Verses that inspire

The Spirit blessed my heart with a gem this week..... I wanted to share it with all of you!

"no weapon forged against you will prevail,    and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,    and this is their vindication from me,”declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)

No weapon....

For the children of Israel, this meant real physical weapons of war. For us today, this can mean harsh words, accusations, slander, insults, and more. It can mean persecution for our faith.

But God has promised us that these weapons will not prevail against us. He even says that we will be able to refute every tongue that accuses us!

Maybe not right then.
Maybe not for a while.
But we will be vindicated. We will be defended and justified. This is our heritage, as servants of our Lord. This is His promise.

As we walk through this world, we will fight battles, if we stand for Him. We can be assured of the final outcome.

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (II Thessalonians 3:3)

It's a done deal! Look.....

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Deo vindice!
If a verse or a passage has inspired you recently, won't you consider leaving a comment to tell about it? You will never know how many hearts you may bless with your words!

Waiting on God

Oh, boy.
Our hero is sitting in prison.
Not because he did anything wrong.
Because he did right!
I'd like to say that at the end of this chapter (Genesis 40) Joseph will be out of there. But that's not how things are going to work.

Let's lay some groundwork for our studies this week, and then I'd like for all of us to read that chapter before we gather again...
It's pretty significant that the Bible even mentions the prison. They weren't used all that often in the ancient world. Punishments of death, mutilation, or huge fines were the usual results of accusations and wrong-doing.  In fact, the usual punishment for adultery was death -- wonder if Potiphar didn't really believe his wife's story?
I found some clues to Joseph's story on a very interesting site on the internet (Bible Archeology) and in some old books we had here (we are crazy about antiquarian books) and I wanted to share some of my notes with you....
There's an old, old piece of papyrus that tells about the prison in Egypt. The main prison of Egypt was called the "Place of Confinement." It had two parts....an administration area and a barracks for the prisoners. These prisoners were forced into labor for the government. It doesn't seem like criminals were given years and years of punishment -- in fact, some of the prisoners were simply being held there until the government decided what their punishment was to be! Let's translate that accurately, according to what we know about the Egyptians and the Pharaohs in particular: they were waiting to find out if they were going to be executed. And that is how Joseph met the "Butler" and the "Baker."
We never learn their names. We do know that the Baker was eventually executed. The Butler was restored to his duties. Perhaps they were accused of being involved in a plot against the Pharaoh. And what were the duties that the "Butler" resumed? I don't think he wore a black suit or that he answered doorbells and supervised the maids as they cleaned the silver. (Grin) The Hebrew word used means "cup bearer," so the person would provide beverages to the king. You would want someone trustworthy doing that; there would be many who would scheme to put something in that cup and "off the Pharaoh."
So, here we have the main prison, at Thebes, where palace peeps who were accused were held. And here is where Joseph is now. The warden is mentioned, and he would be the overseer of the prison. He would have a staff of clerks and scribes, because record-keeping was as important then as in the prisons of today. Top of the heap as far as staff is concerned, is the "Scribe of the Prison." Since he had been the steward of Potiphar's household, we know that Joseph could read and write. It seems likely that he was promoted to this top clerical position, since the Bible states that he was promoted to a high office. He would not only have been the warden's right-hand-man, but also would have been in charge of all the records of the prison.

Now Joseph is waiting. There's actually nothing else he can do. He can't get out of the prison. He can't even appeal his sentence. He certainly can't escape.
It's hard for us to really empathize here, I guess, because we know the end of the story.....but we need to forget that we know how all of this turns out. Try to put ourselves in Joseph's sandals, so to speak. He has no clue how the future is going to work out for him.
So, today if you will, please read the entire chapter -- Genesis 40. Let's read it just as he would have lived it.....no hints about the future.
He's in jail.
He meets two men.
They have dreams.
There are two interpretations.
One man lives, and the other dies.
One man forgets.
Joseph is still in jail.

Sigh.
That's the whole chapter. But there's a lot for us to discover.
And Joseph is waiting.

Be thinking this week: are we willing to wait for God?

Friday

That's who we are -- we belong to God. You can say with confidence, "I'm a child of the King!"

Knowing who we are

Ready to rejoin Joseph? Potiphar's wife has a grip on his cloak and he has told her no again!

But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. (Genesis 39:12b)

I bet it would have been easy for Joseph to come up with an excuse to sleep with her.... they were all alone, so no one else would know, "she made me do it" (that was the truth), or maybe "everybody does it."
But Joseph had a rock-solid foundation; he knew who he was -- he belonged to God. So when he looked at his choice (he either slept with her or he faced losing his job since she would be hurt and angry) he acted quickly. Instead of any of those excuses, he told her "I've got to run." And he did.
The KJV says it differently: "He left the garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." No one else could get him out of trouble, so he did! And it is pretty obvious that he had made up his mind in advance, too. When temptation comes to us, we need to move fast. There's a time to talk, and there's a time to stop talking and get out of trouble.
We know the verse that promises God will make a "way out" for us -- He doesn't have to offer us two or three choices! Take the way out when it's offered!

Now, Joseph acted fast, and then Potiphar's wife, does, too.....she wasn't too happy. In fact, a woman scorned is not to be messed with, right? (Grin) She acts very quickly to make a false accusation - in essence, she accuses Joseph of attempted rape. She sounds even angrier since she calls him "this Hebrew" in verse fifteen....sounds kinda racist, but her accusation sounds plausible to everyone, because she has Joseph's coat in her hand.
Potiphar acted quickly, too, in fact the Bible says that when he heard the story, Potiphar's anger burned. He was pretty upset. So he had Joseph thrown in to jail with the common criminals.
Wow.
How can this have happened? Well, the world cannot understand a believer with convictions. If you have strongly-held principles, unbelievers may not understand. Joseph knew who he was, and he acted on his convictions. His reward? A quick trip to jail. Do not pass go. Do not expect a get out of jail card to work here....
So, the good news is, when we know we are children of God, we can stand up to temptation. The bad news is, we may not be very popular doing it! After all, the world hated our Savior and crucified him, so why should we expect a bed of roses?
Here's the awesome part, though: when we do right, God will honor us. Let's look back at Genesis:

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. (Genesis 39:20b-23)

So at the first, Joseph may be in a filthy pit, and he may be chained up. Because he has been faithful to his identity, as a child of God, he has lost his job and his freedom. But I would venture a guess that he's not lost his reputation, nor the air of confidence that comes from doing what God has planned for us. We'll see that in a minute...
Joseph's story proves that God honors those who have the courage to say no, to stand up for Him. It might not look that way at first. Things might not work out just the way we'd like for them to. But when we have the courage of knowing who we are, and we say "no" to temptation, God will take care of the details. (Remember last week? Why were we born? We were born to live for Him, and He will take care of the details!) It's always better to do things right....some people live in a prison of their own making. They toss and turn at night and during the day, they are constantly trying to make sure their evil ways are not discovered. It's better to do right and sleep well, don'tcha think?

Back to our story..... it says that the warden saw that "the Lord was with him." That confidence Joseph had, because he knew who he was, and his reputation as a trusted overseer of Potiphar's household and estate.....that must have influenced the warden to turn over all of the responsibilities to Joseph. He was in charge of the prisoners. He was in charge of all that went on there. Even in the prison, Joseph prospers because the Lord blesses him with success.
How did Joseph know how to say no?
He knew who he was. Even though he was a young person, the issue was settled; he belonged to God. The decision was easier because of his identity.
If we are going to win over temptation, we must also say no. When someone tempts us to do wrong, we should just say no. When Satan whispers to us, "Everyone is doing it!" just remember who we are, and say no. When our minds play tricks on us and tell us that no one will see, we need to remember that He sees everything we do -- and then take a deep breath, leave our coat behind if necessary, and run!
Are we down and out?
Are we up against the wall?
Is nothing going right?
Are we so hopelessly entangled and depressed that we can't see a way out of the mess? Does it look like a sinful action is our only option?
Before we say something we should not say -- or do something we should not do -- remember that God loves us, count our blessings, and then say no!
It's a very simple question: do we know who we are?
Sure, you say, I'm a Christian.
If you know that, you can serve Christ anywhere.

Next week, Joseph is going to meet some interesting people. Hope you will study along with us!

Knowing who we are

We stopped on Monday with the words of I Corinthians 10:13 in our minds; while we all face temptation, God has promised to be with us. Paul says that He will provide a way of escape, if we are willing to take it.
Let's go back to our story....
If we were a member of the Pharaoh's court, we probably would have been acquainted with Potiphar, and we would have seen that lately he'd had a new friend by his side. As the captain of Pharaoh's bodyguards, Potiphar was an honored and respected fellow -- responsible for the safety of the Pharaoh. We would have noticed that everywhere Potiphar went, a handsome young man was at his side: fairly tall, athletic build, but obviously not an Egyptian. This person was not yet twenty, but walked with self confidence and poise. Wherever Potiphar goes, this young man goes.
Father and son?
Nope.
This is Potiphar's new slave, a Hebrew named Joseph. But there seems to be something more here - a friendship that erases the slave/master relationship between them. Potiphar likes Joseph, and Joseph appears to respect his master.
Here is how Moses tells us about it:

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.  (Genesis 39:2-4a)

Potiphar was a shrewd judge of men. He knew that the Lord's hand was upon this young person that he had purchased as a slave. So, he put Joseph in charge of things. He was a wealthy man, and had a large estate -- and he entrusted it all to Joseph:

Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. (Genesis 39:4b-6a)

Potiphar saw that the Lord blessed Joseph, so he put him in a place of responsibility. He wanted some of those blessings on his household and his estate!  (If we counted, there are five times in just four verses that Moses mentions how God was blessing Joseph.)
What's our take-away here? Well, first of all, Potiphar was no dummy. And the lost people we may come in contact are not dummies, either. They are lost in sin, just as we were, but they can still see the hand of God working and blessing a believer's life. Sometimes we act like lost people are truly stupid, and they are not. They truly may be bewildered by our doctrine, and they don't know what we mean by certain "churchy" terms we throw around, but they have eyes. They can see the Lord's work.
Secondly, they can spot a phony several miles away. Potiphar understood that Joseph was different, and he respected him for it. So, he trusted him; in fact, as his estate prospered under Joseph's care, he trusted him more and more.
The next thing we will notice in Joseph's story is something that happens in our own lives, too. We are more likely to be tempted when things are going well. After all, when we are enjoying God's blessings, we often become a little casual, a little bit complacent. We begin to take those lovely blessings for granted.
Oh boy.
Satan loves that! That's exactly when he likes to "hit." When everything is going our way, and we feel like all is well, watch out! Be careful! We must keep our eyes open!

Just then, when Joseph appears to be sitting on top of the world, Potiphar's wife enters the story. As we noted when we studied this "bad girl" of the Bible, we don't even know her name. But we know what she wanted.....check out verse seven:

...and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:7)

Just before verse seven, the tail end of verse six reminds us that Joseph was a handsome guy.  In today's parlance, Potiphar's wife was a "cougar," and she had selected her prey! In the Hebrew we see a wonderful way of expressing things: it says she "lifted up her eyes." Hmmmmm, so she was not only watching him, but making eyes at him! I expect that as she watched, she liked what she saw....he was a strong, confident young man, and perhaps reminded her of how young and strong Potiphar had been when they first met and married. I'm sure that he was required to partake of many rich meals at the Pharaoh's table, so he probably had gained at least a little weight? (Grin)  And maybe those meals had continued late into the night, so she was left alone? The idea of a casual affair appealed to her....
She must have been pretty persistent.....the Bible says that when Joseph said no, she came back again (and again). Maybe she thought she could wear down his resolve. Wonder how he was able to say no?
We see first that he was loyal to his boss.

But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.  (Genesis 39:8-9a)

Then we see that he was loyal to his God:

How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. (Genesis 39:9b-10)

Joseph did the right thing because he knew adultery was wrong. He called a spade a spade, my grandma would say. He called it "wicked" and "a sin against God." These days we tend to rename things to make them sound better. We may say things like "affair" or "fling" or even "making love." We need to be more like Joseph and "tell it like it is." (Grin) We need to be courageous like he was, and not change our convictions about what is right, and what is wrong. Renaming something doesn't change it from wrong to right....
Ahh, Potiphar's wife couldn't stand it. Despite his refusals, she continued to try. And then, finally, she made her move:

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:11-12a)

It's the moment of truth.
Joseph knew that he belonged to God. He was sure of his identity. He knew who he was.
When you know that, it makes the decisions of life easier. Just sayin.
If you belong to God, you can't sleep with your boss's wife. Simple, straightforward. No matter how cute or lonely or anything else she may be.
Joseph didn't mess around.
He didn't flirt with sin.
He just told her no!
He didn't apologize and he didn't worry about hurting her feelings, either.
It's a bit of a cliffhanger, no?
Join us tomorrow!

Prayer requests

Are we always listening for the voice of God?

I pondered this question recently after seeing how remarkable it was for a group of white-tail deer in our pasture to communicate with small noises that could be overlooked. A quick inhale or a sharp exhale, a stomp of a hoof, all of these meant something to the others. They depended on the one who was apparently "on lookout" to let them know if an unsafe situation arose.

How about us?
Are we open to the small signals that God can use to tell us when things are unsafe? Or when we can relax our guard and rest? Are we quick to hear when something is wrong? When we are almost ready to commit a sin?
I think many of us don't set out to disobey God. We just don't listen to Him. We pay no attention to His commands.....perhaps it's the noise of the world, or the hectic pace of our lives. Whatever it is, if we truly love and respect Him, we will follow this rule: "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)  And oh, the shame we feel when we realize that we have not been showing respect and love to our Savior! Perhaps that is how the children of Israel felt:

...and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” (Exodus 20:19)

Why are we humans so scared to have God speak to us? Maybe it's because when God speaks, we either have to do what He asks, or tell Him we won't obey.....if it is simply one of God's servants speaking to us, we may feel "obedience is optional."

Why do we think that it's so hard to know when God is speaking? Yes, it's true, that He seldom speaks right out to us. But there are other ways....
Listening to God means that we must make a choice -- shut out the noise and bustle of the world, and focus our thoughts. David, the king and the man after God's own heart, gave us a model for this:

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,    for I have put my trust in you.Show me the way I should go,    for to you I entrust my life. (Psalm 143:8)

He asked for God's direction in the morning, at the beginning of the day. He wanted to hear from Him before he got into the battles that would come with a new day. Of course, we must find the time of day that works best for us, but morning is a lovely way to start with Him.

Listening to God means that we must read our Bibles regularly, and memorize portions of it, too. Since the Bible is the Word of God, He can use it in our daily lives, to instruct, protect, and guard us. It can comfort us and convict us of sin.  Regular reading and memorization will enable us to hear Him.

Today is our prayer request day......I hope that we will all read and study our Bibles today, as well as spend some time alone with Him in prayer.
If you have a request, won't you leave a comment? We will all join with you in prayer.

OK, now who am I?

We've seen that God has a purpose for our lives....we know why we were born.

Now...... who are we?

Do we have a strong and unshakable sense of who we are?

Let's put this another way...... are we embarrassed to be known as Christians? Or instead, is that an integral, rock-solid part of our identity?
Hmmmmmmm.......
Have I got your attention? (Grin)
The Spirit may mash on some toes this week -- let's dive in!
Recently you would have thought that Tony Dungy, a sportscaster and opinion commentator on a major network, had set fire to the studio he was broadcasting from. The airwaves and social media lit up with people upset and screeching about him. What did he do that was so earth-shattering? So terrible that people would insult and denigrate him?

He merely mentioned that quarterback Nick Foles was a Christian (Tony is an outspoken Christian, too) and that his faith would help him to have confidence going into an important game.

Oy vey.
Yes, the world has come to this. Tolerance? NO!
Prejudice? YES!
Christian-shaming? YES!
Remember back when Tim Tebow caused a stir when he said his true identity didn't come from his vocation? He said, "I'm a Christian who happens to play football."
All three of these well-known people, and many more who I won't take time to list, are rock-solid in who they are.....they are willing to admit that the foundation of their identity is God.
They are not embarrassed to say they are Christians.
Not embarrassed by the barrage of social media snipers. Not embarrassed to thank God publicly.
You see, without God's help, we will never become who we are meant to be. We will really never be sure of where we fit in.
But once we know who we are, we can fit in anywhere...... we can serve Christ anywhere.
Keep that in mind while we turn back to Joseph's story.

Our story begins again in Genesis 39. Joseph has been sold to a wealthy, important Egyptian named Potiphar. What do you think he was thinking as he stood on the auction block? Perhaps he was thinking he was far from home, abandoned by his brothers, and his dad thought he was dead. Dark thoughts. But somehow I don't think that is what Joseph was thinking. Let me explain why I think he was upbeat, positive, content to be where the Lord put him.....
I truly believe that he was true to his faith in God. Look at how many times (in just a few verses!) it is mentioned that the Lord "was with Joseph."

The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. (Genesis 39:2-5)

We get the idea here that God is pleased with Joseph, and is blessing him tremendously. There are four different mentions that God is "with him" and is giving him success, and that the blessing of the Lord was on Potiphar -- because of Joseph. I believe we can see between the lines of Moses' words that Joseph must have been praying, and relying on God, not moping and pouting and wailing, "Woe is me!"
It also sounds like Joseph was a hard worker; to be in charge of the entire household, and entrusting all that Potiphar owned to Joseph's care was a huge responsibility. He probably had his hands full, juggling all of the day to day things that had to be attended to!

And into this busy, God-fearing young man's life steps a woman.
A wily one.
One with seduction on her mind.
So the next part of our story is the tale of a battle against sexual impurity. Potiphar's wife is going to do everything she can to seduce this fine-looking young slave. But we will also see how and why Joseph was able to resist.
C. S. Lewis noted that "no man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good." Whoaaaa. Ain't that the truth! We have no end of trouble resisting temptation on our own.....and then we learn how much we need God's grace, when we try to be good!
Temptation is nothing new. It's the same for us as it was for Eve and Adam. Satan comes to us and tries to tempt us, just as he tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. There are battles raging every day in our own lives, and in the lives of those around us. I saw a good definition of temptation:

Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment, that threatens long-term goals. 

An inner urge to do wrong....because after all, the stimulus may be outside, but the urge to do wrong starts inside of us! We can't blame someone or something else.....no one makes us sin. We do that all on our own.
These words are familiar:

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (I Corinthians 10:13)

We will see that God will provide a way of escape. Might not be easy. In fact, I can guarantee it won't be a bed of roses! But let's stick with Joseph and see what happens; then let's see what we can learn from him.

Friday slowdown

He has a plan.

He means all for our good.

Keep believing!

Discovering why we're here (waiting on God's will)

Alrighty. Back to our story...... In addition to telling his dad (Jacob) about the shenanigans of his brothers, and wearing that special robe, Joseph had two strange dreams.
In the first dream, he and his brothers were gathering bundles of wheat in the fields. When his bundle stood up, the other bundles bowed down before it.
Oh boy. Not sure I would have told anyone about that dream....
Here's the corker -- the second dream is even more easily figured out:

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Genesis 37:9)

When he told this one to the family, the Bible says his brothers "hated him even more," and his dad rebuked him. But then he gave it some serious thought.... (v. 11)
Wow; in four different verses Moses tells us that things were coming to a boil here: verses 4, 5, 8, and 11 all say that the other brothers hated him and were jealous of him. Verse 4 even says they couldn't speak civilly to him!
Gotta stop here and think about how this applies to our lives..... Have we ever felt that the Lord had showed us something and we wanted to share? Perhaps others have been dismissive?
Have we felt a call on our lives, and those closest to us just don't recognize it?
Many a young person, and adults, too, have had to fight through opposition to serve God. Family, friends, it doesn't matter sometimes. Not everyone will applaud our decision to follow Christ. Some will oppose us gently, kindly. Others will oppose us openly, and perhaps criticize us behind our backs. In Joseph's case, his brothers are just about ready to conspire and then commit a crime.

It's that old, green-eyed, slimy, slithery monster. It's envy. Paul warns believers in Hebrews:

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:15)

Before Paul said that, Solomon told us:

A heart at peace gives life to the body,    but envy rots the bones. (Proverbs 14:30)

In Joseph's case, envy will not only cause trouble, but will nearly destroy his whole family.....

Our timeline moves much more quickly now, in Genesis 37. The brothers conspire to kill him -- mock him as he comes across the pasture toward them -- they throw him in one of the nearby pits, though, instead of killing him "right off the bat."
Then we see something that sends chills up our spines: as he is in the pit, they sit down and eat a leisurely meal! Can't you imagine that Joseph is pleading, shouting, yelling in frustration from the bottom of the pit? And there are the brothers, savoring their lunches? What sort of men do this? Are we beginning to see that Joseph was right when he "reported" on them to his dad? How can they hear his cries and not be moved? We see that one brother is moved, though. Judah sees some approaching traders, winding their way along, swaying gently on the backs of their camels, and comes up with a plan. "Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites!" Then the blood is not on their hands.....

So the deal was struck, and the brothers received twenty pieces of silver. They took Joseph's lovely coat, and as the caravan disappeared on the horizon, they dipped it into goat's blood, and took it home to Jacob. "A wild animal killed him," they lied to Jacob. The old man began to grieve.
We see that the traders took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to a man named Potiphar.
What a story!
It's all messed up -- where is God here?
Has He abandoned Joseph?
Nope. Joseph is exactly where the Lord wants him to be! This chain of events must have seemed dark and difficult to Joseph, but it's all leading exactly where God planned.

There are two applications that I think we can make in our own lives. When God has a plan for a believer, He often allows enemies to rise up and put us to the test. In Joseph's case, some of his worst enemies were the people who should have been closest to him: his family. See, this roller coaster ride started with a "little" sin (though there are no "littles" and "bigs" where sin is concerned) of envy. That led to conspiracy, and then violence, and then betrayal, and a horrible lie.  Our Lord Jesus warned us (quoting from the prophet Micah):

 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. (Matthew 10:36)

I guess we should not be surprised when people we thought we could trust turn against us, but I have to admit, I'm always stunned. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, the results can be devastating.
The second application is this: not even our enemies can stop us from doing God's will, and completing His plan, if we are walking with Him. I guess you could call this the other side of the coin. Nothing that the brothers did could cancel God's plans. From Jacob playing favorites, to the strange dreams, to the brothers' evil deeds, there is God -- the creator of the universe -- working His will. I shouldn't do this, but I can't help myself.....we said we were going to act as if we didn't know the end of the story, but I have to say this -- years later, Joseph would speak the truth when he told his repentant brothers:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

Yes, they intended to harm him, and spared his life because they saw the gleam of the traders' silver. It was pure evil. But God knew what was happening. And he knew a lot more besides! So God led him through some rough times, just as He sometimes leads us, too.
It may take us a long time to get a handle on why we are here. We may search for "why was I born?" for quite some time. It took a long time, but Joseph eventually discovered why he was born....

Maybe the best answer to that question is for us to say, "I was born to serve the Lord. Everything else is merely details."
We said before that the hero of Joseph's story wasn't Joseph -- it was God. The whole story shows us how God accomplishes His purposes even when we are clueless about the big picture! That comforts me, does it you?
We'll continue studying Joseph's wild ride next week.

Why we're born

Ready to dive back in to the study of the story of Joseph?
Let's go!
We mentioned last time that Joseph was seventeen, and we noted his illustrious dad and grand-dads. There's other things that we should notice here, concerning his family....

Ever hear the word dysfunctional? It's a popular word today, and gets tossed around by psychologists, talking heads, self-help authors, and more. It conveys a meaning of not working correctly, not within the bounds of what we consider normal.
Well, Joseph definitely grew up in a dysfunctional family: Jacob had FOUR wives; he had eleven sons among those four moms; only one was a full brother to Joseph (Benjamin, the youngest).
Think there could be trouble brewing?
You're right!
On top of all those competing relationships, Joseph was his dad's favorite son, "the son of his old age." Joseph was the first son by Rachel, the woman Jacob always loved. Remember the story of Rachel and Leah, back when we studied women of the Bible? Jacob contracted with Rachel's dad to marry her; he worked for seven years to have that privilege -- and then Laban tricked him into marrying her sister, Leah. So, Jacob worked seven more years to get Rachel, the woman he'd fallen in love with.
So, Joseph was Jacob's son by Rachel, and he was his dad's favorite.
And all of his brothers knew it. This is not rocket science or neurosurgery; we can look at this and SEE that it's a disaster just waiting to happen!

One of our take-aways for today is this: Our backgrounds are no impediment to our service for the Lord. Our histories are not an obstacle for Him.

Let's look at Joseph.....he came from a family that in many ways was "out of the bounds of normal" when it came to relationships. It was not a neat, clean, one man-one woman family. Jealousy, competition, distrust, and envy were the "normal" here. It was not a happy, close-knit family, but God chose Joseph and used him for His glory.
Let's look at ourselves....not many of us come from perfect families, either. Actually, I've come to realize that there is no such thing! We may look from the outside and think we see close relationships and harmony, but the opposite may be the reality. The world is a messed up kind of place, and sometimes our families are messed up too. Why? Because the human heart is the most messed up of all. Our Bible tells us the truth about the human condition: the Bible says we are all sinners; it says we are all separated from God and dead in our sins; it says we are unable to help ourselves.

See how relevant the gospel is to our world today? It's not like the self help books that say, "You're OK just like you are." Or, "just try harder and you will end up OK." The gospel says:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

Ever remember what comes right before that? The last part of verse 22 is:

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.....

Oh boy.
No difference between Jew and Gentile; or rich and poor; or religious and pagan; or young and old; or criminal and clergy...... we are all in the same boat. We are all sinners. Broken, messed up people. Some of us know this, and some don't.
But.......why was I born? Why were any of us born?
Joseph's story is going to help us.
If you can relate to Joseph, this story is for you.
Are you from a broken, dysfunctional home? This story is for you.
Do you have trouble getting along with your siblings? This story is for you.
If your friends lied to you, or if you have done jail time, this story is for you, too.
If your family and friends don't understand you, this story is for you.

We're going to see that Joseph's story is just like ours -- it's a story of God unfolding and revealing His will a little at a time, until suddenly it's clear why we are here!
So, how did God's will unfold for Joseph? At the beginning of what we have divided into the 37th chapter of Genesis, Joseph is a shepherd along with his brothers in Canaan. By the end of the chapter he's a slave in Egypt! Wow! That HAS TO, GOTTA BE, DEFINITELY IS a turn in the wrong direction, don'cha think?
Psssst! Nope!
God has plans for Joseph......and he has to be in Egypt for those plans to be completed.
Let's see the steps in the timeline....
The seventeen-year old is a shepherd along with his brothers. But different from his brothers, he has a firmly held set of values. Look at this portion of verse 2:

.....his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

We can see that Joseph reported to his dad the things that he saw and heard. Tattle-tale? Maybe. A help to his dad, when some of his sons were not behaving well or honestly? Yup.
Also, he was marked as special at an early age.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

This coat, or robe, has been hotly debated at times. Some say "many colors" and others say it was probably embroidered richly, and may have had long sleeves, like the sort of robe a son of a king might wear. Another topic of debate is whether or not Jacob was doing the right thing by giving this rich gift to his favorite son, and kind of celebrating his favoritism. But as a parent, I'm going to be the first one to admit that kids don't come with instruction books, so we make mistakes!
So when Joseph wears the robe, the robe sort of shouts, "My dad thinks I'm special!" And he also can't work in the fields very easily with those long sleeves.....

All in all, we have a simmering pot of meanness here, in the hearts of his brothers, and we'll see how things go tomorrow.

Verses that inspire

Sometimes as we read our Bibles and ask the Spirit to guide us, we have an experience that is like finding a gate that is unlocked (we thought it was locked) and putting our hand on it, pushing it open and walking through.....

Anyone nodding their head here?

Recently someone asked me to pray with them. They were facing what seemed to be insurmountable obstacles, and running out of strength. As I prayed, my Bible opened to the prophet Zechariah, and the Lord's words about the city of Jerusalem.

And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’ (Zechariah 2:5)

I hope I won't be sacrilegious, but what if we take His words for Jerusalem, and apply them to ourselves, as believers, and as vessels in which the Lord lives each and every day?
Let's apply it to ourselves as women of God:

And I myself will be a wall of fire around her, declares the Lord, and I will be her glory within.

Obviously, I've changed the text, so I'm not highlighting it the way I usually do our verses.
But what an eye-opener!
What a blessing!
In other passages, He has promised to guard and protect us, and to live within us. Paul said that we don't glory in anything we've done, but only in what Christ does.
So I think those changes are OK.
And it really brings it home....makes a mental picture of the loving protection of God much more vivid.

Go your way today, child of God! There is a wall of fire around you to protect you! And God is your glory, within you!
Amen!

We're here...... why?

Have we figured out why God put us on planet earth? All joking aside, that's an important thing to think about.
Our birth date is the day that we join billions of other peeps living on this beautiful creation of almighty God. The day that we figure out "why we were born" is another super important day....
In other words, what is our purpose here?
What was each one of us born to do?
Kinda deep question, huh?
Maybe you've thought about it, and you feel you were born to be a mom or dad (yes, some of the guys look here sometimes!).
Maybe one of us feels she was born to be a Sunday school teacher.
Maybe born to help the homeless.
Maybe born to teach a second language to new citizens.
It's an interesting question, and it boils down to this: what does God want us to do, with these lives that He has blessed us with?

Many people claim Proverbs 3:5-6 as their own..... they promise that if we will trust in the Lord, He will make our way straight, or direct our paths, according to which translation you read:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart    and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,    and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Many of us have personal knowledge of how God can guide us. Many of us have experienced His guiding hand and His working in our lives.... He can put us exactly where we need to be. He can arrange all of the details years in advance! He can open doors that seem shut tightly, and He can move any obstacles in our path.
He can even take our choices and fit them into His plan, so that we end up at the right place, and at the right time. Along the way, He can take our mistakes and the mistakes of others, and bring good out of them -- He can even take tragedy and use it both for our own good, and for His glory, too.

Yes, we serve an awesome God!
That's why this verse is lived out in believers' lives:

In their hearts humans plan their course,    but the Lord establishes their steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

Some people find their "calling" early. Some people find it later in life. It's a fact that often other people can see it before we do.  And sometimes, it's our circumstances that reveal it to us.
So, back to our story.....this is the tale of Joseph, son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and great-grandson of Abraham, and Genesis introduces him to us like this:

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. (Genesis 37:1-2)

OK, so first we see that Joseph is a teenager. Remember back when you were a teenager? Perhaps you worked in a family business, too, as Joseph did.  And I bet (like we said before) that if we'd asked Joseph about his own future, he would not have had a clue! He might have said, "Well, I'm going to be a shepherd and keep flocks of animals like my dad, granddad, and great-granddad."  After all, staying in the family business is not a bad thing..... he has not yet "discovered" what God's will for his life will be. Or, should we say, God's will has not yet discovered him -- sometimes we don't find God's will; sometimes it finds us!
Yes, God actually does have a blueprint for our lives. He has a plan. A purpose. But I haven't heard yet of any way that we can get a copy of it.....God's will is revealed to us a little bit at a time.

When you were little, did you make a shoebox movie palace? Let me explain.....we used to take a long piece of paper and roll it in from both sides, after we'd decorated with our crayons. It became a scroll, then, and we made slits on both sides of the box to allow the paper to pass through. As we unrolled the scroll from one side, and rolled it up on the other, a little story could be seen:

Well, that is kinda like how God's will is revealed to us.

And that is how it was revealed to Joseph....right now he is Jacob's favorite son. (Don't look now, but that is going to cause some major problems soon.)
He will be betrayed and sold into slavery.
He will end up being purchased by Potiphar and earn his trust, becoming his "right-hand-man."
Then he will be falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, and be thrown in jail.
He'll meet two people in jail who will swear to help him, but won't.
Then he will stand before Pharaoh and interpret Pharaoh's dream.
He'll become Pharaoh's "right-hand-man" then, and be prime minister.
Then his brothers will come to Egypt and not recognize him, but he will give them a home.

What a roller coaster!
I have a feeling there's a lot for us to learn here.....hope you will join me this week.