Download the – Weekly Devotional – April 13-17

Monday: Teens Learn That Joseph’s Story Is Connected To Them Also

Wednesday night Bible study was just getting started when John looked around the circle of teens and jumped right in. “So what did everybody think about Sunday’s sermon?” A few shrugs, a few nods. Then Ava spoke up. “I thought it was really interesting, but honestly it kind of stressed me out. Like, have I been learning the Bible wrong my whole life? I always thought the stories were about faith lessons and how to live.” John smiled. “You are not wrong, Ava. Those lessons are real and they matter. But here’s where it gets tricky — if that’s all we see, we can miss what God is doing and end up applying a story to our lives in a way God never intended.” “So what are we supposed to see first?” DeShawn asked. “God,” John said. “Every story in the Bible is first about what God is doing to keep His promise to send a Redeemer and restore creation. The life lessons and faith lessons grow out of that. When you see both, everything gets richer.” Jane leaned forward. “Give me a favorite story and let’s try it.” “Joseph,” said Marcus. “The coat, the brothers, the pit. Wild family.” “Perfect,” John said. “What’s the life lesson?” “God can turn bad things around,” Ava said. “He can use what people meant for evil and turn it for good.” “That’s absolutely true,” John said. “Genesis 50:20 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. But now ask the storyline question first — what is God protecting in this story? Because if Joseph never ends up in Egypt, Jacob’s family starves in the famine. If they starve, there is no Israel. And if there is no Israel—” DeShawn cut in. “The Redeemer never comes.” The room got quiet the way rooms do when a truth is being processed.

What Scripture Says:

Genesis 45:7 — “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.” Joseph understood that his suffering was connected to something far bigger than his own life. That remnant was Jacob’s family — the bloodline through whom God had promised a Redeemer would come. God was not just building Joseph’s character in Egypt. He was protecting a promise He made in Genesis 3, that would one day reach you personally. Genesis 50:20 — “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.”Those people were the seventy members of Jacob’s family that became the twelve tribesthat produced Jesus. That means this story is God making sure a Savior would come to you. If Joseph stays home, the family dies & there is no Israel & no Messiah. And without the Messiah, you and I are without hope. The story of Joseph is not just an ancient account of forgiveness and resilience. It is part of the reason you are saved today.

Tuesday: Teens Learn The Meaning of Jesus Feeding the 5,000

The group was still thinking about Joseph when Jane said, “Let’s try another one. New Testament this time.” “The feeding of the five thousand,” said Ava. “I always loved that one.” “What do you love about it?” John asked. “I don’t know,” Ava said. “I guess it always felt like no matter how little you have, God can multiply it. Like bring what you’ve got and He’ll do the rest.” “I mean that’s basically what every children’s sermon I ever heard said,” Marcus added. “Same,” said DeShawn. John nodded. “That’s not wrong. But watch what happens when we ask the storyline question first. Who else in the Bible fed a massive crowd miraculously in the middle of nowhere?” The room was quiet for a moment. Then DeShawn said. “Moses with manna.” “Right,” Jane said. “And why was God feeding Israel in the wilderness with manna? He was keeping that nation alive so the bloodline of the Redeemer would survive. But now Jesus shows up and does the same thing Moses did, and the crowd goes absolutely crazy because they know exactly what it means.” Marcus leaned forward. “They thought He was Moses?” “Not Moses,” John said. “They thought He was the One Moses promised was coming. And they were right.”

What Scripture Says:

Exodus 16:4 — “I will rain bread from heaven for you.” God fed Israel in the wilderness not simply because they were hungry but because that nation had to survive. Every meal of manna was God protecting the promise He made in Genesis 3 to send a Redeemer through the bloodline of Abraham. Without the manna there is no Israel & no Jesus. Deuteronomy 18:15 — “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers — it is to him you shall listen.” Moses told Israel a prophet like him was coming. When Jesus fed five thousand people in the wilderness the crowd immediately connected Him to this promise. John 6:14 — “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world.'” They were not just amazed that lunch appeared from nowhere. They recognized that the God who sent manna through Moses had now sent the Redeemer Moses promised. John 6:35 — “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” The manna in the wilderness kept a nation alive so Jesus could come & be the true bread from heaven that the manna was always pointing to. The feeding of the five thousand is not a lesson about trusting God with little. It is Jesus announcing to the world that He was the Prophet Moses said would come.



Wednesday: Ruth & Boaz & God’s Big Promise To Save Me

Jane had barely finished writing Ruth on the whiteboard when Taylor in the back smiled. “I love Ruth. My mom reads it at every women’s retreat.” “What do you love about it?” Jane asked. “It’s just beautiful,” Taylor said. “Ruth giving up everything to stay with Naomi, and then Boaz being so kind to her. It’s like a love story but also about loyalty.” “That’s true and those things matter,” John said. “But let’s ask the storyline question. Ruth is a Moabite. What does that make her?” “An outsider,” said DeShawn. “Completely,” John said. “Her people were enemies of Israel. She had no claim on Israel’s God and no right to be anywhere near the people of God. And yet God orchestrated every detail of this story to bring her in — the famine, Naomi’s return, the field she happened to walk into, Boaz noticing her. None of that was coincidence.” “So God set it all up?” Marcus asked. “He did,” Jane said. “Because this was never just a love story. Boaz and Ruth’s marriage produced a son named Obed. Obed’s son was Jesse. And Jesse’s son was David. Which means without this marriage, without God bringing this Gentile outsider in, the bloodline that produced Jesus is broken.” Taylor sat up straight. “So if Ruth never meets Boaz, Jesus never comes.” “And if Jesus never comes,” John said quietly, “you and I are lost.”

What Scripture Says:

Ruth 2:3 — “She happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz.” The word happened sounds like a coincidence but nothing in this story was accidental. God was guiding Ruth’s steps into the field of the one man who could bring her into the family of Israel. Every detail was God protecting the chain of events that would produce the Messiah. Ruth 4:13 — “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife…and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.” God opened Ruth’s womb. This was not simply a happy ending to a love story. This was God making sure the bloodline of the Redeemer would continue through a Gentile woman He had drawn to Himself. Matthew 1:5 — “Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse.” God wrote Ruth’s name into the genealogy of His own Son on purpose. She was an outsider with nothing to offer and God brought her all the way in. That means the Redeemer was never only for Israel. He was always coming for every outsider who would believe. Ruth’s story is your story — and her marriage to Boaz is part of the reason Jesus came, which is the reason you are saved today.



Thursday: ​Proverbs Is Part of the Bible Storyline?

John had just capped his marker when a boy named Cameron in the corner raised his hand. “Can I ask something? Because I get how Joseph and Ruth and the feeding of the five thousand connect to God keeping His promise. But what about Proverbs? I tried reading it once and it just felt like random advice. Like wear your seatbelt and don’t stay up too late.” That got a laugh from the whole room. “That is actually a great question, ” Jane said. “Because Proverbs looks like the a book that has nothing to do with the big storyline. But it connects more deeply than most people realize.” John leaned forward. “Go back to the beginning. What did God originally create mankind to be?” “Image bearers,” DeShawn said. “Right,” John said. “Sin did not just break our relationship with God. It corrupted the way we think, make decisions and treat each other. So what does a God who is determined to restore His image in His people do?” Cameron said. “He teaches them to think like Him.” “Exactly,” Jane said. “Every proverb is God saying here is how my image bearer lives. Proverbs is God restoring what sin destroyed. He needed Israel to remain a distinct holy people. A nation living by Proverbs would image God. God was protecting the chain from Abraham to David to Jesus by teaching His people to think like Him.” Taylor leaned forward. “So even the advice about not being lazy or watching your words was God keeping His promise?” “Every word of it,” John said.

What Scripture Says:

Proverbs 1:7 — “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” God was not simply teaching Israel good habits. He was calling them back to the posture of image bearers — people who orient their entire lives around who God is. A people who feared God would remain distinct from the nations around them, protecting the bloodline through whom the Redeemer would come. Proverbs 8:22-23 — “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.” In this passage wisdom speaks as a person, and the New Testament connects this directly to Jesus, who is called the wisdom of God in human form. Proverbs was not just teaching Israel how to live. It was pointing forward to the One who would live it perfectly. 1 Corinthians 1:30 — “Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Everything Proverbs described about what a life fully imaging God looks like, Jesus lived perfectly. When God gave Israel Proverbs He was preserving a holy people and pointing them toward a Savior who would be the living embodiment of every word in that book. That Savior came, and because He did you not only have forgiveness, you have the very wisdom and image of God being restored in you today.

 

Friday: The Psalms also are about God Keeping His Promise

Jane looked around the room. “Before we close tonight I want to show you one more thing. ” She wrote one word on the whiteboard. David. “You all know David. Killed Goliath, became king, man after God’s own heart. But do you know how many times David was inches away from losing his life or giving up on it?” The room got quiet. “Saul hunted him for years, David hid in caves, lost everything, and at one point said in his heart ‘I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.’ That is a broken man who had lost all hope.” John opened his Bible. “And then you read the Psalms and you see him in those moments in real time. Psalm 13 “how long O Lord will you forget me forever.”Psalm 55 “my heart is in anguish, the terrors of death have fallen upon me.” That is a man on the edge of giving up completely.” Jane leaned in. “So why does it matter that God kept David going?” The room was quiet. Then DeShawn sat up slowly. “Because the Redeemer had to come through David’s bloodline. If David gives up or Saul kills him, the promise fails.” “And if the promise fails,” John said, “Jesus never comes. And if Jesus never comes, none of us are sitting here with any hope at all. Every time God protected David from Saul and pulled him back from despair He was doing it for you.”

What Scripture Says:

Psalm 13:1,5 — “How long O Lord will you forget me forever…but I have trusted in your steadfast love, my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” David moved from despair to trust because God met him in his darkest moment. That was God sustaining the man through whom the Redeemer would come so the promise would not fail. The same God who met David in that darkness will meet you there too. Psalm 18:17 — “He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.” Every time God stepped between David and Saul He was protecting far more than one man’s life. He was protecting the bloodline that would produce Jesus. 2 Samuel 7:16 — “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” God staked His own name on David’s bloodline surviving and that promise was fulfilled in Jesus. The Psalms are the overflow of God keeping that promise through every dark valley David walked through. When you open the Psalms you are not just reading what God did for David. You are reading what God was doing for you — protecting the man, preserving the promise and making sure the Savior would come. They comfort you today because God protected David then. And because He did, you have a Savior and you have hope.