May 11, Tuesday Devotion

May 11, Tuesday Devotion

Matthew 1:18-25

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Quick Notes/Questions

The angel's few words carry a lot of weight and burden.  How crazy it must have been to be Joseph and receive all of this news.  At the same time, he is told that their son will be named, 'God is with us.'  I believe this was a comfort for Joseph and that it can be for us as well.  No matter how crazy it might seem to follow God, we are not alone, for God is with us.  How often do you believe that God is with you?

Quick Prayer

Lord, thank you for being Immanuel.  May we spread that message to all.  Amen.

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.

May 7, Friday Devotion

May 7, Friday Devotion
Isaiah 66:14-24
14 When you see these things, your heart will rejoice. You will flourish like the grass! Everyone will see the Lord’s hand of blessing on his servants—and his anger against his enemies. 15 See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his swift chariots roar like a whirlwind. He will bring punishment with the fury of his anger and the flaming fire of his hot rebuke. 16 The Lord will punish the world by fire and by his sword. He will judge the earth, and many will be killed by him. 17 “Those who ‘consecrate’ and ‘purify’ themselves in a sacred garden with its idol in the center—feasting on pork and rats and other detestable meats—will come to a terrible end,” says the Lord. 18 “I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory. 19 I will perform a sign among them. And I will send those who survive to be messengers to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (who are famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to all the lands beyond the sea that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. There they will declare my glory to the nations. 20 They will bring the remnant of your people back from every nation. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord. They will ride on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. 21 “And I will appoint some of them to be my priests and Levites. I, the Lord, have spoken! 22 “As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain, so will you always be my people, with a name that will never disappear,” says the Lord. 23 “All humanity will come to worship me from week to week and from month to month. 24 And as they go out, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. For the worms that devour them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never go out. All who pass by will view them with utter horror.”

Quick Notes/Questions

We come to the conclusion of Isaiah.  Together, we have spent the better part of five months on this book.  This last passage is a charge to continue glorifying God and spreading his good news to all around us.  How do you plan on doing that?

Quick Prayer

Lord, may I live a wonderful life for you.  Amen.

May 6, Thursday Devotion

May 6, Thursday Devotion
Isaiah 66:1-13
1 This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place? 2 My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. 3 But those who choose their own ways—delighting in their detestable sins—will not have their offerings accepted. When such people sacrifice a bull, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice. When they sacrifice a lamb, it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog! When they bring an offering of grain, they might as well offer the blood of a pig. When they burn frankincense, it’s as if they had blessed an idol. 4 I will send them great trouble—all the things they feared. For when I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned before my very eyes and chose to do what they know I despise.” 5 Hear this message from the Lord, all you who tremble at his words: “Your own people hate you and throw you out for being loyal to my name. ‘Let the Lord be honored!’ they scoff. ‘Be joyful in him!’ But they will be put to shame. 6 What is all the commotion in the city? What is that terrible noise from the Temple? It is the voice of the Lord taking vengeance against his enemies. 7 “Before the birth pains even begin, Jerusalem gives birth to a son. 8 Who has ever seen anything as strange as this? Who ever heard of such a thing? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem’s birth pains begin, her children will be born. 9 Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “No! I would never keep this nation from being born,” says your God. 10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem! Be glad with her, all you who love her and all you who mourn for her. 11 Drink deeply of her glory even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.” 12 This is what the Lord says: “I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity. The wealth of the nations will flow to her. Her children will be nursed at her breasts, carried in her arms, and held on her lap. 13 I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.” 

Quick Notes/Questions

What kind of comfort have you received from your mother?  What about your friends?  Does the last statement of the scripture today resonate with you?  Most of us can understand God as Father, but what about God as Mother?

Quick Prayer

O God, I thank you that you can provide all of my parental needs.  Amen.

May 5, Wednesday Devotion

May 5, Wednesday Devotion

Isaiah 65:1-25


1 The Lord says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name. 2 All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes. 3 All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on pagan altars. 4 At night they go out among the graves, worshiping the dead. They eat the flesh of pigs and make stews with other forbidden foods. 5 Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away. 6 “Look, my decree is written out in front of me: I will not stand silent; I will repay them in full! Yes, I will repay them—7 both for their own sins and for those of their ancestors,” says the Lord. “For they also burned incense on the mountains and insulted me on the hills. I will pay them back in full! 8 “But I will not destroy them all,” says the Lord. “For just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, ‘Don’t throw them all away— some of those grapes are good!’), so I will not destroy all Israel. For I still have true servants there. 9 I will preserve a remnant of the people of Israel and of Judah to possess my land. Those I choose will inherit it, and my servants will live there. 10 The plain of Sharon will again be filled with flocks for my people who have searched for me, and the valley of Achor will be a place to pasture herds. 11 “But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord and have forgotten his Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny, 12 now I will ‘destine’ you for the sword. All of you will bow down before the executioner. For when I called, you did not answer. When I spoke, you did not listen. You deliberately sinned—before my very eyes—and chose to do what you know I despise.” 13 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “My servants will eat, but you will starve. My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. My servants will rejoice, but you will be sad and ashamed. 14 My servants will sing for joy, but you will cry in sorrow and despair. 15 Your name will be a curse word among my people, for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you and will call his true servants by another name. 16 All who invoke a blessing or take an oath will do so by the God of truth. For I will put aside my anger and forget the evil of earlier days. 17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. 18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. 20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young! 21 In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. 22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. 23 They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed. 24 I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat dust. In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Quick Notes/Questions

There are some really cool things being said in this passage.  The book of Isaiah is winding down to an end.  Several proclamations are being made, but ultimately what is being said is that God's way will prevail and everything in life will live a life that seems peculiar to how we live now.  How does this passage strike you?

Quick Prayer

Heavenly Father, help fashion me into your way of life even now.  Amen.

May 4, Tuesday Devotion

May 4, Tuesday Devotion

Isaiah 64:1-12
1 Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! 2 As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! 3 When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked! 4 For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! 5 You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? 6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. 7 Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. 8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. 9 Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people. 10 Your holy cities are destroyed. Zion is a wilderness; yes, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin. 11 The holy and beautiful Temple where our ancestors praised you has been burned down, and all the things of beauty are destroyed. 12 After all this, Lord, must you still refuse to help us? Will you continue to be silent and punish us?

Quick Notes/Questions

When you ask God to act, do you ask for extraordinary or subtle actions?  My guess is that you are like the writer above and ask for the extraordinary.  It seems that God has a tendency to act subtly in ordinary kinds of ways.  Maybe our problem is that we are so busy looking for the big things God is doing and missing out on the multiple small things.

Quick Prayer

Lord, may my eyes be open to everything you are doing, especially the subtle points.

May 3, Monday Devotion

May 3, Monday Devotion

Isaiah 63:7-19

7 I will tell of the Lord’s unfailing love. I will praise the Lord for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love. 8 He said, “They are my very own people. Surely they will not betray me again.” And he became their Savior. 9 In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years. 10 But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them. 11 Then they remembered those days of old when Moses led his people out of Egypt. They cried out, “Where is the one who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the one who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people? 12 Where is the one whose power was displayed when Moses lifted up his hand—the one who divided the sea before them, making himself famous forever? 13 Where is the one who led them through the bottom of the sea? They were like fine stallions racing through the desert, never stumbling. 14 As with cattle going down into a peaceful valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. You led your people, Lord, and gained a magnificent reputation.”
15 Lord, look down from heaven; look from your holy, glorious home, and see us. Where is the passion and the might you used to show on our behalf? Where are your mercy and compassion now? 16 Surely you are still our Father! Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, Lord, you would still be our Father. You are our Redeemer from ages past. 17 Lord, why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession. 18 How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place, and now our enemies have destroyed it. 19 Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you, as though we had never been known as your people.

Quick Notes/Questions

How often do you tell others about what God has done for you?  This is one of my weakest areas.  Do not make it yours.

Quick Prayer

O God, you have saved me over and over from myself and the world.  May your salvation wash over me in ways that you are glorified over and over.  Amen.