"A picture of forgiveness and grace …"

January 11^th


Scripture Reading:  Genesis 40 - 43 ...

Guilt and regret are hard things to carry, but Joseph's brothers (at least some of them) had carried guilt and regret for years, ever since they sold their brother and told their father he had been killed by a wild animal.  They were about to be set free, but not without enduring a time of deep self-examination. As we read more about Joseph and his brothers God gives us a beautiful picture of forgiveness and grace ... a picture that points to the forgiveness and grace that we need from HIM!  There is more going on here than first meets the eye.

God had told Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign country.  Genesis 15:13:  "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.  But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions."  For His purposes, God would later reveal through the events of the exodus a clear picture of a future deliverance that would come through the promised "Seed" of Abraham.  But first, He would use Joseph to teach forgiveness and grace to his brothers, and to all who would read the account of these events throughout the centuries.

Joseph was an incredible young man.  His faith in God in the midst of extreme trials has inspired readers of Genesis for thousands of years.  When sold by his brothers and then made a slave in Egypt, he served his master with honor and integrity.  God blessed his obedience and made him prosper.  When wrongly imprisoned, Joseph served the warden in humility and once again God blessed him with good favor.  When the chief cupbearer was released and forgot to mention the young man who had interpreted his dream, Joseph remained in prison for two more years.  Joseph had to wonder when he would get a break!!  How many times are we faced with the temptation to doubt God during difficult times in our lives?  God's timing is often hard for us to understand, but He orders the events of our lives AND the circumstances of the world around us.

Finally, God gave dreams to Pharaoh, and after Joseph interprets the dreams with the wisdom that God gave him, he is placed in charge of gathering food for all of Egypt for the years when the famine would come.  For seven years Joseph exercises authority in Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh.  God blesses him with two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  Then Jacob enters the picture ... God, orchestrating events in two nations to bring about His purposes.  Jacob had mourned the loss of his son for all these years.  Did he remember the promises that had been passed down to him through his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham?  Did he remember that God had promised to make a great nation from their descendants?  Did he wonder how God would accomplish His purpose?  Life seemed to be going on as usual when Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to get food, but things were about to change.  Think how wise God is to arrange the lives of people to fulfill His promises and His purpose.  These things don’t happen by chance.  And then remember that God is the same today as He was then.  He is still working out His purposes in and through the lives of His people.  Are you one of them?

Suddenly, from Joseph's perspective, his past appears in front of him, as his brothers come down to Egypt from Canaan for food.  Joseph could have simply revealed his true identity and told his brothers to go get their father and bring him to Egypt.  But there were lessons to be learned and character to be built.  It makes me think of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 5:3-4:  “... we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”  The Bible tells us that God disciplines those He loves, so now comes the test.  I love Joseph's testimony to his brothers:  "Do this and you will live, for I fear God" (42:18).  Joseph testifies of his faith in “their” God.  It appears that Joseph is threatening them, but he is about to set them FREE!! 

The reaction of the brothers to Joseph's insistence that they leave one of the brothers there and bring their younger brother (Joseph's full brother) back with them reveals what they had carried in their hearts these many years:

"Surely we are being punished because of our brother.  We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us. ... Now we must give an accounting for his blood" (42:21-22).  

Guilt and regret, brought to light by unexpected circumstances, are heavy weights.  But we serve a gracious God!  Joseph was filled with the Spirit of God and through him God showed grace to Joseph's brothers.  What could have been and should have been a just reward for their previous actions became instead a beautiful picture of grace and forgiveness that would become even more beautiful when Joseph made himself known to his brothers and was later reunited with his father, who would receive Joseph, as it were, back from the dead!

Forgiveness, grace ... and virtually, resurrection!  Joseph was alive, and in another picture that points to Jesus as the Redeemer, Joseph is placed in a position of authority that saves not only his own family, but virtually all the people of the world during the famine.  So many pictures, all pointing to God's grace and forgiveness in Christ!  God’s plan unfolding again in the lives of His people, even as it does today in your life and mine.

Joseph is an example for us, who claim to be disciples of Jesus today, to follow.  How do you handle adversity?  What do you do when faced with injustice?  Do you continue to serve the Lord, trusting Him to turn all things for your good as He has promised?  Or do you complain, become bitter, discouraged and frustrated, perhaps even questioning God?  God is at work, even when you can't see Him.  His plan is unfolding in the world around us, even as it was in the days of Joseph and his brothers.  How is God using YOU for His glory?  Step out in faith, trusting in His grace and forgiveness and being ready and willing to serve Him no matter what the situation, knowing that He has not left you for a moment!!

"Almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, You alone are God.  As You order the events of our lives and of the world, use us for Your glory as we serve You in our daily lives.  Open my eyes to see Your plan and Your purpose in the small things and in the big things, knowing that in the end, I will be with YOU in glory!!  Until then, I live by faith in YOU!!  In Jesus' name, Amen"

"Stop asking, 'Why?' and believe!"

Day #10


Scripture Reading:  Genesis 36 - 39 ...

Every day, all over the world, people live life and face unexpected circumstances, not knowing how things are going to turn out.  You and I don’t know what the rest of today will bring, let alone tomorrow.  But God DOES!  Life in this world is not a bunch of unconnected, isolated events.  What happened in the past affects your choices today and your choices today affect what decisions you make tomorrow.  What most people fail to realize is that there is another factor to consider!  GOD is at work in the world, and in a very special way in the lives of those who know and love Him!!

God's plan to save a remnant from the human race from His just judgment against our sin was made even more difficult by God's decision to use sinful people to accomplish His purposes along the way.  Only the wisdom and power of God could use even the foolishness, wickedness and evil of mankind to lead to the coming of the Savior.  God had chosen Jacob rather than his brother, Esau, and God’s protection of Jacob and His oversight of the details of his life was another display of God's intention to keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ... His promises to be their God, to multiply their descendants, to give them the land of Canaan and to bless all nations through the promised "Seed"  ...  JESUS!

Meanwhile, God had told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a country not their own, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated there for four hundred years (Genesis 15:13).  What a strange prediction, yet it would come true through the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers and the providence of God over circumstances that seemed like chance events.  Who could have imagined that God’s promise to make Abraham’s descendants a great nation would happen while they were in slavery in this foreign land?  And who could have devised the plan that now played out in Joseph’s life?  Could the same be true in your life?  Is God wise enough and powerful enough to do what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28:  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” 

God had predicted that Abraham’s descendants would be slaves in a foreign land, but He had also promised that He would deliver them.  The events of Genesis 37-39 set the stage for God's plan to unfold.  God gave Joseph dreams ... dreams that would come true in God's timing.  Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, but God blessed him in everything he did - first in the household of Potiphar and then in prison.  God was at work in Joseph's life, even though it sometimes didn’t look like it.  It can sometimes be difficult to keep a “positive attitude” when things happen that are so unfair.  How did Joseph do it?  He knew God!  And because He knew God, He trusted God.  What an important lesson to learn.  

But why have Joseph go through all of this, and why have Jacob go through such heartbreak, and why the upcoming famine, and why would Israel have to go through 400 years of slavery in Egypt and why ... … … … ???  We like to ask, "Why?", don't we?  In fact, we can hardly keep ourselves from asking "Why?" in the daily circumstances of our lives.  You see, WE want to be in control; it is in our very nature to want to determine how things will go and what will happen next.  But God calls HIS people to live by faith.  I know that's not a very good answer for a lot of people, but it's true.  The key to living life with God is in knowing His character and trusting Him.  It eliminates a lot of the "Why's." Living by faith moves you to live like Joseph (and all the others listed in Hebrews 11!!).

God blessed Joseph, as He blessed Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because He chose them to be His and showed them His love and favor - His amazing grace ... SO THAT they and those who came after them would live to bring Him glory and tell the world about the God who keeps His promises.  God promised a Savior and through these people God would bring His Son into the world.  This same God is at work in the world today, and in your life and mine.  Just as we see in Joseph's life, nothing happens by chance.  God’s providence, His sovereign rule over all the details of your life and mine, is the rock upon which our faith is built.

How often do you hear people say, “Everything has a purpose”?  Why do people say that?  Some people may say it simply because they NEED to believe it, even though they have no basis for doing so.  Everyone needs hope when “bad” things happen, whether in their own lives or in the lives of those around them.  But in order for there to be purpose and meaning in everything SOMEBODY needs to be in control.  Either things happen by chance and it’s all up to “luck,” or the God who created this world is at work, using even the sinful acts of men to accomplish His purposes!

Make no mistake, you and I are responsible for the sin in our lives ... all the wrong choices, the rebellion, the evil in this world … all these are the responsibility of sinful people.  But our God reigns!  He is wise enough and powerful enough to overrule what Satan and evil men try to do and to bring good out of evil.  To those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness and new life - for today, tomorrow, forever!  KNOW that He is at work in the circumstances of YOUR life and that trusting in Him, placing your hope in Jesus brings peace of heart and mind that you will find nowhere else.

Joseph could have become depressed and overwhelmed by such a string of “bad luck.”  He could have become angry and questioned whether God was with him.  Instead, he responded to his circumstances with faith and hope, submitting his will to God’s will, and God used him to accomplish more than Joseph could have imagined when sold as a slave by his brothers.  How much more can you and I trust our Father in heaven today?  Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!

"Father, trusting You seems so hard sometimes, until we remember who You are and what You have done to save us from our sins.  Give us grace to trust Your wisdom and power, to ask fewer 'Why's' and to come to You as children, trusting You to work all things for the good of those who love You and who are called according to YOUR purpose ... and for Your glory.  In Jesus' name, Amen"

"The cry God always hears: 'I need YOU!'"

Day #9


Scripture Reading:  Genesis 32 - 35 ...

As you read the Bible from beginning to end you will find two main characters throughout:  God and mankind.  Satan and his demons, as well as the angels who serve God, play a role, but the main characters of Scripture are God and mankind - with GOD being the central character at every point.  I bring that up because it is easy for people to get "hung up" on some of the details of the actions of mankind in certain passages of the Bible and then to wonder why they are in there and what God was accomplishing by recording those things in the Bible.  There are some things like that in our chapters today.  Why include the story of Dinah and Shechem in Chapter 34?  And why include verse 22 in Chapter 35:  "While Israel was living in that region, Reuben (one of Jacob's sons) went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it."

  

These things are but reminders of mankind's sinfulness, even in the context of God's blessings and His revelation of Himself to the descendants of Abraham and Isaac.  It is a reminder that these are more than just stories; that these are actual accounts of the lives of real people - people like you and me.  And it is a reminder of our need for the Spirit of God to work in us so that our lives will be lived in obedience to God out of love for Him through faith in Jesus Christ.  Without the Spirit and without God's revelation in His Word and without the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, mankind is hopelessly lost and people do things that are beyond description or explanation.  The same things we see around us today were part of the world during the time of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  People are sinners!  All you need to do is listen to the daily news to see that.

While these things may raise questions in people's minds, God would have us focus on something else: HIS character and His sovereign working over all things and in all things.  As Jacob prepared to meet his brother Esau, he reveals how his own heart had been changed since the time when he tricked his father into giving him the blessing his older brother should have had and then fled, out of fear that Esau was going to kill him.  Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD ...  I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant" (32:9-10).  Then he recalls God's promises:  "You have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted'" (32:12).

Jacob believed God's promises and trusted God's character, yet he still struggled to surrender everything to God.  Most of us can identify with Jacob's struggle.  We know God, we trust in Him for salvation, believing Jesus paid our debt and that He is with us.  Yet, when faced with the uncertainties of life, fear easily takes over, as it did with Jacob.  So He wrestles with God!  God gives us this picture as a physical wrestling match, with Jacob winning!  Who beats God ... at anything?!  Obviously, no one.  So what's the point?  Again, there has been much debate about who Jacob wrestled and what it all means, but simply reading the text explains that Jacob's wrestling with God had more to do with Jacob's character than with God's.  God is who He is, but Jacob was now to play a part in God's plan to fulfill His promises to Abraham and Isaac, to make of them a great nation.

So God said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome" (32:28).  By the grace and power of God Jacob had overcome his doubts and his tendency to take things into his own hands, rather than trusting God to accomplish His purpose.  He had said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me" (32:26).  Jacob wanted, and knew he needed God's blessing, and he received it in so many ways.  The most important blessing Jacob received, the greatest blessing any human being can receive, is the inner, spiritual transformation that only God can perform.  It was more than Jacob's name that changed, it was Jacob who was changed!

Having met with Esau, Jacob built an altar.  After the episode with Dinah and Shechem, Jacob moved on to Bethel and built an altar, telling those who were with him (from the people whom they had defeated) to get rid of their foreign gods.  Then he built another altar to worship the Lord.  God appeared to him again and repeated His promises to make of him a great nation and to give to him and his descendants the land he had promised to Abraham and Isaac (35:11-12).

The twelve sons of Jacob would become the twelve tribes of Israel.  Mankind's sin ... God's faithfulness.  GRACE ... beginning to end.  God chose Abraham ... and He chose Isaac, not Ishmael ... and He chose Jacob, not Esau ... And through His Son Jesus Christ, the "Seed of Abraham," God has more people whom He has chosen, not only from the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but from every people, tribe, nation and tongue.

Mankind's sin ... God's character:  His mercy, grace, love and faithfulness.  Over and over again you will find these two things on display throughout the Old Testament, in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament letters to the churches.  God never changes.  What you see of God in one part of Scripture is also there in every other part of Scripture.  God's purpose stays the same:  to gather for Himself a people who will be His very own, who will spend eternity with Him in a new heaven and a new earth ... "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God!"  (I Peter 2:9).

Learn of God as you read His Word.  Listen for His voice speaking to you, telling you about yourself and about what you need ... and find in Jesus, the Savior, the "Seed of Abraham," the fulfillment of all of God's promises ... for today, for tomorrow ... and for forever!  Call out to Him, worship Him and find in Him your reason to live as a servant of the Almighty God who reigns over all things.

"LORD God Almighty, in Your Word we find knowledge to help us understand what You are doing in the world around us, even as You worked in the days of Jacob.  Your character has not changed, Your plan has not changed and You will accomplish all that You have planned to do.  Thank You for making me a part of Your plan, for choosing us who believe in Jesus, as certainly as You chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  What a privilege to be YOUR people today!  In Jesus' name, Amen"

"God will get you where He wants you to be!"

Day #8

Scripture Reading:  Genesis 28 - 31 ...

There will be things that happen in your life that make no sense.  There will be times when you make choices that are contrary to God's commands.  There will be times when you think things are going well and the bottom falls out, and there will be times when you think there is no hope and things will turn around in your favor.  But if you are a child of God, He will get you where He wants you to be.  Paul puts it this way in Philippians 1:6:  "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Jacob had a lot to learn and a lot of growing to do.  His mother had encouraged him to deceive his father to get his blessing, and then his brother, Esau, had threatened to kill him, so he ran far away, to the land where Abraham had come from.  On his way, he met God ... or perhaps we should say, God revealed Himself to Jacob in an unmistakable way.  Jacob was in the middle of nowhere and he thought he was alone, really alone.  He was, perhaps, convicted that what he had done was not pleasing to God and now here he was, running from his problems without any idea of how this was all going to work out ... but God knew!

As he lay down to sleep, with only a stone for a pillow, Jacob had a dream.  In his dream he saw a stairway, a ladder, extending from earth to heaven.  Angels were going up and down on the ladder and at the top was the LORD, the God of Abraham and of Isaac.  In his dream, God spoke to Jacob and repeated some of the promises He had made to Abraham and to Isaac:  “I will give you the land on which you are lying.  Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth ... All peoples on earth will be blessed through your offspring.  I am with 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 28:13-15).  What a comfort these words must have been to Jacob.  Perhaps Jacob had heard these words before.  These were words that had been spoken by God to his grandfather, Abraham, and to his father, Isaac, but now God was passing on these promises to HIM.

All of these promises pointed to what God was going to do through Jacob and his descendants in order to fulfill His promise to send a Savior.  God’s plan in these days was revealed one step at a time and it would not be a smooth journey for Jacob!  Chapters 29 - 31 reveal two things:  the sinfulness of human nature and the providence of God in overruling the foolishness of man’s sin.  Jacob's journey toward being an instrument of God to bring about the coming of the Savior was traveled along a path of sinful choices and behaviors, on his part and on the part of his cousin, Laban.  One could get lost in the back-and-forth of their relationship, each trying to get the better of the other, but in the midst of it all, God was at work.

Through no “fault” of his own, Jacob ends up with FOUR wives:  Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah.  Laban’s deceit and their foolish rivalry displays again the emotions and sinful will of people trying to take life into their own hands and not trusting in God.  Yet again, God overcomes the sin of mankind and uses even their wrong choices to bring about the next step in His plan:  the establishment of the nation of Israel - the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Some will ask:  "If our sin ends up being turned for God's ultimate purpose, then how can God hold us accountable for our sin?"  The answer to that question is actually quite simple if you know who God is ... if you accept that He is wiser than you and I and all mankind put together are ... if you trust the character and power of God.  These events reveal the foolishness of man and the wisdom of God.

As we witness Jacob and Laban operating on a “human” level, God is at work “behind the scenes.”  The same is true for you and me, but it is never “OK” to sin, trusting God to somehow make it right.  The Apostle Paul addresses this question in Romans 6:1-2, where he writes, “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  Knowing God is at work to accomplish His purpose IN us and THROUGH us must be the driving force in our lives to move us to godly living.

We who are God’s children are born again by the Spirit of God and, like Jacob we are called to live in obedience to God.  There is never an excuse for disobedience, and there are consequences to our actions.  Jacob (and Laban) would face God’s discipline in several ways in the future because of their sinful choices.  It is always better to obey God than to disobey God.  Yet God is wise enough and powerful enough to allow mankind to stray, to wander, and still to accomplish His purpose IN and THROUGH people like Jacob ... and you and me ... for HIS glory!

We read in Hebrews 12:7,11:  “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. … No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  God showed Jacob in a very dramatic way that He was with him wherever he was.  God wants you to know the same thing!  We can easily think that the people mentioned in the Bible were somehow different than we are, but they were sinful people, chosen by God for His purposes … to receive His grace and to learn to trust Him and serve Him.

When you come to know the God of grace, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who gave His own Son so that you might know His love and forgiveness, then you can know that God will get you where He wants you to be.  He is faithful!  When you don’t understand the events that are going on around you and in the world, know Him, love Him, trust Him and serve Him ... and see what He will do in YOUR life!

"Thank you, Father, for Your amazing plan to accomplish Your purpose, even when by our sin and ignorance, we try to get in the way and have our own way.  Help us to walk with humility and faith as we seek to live in obedience to Your Word, resting in Your grace, one day at a time.  In Jesus' name, Amen"