Today’s Scripture Reading

Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.
OBADIAH 18

Today’s Devotional Reading

God Cares for His Children

SITUATION

A bloody feud between Edom and Israel continued from the days of Esau and Jacob (see Ge 25:19–34). Obadiah denounced Edom’s cruelty and pride, and then prophesied about the nation’s destruction. He also prophesied that Israel would be restored as a nation with extended territory.

OBSERVATION

God always protects and takes care of his children. With God on their side, his children are never underdogs.

INSPIRATION

For a short time in college, I worked at a vacuum-cleaner plant. We assembled the appliance from plug to hose. The last step on the assembly line was “sealing and shipping.” By this point, the company had invested hours and dollars in the machine. So they took extra care to protect their product.

They mummified it in bubble wrap, secured it with Styrofoam, wrapped the box with tough-to-tear tape, stamped the destination on the box, and belted it inside the truck. That machine was secure. But compared to God’s care of his saints, workers dumped bare machines into the back of a pickup truck.

God vacuum-seals us with his strongest force: his Spirit. He sheathes his children in a suit of spiritual armor, encircles us with angels, and indwells us himself. The queen of England should enjoy such security.

Christ paid too high a price to leave us unguarded. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30).

What a difference this assurance makes.

APPLICATION

Have you ever felt that you were out of favor with God? Did you try to ask Jesus into your heart again, and again? Jesus comes the first time! He stays! Be confident that he will never leave you for you are his child.

Today’s devotional reading is pulled from: NIV The Lucado Encouraging Word Bible