Jesse Tree: Day 25

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Read: Luke 2:1-40, John 1:1-18

What it's about: How God became flesh

Picture idea: dove, manger

Scripture snippet: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5 NKJV)

This concludes the Jesse Tree series. Thank you for participating in this with us. May God continue to richly bless you with His Word and His manifest presence.

Jesse Tree: Day 24

Read: Matthew 2:1-18

What it's about: The Magi (I know we haven't read about Jesus being born yet, but I thought I'd save that good news for His day)

Picture idea: star, candle, telescope

Scripture snippet: When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:9-11 KJV)

Jesse Tree: Day 23

Read: Matthew 1:18-25

What it's about: Joseph

Picture idea: hammar, carpenter's square, awl

Scripture snippet: 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. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1: 20-21 NLT)

Jesse Tree: Day 22

Read: Luke 57-80

What it's about: John the Baptist's birth

Picture idea: scallop shell, baptism, locusts and honey

Scripture snippet:“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel. (Luke 1:76-80 NKJV)

Jesse Tree: Day 21

Read: Luke 1:5-7, 21-25, 39-45

What it's about: Elizabeth

Picture idea: mother and child

Scripture snippet: When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. (Luke 1:41-44 NASB)

Jesse Tree: Day 20

Read: Luke 1:26-56

What it's about: Mary and Gabriel's announcement to her

Picture idea: white lily

Scripture snippet: In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. (Luke 1:26-29 NIV)

Jesse Tree: Day 19

Read: Luke 1:5 -25
What it's about: Zechariah is told God will give him a son in his old age
Picture idea: pencil and tablet, slate
Scripture snippet: Zechariah said to the angel, "How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old." The angel answered, "I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news. You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to." (Luke 1:18-20 CEV)

Jesse Tree: Day 18

Read: Nehemiah

What it's about: God enables Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem's walls

Picture idea: city wall, stone wall, any wall

Scripture snippet: Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. (Nehemiah 2:17-18 NKJV)

Jesse Tree: Day 17

Read: Habakkuk 1:1-2:8, 6:15-16, 13:13-22

What it's about: God's word to the prophet Habakkuk

Picture idea: watchtower (or something to get the idea across)

Scripture snippet: I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint. (Habakkuk 2:1 NLT)

Jesse Tree: Day 16

Read: Jeremiah 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15, 8:22 - 9:11
What it's about: God's word to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah

Picture idea: tears, water droplet
Scripture snippet: I wish my head were a well of water and my eyes fountains of tears so I could weep day and night for casualties among my dear, dear people. At times I wish I had a wilderness hut, a backwoods cabin, where I could get away from my people and never see them again. They're a faithless, feckless bunch, a congregation of degenerates. (Jeremiah 9:1-2 MSG)

Jesse Tree: Day 15

Read: Isaiah 1:10-20, 6:1-13, 8:11-9:7

What it's about: prophecies God gave to Isaiah

Picture idea: fire tongs, hot coal

Scripture snippet: And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:3-7 NIV)

Jesse Tree: Day 14

Read: 1 Kings 17:1-24, 18:17-46

What it's about: God's prophet Elijah

Picture idea: stone altar, oil, flour

Scripture snippet: Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. "For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'" (1 Kings 17:13-14 NASB)

Jesse Tree: Day 13

Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-17:58, 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 7:1-17

What it's about: David, Israel's great human king

Picture idea: shepherd's crook, harp

Scripture snippet: So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one." So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16: 11-13 NIV)

Jesse Tree: Day 12

Read: 1 Samuel 3:1-21, 7:1-8:22, 9:15-10:9

What it's about: Samuel's anointing by God as His prophet, beginning of the rule of kings over Israel

Picture idea: crown

Scripture snippet: But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do." (1 Samuel 8:6-9 NIV)

Jesse Tree goof

Please see this post if you've been following the Jesse Tree readings, as I messed up the schedule. Sorry for the confusion!

Jesse Tree: Day 11

Read: Judges 2:6-23, 6:1-8:28

What it's about: God's selection of Gideon to defeat the Midianites

Picture idea: water pitcher, clay jar

Scripture snippet: It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars. Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. (Judges 7:19-22b NLT)

Jesse Tree...Ooops!

If you've been following the Jesse tree days with us, we hope you've been enjoying this walk through the Old Testament. As I mentioned in the inital post on November 24 about this activity, I modified the reading schedule to be able to do one reading per day between December 1 and 25 (versus following the days of advent which change annually). Recently, I realized I messed up the order of the readings (at least based on what our family did) since I had lost the sheet I used for reference the previous year.


In the grand scheme of things, this probably doesn't matter since the point is to read from the Bible daily. However, to keep everything on track, I'm going to revise the readings from Day 4 through today so I get us back to the reading schedule I originally set up for our family.


If you're not totally confused by this point, I hope the revisions will make sense once you see them. If you've been doing these readings daily, the revisions will mean you're only one day behind in the readings. But maybe it will be easier just to see what I mean...

To get the revised readings, go back to Day 4 and then proceed from there. I deleted the originaly Day 5 which talked about Abraham's almost sacrifice of Isaac.

Sorry for the crazy amount of confusion!

Love in Christ,

Andrea

Jesse Tree: Day 10

Read: Joshua 1:1-11, 6:1-20


What it's about: God brings the Israelites into the Promised Land and flattens Jericho

Picture idea: ram's horn, trumpet, rubble

Scripture snippet: Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. "You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. "Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. "It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead." (Joshua 6:1-5 NASB)

Jesse Tree: Day 9

Read: Exodus 19:1-20:20

What it's about: God descends on Mount Sinai and gives Moses the 10 commandments

Picture idea: stone tablets, scroll

Scripture snippet: And God spoke all these words: (Exodus 20:1 NIV)

Jesse Tree: Day 8

Read: Exodus 12:1-14:31

What it's about: the Passover and Exodus

Picture idea: lamb

Scripture snippet: On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance. (Exodus 12: 12-14 NIV)

Jesse Tree: Day 7

Read: Exodus 2:1-4:20

What it's about: Moses and God's calling Him to lead His people out of Egypt

Picture idea: burning bush, fire

Scripture snippet: And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:2-6 NKJV)

Jesse Tree: Day 6

Read: Genesis 37, 39:1-50:21...this is a long one, if you have little ones like we do and you're reading the passages aloud, pick out the passages from within the reading that tell the main outline of the story

What it's about: Joseph (the one in the Old Testament), from his dreams to God's fulfillment of those dreams

Picture idea: grain, wheat, colorful coat, sack of grain/wheat

Scripture snippet: Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said: Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives. There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here--it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt. (Genesis 45:4-8 CEV)

Jesse Tree: Day 5

Read: Genesis 27:41-28:22

What it's about: Jacob and his flight from his parents home, hears from God in a dream

Picture idea: ladder, stairway

Scripture snippet: Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28: 11b-15 NIV)

Jesse Tree: Day 4

Read: Genesis Gen 12:1-7, 15:1-6, 22:1-19 - this is the change to this date...I combined the orginal readings for days 4 & 5
What it's about: God's promise to Abraham
Picture idea: stars, lots of people/children
Scripture snippet: And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir. And He brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars--if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be. And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God). (Genesis 15:4-6 AMP)

Jesse Tree: Day 3

Read: Gen 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 8:20-9:17

What it's about: Noah and the flood

Picture idea: rainbow, ark, lots of water :)

Scipture snippet: Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.” (Genesis 9:12-17 NLT)

Jesse Tree: Day 2

Read: Genesis 2:4 -3:24

What it's about: How sin enters creation through Adam & Eve

Picture idea: A fruit tree (I chose a generic tree since we don't really know what type of fruit they ate)

Scripture snippet: Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." (Genesis 3:9-13 NASB)

Jesse Tree: Day 1

Read: Genesis 1:1 - 2:3
What it's about: God creating the heavens and the earth
Picture idea: something the represents creation to you

Scripture snippet: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28 KJV)