Sunday<\/p>\n
**Spiritual themes from the Old Testament**<\/p>\n
Genesis 22:1\u00a0 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, \u201cAbraham! Abraham!\u201d And he said, \u201cHere I am.\u201d 2Then He said, \u201cTake now your beloved son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I tell you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a03So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey; and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split firewood for the whole burnt offering, and arose and went to the place God told him. 4Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5Thus Abraham said to his young men, \u201cStay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.\u201d 6So Abraham took the firewood of the whole burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. Then he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7Then Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, \u201cMy father.\u201d And he said, \u201cHere I am, my son.\u201d Then he said, \u201cLook, the fire and the firewood, but where is the sheep for a whole burnt offering?\u201d 8And Abraham said, \u201cMy son, God will provide for Himself the sheep for a whole burnt offering.\u201d So the two of them went together. 9They came to the place where God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the firewood in order; and he bound Isaac his son hand and foot and laid him on the altar, upon the firewood. 10Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, \u201cAbraham! Abraham!\u201d So he said, \u201cHere I am.\u201d 12He then replied, \u201cDo not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him, for now I know you fear God, since for My sake you have not spared your beloved son.\u201d 13Then\u00a0Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him a ram was caught in a thicket by its horns. So he brought it for a whole burnt offering in the place of his son. 14Thus Abraham called the name of the place The-Lord-Has-Appeared; as it is said to this day, \u201cIn the mountain the Lord was seen.\u201d 15Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16and said, \u201cBy Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you did this thing, and for My sake did not spare your beloved son, 17I will certainly bless you, and assuredly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall inherit the cities of their enemies. 18In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you obeyed My voice.\u201d 19So Abraham returned to his servants, and they rose and went together to the Well of Oath; and Abraham dwelt at the Well of Oath.<\/p>\n
Application:\u00a0 Always trust in God and obey Him when you are sure you clearly understand the commands are from him\u00a0 \u00a0(via the Bible, Church and your conscience).\u00a0 Even when asked something potentially tragic trust God knows best.<\/p>\n
Prayer:
\nGlory to God in the Highest and on earth peace good will among men.<\/p>\n
Monday
\nGenesis 25:\u00a027So the boys grew. Now Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in tents. 28Now Isaac loved Esau because he ate his venison, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29Then Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and was weary. 30So Esau said to Jacob, \u201cLet me taste this red stew, for I am exhausted.\u201d Therefore his name was called Edom. 31But Jacob said to Esau, \u201cSell me your birthright today.\u201d 32Esau\u00a0\u00a0replied, \u201cLook, I am about to die. What good then is this birthright to me?\u201d 33Then Jacob said, \u201cSwear to me today.\u201d So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.<\/p>\n
Application:\u00a0 Esau valued the transitory physical over the spiritual, the present over the future.\u00a0 There were rewards\u00a0 \u00a0(double inheritance) and responsibilities\u00a0 (head of the family, providing for those in need, etc.).\u00a0 He later regretted it.<\/p>\n
Prayer:\u00a0\u00a0 May the Strength of God guide us. May the Power of God preserve us. Tuesday Continued tomorrow…<\/p>\n Prayer: <\/p>\n Wednesday Application:\u00a0 on the surface these seems an evil deception but consider that even the attempts to make Jacob appear to be Esau could not have been successful without God’s help.\u00a0 Esau’s life was not in line with what his father taught him and thus by rejecting Abraham Esau rejected God.\u00a0 Later Jacob revealed he truly sought God and obeyed him.\u00a0 So we must realize that temporary things that appear unjust may turn out for the best since God knows the whole story.<\/p>\n Prayer: Application:\u00a0 Jacob was ‘punished’ for his deception by the events after he fled his father’s house.\u00a0 He was deceived himself many times by his father-in-law but accepted all of it without complaining and trusted in God.\u00a0 This is an example to us in our day to day problems, short and long term.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prayer: Friday Application:\u00a0 \u00a0Joseph’s life was a series of unjust punishments for which, unlike Jacob, he had done nothing (by resisting the advances of his Egyptian master’s wife he had actually done what was right).\u00a0 Even in this instance he was forgotten but he continued to carry out his daily work in the prison conscientiously.\u00a0 \u00a0This is an example to us:\u00a0 do not expect a reward even when we do good but trust that what happens is for the best and we are in God’s hands.<\/p>\n Prayer: Saturday Application:\u00a0 Joseph went from being a lowly slave to the next highest official in the Empire just by trusting God and fulfilling his work\u00a0 regardless of his status or circumstances in life.\u00a0 \u00a0 We may never be a powerful ruler but whatever God has for us will\u00a0 be more than we can imagine for ourselves.\u00a0 But, we have to obey God, seek his commandments and ‘stay in touch’ with Him through our prayer and spiritual life.<\/p>\n Prayer: Sunday **Spiritual themes from the Old Testament** Genesis 22:1\u00a0 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, \u201cAbraham! Abraham!\u201d And he said, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-orthodox-daily-devotional","has_no_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10361,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10360\/revisions\/10361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMay the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us.
\nMay the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us.
\nMay the Angels of God guard us. – Against the snares of the evil one.
\nPrayer for the Faithful of St. Patrick Part 1<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGenesis 27:1Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, \u201cMy son.\u201d And he answered him, \u201cHere I am.\u201d 2Then he said, \u201cBehold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. 3Now therefore, take your\u00a0\u00a0weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4Then make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.\u201d 5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt game for his father. 6So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her younger son, saying, \u201cIndeed, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, 7\u2018Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.\u2019 8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. 9Go now to the sheep and bring me from there two kids, choice and good, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. 10Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it and bless you before his death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMay Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us, Christ be over all!
\nMay Thy Grace, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.
\nPrayer for the Faithful of St. Patrick\u00a0 Part 2<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGenesis 27:\u00a011Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, \u201cLook, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. 12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.\u201d 13But his mother said to him, \u201cYour curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.\u201d 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with\u00a0her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16She also put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the exposed part of his neck. 17Then she gave the savory food and the bread she had prepared into the hands of her son Jacob. 18Thus he went to his father and said, \u201cMy father.\u201d And he said, \u201cHere I am. Who are you, my son?\u201d 19Jacob said to his father, \u201cI am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.\u201d 20But Isaac said to his son, \u201cHow is it you have found it so quickly, my son?\u201d He said, \u201cBecause the Lord your God brought it to me.\u201d 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, \u201cCome near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau or not.\u201d 22So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, \u201cThe voice is Jacob\u2019s, but the hands are Esau\u2019s.\u201d 23Thus he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau\u2019s hands; so he blessed him. 24Then he said, \u201cAre you my son Esau?\u201d He said, \u201cI am.\u201d 25He said, \u201cBring your game to me, my son, and I will eat from it, that my soul may bless you.\u201d So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, \u201cCome near and kiss me, my son.\u201d 27So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing. Thus he blessed him…<\/p>\n
\nGlory to Jesus Christ \u2013 Glory forever!
\nThursday
\nGenesis 31:25So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, \u201cWhat have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and robbed me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword? 27Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp? 28And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing. 29It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, \u2018Be careful that you do not speak evil things to Jacob at any time.\u2019…36Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban, \u201cWhat is my injustice? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me? 37Although you searched all my things, what part of your household goods have you found? Set them here before my brethren and your brethren, so they may judge between us. 38These twenty years I have been with you; your sheep and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. 39That which was caught by wild animals I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of any stolen by day or by night. 40There I was. In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. 41Thus\u00a0\u00a0I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times with respect to the female lambs. 42Unless the God of my father Abraham and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFor as many have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ\u2026Alleluia<\/p>\n
\nGenesis 40:9Then the chief cupbearer related his dream to Joseph [all were in an Egyptian prison], and said to him, \u201cBehold, in my dream a vine was before me, 10and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. 11Then Pharaoh\u2019s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh\u2019s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh\u2019s hand.\u201d 12And Joseph said to him, \u201cThis is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 13Now within three days Pharaoh will remember your position and restore your office of chief cupbearer; and you will put Pharaoh\u2019s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his cupbearer. 14But remember me when it is well with you, and have mercy on me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15For indeed I\u00a0\u00a0was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and I also have done nothing for them to put me into the dungeon.\u201d 16When the chief baker saw the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, \u201cI also had a dream, and there were three white baskets on my head. 17In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.\u201d 18So Joseph answered and said, \u201cThis is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. 19Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.\u201d 20Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh\u2019s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he remembered the positions of his chief cupbearer and chief baker among his servants. 21Then he restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh\u2019s hand. 22But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.<\/p>\n
\nChrist is in our midst \u2013 He is and always shall be<\/p>\n
\nGenesis 41:25Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, \u201cThe dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: 26The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears of corn are seven years; the dreams are one. 27But the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. 28This is the thing I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29Indeed, seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. 31So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32Now the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a sensible and intelligent man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint governors over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35So let\u00a0\u00a0them gather all the food of the seven good years that are coming, and store up grain under Pharaoh\u2019s authority, and let them keep food in the cities. 36That food shall then be as a reserve in the land for the seven coming years of famine in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.\u201d Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt 37Now this advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38Thus Pharaoh said to his servants, \u201cCan we find such a man as this, who has the Spirit of God in him?\u201d 39Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, \u201cInasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as sensible and intelligent as you. 40You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.\u201d 41So Pharaoh said to Joseph, \u201cSee, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nPreserve O Lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"