Day 13

Prayer

My gracious and sovereign God, thank You that You have been with me and carried me from the day of my birth until today. May You bless and use me, as You allow me to go through trials that many people go through in this fallen world. How encouraged I am to think that You are working all these things out for blessing!

Bible Verses

Psalm 139:16

You saw me before I was born. Everyday of my life was recorded in Your book.

1Peter 5:9

Take a firm stand against him (devil) and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

Genesis 37

¹Jacob settled in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. ²This is his family history. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flocks with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought his father bad reports about them. ³Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic. ⁴When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

⁵Once Joseph had a dream, which he told to his brothers: ⁶"Listen to this dream I had. ⁷There we were, binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf rose to an upright position, and your sheaves formed a ring around my sheaf and bowed down to it."

⁸"Are you really going to make yourself king over us?" his brothers asked him. "Or impose your rule on us?" So they hated him all the more because of his talk about his dreams.

⁹Then he had another dream, and this one, too, he told to his brothers. "I had another dream," he said; "this time, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

¹⁰When he also told it to his father, his father reproved him. "What is the meaning of this dream of yours?" he asked. "Can it be that I and your mother and your brothers are to come and bow to the ground before you?" ¹¹So his brothers were wrought up against him but his father pondered the matter.

¹²One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem, ¹³Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem. Get ready; I will send you to them." "I am ready," Joseph answered.

¹⁴"Go then," he replied; "see if all is well with your brothers and the flocks, and bring back word." So he sent him off from the valley of Hebron. When Joseph reached Shechem,

¹⁵a man met him as he was wandering about in the fields. "What are you looking for?" the man asked him.

¹⁶"I am looking for my brothers," he answered. "Could you please tell me where they are tending the flocks?"

¹⁷The man told him, "They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, 'Let us go on to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.

 

Joseph Sold into Slavery

¹⁸They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer! ²⁰Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams."

²¹When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: "We must not take his life. ²²Instead of shedding blood," he continued, "just throw him into that cistern there in the desert; but don't kill him outright." His purpose was to rescue him from their hands and restore him to his father.

²³So when Joseph came up to them, they stripped him of the long tunic he had on; ²⁴then they took him and threw him into the cistern, which was empty and dry. ²⁵They then sat down to their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt.

²⁶Judah said to his brothers: "What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? ²⁷Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed. ²⁸They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Some Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and took him to Egypt.

²⁹When Reuben went back to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not in it, he tore his clothes, ³⁰and returning to his brothers, he exclaimed: "The boy is gone! And I--where can I turn?"

³¹They took Joseph's tunic, and after slaughtering a goat, dipped the tunic in its blood. ³²Then they sent someone to bring the long tunic to their father, with the message: "We found this. See whether it is your son's tunic or not."

³³He recognized it and exclaimed: "My son's tunic! A wild beast has devoured him! Joseph has been torn to pieces!" ³⁴Then Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned his son many days. ³⁵Though his sons and daughters tried to console him, he refused all consolation, saying, "No, I will go down mourning to my son in the nether world." Thus did his father lament him.

³⁶The Midianites, meanwhile, sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward.

Day 12

Prayer

   Lord God, I choose to thank You for my weaknesses, my infirmities, my inadequacies (physical, mental, emotional, relational)… for the ways I fall short of what people view as ideal… for my feelings of helplessness and inferiority, and even my pain and distresses. Your grace is sufficient for me, for Your strength is made perfect in my weakness.

Bible Verses

Hebrews 4:15

This High Priest (Jesus) of ours understan

ds our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin.

2Corinthians 12:7-10

⁷ even though I have received wonderful revelations from God. But to keep me from being puffed up, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud. ⁸Three different times I beg the Lord to take it away.

⁹Each time He said, “My gracious power is all you need. My power works best in your weakness”

. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. ¹⁰Since I know it is all for Christ’s good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

Day 11

Prayer

Thank You that I can enjoy my strengths and gifts without pride or false modesty as I give You the credit for them, praising You rather than congratulating myself. What do I have that I did not receive from You?... All that I am and all that I have comes from You.

Bible Verses

John 3:27

John replied, “God in heaven appoints each person’s work”.

1Corinthians 4:7

What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as if you have accomplished something on your own?

Psalms 115:1

Not to us, O Lord, but to You goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.

Day 10

Prayer

I worship and bow down before You, my Maker, for You have wonderfully and uniquely designed my looks my abilities, and my personality. I rejoice that You have gifted me for the special purposes You have in mind for my life. Surely You have been good to me, O, Lord!

Bible Verses

Psalms 95:6

Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God.

Psalms 139:13-16

¹³You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. ¹⁵You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶You saw me before I was born. Everyday of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day has passed.

Romans 12:3-6

³As God’s messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. ⁴Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of His one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. ⁶God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you.

Day 9

Prayer

What a privilege it is to store Your Word in my heart to keep me from sinning against You… and to be a storehouse of inspired words that the Spirit can bring to mind to help others. May Your Word always refresh, nourish me and teach me as I read and meditate it with a listening heart.

Bible Verse

Psalms 119:11

I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

Day 8

Prayer

Thank You Lord that Your Son will return from heaven with a shout of triumph, that the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall all be utterly changed. Thank You that “whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future” You have planned for us.

Bible Verses

1Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with a trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.

1Corinthians 15:51-52

⁵¹But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. ⁵²It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so we will never die.

Romans 8:18

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later. 

Day 7

Prayer

Thank You Lord for the trials that You allow to happen in my life which serves as a platform on which You reveal Yourself, show Your love and power, both to me and to others looking on. Thank You that I can move into the future nondefensively, with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead, for You hold the future and You will always be with me, even to my old age… and through all eternity.

Bible Verse

Isaiah 46:4

I will be your God throughout your lifetime – until your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. 

Day 6

Prayer

I praise You for Your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details. With You, nothing is accidental, nothing is incidental, and no experience is wasted. You hold in Your own power my breath of life and all my destiny.

Bible Verses

Daniel 5:23

For you have defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from His temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone -- gods, that neither see nor hear now know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!

Romans 8:28-29

²⁸And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.²⁹For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.

Day 5

Prayer

   O Lord Most High, You rule over the heavens and the earth… yet You are also personally present, personally involved God who loves, rescues and takes care of all who trust You.

Bible Verses

Hebrews 1:3

The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything around Him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of His command. After He died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.

Jeremiah 32:27

“ I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? “

Jeremiah 10:6-7

⁶Lord, There is no one like You! For You are great, and your name is full of power. ⁷Who would not fear You, O King of nations? That title belongs to You alone! Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like You.

Day 4

Prayer

I bow at the feet of Jesus who died for me and is now alive forever andever. I exalt Him, I yield myself to Him, for He is worthy of the total response of my entire being.

Bible Verses

Hebrews 8:1

Here is the main point: Our High Priest sat down in the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand.

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save everyone who come to God through Him. He lives forever to plead with God in their behalf.

Revelation 1:17

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last…

Revelation 5:12

And they sang in a mighty chorus: “The Lamb is worthy – the Lamb who was killed. He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength, and honor and glory and blessing.”

Day 3

Prayer

Thank You Father, that the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated how I am to live and serve. May you strengthen my heart in every good work and every good word, so that more and more I may honor You by the way I live.

Bible Verses

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest

 knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us of what we really are.

Philippians 1:20

For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die.

Day 2

Prayer

I praise You Lord for Your stubborn love and wisdom. You are too wise to ever make a mistake, too loving to ever do anything unkind. My heart rejoices in You, Lord, for You are my strong shelter in times of trouble, danger and stress. You are my hiding place.

Bible Verses

Psalm 27:5

For He will conceal me there, when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

Psalm 91:1

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 63:7

I think of how much You have helped me; I sing for joy in the shadow of Your protecting wings.

Matthew 6:25-26

²⁵“So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds, they don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are”.

Day 1

Prayer

Thank You Father, that You so loved the world that You gave Your one and only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Fairest Lord Jesus! You alone are my heart’s desire… my chief delight… my soul’s glory, joy and crown. Every advantage life can offer is rubbish, compared with the overwhelming gain of knowing You.

Bible Verses

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”.

Philippians 3:8

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ”