Genesis 44:24
Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, "Don't quarrel on the way!"
After all the wrongs done to Joseph, all the unfair mistreatment, all the ill-deserved punishment and now finally the reconciliation, Joseph's statement to his brothers seems trivial. I wonder, did Joseph plan what he would say if he ever saw his brothers again? Did he practice a stinging comment? Plan a cutting response? Or did he rehearse acceptance and forgiveness? No matter which, "Don't quarrel on the way," can hardly be what he planned for all those years of separation. So why is this what he has to say? Because Joseph knows his brothers. It's not a parental reprimand that Joseph gives them but a well-timed reminder. He knows their tendency to get caught up in petty disagreements and fail to notice how their attention has shifted from the big picture.
I wonder if I do that. I wonder if I get distracted from God's big picture--from learning more about who He is, from building others up, from serving others--by petty disagreements and small hurts. How often do I let the unimportant direct how I invest my time and my energy? I think about how Joseph's heart would have broken if his brothers had been unable to hang on to peace for long enough for God's solution to happen and I think that God must feel that way about me. He must look down at my misplaced hurt and petty disagreements and feel such disappointment and heart break.
And just like Joseph with his brothers, God has such a great plan: one that includes redemption and grace, forgiveness and compassion and mercy. And I am so busy keeping track of who did what to whom that I pass that up!
God, I want to follow your plan. I need your redemption and forgiveness and compassion in my life. Forgive me for so often allowing unimportant things to distract me from Your call in my life. Help me to live a life characterized by love. I want to be so caught up in grace and service and worship that I don't have time or energy to keep track of imagined slights or wrongs done. Become my focus--all that I can see.
Amen.
January 17, 2008 by Keith
Luke 17:20-21
20Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
It’s here! The Scriptures reveal something curious… God’s ways are so very different than our own.
In man’s futile thinking we think of God’s Kingdom as something far off, something that will happen someday, and of course we imagine what that will look like.
It’s hard to believe that God can and does use someone normal for His awesome glory. It’s hard to imagine right here and right now I can experience the kingdom of God.
Jesus responds to the Pharisees in Luke 17:20 by saying, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation…” This makes me wonder if we look in the wrong places… for the wrong things… at the wrong times…
Jesus broke down the walls of orthodoxy… he shattered man’s expectations of God’s kingdom. He reminds us that in Him we can experience the kingdom of God. Just as he uses a child as an example of faith… I need to see things like a child… and trust my Heavenly Daddy.
As a “Pastor” doing God’s work… how often have I missed God? Have I missed God’s kingdom in something small… something in my life?
My prayer today is a reminder and an assurance of the prayer Jesus taught.
My Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Show me Lord Jesus what this looks like in my life, my family, and in Your church. This is by your power and for your glory forever. Amen.
20Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
It’s here! The Scriptures reveal something curious… God’s ways are so very different than our own.
In man’s futile thinking we think of God’s Kingdom as something far off, something that will happen someday, and of course we imagine what that will look like.
It’s hard to believe that God can and does use someone normal for His awesome glory. It’s hard to imagine right here and right now I can experience the kingdom of God.
Jesus responds to the Pharisees in Luke 17:20 by saying, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation…” This makes me wonder if we look in the wrong places… for the wrong things… at the wrong times…
Jesus broke down the walls of orthodoxy… he shattered man’s expectations of God’s kingdom. He reminds us that in Him we can experience the kingdom of God. Just as he uses a child as an example of faith… I need to see things like a child… and trust my Heavenly Daddy.
As a “Pastor” doing God’s work… how often have I missed God? Have I missed God’s kingdom in something small… something in my life?
My prayer today is a reminder and an assurance of the prayer Jesus taught.
My Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Show me Lord Jesus what this looks like in my life, my family, and in Your church. This is by your power and for your glory forever. Amen.
January 16th by Andy
Luke 16:13
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
This is a verse that I have heard many many times yet each time I read it seems to have renewed meaning in my life. In this passage Jesus is telling a story about and money. Jesus often spoke on those issues that affect people the most. He managed to summarize His whole point in a couple sentences at the end saying “no servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money.” When I hear that verse I feel like it was written this morning. It seems to ring true just as strong as it did when Jesus said it. I cannot live my life for God and still have making money my one priority.
What Jesus said here is about the most counter cultural thing he could say. Money makes things happen, it brings comfort to all, and it makes people happy. That is at least what we are led to believe. TV, radio, movies, books, magazines and music all point to money as being our savior and comforter. Money does give a quick fix but it leaves us feeling the same way we did before we got it. God is the only thing that can bring fulfillment. I don’t think Jesus is telling this story out of anger but rather it seems like he would be telling this story out of compassion. If people were to pursue money then they will find money but they would not find God. If people were to pursue God then they would find love and contentment.
I have to make sure that I am only serving God. What is of God will last forever and that is what I want to be a part of. My money can run out but God’s love will never ever run out.
Lord, may I always be serving you. May I never be caught up in the things of this world that are temporary. I want to live for you and to be all about what you are all about.
Amen
January 15, 2008 by Bob
Luke 15:7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
In this passage we read about the tax collectors and sinners who had gathered around Jesus to hear him. But the ‘righteous’ Pharisees and teachers of the law mocked Jesus because he had associated with ‘sinners.’ Their prejudices and self-righteousness had blinded their ability to see their own sin, and they could not recognize the graciousness of our Heavenly Father who forgives and forgets. The Pharisees had never come to understand that God seeks restoration for all his people. They had missed the essence of what the psalmist said best in Ps 103:11-12,
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west ,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Heavenly Father, help me to see those who you bring into my life today as your precious creation. Stir in my heart your compassion for those who don’t know you, those who have never experienced your peace and love. Help me to remember that I am your child through your grace alone.
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