© Matthew Tuel — 2025
Genesis 31:4-18 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah to come to the field where his flocks were. 5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could, 7 but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. 9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me. 10 “Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 11 In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 12 Then he said, ‘Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land.’ ” 14 Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house? 15 Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us! 16 Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you.” 17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. 18 He took away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac.
Psalm 37:1-7 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
1 Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed!
Do not envy evildoers!
2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.
3 Trust in the LORD and do what is right!
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity!
4 Then you will take delight in the LORD,
and he will answer your prayers.
5 Commit your future to the LORD!
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.
6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.
7 Wait patiently for the LORD!
Wait confidently for him!
Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner,
a man who carries out wicked schemes!
Acts 24:25 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
25 While Paul was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.”
Acts 17:30-34 (NET, 2nd Ed.)
30 Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul left the Areopagus. 34 But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
I have a lot to say on Calvin's devotional today so I will make a note of it and save those thoughts for their own seperate blog post.
On Spurgeon's, this one was convicting to me. Do we listen to the Word? Do we hear it preached? For a long time, I would tune out the sunday morning sermons and couldn't wait for them to be over. Now I take handwritten notes during service. I used to type these out on my phone but its easy for me to get distracted that way, so handwritten notes it is. Later on, I'll review these notes and type them into Emacs, my preferred note taking software. Sometimes this review happens the same day, sometimes it happens a month later and I do a few sundays all at once.