God Kept His Promise

“Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men” (Genesis 33:1). Israel—the exhausted, God-struck patriarch—had no choice but to trust. He prostrated himself like a vassal before a royal in an ancient court. And all of a sudden “Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him,…and they wept” (Genesis 33:4).

They wept for relief. They wept with forgiveness. They wept at the possibility of a new start, a fresh beginning. Esau wept because his brother was home. Israel wept because he’d come face-to-face with his past, only to find that his past held no power over his life.

God had gone ahead of him. God had kept the promise he had made in Bethel. “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land” (Genesis 28:15). He will do the same with you my friend. God never gives up on you.

Devotion by Max Lucado | The Almighty Jehovah | https://thealmightyJehovah.com

Untying Knots

Most of us had a hard time learning to tie our shoes. Tightening shoes by wrapping strings together? Nothing easy about that. Who came up with the idea of shoes anyway?

My friend Roy used to sit on a park bench watching kids gather and play at the bus stop. One day a little fellow struggled to board the bus, frantically trying to disentangle a knotted shoestring. He grew more anxious by the moment. All of a sudden it was too late. The bus door closed. With tear-filled eyes he looked at Roy on the bench and asked, “Do you untie knots?”

We never outgrow the urge to look up and say, “Help!” And when we do, who shows up? Jesus, our next-door Savior. Go ahead, ask him: “Do you untie knots?” “Yes,” he will say.

As We Behold Him

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness…” As we behold him, we become like him.

It’s a principle I experienced first-hand when an opera singer visited our church. He sat right behind me. He tried to contain himself, but how can a tuba hide in a room of piccolos? I was startled. Inspired. Emboldened by his volume. I lifted mine. Did I sing better? No. But did I try harder? No doubt. His power brought the best of me.

Could your world use a little music? If so, invite heaven’s baritone—Jesus Christ—to cut loose. Who knows? A few songs with him might change the way you sing!

God Kept His Promise