Day 16: Gen 42:24 - 44:34

In this part of the story we learn a very important lesson about trust and forgiveness. Alot of times, people seem to think that if you forgive someone, you're just supposed to begin trusting them whole heartedly without even thinking about it. But I think this story shows us that that isn't how it should be done. It's difficult to say for sure what I would've done if I were in Joseph's shoes, but I probably would've ended up putting all of the older brothers in prison and forgetting about them. But we see here how wise Joseph really was. There are alot of people out there who probably would've gone ahead and forgiven all of the brothers and just assumed that they will magically be faithful without first making sure, but although Joseph had already forgiven his brothers, he needed to make sure that he could trust them again. This is a very important and practical lesson for us to learn. We've all had people in our lives who have done things to hurt us, and although we absolutely need to forgive them, we should also learn a lesson from Joseph and make sure that they've changed and matured before we just patch everything up and go on like nothing had ever happened. It has always been and will always be God's will for us to forgive others, but He also wants us to be smart and not foolishly put ourselves into positions where we can end up getting hurt again. God gave Joseph a wonderful plan to search the hearts of his older brothers and, fortunately for everyone, he was able to determine that they had matured.

- Lord help me to walk each and every day with Your wisdom. Help me to not just walk around with my heart on my sleeve waiting for someone to hurt me, but help me to be smart and careful about the relationships I build. And help me to be strong enough to forgive others even when they don't deserve it and even when they haven't changed. You've forgiven us and given us mercy when we never could have possibly deserved it, so the least we can do is pass it on to others. - 

Day 15: Gen 40:23 - 42:23

It's so amazing to see how despite the devil's best efforts, Joseph was still able to accomplish what God wanted. One of the most irritating parts of this story is the part where the cupbearer suddenly forgets all about Joseph and all that he did for him. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Joseph to go two whole years sitting in that prison wondering if that cupbearer ever even remembered who he was. But God knew exactly what was going on. And even though the Devil tried to get the cupbearer to forget, the Pharaoh's dream and his difficulty having it interpreted was just enough to jog his memory. 

Now we are starting to see God's amazing plan. If Joseph hadn't been in Egypt stockpiling all of that food, Jacob wouldn't have been able to send his sons down there to get food during the famine and the entire family would've died. Not only did Joseph provide a way to save the lives of all of those Egyptian people, but he was also responsible for preserving the early beginnings of the Israelite nation. It's just incredible to see how God works!

- Lord, thank You for being faithful regardless of what the devil or other people try to do to us. Thank You for reminding us that even when it looks like all hope is lost and our one chance for survival has disappeared, You haven't disappeared and You'll always be there waiting. Thank you for always providing a way for us to live out the plan that You have for our lives. - 

Day 14: Gen 37:23 - 40:22

It's hard to say whether or not I think it was necessarily God's will for so many bad things to happen to Joseph in the first part of his life, but I think to dwell on that matter is just a waste of time that many people fall into. Instead of worry about whether or not it was God's will for some unforeseen tragedy to happen in our lives, maybe we should put our focus more on what God can make happen as a result of that tragedy. I guarantee if Joseph would've gotten stuck in a rut worrying about, "Why would God let something like this happen to me?" he would've never gotten to place God wanted him to be.

The story of Judah and Tamar is a little difficult to understand and really get a good grasp on because of the fact that alot of it deals with the custom of the day, of which I have no clue. The one thing I can get from the story is this: dishonesty, though it may eventually make things turn out the way you wanted, is never in Gods will. Although it may solve problems now, it will always cause even more problems than before. Elementary ethics 101.

The biggest thread we can see in the story of Joseph is integrity. It didn't matter what was happening to him or around him he always carried himself will a level of integrity that couldn't help but propel him to the top of whatever situation he was in. Whether he was fighting off the lustful wife of his boss or interpreting dreams in prison, he did everything with integrity.

- Lord, help me to see past the bad things that have happened or are happening in my life right now and give me the vision to see how You will turn those situations around. And help me to live my life with the utmost levels of honesty and integrity. Though in our society, those two ideals have all but vanished, I know that you have called me to a life of honesty and integrity and if I will stay true to that, there's no telling what I'll be able to accomplish for You. -

Day 13: Gen 35:1 - 37:22

The first part of this passage has a very nice feeling to it. I love it when God sends us back to where we first began to remind us of how far we've come. Just as I talked about a few days ago when we first read of Jacob setting up a memorial, we see here the importance of remembering where it all began. And it's wonderful to learn that after Jacob obeyed God and went back to visit the place where it all began, God reinforced the blessing that He had originally given Jacob.

Yet another entire chapter of genealogy, and God was still able to show me a little something. You know, I normally don't think about the fact that God promised to make Abraham the father of many nations as much as just being the father of the nation of Israel, but we can see in this chapter that even before the Bible mentions Joseph or his struggles or before we ever learn of the Children of Israel and their long journey out of Egypt, we see that God has already made good on His promise. We see that when God makes a promise, He doesn't just do it halfway, He goes all out.

Starting into the story of Joseph, we see how costly big dreams can be, and yet by the end of the story of Joseph, I know that we'll also see how monumentally rewarding they can be. It's so easy for some people to turn off the big dreams that God has given them for fear that it might be too hard or too costly, but we must always remember that the higher the cost, the greater the reward. Just think, if Joseph had just ignored those incredible dreams that God gave him, his brothers probably wouldn't have hated him as much. That means they probably wouldn't have thrown him in the well when he came to visit them, which means he would've never made it to Egypt and so forth and so on. The entire history of the Children of Israel was made possible because one kid had the guts to dream and dream big.

- Father, let me never forget the days where it all started. Help me not take for granted the times when things were just starting to pick up, and refresh the blessing within me whenever I go back to those places. Thank You for never doing anything half-way, but for always making good on each and every promise no matter how big or small. And give me the strength and the courage to dream big and not be afraid of what others will think. I'm sure Joseph didn't think that his dreams would eventually lead to him rescuing the nation of Israel, but he was faithful to the gift You gave him. Help me to stay faithful to dreams you've put in my heart no matter what the cost because I know that whatever it costs now is no comparison to what it will be worth in the end. - 

Day 12 Gen: 32:1 - 34:31

Not many people can say that they physically wrestled with God, but Jacob sure can. This story is such a great of the fact that God honors our perseverance. It's so much easier to just ask God once or something and then get upset when we don't get it, but we can see in this passage that God appreciated the fact that Jacob wasn't willing to just give up and walk away. We need to learn to build up our faith my sticking with it and fighting it out, not letting go until we've gotten our blessing.

It always makes you feel good to read  stories that have a happy ending and the story of Jacob and Esau is one of those stories. Esau had ever right to be upset with Jacob and ready to attack him and everything he had, but instead Esau welcomed Jacob with open arms letting him know that he was completely forgiven of what he had done in the past. Once again, we see a picture of Sweet Redemption!

Chapter 34 can sometimes be a tough one to deal with. It's so easy to read this story and think of how I would feel and think that Israel's sons were completely justified in what they did, but the fact is that Vengeance is the Lord's. how many times have we had something wrong done to us or someone we love and decided to take it upon ourselves to "take care of it"? It's not our job to retaliate, it's our job to give it up to God and let Him take care of it His way.

- Father give me the strength to stick with it and not give up on the call that You've placed on my life. Help me to fight as long as it takes until I've gotten what was promised to me. And please help me to forgive anyone that I still hold a grudge against in my heart. Your word says that if we don't forgive others, that You can't forgive us, and I know that I definitely am in need of forgiveness every once and again. And I pray that You please help me remember that Vengeance is Yours. You are the only holy and just One and You are the only One to be trusted to deal rightly with those who have hurt Your children. - 

Day 11: Gen 30:21 - 31:55

To be honest, this part of chapter 30 has always bothered me a little bit. I've never really been able to tell if this is in the Bible to show what a great idea God gave Jacob or if it's in there to show us how dishonest Jacob was. I suppose this isn't anywhere near as bad as Laban promising Jacob a certain wife and then switching them though. Nonetheless, I think what I  get from this passage is that even when Laban didn't want to help Jacob out, God gave him a clever idea of how to make a deal and come out on top. Sometimes it's easy to think that God only gives us these high and lofty spiritual ideas, but he really does help us out with the day to day tasks if we'll just trust in Him

- Lord, help me to remember that You're there not only to help us with getting people saved or changing the world, but You also know how to give us clever ideas and show us simple solutions to life's problems. Help me to keep my eyes on you and remember that You want to help us through life, no matter how menial the task may be. -

Day 10: Gen 27:46 - 30:20

In the story of Jacob's ladder, we learn a very important principle about setting up memorials. It's easy sometimes to hear God tell us to do something or give us a blessing and get so wrapped up in what's about to happen that we end up forgetting where it all started. I think it's important though, to always put some sort of book mark in our lives to remind us of the times when God was first commissioning us to go out and do what He said. For example, right now in my life, I'm in the process of being a big part of starting the church that I believe God has called us to start. It would be very easy for me to totally forget about the last 2 years of meeting in people's houses and only look towards my goals and dreams, but I think it's important to never despise the day of small beginnings because they always serve to remind us of how far God can take us and how much farther He will take us.

Jacob is a wonderful example of a man who didn't settle. It's such a crazy thing to imagine that he worked for seven long years to marry Rachel only to end up getting ripped off by Laban and getting stuck with the old sister who had "nice eyes." Jacob could've easily just given up and gotten tired and decided to just go with Leah, but instead he agreed to work another seven years just so he could marry the woman of his dreams. We need to remember that if God has put a call on our lives, the devil will do everything he can to get us to settle for something that may be good, but probably isn't best. Something I heard a few years ago that has always stuck with me is that Good is always the worst enemy of Best. So we should never settle for good if God has promised us the best.

 - Dear God, I want to be faithful to always set up memorials for you. Help me to never take for granted the days when I was wandering in the wilderness searching out the thing that You've called me to do. I know that never again will I be in this place in my life, and I don't want to find myself sometime from now trying to remember how it all started. And please give me the strength to hold on to the things that you've called me to even when the world is offering me the cheap imitations. I know if I will just stick with it and stay the course that I will achieve all You've called me to do. -