Envy, excuses, and arrogance will have us sitting on the sidelines because we fouled out.
Jesus teaches us that if we love Him, love ourselves; we will naturally love others. The chaos and stress of life is the enemy’s way to control our thoughts. It becomes a burdensome narrative to always think of the dark side. God wants us to train our minds to obey Christ.
Nothing is hidden that will not be made known. We can cover up how we feel only for so long before our truth will rise. Jesus is the calm in our mental, physical, and spiritual storms. Let’s trust the Creator with our entire being.
The Master has prepared a Great Feast for us. His bread is the way, the Truth and the Life.
~Torrie Slaughter
This devotional was submitted by Torrie Slaughter, the founder of Our Given Purpose® in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
🔴 The Bible In A Year Daily Reading Plan
Genesis 48:1-49:33, Matthew 15:29-16:12, Psalm 20:1-9, Proverbs 4:20-27
Download or Print the One Year Bible Reading Plan
