- And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster had befallen his house. 1 Chronicles 7:22-23 – Looking at some notes, apparently “Beriah” sounds a lot like the Hebrew word for disaster. This child was then for his entire life to carry that burden of being a reminder of the bad thing that happened to his family. We must be careful with how we share our burdens on others. Scripture is clear that we are designed to share our struggles with our Christian family so they can help us in our journey and we help them with their’s. Yet when we choose to remain in the hurt of the past too long we can end up hurting those who are there to help. We can keep them from moving forward or even moving out of their own pain. I just want us to be open to sharing our struggles yet realizing others have struggles to. Let’s mourn but be willing to take the healing and strength God gives so we don’t have to stay forever in the pit of despair. That’s a place you, those that love you, and especially God doesn’t want you to stay forever in. Let’s step out when the time is right so we can offer a helping hand from the top to those still in the pit. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1370
- The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum, the descendants of Bilhah. 1 Chronicles 7:13 – Here we have the entire genealogy of Naphtali, one of the tribes of Israel, given to us in 1 Chronicles. Yet if you compare this genealogy to some of the others you’ll notice something different, it’s far shorter! Just one verse compared to multiple, spanning many generations. Even worse, two tribes of Israel, Dan and Zebulun, aren’t even allotted a verse but are completely left out? Why? Great question, and no one has the exact reason why. What we have is what God has allowed us to have, and for some reason we didn’t need to have have those full genealogies. Now with long lists of names, maybe we’re at peace not having God provide them, but there are some parts of scripture I feel would be wonderful to have more details on. I would love to know more about Heaven, what went on in Jesus’ earthly life, more of what the disciples did during the time of Acts, more explanation on many of the doctrinal concepts Paul brings. According to Mac, more would be very helpful, but according the Lord, more isn’t needed to fully be committed to Him and His work. Let’s trust the Lord if something isn’t given to us in scripture, that we don’t need it, even if it would seem helpful/essential to us. What we have been given in scripture is all we need to understand God’s love, gift of salvation, and our mission. Let’s lean in to the words we are given and trust God when it comes to the ones that we aren’t given. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2561
Daily DEVO 