Agape Devotions

READ:  Genesis 24-25:11; Psalm 15 Verses chosen for meditation: Genesis 24:7-8 [Abraham said to his servant] “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”   Genesis 24:12-14 [And the servant prayed to the Lord], “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appoint...

Bible Readings: Genesis 22-23 / Psalm 14 No devotions for today (Sunday)

READ : Genesis 20-21; Psalm 13 Verses chosen for meditation:  Genesis 20:1-3 “From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” REFLECT We probably had a shock when we read that Abraham, even after he was renamed (from Abram), had an inspiring dialogue with the three visitors and promised a son with Sarah, to go back to his old sin! Didn’t he learn his big lesson back in Egypt?  We are not entirely sure why Abraham had to go to Gerar since that was the land of the Philistines. And it was on the way to Egypt! It sounded as if Abraham went to a “wrong” destination again. Even so, why did he commit exactly the same sin back in Egypt when ...

READ : Genesis 18:16-19:38 / Psalm 12 Verse chosen for mediation is Gen.18:32 Then he said,"May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?" He [the Lord] answered, "I will not destroy it for ten’s sake." REFLECT The three heavenly visitors in the first part of chapter 18 had come to make a firsthand inspection of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. If it proved to be as bad as reported, destruction would follow. In verses 16-22, after their meal, the guests took their leave and started toward Sodom to make their investigation with Abraham accompanying. The question in verses 17-18, which apparently the Lord addressed to Himself, is answered in verse 19. The Lord made reference to the man He had chosen as the father of “a great and mighty nation.” He had confidence in Abraham because He knew Abraham would teach his children to promote justice (often translated as  righteousness , meaning “adherence to proper standards”). ...

READ : Genesis 18:1-15 / Psalm 11 Verse chosen for meditation:  Genesis 18:13-15  13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”   REFLECT The chapter starts with three heavenly visitors, who were revealed to be the Lord and probably two angels in human form. The Lord repeats his promise to Abraham, knowing full well that Sarah was listening in on the conversation. Sarah’s immediate response was to laugh in disbelief. Can one blame her? Sarah was old, about 90 years old and the “way of women had ceased to be” with her (v11), meaning she had gone through menopause. It was simply physically impossible to bear a child.   This response was similar to Abraha...

READ :  Genesis 17 / Psalm 10 Verses chosen for meditation: Genesis 17:5-6. 5  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.  (Gen 17:5-6) REFLECT Names often reflect a person’s character traits or new role. We show honor and respect to people when we call them by name and affirm who God has created them to be. Often name change or addition is a result of wanting to add meanings or desired traits to it. Genesis 17 recorded the historical change of names with Abram to Abraham and his wife Sarai to Sarah. God changed Abram's name when He made a covenant of love with him, promising that He would be their God, they would be His people and that Israel shall be a great nation through him. Together with a covenant,  God also charged Abram with His new expectation and commandment to ...

Read: Genesis 15-16 / Psalm 9 Verse chosen for meditation :  Genesis 15:1 NIV "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." Reflect How would you feel if one day you had a vision like that? What would stand out most for you in the vision? Do you think that God is acting rather randomly here? What do you think was Abram's initial response to the vision? How would you have responded? Did the promise unfold as smoothly as expected? These questions deserve some mulling over. The plain fact is that no two persons are likely to come up with the same response to some of the questions asked. Although when it comes to dealing with promises from the Lord, we would all probably fall into the same category by sharing almost similar thoughts. That it will be plain sailing all the way with everything mapped out and taken care of. If that's the case, we'll be in for a surprise. Relate I don'...