Daily Devotional from Genesis 38—Verse 26Then Judah identified them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.’Judah did not honor his word to his widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar. In doing so, he made a fool of himself in more ways than one.Have you ever made an agreement with someone and not held up your end of the deal? I know I’ve struggled with this befo...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 37--Verses 27-28“Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.What a crazy day for Joseph...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 36--Verse 1These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).It may seem unclear why we have a whole chapter in scripture dedicated to the descendants of Esau, the one that sold his birthright for a bowl of soup and lost his inheritance due to the deception of his brother. Why did God deem it necessary for this family to be named in scripture?My hunch is that it is be...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 35--Verse 3“Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”By now Jacob/Israel has definitely been through some distressing times! Being cheated and almost held captive by uncle Laban, wives fighting over each other, the fear of his brother coming w...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 34--Verse 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land…’When we see injustice, our natural reaction is anger—and rightfully so. What we do with that anger says a lot about us. Dinah’s brothers were furious about the rape of their sister, and rightfully so. But what they did with that anger went...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 33–Verse 7bAnd last Joseph and Rachel drew near…Everyone knew Joseph was the darling of the family - the pampered little boy. Upon reuniting with his brother Esau, Jacob didn’t know what he was getting into. So he set his expendable children out front as a human shield for his favorite child. And, if you know the rest of the story, you know that his favoritism did not...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 32--Verse 36Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?Have you ever been treated poorly at a job or been falsely accused by someone you know? I know I’ve been angry when someone assaults my character. Jacob worked for Laban for 20 years and was treated horribly. When he finally l...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 31— After Jacob served Laban for twenty years, he lost Laban’s favor. At the Lord’s direction, Jacob took his wives, family and livestock and left secretly, lest Laban forcibly take back all that he had. Laban pursued Jacob; but God warned him not to say good or bad to Jacob. The outcome of their exchange was to part peaceably, leaving stones and a pillar to mark thei...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 30—Verse 14-15Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes…Therefore [Jacob] will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes." NKJVJacob who had cheated his brother Esau out of his inheritance is now being bought and sold by ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 29—Verse 25And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”Jacob made a deal to marry Rachel, but woke up to find he got Leah instead. How unjust! But not really. Jacob, who deceived his father Isaac to steal the blessing due his older brother Esau,...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 28--Verses 16 & 18“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it….” Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it and named the place Bethel…”I wonder how often after this moment Jacob stopped and looked at this marker. Did his children know th...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Genesis 27--Verse 35But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.” NLTThis is a wild story. Jacob stole Esau’s blessing and went on to be Israel…THE Israel. It’s crazy! Why would God allow him to experience the blessing when it wasn’t even rightfully his? He didn’t deserve this honor; he didn’t deserve this name. Why couldn’t God ...  Read More