Are You Ready to Forgive?

~~~ Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7A, 17-24A ~~~

~~~Psalm 33 ~~~ Matthew 10:1-7 ~~~

Joseph forgives his brothers for dumping him in the well..

leaving him to die...lying to their parents.

On the third day Joseph said to his brothers:

“Do this, and you shall live; for I am a God-fearing man.

Joseph recognized his brothers right away 

when they came for their portion of the grain.

Since he spoke to them through an interpreter, 

they did not know it was Joseph.

Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Joseph grew into a man of God...a man with compassion in his heart...

a man ready to forgive past offenses.

Many times forgiving family members

 is the most difficult thing to practice.

Forgiving family members mean you must put aside

 your expectations for their behavior.

You must overlook their selfish ways, their rude comments,

their cruel actions toward you.

How was Joseph able to look upon his brothers

with compassion and not utter disgust?

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;

the design of his heart, through all generations.

Ultimately it was the plan of God.

Joseph was to save his family;

just as Jesus came to save his family us.

In so many ways we are not 

much different than those brothers.

They thought they were rid of Joseph for the rest of their life.

How often do you do the same?

How often do you walk away from God

 thinking you are rid of him?

Because God is loving, compassionate, and forgiving

does not mean that we may act however we wish.

Jesus sends out the twelve apostles to find us.

We are the lost sheep.

We are the ones who too often 

put ourselves into the well

without realizing what we are doing.

Yes, you read that correctly...

we put ourselves into the well when we turn our back on God.

Jacob was rescued from the well because he was

 to be the one to save his family from starvation.

You are a part of God's plan.

It does not matter how many obstacles you erect...

or how detours you take.

It is by God's grace that his plan takes form.

The Blessings you receive today

are a part of God's plan tomorrow.

~~~Peace~~~

The 'Set Up'

~~~ 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51~~~ Psalm 144 ~~~ Mark 3:1-6 ~~~

“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”

Jesus heals the withered hand of the man in the sight of all.
Jesus wanted the people to see the man's crippled hand
so that they would be able to witness to his healing.

It is ironic how much emphasis
is put on the details of keeping the Sabbath holy.

Is it really possible to go through the motions
 of being holy while harboring something very different in your heart?
Certainly God is not concerned with how
we demonstrate the practice of keeping holy the Sabbath.
We often get so caught up in the rubrics of prayer
 that it becomes an empty shell.
Prayer void of the heart is like a candle without its flame.

How much better is it to do good on the Sabbath
 rather than to 'show' with our actions how well
 we keep the Sabbath.

When we just keep the laws the true spirit of the Lord is lost.
What Jesus went about doing as he walked from
 town to town was revolutionary,
but when he did these things on the Sabbath
 it was horrific to the elders. 

He defied all that they held sacred
causing them to band together to plot his demise...his death.

They were the authority...they decided how the Sabbath
 was to be observed, not this outsider.

Just who did Jesus think he was?...

It is human nature to resist change much less radical change.
Jesus proposed 'radical' change.
His change was met with equal resistance.
The only way to stop Jesus,
so they thought, was to completely remove
him from the picture.

As we know, they grossly miss calculated his influence.

Their little scheme...their planned set up...
did not stop Jesus from getting his message to us.

Today we are Blessed
 because the plot to stop Jesus failed.
Even though they did kill him
his purpose; to do the will of the Father,
was accomplished.

Some plans are not meant to be effective in the end.

Do your plans align with God's plan for you?
His divine 'set up' will bring peace and blessings.

We pray for those who, for whatever reason,
are not able to follow God's plan in their life.
Peace.

A Child's Offering

~~~ Acts 5: 34-42 ~~~ Psalm 27 ~~~ John 6: 1-15 ~~~

One of the Pharisees speaks up on behalf of the apostles; stopping their execution. He is thinking, as in the past, the whole movement would soon blow over. They were just to be patient and wait. If they thought this nonsense was just of men then it would soon die a normal death...lack of interest. They foolishly thought this was just a fad and would pass. The apostles gladly accepted the flogging sentence and again ignored the demand to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Of course they did not comply.

The apostles held tightly to the words of Psalm 27...

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; of whom should I fear?”

“...I seek to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

They believed these words and it was evident through their actions.

They were so confident in their faith that they nearly mocked the ruling Sanhedrin to their faces. You should be very careful if you ever find yourself in contradiction with the will of God. Fighting against God is not a pretty site. Fighting against God just leaves you empty, alone, and often bitter.

It is far better to be like little children and trust in God’s plan.

Nothing is ever wasted with God. Whatever you bring before God he will use and in fact he will multiply it many times over. Do not ever feel as if you have nothing to offer God.

Remember he fed five thousand with a child’s offering of ‘five barley loaves and only two fish.’ Jesus always gives thanks to the Father first. I think that is the clue to abundance...giving thanks first. Jesus does not worry that the meager offering will insufficient...he gives thanks for the offering that it is.

Come without money...come to the table of the Lord...there will be leftovers.

 Even the smallest fragments together create abundance.

Give to God whatever you have no matter how small or seemingly insignificant

he can and will put it to good use.

The offering of a child was enough to feed five thousand...

How encouraging is that?