Genesis 23 & 24: Will You Submit To God’s Leadership?
Verse of the Day: (24:27) And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
    
1. Life (23:1-20)
And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. (23:1)

It is not how long we live on this earth but how well we live for God. Everyone will die on this earth, but where will our souls go after death? Some may say that death is final, and we have no soul, but I believe that we have souls and there is a God, our Creator. (Luke 12:20-21) God is the Author of the Bible, His holy Word, and that we have here, the book of Genesis, the 1st book, and ends with the book of Revelation, the 66th book of the Bible. In the Bible, God says everyone will die whether young or old, rich or poor, famous or ordinary, because we have sinned and fall short of His holiness. The only way to have God’s holiness and live forever is to by faith believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23, 6:23) Sarah was 127 years old when she died, and she and Abraham are now in glorious heaven, because by faith they believed in God. (Hebrews 11:8-19)

2. Leadership (24:1-33)
And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. (24:12)

Every Christian parent’s prayer is that our children marry someone who loves God, and Abraham was no exception. Abraham was old and he knew he would die, and he instructed his servant to go to his hometown to look for a wife for Isaac, his firstborn son, Isaac’s wife must be his relatives who loved God. The servant prayed to God to show kindness to his master. As he stood at the well, he prayed that the woman who would come to him, and gave him and his camels drink shall be Isaac’s wife. God answered his prayer, as He led Rebekah to the well, providing water for him and his thirsty camels!

3. Love (24:34-67)
And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. (24:67)

Isaac submitted to God’s leadership by loving Rebekah even though it was an arranged marriage when both parties had not known each other. Though we need to know our partners before we marry them yet in Isaac’s case he trusted God that Rebekah was God’s choice for him. Indeed, both Isaac and Rebekah grew in love, and God and Rebekah comforted Isaac when Sarah, his mother, whom he loved very much, went to be with God.

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to submit to Your leadership now and forever.

Genesis 21 & 22: Will You Obey God?
Verse of the Day: (22;18) And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
    
1. Open (21:1-34)
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. (21:19)

God blessed the faith of Abraham and Sarah and blessed them with their firstborn son, Isaac, at their ripe old age. (Hebrews 11:11). However, Abraham and Sarah had to make Hagar, their Egyptian handmaid, together with her son, Ishmael, born with Abraham, to leave them, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Both Hagar and Ishmael almost died as they had finished all their water in the hot desert, when God opened Hagar eyes and miraculously gave them a well of water to drink and survive. God promised Hagar that her son, Ishmael, shall be a father of a great nation. God is good all the time, as He not only blessed Isaac but also Ishmael and made them fathers of great nations!

2. Offer (22:1-14)
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (22:2)

God tested Abraham by commanding him to offer his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, as a burnt offering. Though Abraham could not fully understand why God’s command of him to offer his son when He had promised him that he shall be a father of a great nation, he obeyed. However, God sent His angel to stop Abraham from almost slaying his son, and provided a ram from the wild as a burnt offering instead of his son. Indeed, God shall provide for all our needs. Though in my life, God allowed my younger son, Benjamin, to be offered to Him, and there was no ram to substitute his death, yet God took him straight to heaven like Enoch and Elijah to be with Him forever! (Genesis 5:24, 2 Kings 2:11)

3. Obey (22:15-24)
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (22:17)

God blessed Abraham as a father of many nations because he obeyed God and did not refrain from offering his only son to God. This was the prophecy to the people during the Old Testament period, that one day, God, the heavenly Father, shall offer His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to this earth to die for the sins of the whole world, and the third day He rose again conquering death, and whoever believes in Him shall never perish in fiery hell, but have everlasting life with God in heaven. (John 3:16)

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to obey You even if I do not fully understand Your will.

Genesis 19 & 20: Are You Looking To God?
Verse of the Day: (19:26) But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
    
1. Lot (19:1-22)
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; (19:1)

Lot was full of hospitality as he kept persuading God’s angels to his home though they were reluctant to inconvenient him. Lot not only gave them a place to sleep, and prepared a feast for them, he was also willing to sacrifice his 2 precious daughters for them, as the men of Sodom outside his house was knocking at his door wanting him to turn over God’s angels to them so that they could sleep with them! However God’s angels blinded these men of Sodom! Indeed, Lot was a righteous man in the world of wicked men.

2. Look (19:23-38)
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. (19:29)

Before God destroyed Sodom, He remembered Abraham’s plead with Him to spare the righteous people, namely Lot and his family, and so He would rescue them out of Sodom, provided they would not look back at Sodom. However, Lot’s wife disobeyed God, as she looked back, and became a pillar of salt. Subsequently, Lot and his 2 daughters also sinned against God, when his daughters in order to preserve their father’s lineage, made their father drunk, and committed incest with him. It was a sin that they regretted, as until today, Lot’s descendants are the enemies of Abraham’s. Let us look to God only, and obey Him, so that we shall escape His severe judgment, and receive His richest blessings!

3. Live (20:1-18)
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. (20:7)

God not only called Abraham a father of many nations, but also His prophet. However Abraham failed God, as he lied to Abimelech, the king of Gerar, that Sarah his wife was his sister, as he feared for his life. Before Abimelech could marry Sarah, God spoke to him in a dream that Abraham was His prophet, and Sarah was his wife, and if he would marry her, he and his family would die. Not only Abimelech did not marry Sarah, but he blessed Abraham with much of his possessions. God then blessed Abimelech and his family with children as He had closed all the wombs of his family because he almost took Sarah to be his wife. Let us look to God, and live for Him, as He is indeed the true God!

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to look to You and You only.

Genesis 17 & 18: Are You Perfect?
Verse of the Day: (17:1) And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
    
1. Perfect (17:1-7)
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. (17:5)

God chose Abram to be the father of many nations because he already seen Abram’s heart that he sought to walk before Him and was a perfect and mature man of God. No doubt no one can be truly perfect, yet with God, He can make a perfect man out of imperfection, and that was what God did in Abram’s life. God changed Abram’s name from Abram which meant “exalted father” to Abraham which meant “father of many nations”. Though both Abraham and Sarah doubted God’s promise to give them a child of their own, and Sarah even laughed at God’s promise, yet God still fulfilled His promise, and grant them their firstborn son, Isaac! This is the marvellous work of God!

2. Possession (17:8-27)
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (17:8)

God gave Abraham the earthly Promised Land which was the land of Canaan, as well as the heavenly Promised Land which is Heaven, His home, and also to all who would believe in Him. It is an everlasting possession whether on earth or in heaven when the people of Israel choose to believe God. Today, the people of Israel, has yet to possess the entire land of Canaan as they fail to believe God. However, during the Millennium kingdom, which is after the Rapture (the period when all Christians are promoted to heaven) and the 7 years Tribulation (the period when Satan shall rule the earth), Christ shall reign on earth, and the people of Israel shall then possess the entire land of Canaan!

3. Peradventure (18:1-33)
And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. (18:32)

Abraham loved all, not just his loved ones, as he pleaded with God to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham bargained with God, and finally God agreed to spare Sodom and Gomorrah peradventure there were 10 righteous people. Alas, there were only 3 righteous people, namely, Lot and his 2 daughters (Lot’s wife turned her back and became a pillar of salt!), and God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19:24-25).

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to be perfect as You are perfect.

Genesis 15 & 16: Who Is Your Shield?
Verse of the Day: (15:1) 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.
    
1. Shield (15:1-16:3)
And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. (16:3)

Though God promised Abram that He is a Shield and Reward to him, and that He shall bless him as a father of a great nation, Israel, with many children, yet Abram failed to wait upon God, and instead, he took Hagar, his Egyptian maid, to be his mistress to bear him children. However, God still fulfilled His promise as a Shield and Reward to Abram, as eventually God blessed Abram and Sarai with their firstborn, Isaac, and then with many more children. Indeed, God’s promises never fail, as today, Israel not only exists, but it is a great and powerful nation, though there are still tensions with her neighbours.

2. Sarai (16:4-6)
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. (16:5)

Behind every successful man is a woman, and conversely, behind every troubled man is also a woman. Sarai confessed to Abram that she should not have encouraged him to marry Hagar, because Hagar now despised her after she had conceived Abram’s son. Abram must have been very troubled with his two wives arguing with each other all the time.  Indeed, let us pray for a godly spouse, so that God shall richly bless our marriage.

3. Son (16:7-16)
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. (16:11)

Sarai humbled Hagar for despising her, and Hagar was forced to leave Abram with much grief as she was carrying his son, Ishmael. However God sent His angel to comfort and encourage Hagar to return to Abram. Even though it was not God’s command for Abram to marry Hagar, yet God still loved and cared for Hagar. Indeed, we may have failed God many times, like Abram, Sarai and Hagar, yet God still loves and cares for us. However, there is a heavy price to pay for every sin we commit. In the case of Abram, both his descendants from Sarai (the Jews) and Hagar (the Arabs) are still in conflict with each other, and sometimes resulting in wars, even until today. Though God loves us, and forgives our sins, yet we still reap the grave consequences of our sins. (Galatians 6:7).

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, thank You that You are my Shield and Reward as I fully trust in You.

Genesis 13 & 14: Will You Flee From Strife?
Verse of the Day: (13:8) And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
    
1. Strife (13:1-12)
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. (13:10)

God richly blessed Abram and his family because he trusted and obeyed Him. However, crisis soon arose as his herdmen and his nephew’s (Lot) herdmen began to strive and fight against each other because of power and rivalry. However, Abram was a man of God, and he humbly resolved the dispute by allowing Lot to choose the plot of land first, before he took the remainder of it. Indeed, Lot chose the best and most fertile land, facing Sodom and Gomorrah, and little did he know that his choice not only led him and his family to stray from God, but actually destroyed them. Let us remember that even though we may choose the best of everything in our own eyes, yet we must be careful to stay close to God and flee from sins, otherwise God shall judge and punish us for all our sins.    

2. Sodom (13:13-18)
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. (13:13)

God richly blessed Abram even though he took the remainder of the land, while God severely punished Lot even though he chose the best land. The reason being Abram and his family were righteous and obedient to God, while Lot and his family and all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked and sinful before Him. (Genesis 19:24-25)

3. Salem (14:1-24)
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. (14:18)

Salem means Peace. Indeed, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, lived up to his city of Peace, as he was a peaceful king. When every king was fighting for fame and fortune, Melchizedek was contended to worship God, as he was the priest of the most high God interceding for all his people. Melchizedek came to Abram, and blessed him, and commanded Abram to give him tithes (10 % of all the possessions Abram had won from his victories over his enemies). The reason was that Melchizedek, the priest, represented God, and it was God who blessed Abram with his victories. Indeed, let us give tithes to God, because all that we have – our money, career, family and lives are from God. In fact, Melchizedek was the type of Jesus Christ, who is not only the King of kings, but He is also the High Priest, at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding for all our needs.

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to flee from strife and follow after You and Your peace.

Genesis 11 & 12: Will You Call Upon The Lord?
Verse of the Day: (12:8) And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the LORD.
    
1. City (11:1-32)
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (11:4)

The people became wicked and proud, and they strove to have a name for themselves, and to worship themselves instead of God. They chose to build a city and a tower to reach heaven to challenge God’s authority. They failed to realise that God had judged the entire human race with death, when the first couple, Adam and Eve, disobeyed Him. The only way to heaven is when they truly acknowledge God as their Creator, and believe in Him, and God shall then promote their souls to heaven to be with Him when they die one day.   

2. Country (12:1-5)
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee… (12:1)

Abram trusted and obeyed God when God commanded him to depart from his country to go to a foreign land. Though it was not an easy decision, yet Abram obeyed and trusted God. By faith, Abram believed that God who called him shall surely lead and direct him, and protect and provide for him and his family with all their needs. Indeed, when we trust and obey God, He shall richly bless us with all material as well as spiritual blessings.

3. Call (12:6-20)
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. (12:7)

God appeared to Abram to encourage him that He would fulfil His promise to bless him with the land of Canaan. Abram was encouraged by God’s presence, and he built an altar at the site of His appearance, and thereafter he daily called upon Him. Abram knew that only God could grant him victory over his enemies in a foreign land. Still, Abram failed God many times. When a famine came, instead of calling upon God to deliver them, he and his family went to Egypt. When he was in Egypt, he lied to the Egyptians that his wife was his sister, as he feared that they might kill him and stole his beautiful wife. Subsequently, Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, wanted his wife, but God intervened, and sent a disease to hurt Pharaoh’s family. Pharaoh then realised that God was with Abram. Abram confessed that his sister was actually his wife. Indeed, let us call upon God as He is faithful to deliver us from all our crises, though many times we are unfaithful to Him.   

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to call upon You in good and bad times and all the time.

Genesis 9 & 10: Are You Fruitful?
Verse of the Day: (9:1) And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

1. Fruitful (9:1-7)
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering… (Genesis 4:4)

Children are God’s blessings to man, as we are all made in God’s image and for His glory. Since the beginning of creation, God made Adam and Eve to be fruitful and have many children so as to fill the earth that all may live to glorify Him. Though Adam and Eve sinned against God, yet God made a way for them to repent their sins by believing by faith that God shall send His only Son, Jesus, as a sacrificial Lamb, to die for the sins of the world. This was demonstrated by the faith of Abel, Adam’s son, when God accepted his offering of the blood of his flock, which was the prophecy of the coming of the Lamb, Jesus, who would die and shed His blood for the sins of the world. Indeed, though God has commanded us to be fruitful in bearing children, yet fruitfulness can also be defined as being obedient to God in all His commandments so that we shall receive His blessings.

2. Flood (9:8-29)
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (9:15)

After God destroyed all except Noah and his family during the great flood for their wickedness, God promised Noah and his family by the sign of the bow (rainbow) that formed after a heavy rain, that He would never destroy man with another great flood, but instead with great fire and heat in the future (2 Peter 3:10) because of their wickedness.

3. Family (10:1-32)
These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. (10:32)

We are as strong as the weakest link, and similarly, the country or the church is as strong as the weakest family. In the beginning, the Devil, God’s enemy, started the attack on the family when he deceived Adam and Eve to eat of God’s forbidden fruit, and thereby they sinned against Him. After the great flood, God commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and they did. Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Shem’s descendants became the people of Israel - God’s chosen nation, while Ham’s are the dark race, and Japheth’s are the light race. However, regardless of race, all are made in God’s image, and all must repent their sins, and by faith believe that Jesus Christ is truly God’s Son so that all shall have everlasting life with Him in heaven.

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to be fruitful in everything for Your honour and glory.

Genesis 7 & 8: Are You Righteous Before God?
Verse of the Day: (7:1) And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

1. Righteous (7:1-24)
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7)

God saw the faith and the righteousness of Noah in believing in Him that He not only commanded Noah and his wife and three sons and daughters-in-law to build the ark but also to stay in it, while He completely destroyed the entire population of the world by a great flood because of their wickedness. It was the love and mercy of God as He invited Noah and his family as well as moved every kind of animals two by two into the ark before He rained and flooded the earth and destroyed every living creature outside the ark. It is also God’s love and mercy as He invites us to come to Him by faith and trust in Him, and escape fiery hell, and one day, promote us to glorious heaven to be with Him forever.

2. Remember (8:1-3)
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; (8:1)

God remembered Noah and his family because they put their faith and trust in Him, and God shall also remember us when we put our faith and trust in Him. Noah and his family must have counted it an honour to survive in the great flood when the rest of their generations drowned and perished in it. What an honour for our God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, to remember us when we are sinners saved only by His amazing grace!  

3. Rest (8:4-22)
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. (8:4)

Every moving thing must rest and finally the moving ark rested on the seventeenth day of the seventh month on top of the mountains of Ararat after the great flood subsided and ceased. Noah and his family and all the animals in the ark then came out of the ark and have a breath of fresh air after they were in the ark for a long time. In fact, Noah and his family must be very thankful and grateful to God for saving their lives as well as their souls as they knew that one day they would be bound for heaven to be with their God because they believed and trusted in Him. God gave Noah the command to be fruitful and to multiply the earth with his offspring. Noah then built an altar and offered burnt offerings to worship and thanked God for saving him and his family from the great flood.

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, thank You that I am righteous in You, because I believe in You.

Genesis 5 & 6: Will You Walk With God?
Verse of the Day: (5:24) Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

1. Walk (5:1-32)
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. (5:22)

God gave to Adam and Eve (the first couple ever created by God), another son, Seth, after the death of their younger son, Abel, who was killed by Cain, their elder son. Cain was under God’s judgment, and so God gave them Seth, where Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shall come from his line. (Luke 3:23-38) Indeed, God is in control of everything. God knew that Adam and Eve, and their son, Cain, would fall from His grace and sinned against Him. In fact, after the fall of Adam and Eve, everyone died, except two men who never experienced death - Enoch and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). God promoted Enoch and Elijah straight to heaven without them experiencing death. God had specially chosen them because of their faith in Him (Hebrews 11:5). Methuselah was the longest living man in the history of mankind as he died at the age of 969, while the first created man, Adam, died at the age of 930. The reason as to why men lived so long in those days must be because they ate fruits and food from nature, and there was no pollution whatsoever.

2. Wickedness (6:1-8)
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6:5)

Since the beginning of time, until today, only a remnant truly trust and obey God, and thus they are called God’s children. Though God creates man in His image, yet God grants man the freedom to choose, and sadly most men choose to do evil and continue in their wickedness. However, God has His way of preserving and protecting His children, as He commanded His child, Noah, to build an ark in anticipation of a great flood that would destroy the entire world population. By faith, Noah and his family built the ark, and together with the animals in the ark, they survived the great flood (Hebrews 11:7).

3. Window (6:9-22)
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (6:16)

God commanded Noah to build a window on the ark so that air and light could come in and sustain Noah and his family, and also all living creatures in the ark. The window is a type of Christ, as without Christ, the souls of men shall cease to live forever. The door is also a type of Christ, as only Christ can grant abundant life to those who enter His door believing that He is truly the Son of God, the Saviour, and the Messiah (John 10:7-10).

Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to walk with You now and forever.