Daily Devotion for May 11, 2017
Prayers
Scripture
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
I have always thought that this song by Rascal Flatts could be understood in two different ways.
To Live in the Knowledge of Christ
Dear Jesus, I can open up my heart to you. I can tell you everything that troubles me. I know you care about all the concerns in my life.
Teach me to live in the knowledge that you who care for me today, will care for me tomorrow and all the days of my life.
Prayer to Put My Trust in Christ
Oh Holy Christ, Son of God and King of all humanity, I bring to you my hurts, my fears, my disappointments; I am filled with worries about my health, about money, about my place in the world, and about the health and safety of my loved ones. The struggles, the cruelties, and the tribulations of this life sometimes seem unfair and overwhelming. I cannot handle them alone, my Lord; I lay them at your feet.
You have promised to shoulder our burdens, Lord Jesus, and I am taking you up on your promise. I give myself to you, with all my emotional baggage. Teach me to lean upon you, to trust you, to know that in your ultimate victory, all of my fears will prove illusory, and my pains, short-lived.
Do not leave me to suffer alone, Lord; do not turn your face away. Forgive me my every sin and take me to your bosom, for I am your child and I know you love me. This I pray in your name, whose every word is truth,
Meditation
[Take God up on His promises!]
Benediction
Now to Him who has given me grace in accordance with His gospel, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for many ages past, but now revealed and made known by the command of the eternal God, so that all mankind might find the obedience that comes from faith; to the only God, the God of wisdom and truth, be glory forever through His only son, Jesus Christ.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
Proverbs 14:32 (NKJV)
But what is in the heart of fools is made public.
Genesis 25:7-11 (ESV)
The Story of Abraham [51] - The Death of Abraham
These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.
After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.
Notes on the Scripture
lthough this has been repeated several times, the “years” of Genesis are not the years of the Gregorian calendar we use; in fact, we have no idea what the word, now translated as “year”, refers to. We can venture a guess that the word used in the early chapter of Genesis, where men commonly lived over 800 “years”, refers to what we now call lunar months. But here, we have no idea how old Abraham was, other than it was considered a “good old age”.
It is interesting to see that Isaac and Ishmael are at peace, at least sufficiently so that Ishmael is informed of his father's death and comes to bury him. We so often see brothers become enemies in the Old Testament; perhaps Abraham did Ishmael a favor by sending him away. Ishmael was not where he would see Abraham's wealth every day and feel temptation to claim it, for it is always the human tendency to want what one sees. And even though Ishmael was the eldest, Abraham's designation of Isaac as his heir was crystal clear.
It is a nice ending. Abraham is buried with his wife, in the cave he bought from Ephron, the Hittie, specifically to use as her tomb.
There is no reason given why Isaac chose to go live at Beer-lahai-roi, the famous well where God led pregnant Hagar to save her life. It is in the middle of a desert in the north of the Sinai Peninsula but lies adjacent to the Brook of Egypt. This is not an actual brook, but a “wadi” — a river that is dry much of the time, like an “arroyo” or “wash” in the western United States. Many scholars believe that this is the “River of Egypt” that defines the western border of the land given to Abraham and his descendants by God in Genesis 15.
