May 10, Monday Devotion

Well, thanks everyone for journeying with me through Isaiah.  Because of breaks and such it took us the better part of 6 months.  Today we will start the journey through the gospel of Matthew.  Hopefully you will see the reverberations of Isaiah to Matthew.  I would also like to take this time to remind you that if you need to unsubscribe from this devotion for any reason, just send me an email at mike.w.mcvey@gmail.com with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line.  I pray for all who read the devotions and love to hear how you all are doing and what God is doing in your life.  Feel free to email me or add me to your Facebook (Mike McVey currently living in Greensburg, PA).

One last note, our church recently started worship services this month and it is exciting and scary at the same time.  Keep me in your prayers.  If you happen to live in the Greensburg area and do not have a church contact me and I will do my best to help you find a church community that will support your journey.

~Mike

May 10, Monday Devotion

Matthew 1:1-17

1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:
    2 Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar). Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of King David. 

    David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah). 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram. Jehoram was the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon.Amon was the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).
    12 After the Babylonian exile: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
    17 All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.
Quick Notes/QuestionsThis is such an interesting passage of scripture.  Do me a favor and look up these names in the Bible (you can go to biblegateway.com for a Bible search engine): Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Mary.  Of all the stories of Jesus'  ancestors, I find these ladies interesting.  These are the only ladies mentioned among all of these men.  Their stories are tainted... they have a messiness attached to them.  Yet these ladies all play a great role in God's salvation story.  What tainted or messy story do you think prevents God from doing a mighty salvific role through you?  Do you believe that God will use you to bring the world salvation?  Why or why not?

Quick Prayer

Almighty God, please let my role in your salvation story be glorious to you and inspiration to others.  Amen.