June 7 - Week 19 - Doug Wiencouff

Genesis 39
I have often wondered about the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. It is a story about character and yet the person who shows character is the one that gets punished. Joseph did all the right things. He stayed away from her. He told her that it would be a sin and a betrayal to her husband. I’ve wondered if there was anything he could have done that would have prevented the outcome except giving in to Potiphar’s wife. Sometimes we can do all the right things and still have problems or bad consequences. They are not the result of our sin. It can be the result of other peoples choices. What matters most is the attitude we have when things go wrong. I am amazed that after Joseph is tossed in prison he keeps a good attitude and even wins over the prison warden. It makes me ask the question, “What is my attitude when things go wrong?” Do I honor God and hang on to my faith or do I give up?

Genesis 40
Joseph interpreting the dreams of the baker and cupbearer is a continuation in the picture of Joseph’s character and faith. As he interprets the dreams he is truthful. He gave truthful good news to the cupbearer and he gave truthful bad news to the baker. I think it would have been very tempting to not tell the baker the bad news and just let the three days pass or to tell him a lie.

I tend to not like confrontation. I don’t like giving bad news. I want everyone to be happy. It means I can be tempted to not have hard conversations to keep peace or to keep people happy. This story reminds me that I have to speak truth even when the person receiving it will not like it or will respond badly to it. Do you tend to avoid tough conversations or do you wisely go into them praying and hoping for the best?

Psalm 20
This psalm is a prayer of David on behalf of another person. As you read this psalm picture a person in your life that would benefit from you praying like this for them. Take some time each day this week to pray for that person.

Proverbs 20
This proverb focuses on character. More importantly it focuses on the lack of character and how God despises it. Consider prayerfully your own character. Are you able to choose the right thing even when it is the harder thing? Ask God to help you become a person with the character of Jesus. Extra Credit: Ask two people this week to evaluate your character. Is it a work in progress or are you taking short cuts hoping no one will notice?

John 20
The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest miracle of God. When I try to put myself in the shoes of either Mary or Peter or any of the disciples I am overwhelmed. It is easy for us to put all the pieces together from Jesus’ teaching to expect the resurrection as the obvious next step after his death. For the disciples it was way to much to expect for them to understand it. They don’t get to see the whole picture. They only had pieces of the puzzle. I think that is how most of us live our faith walk with God. We have pieces of the puzzle but can’t see the whole picture. Events occur in our lives and we don’t see what God is doing until time has passed and sometimes we don’t even see it then. It sure makes me feel better that the disciples had to grow in their faith and understanding just like me.

May 31 - Week 18 - Robyn Watts

Genesis 37-38

I love these stories of the fathers of our faith. I'm grateful that God chose to tell their stories from a standpoint that I can relate to... they were far from perfect, yet God used them in spite of their imperfection. When I look at Joseph's beginnings I'm guessing he'd like to do some things differently from the start. Unfortunately, his pumped up view of himself began with how his father, Jacob, treated him. Once again we see favoritism in this family line... generational sin.... I'm guessing you have some in your family line just as I do.

So, I'm trying to envision Jacob actually interacting with his brothers in the way he did at the beginning of chapter 37. Did he have a clue that his brothers hated him (it does say they couldn't speak a kind word to him in verse 4) or was he oblivious? He told them not only the first dream, but then the second with seemingly no idea the impact he was having on his brothers. I wonder what his motivation was in telling them his dream? Was it innocent? Or did he purposefully want to aggravate them? I could see either being a sibling myself....

In the portion of the story starting in verse 12 when Joseph is sold by his brothers it struck me that this was no "ordinary" hate his brothers had built up against him. In verse 18 the Bible says, "But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him." Wow, didn't take them much time to come up with that evil plot! I wonder if that's the first time they came up with the idea that they should actually kill him or if that had been simmering awhile.

Thankfully, Reuben and Judah maintain their senses and vote against the killing. Let's just sell him to our enemies they say. And for 20 shekels the deed was done. However more deception followed as they return to their father....


And lest we believe our society has the unique corner on sexual sin.... chapter 38 proves people have struggled in this area as long as there has been a record of people!


Psalm 19

What beautiful and comforting words David gives us in this psalm. We are given a picture of who God is here.... words like perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, righteous, precious... in contrast to our sinful nature... verses 13-14 would be a great prayer for us to echo. "Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Amen.

Proverbs 19

Because of current things going on in my life, a couple verses really stand out to me in this proverb. I'm guessing that depending on what issues surround you different things stood out to you... verse 2 and 21 stand out the most to me... "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." and "Many are the plans in a man's (or woman's) heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." I think the hardest part for me to grasp is what is really God and what is just my idea? I can sometimes even trick myself into thinking that it's God's idea when it's really just mine. For me, the key is time and patient prayer. I covet my time with God as He and I "chat" each morning. How are your times with God lately? Have you been able to be still to hear Him? I find that a supreme challenge for me.... to be still. As we head into summer I am becoming very convicted about our calendar. Things just seem to fill up the hours, days and weeks without me realizing what's happening (have you said to yourself as I have "the summer hasn't even gotten here and it's gone!). Maybe you will join me in the challenge of remembering God's presence... even on our "vacations".


John 19

I don't think I ever really appreciated what Jesus went through until I saw the movie "The Passion". The images in that movie come to the forefront of my mind whenever I read the crucifixion passages. My Bible goes from having many many red words to very few red words at this point. Jesus always chose his words so carefully. As a blabbermouth I am always in awe of Jesus' pointed way of communicating. Jesus' response to Pilate after he says, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

Jesus' response..."You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." (vs. 10-11) The power of God always humbles us, puts us in our place. How grateful I am that God's power is over all.

I sometimes wonder what my place would have been had I been alive. Would I have followed the crowd? Would I have believed Jesus? Admittedly, I'm thankful I have the benefit of the entire scriptures. I find no excuse for people now not to believe if they have heard. It's all there laid out for us in one handy book. Back then, even though I would have had the opportunity to walk the streets with Jesus, I'm not so sure I would have. What would I have thought of Jesus? A scary thought in some regards....

How wonderful for us that the story doesn't end at chapter 19! This is the hope we have.... evil demolished at the cross, Jesus victorious. We can walk in victory even here on Earth because of that day long ago that Jesus took all our sins upon himself.

May 24 - Week 17 - Doug Mathers

Genesis 35 and 36

God tells Jacob to return to Bethel where God had met with him when he was reuniting with his brother and was having an anxiety attack over it. (Genesis 28:20-22) Wat was interesting to me was that before going back to Bethel they had to clean their spiritual houses. They collected all the idols the boys had collected. WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH IDOLS?!

It makes me look at my own life and wonder what idols I've collected - how do I get distracted from my devotion to God? Sometimes we all need to go back to where we first connected with God - made our vows and get our spiritual houses back in order again.

Side note - did you catch that Rueben slept with his dad's concubine? ICK. Now fastforward to Genesis 49:3-4.


Psalm 18

Read this psalm and look for the declaration the author makes about faith, his trust in God and his reasons for trusting.


Proverbs 18

Read vs 2,6,7 and 21

For those of us who use a lot of words in our homes and jobs. It should give us cause to think before we speak. Makes me nervous, because I use a lot of words~

John 18

As you read John 18, make a list of all the signs in the chapter that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and was totally in control. For example, Verse 4 says "Jesus fully realize all that was going to happen to him".

After you make the list... answer this question: Why is it important that we know Jesus had full knowledge of what was going to happen? And why does it make his sacrifice even more meaningful?

Hint: John 10:11

May 17 - Week 16 - Merv Miller

Editor's comment: Merv always ends up with the most interesting passages!

Genesis 33-34

So you wake up one morning with a sore hip from wrestling with an angel (use your imagination here) and here comes your brother whom you stole his birthright (Inheritance) from... but from the looks of things his done alright for himself.. he’s got four hundred men and you... well you’ve got your two wives, (let’s hope they are good with sling shots). So the odds don’t look good. Your brother just might take away the birthright (He just may kill you) the only thing that cane save you now is... mercy, forgiveness.

Love, fear, revenge, sex, deception, violence, power... (sounds like 90% of the story line coming out of Hollywood these days) isn’t the Old Testament awesome? Why is it that we are drawn to these stories. It used to disappoint me that these stories are in the Bible at all, a part of our spiritual heritage, but really the Bible is telling like it is, what really happened, and how God worked through people with messed up lives.

Jacob seems to be a man of deception and manipulation. Esau forgave Jacob and wanted to renew their relationship by traveling together and even living in the same area. But Jacob, instead, embraced fear and miss-trust. What a sad way to live.

Even his son’s got caught up in deception, (after all it seemed to work for their father) and they use a most powerful tool, romance, to lure the men of Shechem into a deadly trap.


Psalm 17 is a Psalm of David written before he became King. Most likely when he was fleeing King Saul, who was out to kill him. Here we see a true God-follower who is interested in justice and trusts his God to see his need and protect him. What a contrast from Jacob who lived in fear and whose only way out was deception. Are we observing an evolution of spirituality? Do we see spirituality mature when we read the New Testament?


Proverbs 17

The proverbs(if we let them) show us how to live. We benefit from this wisdom when we apply it. Verse 10, take criticism well and learn form it. Verse 17 ask a brother to help you move. Verse 22 use laughter as a fitness strategy . I can especially relate to Verse 6 as I have just spent 3 hours babysitting my granddaughter. What a joy. And what a joy to observe how loving of a mother my daughter has become.


John 17

This is one awesome chapter, Here Jesus is praying for future believers... he’s praying for you and me.

Vs17 “... teach them your word, which is truth” We can embrace truth where we find it.

Vs 21 “And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” I think Jesus is hoping that followers will be an accurate representation of God and Jesus. So that the world will have idea of the character of God. Our western Christian culture, without doubt, sends mixed message to seekers and the lost.

The chapter ends with the idea that the love of God will indwell future believers. An awesome thought... how’s your love?

May 10 - Week 15 - Taylor Hays

Genesis chapters 31 & 32

You have heard the saying “What goes around comes around” and it applies well to Jacob’s life. Jacob lived his life by his wits and cunning but he finally met his match in Laban his father-in-law. Jacob thought that getting ahead in life meant outsmarting your opponent. Although he believed God’s promises, his faith was small. In chapter 31 Jacob saw a prime opportunity to escape from Laban’s grasp and he took it. He did this knowing that God had already promised to return him to the land that was promised to him. There was a lot of fallout from Jacob’s decision… his wife Rachel ended up becoming part of the deception and his relationship with his father-in-law was damaged beyond repair. They decided to draw a line in the sand and part ways. We can only wonder what might have happened had Jacob lived by faith and not by sight.

In the concluding verses of Genesis 32 Jacob is finally confronted with a decision about how he was going to live his life… guided by God or by his own will. Everything in his life to this point had been a “wrestling match.” He wrestled with his brother, his father, his wives and his father-in-law. The truth is all his life he had been wrestling with God… resisting God’s guidance by making his own way. On one night he finally met his opponent in the ring… God in the form of “the man.” Although it sounds like the match was a draw, in reality Jacob was hanging on for dear life. He limped away from that fight with a broken body but a spirit that was finally whole. Are you wrestling with God?


Psalm 16

It is hard to say that life is always “good.” When really bad things happen everything can start looking bad. That is why God is a “refuge”… a safe place no matter what is going on. The key word in this Psalm is “always” (v. 8). His refuge extends from birth to beyond the grave and “forever” (v.11). These verses are also looking forward to Jesus death and resurrection (see verse 10). The fact that He lives forever is assurance that we also will live forever with Him.


Proverbs 16

This chapter is packed with famous “words to the wise.” Your mother must have said some of these things to you:

Pride goes before the fall (verse 18).

Man proposes but God disposes (God is in control ultimately- verses 1, 9, and 33).

There is a way that seems right to a man but the end is destruction (verse 25).

My personal favorite is verse 31… I knew there was something good about turning gray!


John 16

Important things are often said as “famous last words.” In this chapter Jesus continues to provide his last words of instruction to his disciples… in just hours he will be facing his crucifixion. Although they do not understand all he is saying (despite the fact that they say “now we understand”), with our perspective today, we do understand.

There were 3 important messages:

1) The Holy Spirit would come and indwell every believer. In this way we are now able to be directly connected to God (see v. 13);

2) All believers now have direct access to God since Jesus has opened the way (see v. 23-24); and

3) Hardship is inevitable, but we will overcome because Jesus has overcome (see v. 33). Because of this we can “take heart” no matter our circumstance.

May 3 - Week 14 - Doug Weincouff

Genesis 29 & 30
When I read the stories from the Old Testament I am amazed at the straight forward and sometimes messiness of God’s people’s lives. Chapter 29 starts with Jacob being a single guy and by the end at least 10 years have passed and he now has 2 wives and 4 children! By the end of chapter 30 he has 2 wives 2 maidservants, 12 sons and at least 1 daughter!
Now the person that caught my attention from the chapter was Leah. We were told she was not as attractive as her younger sister. Sibling rivalry begins. I wonder how she felt when her Dad tricked Jacob into marrying her. Was she relieve or embarrassed? We know she was miserable because Jacob loved Rachel more. She even hoped that by having children it would change Jacob’s heart. It didn’t. She even gave Jacob her maidservant so she could have more children! It still did not change Jacob’s heart. I see a little of myself in Leah, trying to earn approval. There have been times when I tried to win approval from parents or friends by accomplishments and efforts. Struggling for approval has been around forever. When are you temped to earn approval from others? Why do we tend to seek the approval of man more than the approval of God?

Psalm 15
As I read this Psalm it seems obvious this is early in David’s life pre-Bathsheba. He is passionately pursuing life with God. What would it take for you to be able to pray this psalm?

Proverbs 15
How are Proverbs 15 and James 3 similar? The battle to control our tongue is a daily challenge. As you speak to others today pay special attention to what you say.

John 14
After 3 years the disciples continue to struggle with the teachings of Jesus and understanding their master. The patience of Jesus is comforting to me. As he prepares the disciples for the future he encourages them to stay the course and “obey his teachings” even when it will soon appear that everything went wrong. Often we think of obedience as an act of submission but this chapter clearly frames obedience as an act of love. How is your love life with God?

April 26 - Week 13 - Robyn Watts

Genesis 27-28

Oh, Rebekah.... have you ever watched a movie in which you feel dread for the main character as they make choices you know are not going to turn out well? Even though Isaac's blessing **somehow** had to land on Jacob, I just cringe at the way that all transpired. I think I cringe mostly because Rebekah and Jacob were so manipulative and took advantage of the fact Isaac could not see well. How many times have I manipulated situations to my benefit?

Isaac should have trusted his intuition when at first he questioned whether it was really Esau (vs 22). I find myself in Isaac's position once in a while too. When Esau does finally come in with his father's stew, I have so much compassion for Isaac. In verse 33 the Bible says, "Isaac trembled violently..." As the reality settles in and Isaac realizes he had been duped, I can't imagine how he felt not having any blessing left for his favored son. (okay, well that was a problem too... the favor part... for both Isaac and Rebekah!)

Jacob is usually crowned as the "hero" in this story, but I do feel sorry for Esau. Yes, he was foolish to give up his birthright in the first place, but I'm guilty of not looking beyond the nose on the front of my face too. I can't understand the longing for stew, but if it was chocolate....

I love how at the end of chapter 28, God restates the promise he made with Abraham and Isaac. God's whole "agenda" is to spread His people throughout the earth so that all people can be blessed through them. The blessings, the descendants, the land... all would be given to them so that they would become a blessing to the world... showing others who God is. God promises in verse 15 of chapter 28,

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Can you imagine being Jacob and receiving that promise from God. God has given us a promise too... in Philippians 1:6 we read,

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

What work is God doing in you that you need to be confident that He will complete?

Psalm 14

"Oh, that the salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!" (vs.7) Thank you God, that it has! You have restored the fortune of your people let us rejoice and be glad!

Proverbs 14

Wow, anyone could spend a life time gleaning wisdom from this 35 verse proverb! Verse 33 really stood out to me. "Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning, and even among fools she lets herself be known." I love that God does not hide the Truth from those who refuse to accept it. Often times the Truth stares them right in the face, but they just refuse to see it. God's wisdom prevails over all and He will make sure that even among those who don't believe, the Truth will shine through.

John 14

There is so much in this chapter... it is one of those chapters where I can picture myself curled up on Jesus' lap with him reading it to me, arms around me....

In my Bible most of this entire page is "red" as Jesus was quite long winded here! But the words he says in this chapter have life long consequences for every person on earth. Jesus starts by giving us the prescription for a trouble-free heart.... "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (vs.1)

Wow, that's it! Trust. So, why do our hearts seem to be troubled so much? I find it interesting that Thomas (who asked Jesus the first of three questions in this chapter) decided to camp on the fact that he didn't know where Jesus was going instead of learning more about the trust. Personally, I would have camped on how to trust better!

Later, after a question from Philip in verse 8, Jesus remarks, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you for such a long time?"

I picture how it must have felt to be Philip hearing the Son of God say that to him. Sometimes I wonder what the disciples were thinking when they would ask certain things. Having the benefit of 2000 or so years we have some hindsight that makes what they asked seem ridiculous. However, if I'm really honest with myself, I'm guessing I would have asked some of the same questions. And, if I'm REALLY honest with myself... I find I do now. Really, all Jesus asks of us is to believe him. Trust in him. Love him. Obey him. We don't need to solve all the world's problems, just lead the world to Who already has....

The third question asked of Jesus came from Judas (not Judas Iscariot the Bible tells us). He asked Jesus in verse 22, "but Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

Oh, how small our vision can be sometimes! Jesus starts his explanation of the Holy Spirit with the words, "If ANYONE" (vs. 23) Not just jews... anyone loves me.... He goes on to explain the Holy Spirit will come and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will make their home with anyone who loves them. I love how Jesus used the word "home" and not "house". It feels so warm and inviting....

All this Jesus tells the disciples ahead of time for one reason... so they will believe (vs 29). That's what God wants most from us... our belief. Not just belief in Him, that He exists... actually believing the promises God gives us... that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do. Do we truly believe?