This is my last post. I have decided there are so many other people who can write and do such a good job of it, you don’t need my blogs. I have truly enjoyed writing these blogs, it has been the best part of my days but I don’t want people to feel obligated to read them and I haven’t had the response that I had hoped for so I decided it was time to say goodbye to the blog page. I could not leave without finishing the story of Joseph.
In Genesis 43 the brothers make the second trip to Egypt and bring their brother Benjamin. Joseph has them come to his home and serves them all a meal. In chapter 44 when a silver cup is planted in Benjamin’s sack and he is accused of stealing it. Judah pleads with Joseph not to take Benjamin as a slave but to take him instead as he had promised his father that he would keep Benjamin safe. At that point, Chapter 45, Joseph revealed himself and his brothers were terrified.
Genesis 45:5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. Joseph tells them this but they do not really believe it because in Chapter 50, after the death of their father, they make up another lie and tell Joseph that their father asked him to forgive his brothers. Now, don’t you think if that is what his father had said he would have told Joseph himself? Joseph knew this was not true but he also knew that his Heavenly Father had a plan for him and it was because of that plan that he was in Egypt. He said in Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Has anyone done something to you, intending to harm you? I know I feel that way and I haven’t always responded the way Joseph did. Although we might want sweet revenge, in actuality the only thing that is sweet is forgiveness. God will take care of the rest. Joseph knew this and he had forgiven his brothers long before revealing himself to them.
Joseph was granted the opportunity to take his father’s remains back his father’s homeland but he himself would never live in that land again. Joseph died in Egypt and his body was carried out of that land when the Israelites fled Egypt with Moses leading them. He had requested this in Genesis 50:25 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.’ Joseph made the best of his situation but he was never really comfortable there, he always wanted to go home.
Are you comfortable in your situation? I know that I am not and yet we have to keep going because God is in control. Maybe you are too comfortable and you do not see God’s hand in your life. Be sure to always remember that God is the one that makes all things possible. It is not us or our abilities that make things happen for God is the one that has given us our gifts, talents, and abilities. Joseph never forgot that and that is why he could be so confident in all situations and that is also why God blessed him but remember in those blessings he also had pain.
Thank you to all who read my blog. I hope it was somewhat of a blessing to you as it was to me. I hope that you will continue to seek God with all your hearts.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Rules
Rules, rules were made for a reason. Have you ever heard that? Have you always liked hearing that? Maybe you have said it a time or two yourself. Have you ever broken those rules? Have you always agreed with the rule maker? When was the last time you complained about rules? Maybe when you were driving down the highway and wanting to get somewhere a little faster than the rules said you could get there? Maybe when someone changed the rules mid-stream and caught you off guard? Have you ever been accused of bending the rules? What exactly does that mean? Driving 66 in a 65 would that be bending the rules?
When was the first rule broken? If you said in Genesis, you are correct. Adam was instructed by God to not eat of the tree in the middle of the Garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9 and 16-17). The scripture goes on to say that God then decided to make a helper for Adam which He did and her name was Eve. Now I am sure that Adam must have instructed her not to even touch the tree as you see she is talking with the serpent who is tempting her in Genesis 3:3b “and you must not touch it, or you will die.” I figure that Adam had probably decided that he should tell her not to touch it because if she did touch it she would want to eat it. Back to children, have you ever told one not to even go near the cookie jar? Don’t touch it or you will be tempted to eat? Maybe you have told yourself that. Anyway, she touched and noting happened so she took it to Adam and served it to him and he, knowing what God had told him ate it anyway. Even in a perfect world, the Garden of Eden, there was a rule, and even in that setting, the one and only rule was broken and so mankind was broken.
Since the beginning of time there were rules. Rules help us maintain order, they are there for a reason and sometimes the reason is very good and other times the reasons are selfish and unrighteous but what does God say about the rulers placed before us. Looking in Nehemiah 9:37 - 38 we discover that God placed rulers over the Israelites and that these Kings gathered an abundant harvest due to the sins of the Israelites. In verse 34 it says “Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.” All of this while the Israelites are enslaved. Why do you think God blessed those who were against Him? It is rather simple but complex. Verse 37 says it was because of the sins of the Israelites. God wanted to draw them back to Himself but He first had do show them where they were wrong. It doesn’t seem fair that others are reaping the goodness of God when His chosen people are suffering but that is exactly what was happening. All of this in order to bring them back to Him and it did change their hearts. Their sin was revealed and they made an oath to follow the Laws of God (verse 29) which didn’t last as long as it should have. Have you made a promise to God that didn’t last long? They did have a leader though in Nehemiah who called them on their shortcomings, you can read about that in Nehemiah 13.
At this time our country is struggling. Everyone is blaming the other person, we all seem to think we have the right answer and know just what we need to do. God’s word tells us exactly what we should do, it can be found in II Chronicles 7:14 “if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” Although this was originally written for the Israelites we need to remember that we are His people now too. If you are called by His Name you are His. Our country is going rapidly downhill because we are not humbling ourselves, we are not seeking His face, we, not as a country but as followers of Christ. If we can’t even humble ourselves within our churches how do we expect that God will heal our land? If we don’t take the time to seek His face why do we expect Him to take care of our country? What are our sins that are causing our county to go in a spiral downhill? I trust you will seek Him and find Him and will humble yourselves and pray because He will forgive our sins and heal our land.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
When was the first rule broken? If you said in Genesis, you are correct. Adam was instructed by God to not eat of the tree in the middle of the Garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9 and 16-17). The scripture goes on to say that God then decided to make a helper for Adam which He did and her name was Eve. Now I am sure that Adam must have instructed her not to even touch the tree as you see she is talking with the serpent who is tempting her in Genesis 3:3b “and you must not touch it, or you will die.” I figure that Adam had probably decided that he should tell her not to touch it because if she did touch it she would want to eat it. Back to children, have you ever told one not to even go near the cookie jar? Don’t touch it or you will be tempted to eat? Maybe you have told yourself that. Anyway, she touched and noting happened so she took it to Adam and served it to him and he, knowing what God had told him ate it anyway. Even in a perfect world, the Garden of Eden, there was a rule, and even in that setting, the one and only rule was broken and so mankind was broken.
Since the beginning of time there were rules. Rules help us maintain order, they are there for a reason and sometimes the reason is very good and other times the reasons are selfish and unrighteous but what does God say about the rulers placed before us. Looking in Nehemiah 9:37 - 38 we discover that God placed rulers over the Israelites and that these Kings gathered an abundant harvest due to the sins of the Israelites. In verse 34 it says “Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.” All of this while the Israelites are enslaved. Why do you think God blessed those who were against Him? It is rather simple but complex. Verse 37 says it was because of the sins of the Israelites. God wanted to draw them back to Himself but He first had do show them where they were wrong. It doesn’t seem fair that others are reaping the goodness of God when His chosen people are suffering but that is exactly what was happening. All of this in order to bring them back to Him and it did change their hearts. Their sin was revealed and they made an oath to follow the Laws of God (verse 29) which didn’t last as long as it should have. Have you made a promise to God that didn’t last long? They did have a leader though in Nehemiah who called them on their shortcomings, you can read about that in Nehemiah 13.
At this time our country is struggling. Everyone is blaming the other person, we all seem to think we have the right answer and know just what we need to do. God’s word tells us exactly what we should do, it can be found in II Chronicles 7:14 “if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” Although this was originally written for the Israelites we need to remember that we are His people now too. If you are called by His Name you are His. Our country is going rapidly downhill because we are not humbling ourselves, we are not seeking His face, we, not as a country but as followers of Christ. If we can’t even humble ourselves within our churches how do we expect that God will heal our land? If we don’t take the time to seek His face why do we expect Him to take care of our country? What are our sins that are causing our county to go in a spiral downhill? I trust you will seek Him and find Him and will humble yourselves and pray because He will forgive our sins and heal our land.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Are you stiff-necked or grateful?
Nehemiah 9:15
"In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock: you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them."
Last time I wrote I talked of God's provisions. Now, let's look at how the Israelites responded to those provisions.
Nehemiah 9:16-17a
“But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery.”
Wow, God had provided all those years for them but they still had a tough time in the trust department. Have you ever had difficulty with the trust? Last time I wrote I asked readers to respond to God’s provisions. Although I didn’t get any comments back, I hope that you at least thought about God’s provisions in your life. If not, take a moment to write them down or at least think about them. Now, think about your response to those provisions. Do you take them for granted? Are you thankful each day for them? Have you gone so far to step out of your comfort zone and see what God has planned for you? Or, are you being stiff-necked because you aren’t getting your way, in your time, and how you had it planned? I for one find myself more like the Israelites, complaining, moping, and even being a little stiff-necked. I forget about the past provisions and only think about what I don’t or won’t have rather than what I do have. If you are like me, there is hope for both of us as we look at the next characteristics God.
Nehemiah 9:17b -18
“But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, “This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies. “
God displayed His patience with these people beyond measure and He will do the same for you and me. Remember to thank Him today for the provisions He has given you and let Him know that you trust Him to continue to provide for your future. If you have become stiff-necked or doubtful, ask Him to forgive you as He is a forgiving God.
I am so grateful to know a God who is patient with me and forgives me each and every time that I fail Him. Next time we will look at the patience God displayed to Moses. If you have some time today, read Exodus 3 and we will discuss it later. Seek Him with all your hearts as you read through this passage and be blessed.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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