January 26, Reading 1 – Genesis 32:1-33:16

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

Jacob next has to face the brother he so wronged twice, the brother that swore to kill him when next they met. Jacob wrestles with God and Esau. With the angel, he uses the angel’s strength to persevere and not give in – his hip is out. There is a good message for us here to persevere in prayer. With Esau, he divides up his company and sends out many gifts of the flock first. Bluff Esau forgives his little lame brother. Jacob’s lameness is a severe mercy from the Lord.

SJA Notes

* Lord God Almighty, thank You for Your steadfast love and faithfulness without end. Please show us a little more of You today from Your word.

“And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.”

Jacob wrestled with God!

There are many elements, deep truths, that are bound up in this passage – And one of them is this.

Jacob wrestled with God, and prevailed.

What does that even mean!

God is without equal in power, in knowledge, in understanding.

Yet Jacob could wrestle in human form and prevail.

Was there something special about Jacob in himself?

No. He was a sinner like us all.

But he wrestled with God, not letting go until he obtained a blessing, and he prevailed.

God blessed Jacob, giving him a new name – Israel.

We can wrestle with our God.

We wrestle in our spiritual life, as we walk along this narrow road being guided by His word, His will being done through our lives.

We wrestle in the act of prayer. In James (ch 5) we read,

“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Elijah wrestled with God through prayer, praying fervently for no rain, then for rain – and both times he prevailed.

Fervent prayer is wrestling, not letting go, persistent and dogged.

Our God has called us to be this way, to pray in such a fashion. Let us do this!

* God Above,

We come before You, our God and King, in prayer.

Please write Your word on our hearts Lord God, this we pray, so that we might not sin against You.

As Your word is on our hearts, we are refined, transformed through the renewal of our minds, able to go about Your will, able to submit under Your will.

Please make us a little more like Jesus today!

Amen.

January 26, Reading 2 – Psalm 1, 2, 3

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

The themes of the first two psalms are the Law of Moses (Ps.1) and the Prophets (Ps.2). Psalm 3 arises out of terrible anguish of heart. David’s own son has tried to kill him!

SJA Notes

* God of Light, You close the lilies of the field, You feed the birds of the air – Please help us remember to cast our cares of You, for You care for us.

“Blessed is the man …”

Right at the very start of Psalms we see that Job (from the previous book) is a clear example of this practicing believer described here.

The walking, standing and sitting, showing godly wisdom.

This is an encouragement and a conviction for us.

Let us not walk as or stand with or sit within the mindsets and frameworks, the practices and thoughts of the wicked, those who scoff at our Lord God!

What are we to do though?

Turn to God’s word. Our delight, our roadmap, our constant mirror telling us the truth, the only true source of any wisdom we might seek or have.

And not once every year or seasonally, but every single day – Meditating on it, asking for help from God to understand, grasping hold of whatever He has in store for us that day.

Remember the exhortation of the Berean christians from Acts 17,

“… They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so.”

We are to be a people of God’s word!

This means testing the words of those around us, even a wonderfully gift orator, or our best friend – Testing the thoughts on our hearts about little or big things, popular ideologies, our grand dreams and even our hard-won experiences.

Everything is to be wrestled with through the lends of God’s word.

Nothing is too important that it cannot be measured against scripture.

* Almighty God,

Thank You for the Psalms – They are a wealth of human emotion and experience for us to dwell on.

Please show us today what You want for us.

Thank You for Jesus, who while on earth showed us more completely than even someone like Job ever could – How to live for You, to show Your love to those around us, to serve You with all humility.

Amen.

January 26, Reading 3 – Matthew 18:15-35

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

Jesus has some searching words to day about children, relatives and the cultivation of mercy towards those closest to us. We are apt to have a short fuse with all three.

SJA Notes

* God Above, please write Your word on our hearts today, that we might not sin against You.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

How hard for us is practice of rebuke and discipline.

How hard it is to get right, judging fault in others.

Forgiveness is tightly bound up in these acts of rebuke and discipline.

Because. How much have we ourselves been forgiven?

In this parable Jesus tells, we can read the protocols, the principles, that He wants us to understand.

We can be very quick to judge, to want to be in judgement over others, in seeing someone else’s sin. And that quickness can often lead us into sin ourselves.

Do we really think anything someone does to us can ever compare to our own sin before the Holy God?

Are we so quick to forget or not grasp the wonderful mercy that brought about the terrible price that Jesus paid?

A heart of forgiveness and mercy needs to be foremost in any action of rebuke or discipline.

* Father God,

Please forgive us Lord.

We can think to judge another, to call out sin and wrongdoing, and forget Your great mercy to us.

You are faithful and Your love is steadfast.

Hallelujah Lord, what a God You are!

Amen.