THE STORY, Chapter 4
Exodus 1-7, 10-14
Deliverance
God's Anger
Moses said, "Lord, please send someone else." . . . .Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses. Exodus 4:13-14
Reflection
When God called Moses at the burning bush, he was reluctant to do what God asked. He made excuses and tried to get out of the call to lead his people out of Egypt. Rather than gentle encouragement we learn that Yahweh "burned with anger."
God cares about hurting, oppressed, and disadvantaged people and he calls on believers to intervene on their behalf. If we say no, our "no" is not a small deal to God. God doesn't just ask, He expects us to be "our brother's keeper."
To what call of God on your life have you said no? Will you repent and say yes?
Prayer
“Lord, forgive me for resisting your call on me to (fill in the blank) ________________________________. Show me my next step in following you and with your help I will take it. In Christ's name. Amen."
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
THE STORY, Chapter 4
Exodus 1-7, 10-14
Deliverance
YHWH
“I AM WHO I AM . . . .say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' . . .this is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." Exodus 3:14-15(NIV)
Reflection
Elohim is the Hebrew word for the creator God in Genesis 1. YHWH (Hebrew has no vowels) is rendered “the Lord” in the Bible beginning in Genesis 2 and now God reveals himself to Moses also as YHWH. We pronounce this name Yaweh as a guess. This is the aspect of God who is personal, who intervenes, who is active in history and in your life. Jehovah is another way to say YHWH. When a Hebrew would read the Bible the name YHWH was too holy to pronounce, therefore they would say “adonai” (the secular term for ‘lord’). The name Jehovah comes from misapplying the vowels of adonai to YHWH.
With this history in mind we learn that the Names of God were intended to be revered and honored as indeed they were.
May I suggest that none of us ever use the Lord’s name in vain, speaking the name of God or Jesus or Christ only in the most reverent and respectful of ways?
Prayer
“Lord, I will not only honor your name today with my lips, I will seek to live, speak and act so that others may sense that my life is one which is about honoring God. For this, Lord, I ask your help. Amen."
Exodus 1-7, 10-14
Deliverance
YHWH
“I AM WHO I AM . . . .say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' . . .this is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." Exodus 3:14-15(NIV)
Reflection
Elohim is the Hebrew word for the creator God in Genesis 1. YHWH (Hebrew has no vowels) is rendered “the Lord” in the Bible beginning in Genesis 2 and now God reveals himself to Moses also as YHWH. We pronounce this name Yaweh as a guess. This is the aspect of God who is personal, who intervenes, who is active in history and in your life. Jehovah is another way to say YHWH. When a Hebrew would read the Bible the name YHWH was too holy to pronounce, therefore they would say “adonai” (the secular term for ‘lord’). The name Jehovah comes from misapplying the vowels of adonai to YHWH.
With this history in mind we learn that the Names of God were intended to be revered and honored as indeed they were.
May I suggest that none of us ever use the Lord’s name in vain, speaking the name of God or Jesus or Christ only in the most reverent and respectful of ways?
Prayer
“Lord, I will not only honor your name today with my lips, I will seek to live, speak and act so that others may sense that my life is one which is about honoring God. For this, Lord, I ask your help. Amen."
Friday, October 7, 2011
THE STORY, Chapter 3
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
Never Forget this Passage
"Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now." Genesis 50:20
What It Means
Jospeh's brothers intended to banish him from their world. First they were going to kill him, but then his brother Reuben intervened. They sold him into slavery and that ended it. Their brother was out of their lives. Decades later a drought drove his brothers to Egypt looking for food. Joseph, now second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, is able to speak the above words to his brothers. God had used his brothers' evil intent toward Joseph to save their very lives. Incredible.
God is doing this at every moment in all places on planet earth. Without this kind of constant intervening, turning evil plans on their head and using them for good, humanity would destroy itself.
And thank God for those who, like Joseph, consciously and intentionally arrange their lives around God's plans for and through them. Is that you?
Prayer
"Lord, please help me to view all misdeeds done to me by others as raw material for you to use to bring about good. And Lord, as I choose to believe this, help me to be among the Josephs of the world whom you use to heal the world. Amen"
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
Never Forget this Passage
"Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now." Genesis 50:20
What It Means
Jospeh's brothers intended to banish him from their world. First they were going to kill him, but then his brother Reuben intervened. They sold him into slavery and that ended it. Their brother was out of their lives. Decades later a drought drove his brothers to Egypt looking for food. Joseph, now second only to Pharaoh in Egypt, is able to speak the above words to his brothers. God had used his brothers' evil intent toward Joseph to save their very lives. Incredible.
God is doing this at every moment in all places on planet earth. Without this kind of constant intervening, turning evil plans on their head and using them for good, humanity would destroy itself.
And thank God for those who, like Joseph, consciously and intentionally arrange their lives around God's plans for and through them. Is that you?
Prayer
"Lord, please help me to view all misdeeds done to me by others as raw material for you to use to bring about good. And Lord, as I choose to believe this, help me to be among the Josephs of the world whom you use to heal the world. Amen"
Thursday, October 6, 2011
THE STORY, Chapter 3
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
Jesus in Genesis
“You are a lion's cub, O Judah . . . The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." Genesis 49:8-10(NIV)
Jesus is Right Now Ruling Earth
The Lion is the “king of beasts” (This passage is the reason that the Jesus figure in the Chronicles of Narnia is a lion). Furthermore, a scepter is the property of Kings. The big picture of the Bible is that God in Jesus Christ created the universe and He is currently ruling over it. The above passage is one of many Old Testament references to this big picture. Jesus is a descendent of Abraham through his grandson, Judah, the brother of Joseph and one of Jacob’s 12 sons. This passage predicts the coming of one man to whom all nations will one day declare their obedience. That one man is Jesus. Notice the following New Testament verse.
“Therefore God exalted him (Jesus) to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11(NIV)
Prayer
“Lord, may this big picture of You as, in and with Jesus Christ currently ruling all things and holding all things together inspire me to exercise a more relaxed kind of trust, the kind that knows and believes deeply, despite my failures, that you are at every moment making all things new (Revelation 21:5) Amen."
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
Jesus in Genesis
“You are a lion's cub, O Judah . . . The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." Genesis 49:8-10(NIV)
Jesus is Right Now Ruling Earth
The Lion is the “king of beasts” (This passage is the reason that the Jesus figure in the Chronicles of Narnia is a lion). Furthermore, a scepter is the property of Kings. The big picture of the Bible is that God in Jesus Christ created the universe and He is currently ruling over it. The above passage is one of many Old Testament references to this big picture. Jesus is a descendent of Abraham through his grandson, Judah, the brother of Joseph and one of Jacob’s 12 sons. This passage predicts the coming of one man to whom all nations will one day declare their obedience. That one man is Jesus. Notice the following New Testament verse.
“Therefore God exalted him (Jesus) to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11(NIV)
Prayer
“Lord, may this big picture of You as, in and with Jesus Christ currently ruling all things and holding all things together inspire me to exercise a more relaxed kind of trust, the kind that knows and believes deeply, despite my failures, that you are at every moment making all things new (Revelation 21:5) Amen."
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
THE STORY, Chapter 3
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
What Would You Do?
“Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master's wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, 'Sleep with me.' He wouldn't do it." Genesis 39:6-8
How God Turns Pride into Character
After revealing his dream to his brothers, they physically overwhelmed him, sold him as a slave to Ishmaelites (remember Isaac’s older brother to whom Arabs and Muslims trace their descent?), who in turn sold him to Pharaoh as a slave. He rose in and out of imprisonment he rose in prominence until the wife of royalty tried to seduce him. He refused and was once again imprisoned when she claimed he attempted rape.
Sometimes life turns pride to humility. But humility alone isn’t enough. A defeated humility gains nothing. A “poor me, whatever you want, Lord, I can do nothing” humility cannot bless others. It turns a person into a taker instead of a giver. But when God turns the strength of pride into the strength to do the right and hard and humiliating thing in the face of temptation, then that’s a humility that God can use. That’s character. It is that God developed, God shaped character that God used to save all of Israel.
God takes you just as you are and then shapes you so that the best percolates to the top and the worst falls away. It’s not an easy process and usually not a happy one, but it’s a good one, one, looking back on which, each of us will be empowered to say, “thank you, Lord. Thank you for the life you have given me and have used”
Prayer
“Lord, please use me to bless others. Whatever the cost, whatever the pain, shape me, use me, make my life one that will have been a blessing in this brief life I live . . . . whenever, wherever, however. Amen."
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
What Would You Do?
“Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master's wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, 'Sleep with me.' He wouldn't do it." Genesis 39:6-8
How God Turns Pride into Character
After revealing his dream to his brothers, they physically overwhelmed him, sold him as a slave to Ishmaelites (remember Isaac’s older brother to whom Arabs and Muslims trace their descent?), who in turn sold him to Pharaoh as a slave. He rose in and out of imprisonment he rose in prominence until the wife of royalty tried to seduce him. He refused and was once again imprisoned when she claimed he attempted rape.
Sometimes life turns pride to humility. But humility alone isn’t enough. A defeated humility gains nothing. A “poor me, whatever you want, Lord, I can do nothing” humility cannot bless others. It turns a person into a taker instead of a giver. But when God turns the strength of pride into the strength to do the right and hard and humiliating thing in the face of temptation, then that’s a humility that God can use. That’s character. It is that God developed, God shaped character that God used to save all of Israel.
God takes you just as you are and then shapes you so that the best percolates to the top and the worst falls away. It’s not an easy process and usually not a happy one, but it’s a good one, one, looking back on which, each of us will be empowered to say, “thank you, Lord. Thank you for the life you have given me and have used”
Prayer
“Lord, please use me to bless others. Whatever the cost, whatever the pain, shape me, use me, make my life one that will have been a blessing in this brief life I live . . . . whenever, wherever, however. Amen."
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
THE STORY, Chapter 3
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
Joseph's Really, Really Bad Idea
“Joseph . . told . . his brothers, 'Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine.'
8 His brothers said, 'So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?' And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked” Genesis 37:5-8
Pastor's Reflections
Some Dreams are best kept to yourself. As a general rule older brothers don’t like to be told that they will bow down to their younger brother.
Joseph’s youthful pride and immaturity got him in trouble. That’s what usually gets me in trouble too. God used a dream to inform and encourage Joseph. God was preparing Joseph for a difficult life which would culminate in God using him to save his brothers. But in his pride Joseph could only hear self elevation. His dream wasn’t about him. It was about God.
Prayer
“Lord, help me to remember, 'It’s not about me'. 'It’s about You'. Forgive me for thinking and acting as if others exist to make my life better. You have blessed me to be a blessing. To that end I ask your help. Amen”
Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
Joseph's Really, Really Bad Idea
“Joseph . . told . . his brothers, 'Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine.'
8 His brothers said, 'So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?' And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked” Genesis 37:5-8
Pastor's Reflections
Some Dreams are best kept to yourself. As a general rule older brothers don’t like to be told that they will bow down to their younger brother.
Joseph’s youthful pride and immaturity got him in trouble. That’s what usually gets me in trouble too. God used a dream to inform and encourage Joseph. God was preparing Joseph for a difficult life which would culminate in God using him to save his brothers. But in his pride Joseph could only hear self elevation. His dream wasn’t about him. It was about God.
Prayer
“Lord, help me to remember, 'It’s not about me'. 'It’s about You'. Forgive me for thinking and acting as if others exist to make my life better. You have blessed me to be a blessing. To that end I ask your help. Amen”
Monday, October 3, 2011
Reading for Sunday, October 9
THE STORY, Chapter 3 Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50
God is Building a Nation
Through which He will Heal the World
He Begins with Abraham, his son Isaac and Isaac's son, Jacob.
Now God continues His plan through Joseph.
“Jacob loved Joseph more than he did any of his other sons, because Joseph was born after Jacob was very old. Jacob had given Joseph a fancy coat to show that he was his favorite son, and so Joseph's brothers hated him and would not be friendly to him." Genesis 37:3-4(CEV)
Pastor's Comments
Beginning with Abraham God enters the mess and sin of humanity. He chose to do so through a pagan man named Abraham. What’s interesting to me as the story unfolds is that we don’t see the kinds of godly role models that I would have expected from the Bible. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Ishmael are a “soap opera”. Jacob, Esau, Rebekka and Isaac are a story of deceit. And now the story of Joseph begins with favoritism, unwise parenting, jealousy and hate.
Does it encourage you that the heroes of the Bible are not “better people” than you are? It is intended to. God enters the mess of your life and brings good out of it if you submit to him. This does not mean that you will become suddenly “good”. No. But it does mean that you belong to God and that he can now shape you and the events of your life instead of the other way around.
Prayer
“Lord, I want to be like the kite that soars all the higher and most acrobatically when most tightly tethered to its Master. Forgive me for trying to soar apart from being tethered to you. I'm tired of crashing. Amen"
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