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Learning something new is an involved process, and for some of us it helps to summarize what we've learned or gleaned from each session as a way to crystalize new nuggets of information.

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Day 3: Matthew 3

The reading plan for the third day closes with Matthew 3 , an introduction to John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. A warning, not condemnation It really is strange how reading is different from listening. I feel like by this point I've heard many times the words that John spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees when they came to his baptism. Every time I heard those words in the audio track, I always thought they sounded like condemnation of the "brood of vipers". But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ( Matthew 3:7 ESV ) Every time I heard the passage in the past, I thought that John was essentially telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that they're damned and that they would be excluded from the all-encompassing salvation and forgiveness that would be the gift of Jesus. But this time, I noticed that John's words were not...
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Day 5: Matthew 5

The evening devotion for the fifth day is Matthew 5 , which begins the Sermon on the Mount. What is the Law? My assumption has always been that the Law refers to the Ten Commandments, but does it actually refer to and include all of the rules laid out in painstaking detail in Leviticus? Or something else altogether? Who is my brother? Words matter in the Bible, and the word "brother" is probably one that confuses me often. Where the word trips me up in Matthew 5 is where Jesus talks about murder and anger. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ( Matthew 5:21-22 ESV ) If I'm reading this literally, the choice of the word "brother" instead of the word ...
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Day 17: Genesis 41

Today's morning devotion is Genesis 41 , which tells the story of Joseph being freed from jail and promoted to governor of Egypt by correctly interpreting Pharaoh's dreams of cows and wheat. Dreams are messages from God Pharaoh's acceptance of Joseph's interpretation and attribution of the feat to God is consistent with what Joseph said about his interpretations of the cupbearer's dream and the baker's. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. ( Genesis 41:38-39 ESV ) Basically, a dream is a message from God, and only God can give its interpretation to a person. Egyptians fear the same God How come the Egyptians fear the same God of Joseph and Israel? I've always found this to be interesting, because I thought the Egyptians worshiped gods of their own. Significance of being...
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