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\u00a0TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n Please read Genesis 43:1-15<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Proverbs 21:1<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/figure>\n by Sandra Chua<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jacob reluctantly gives permission for the brothers to take Benjamin on their second trip to Egypt. The brothers had refused to go without the boy, and the famine was not getting any better. Jacob employs his strategy when he meets Esau for the first time again after twenty years. (Genesis 33) He instructed the brothers to bring the best products of the land to give to the man in charge of selling grain: balm and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. The plan seemed to have worked before, as the Bible says, “A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great” (Proverbs 18:16).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ‘Ultimately, however, Jacob still relied on the Lord. He knew that God held the heart of the man in charge. His God is able to direct it wherever it pleases. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases” (Proverbs 21:1). Jacob utters a prayer in verse 14\u00a0 that God Almighty may grant the brothers compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to them Simeon and return Benjamin, too. <\/span><\/p>\n The hearts of kings and those in power are correctly in the hands of the Lord because He is sovereign. It is in HIs power to make the kings or people in authority favor someone so that HIs will may be done. We can, like Jacob, ask God for compassion in the sight of people we meet because He has the power to direct even hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n \n REFLECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n Think about the extent of the power of God that He can course even hearts. Have we set any limits to His sovereignty? Have we, with our limited understanding, constrained our unlimited God?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n PRAYER<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dear heavenly Father, You are God almighty. You hold everything in Your hands; all creation, all life, and all nature bow down to Your will. In YOur hand is power and might, and in Your hand, it is to make great and strengthen. You direct the king’s heart, and favor comes from You. We can never understand with our limited minds what You have done from beginning to end. We can only take a peek into your character with what You have chosen to reveal to us. Help us not limit You with our small minds because You are beyond our comprehension. All praise belongs to You, in Jesus’ name, amen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE Please read Genesis 43:1-15 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” Proverbs 21:1 DEVOTIONAL by Sandra Chua Jacob reluctantly gives permission for the brothers to take Benjamin on their second trip to Egypt. The brothers had refused to go without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotionals","category-text-devo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3969"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3972,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3969\/revisions\/3972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jec.com.ph\/jub\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
DEVOTIONAL<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n