I Will Praise You in the Storm

There is a song out right now on Christian radio called "Praise You in This Storm" by Casting Crowns. Here are the lyrics:

"I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

[Chorus:]
And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth"


If you have  heard the song you know that it is a very powerful and emotional song. I  have sung it myself with gusto remembering turbulent times that God has seen me through. But I find our family in a storm right now and desperately want to praise Him in the storm but it is so hard to see clearly. I know that I can trust Him, He has seen me through so many things I have no choice but to believe that He is faithful and good. But how do I praise when it's hard to see anything to praise?  For me, it is a choice to look for things to praise Him for. I choose to praise Him for my dad surviving this stroke, for knowing he will be ok. I can praise Him for the fact that my family draws even closer in difficult times, even in tense moments when we are tired and cranky. I love seeing my dad look me in the eyes and really see him in there and know that tomorrow I will be able to hold his hand and kiss his cheek as he celebrates turning 60.  I love seeing our church family gather around us and support us. It is amazing how just listing those few things helps me realize how I can praise Him in all things. Trials are hard. Jesus said, "In this world you WILL have trouble, but take heart I have OVERCOME the world." (John 16.33)

I don't begin to understand why  bad things happen to God's people. But I do know that God has a plan for us. It is a good plan, one for our good and not for evil. Plans to prosper not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) 
So because of who HE is and who He has proven Himself to be to me in my life, I will praise Him in all things. Even this storm. "And I will lift my hands because You are who You are no matter where I am. And every tear I've cried you hold in Your hand, and though my heart is torn...
I will praise You in this storm."

Partial Obedience = Disobedience

Joshua/ Judges: Partial Obedience Equals Disobedience

Last week we transitioned from Era 3 (Exodus) to Era 4 (Conquest). This week we move from the Conquest Era to the Era of the Judges. This era, Era 5, includes Judges, Ruth and 1 Samuel 1-8.

As we finish up the book of Joshua, we see Joshua following The Book of Instruction to the very letter. He conquers Canaan with complete faith in the Lord. Joshua drives out the people and destroys them completely as God had told him to. God has set apart His people to be holy and He wanted to give them a land that was set apart as holy. It seems harsh and sometimes ruthless when we see God calling for the destruction of a whole people group. God has seen the wickedness of these people and knew their unrepentant hearts. The land had to be purified, just as the people had been, from all unrighteousness.

  In chapter 10:1-15, we see God display His power over the universe when He makes the sun and moon stand still at Joshua's prayer in order for Joshua to finish the battle.

At the end of Joshua's life, he calls the people together and  reminded them of all that the Lord had done. he called them to follow the instructions of the Lord.

Joshua 24:14; “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

16 The people replied, “We would never abandon the Lord and serve other gods."

Joshua dies not long after and is buried in the Promised Land, along with the bones of Joseph which they had brought from Egypt. Joshua's only mistake was not mentoring someone and raising up a godly leader to follow after him.

 The first chapter of Judges shows Israel disobeying God from the start; beginning with Judah not trusting God alone when they enlist the help of the tribe of Simeon to conquer their land. They disobey God when they choose to maim their enemies rather than destroy them. Partial obedience is the same thing as disobedience.

Chapter one records  over and over how Israel failed to drive out their enemies. It was their failure to obey... not the Lord's failure to conquer. In Judges 1:2, the Lord tells them that He has given them victory. And yet they fail to do what God told them.

The same thing rings true in our lives, doesn't it? God has given us victory in Jesus Christ and yet we choose not to obey Him by walking in defeat. We allow sin and strongholds to remain in our lives and we are held in chains. Captives and oppressed by Satan. We can be believers in Jesus and be saved for eternity and still be held captive to sin. If we do not drive out all sin and evil from our lives we give Satan a foothold into our lives. Just as Israel is tormented and tempted by the evil they left in their midst, so we are tormented and tempted by sin left in our lives. Satan cannot do anything to pluck us out of God's hands but he can keep us from walking in victory and living the life God has for us!

      Judges 2:2b, "But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? 3 So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you."

                 2:10, After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

11 The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. 12 They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord.

Judges 21:25b, "all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." During the course of the next 320 years, Israel lives in 7 cycles of sin. Seven apostasies lead to seven servitudes to seven idolatrous and cruel nations leads to seven deliverances.  Within each cycle man sins (idol worship), God allows oppression, man cries for deliverance , God raises up a judge/prophet/deliverer. As long as that judge lived there was peace in the land. As soon as that deliverer died, Israel reverted back to sin and idol worship and the cycle began again.

Israel turns away from God twelve times and God raises up fourteen judges. God responds to repentance.

Luke 4:16-21

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,

    that the blind will see,

that the oppressed will be set free,

19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"

Jesus came to set captives free. This scroll that He read from is Isaiah 61:1-2. The whole passage says this:

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

   because the LORD has anointed me

   to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

   to proclaim freedom for the captives

   and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

   and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

   instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

   instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

   instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

   a planting of the LORD

   for the display of his splendor.

 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

   and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

   that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

   foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,

   you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

   and in their riches you will boast.

 7 Instead of your shame

   you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

   you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

   and everlasting joy will be yours.

 8 “For I, the LORD, love justice;

   I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

   and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations

   and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

   that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

 10 I delight greatly in the LORD;

   my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

   and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up

   and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness

   and praise spring up before all nations."

This is our inheritance from the Lord. God responds to repentance. When we have Jesus in our hearts and lives and allow Him to be the LORD of our lives, our broken hearts are bound up. We are free from whatever holds us captive. We are comforted in our mourning. We have a crown of beauty instead of ashes. We wear a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. We will be like ancient ruins that have been rebuilt. The places within us that have been devastated will be restored! Instead of shame we will receive a double portion... everlasting joy will be ours! All who see us will say that we are blessed of the LORD!

This is ours in the LORD! Why give it up for earthly pleasure and sin that so easily entangles us? What God has for us so outweighs the pleasures of the flesh. As Joshua told Israel before they crossed the Jordan in Joshua 3:5, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”   Consecrate means, "to make or declare sacred or holy; sanctify". We need to set ourselves apart. Make ourselves holy...

The way up is down. God exalts the humble.

Leaving the Law

Deuteronomy and Joshua... Rocks of Remembrance

As we come to the conclusion of Deuteronomy, we see God preparing Moses and the Israelites for Moses' impending death. God reminds His people, through Moses, of His covenant with them and the consequences of disobedience. Deuteronomy 30:1-10 anticipates that the people would break covenant with God and be carried away to exile. They are called to return to the Lord when they realize that they have wandered away.

Moses appoints Joshua as his successor in leading Israel and we see here that Moses tell Joshua to be strong and courageous, something that is repeated to him often by God. The people are instructed to study the Book of Instruction (or the Law) often. Over and over the people are reminded to read the Law, to know it. It is important to know God's Word. We cannot obey God if we don't know His Word. God's Word brings conviction of sin which leads to repentance. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12

We must know God's Word.. we must hide it our hearts so that we may not sin against Him...(Psalm 119:11) We live in a generation of Bible illiterate people. If we can't recall it, we don't know it. We need to be women of the Word... women in the Word and women passionate for others to know the Word. There are many stories that I have hidden in my heart... stories from my childhood, my young adulthood, motherhood, etc... but none of these stories hold the power of life and death. I can recount detail after detail of lots of stories... I can call them forward at a moment's notice, Can I do the same with God's redemptive story? Do I know it? Am I passionate about it?

Next we see God's tender care of Moses. He takes him into the mountains, shows him the Promised Land then is there with him as he enters his final ultimate Promised Land. Then God buries Moses alone. I have no basis for this but I believe that God did it with His own hands. God's care for us is just that tender.. that personal.

After Israel mourns the loss of Moses, God meets with Joshua.  God tells him repeatedly to be strong and courageous. Joshua 1:6,“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

After this, Joshua sends out spies to Jericho and we meet a woman that is one of my favorite people in the Bible. Rahab. This woman is the epitome of the worst we can be. And yet her faith in the God of Israel is such that she is one of only 5 women listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Rahab is a prostitute, a foreigner and a pagan. And yet she recognized the One True God and put her faith in Him. She protects the Israelite spies and trusts them to protect her and her family. It is no coincidence that she placed her trust in them recognizing the scarlet cord hanging from her window and the scarlet blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and ultimately the blood of Jesus for the salvation of us all. Later, after Israel takes control of Jericho, Rahab is grafted into the family of God. She marries a Jewish man, Salmon, and is the mother of Boaz, an Old Testament fore-shadowing of Christ. God takes those that are weak, sinful and very unlikely, to do amazing things. Proof that no matter what you've done, where you've been, or who you have been, God redeems.

As Israel is camped on the bank of the Jordan River waiting to attack Jericho, Joshua tells the people to consecrate themselves, or purify themselves, because tomorrow God is going to perform mighty works among them. This generation was either not alive or very young when God had parted the Red Sea. No doubt though that they were raised on stories of that miracle. This time, however, as Israel comes to the Jordan River, the waters do not part as the had for the Red Sea. This time God required them to get their feet a little wet first and show faith. With the Red Sea, Israel had been in bondage for 400 years and hadn't seen the miracles God would do. They hadn't built a history of personal trust in the Lord and His provision. This generation camped at the Jordan was different. they had seen 40 years of God's provision. They had seen manna, the pillar of cloud and fire... the preservation of their clothing and shoes... no blisters,etc... in the wilderness. God was going to require faith from them. I wonder if they stood at the bank waiting for God to part the waters first. It's always easy to walk in faith when God gives us sight first. Sometimes God calls us to get our feet wet before He decides to part the way for us. We need to be ready to do it... and to not expect God to do it the same way twice!

After the people had crossed the Jordan (and here we need to give a shout out to the priest that stood in the middle of the Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant while ALL of Israel crossed over), Joshua called twelve men, one from each tribe, to gather a rock from where the priests were STILL standing. They were to use these stones to build a memorial. Rocks of remembrance for them to remember what God had done for them. Their children would ask about the memorial and they would tell the story of God's faithfulness. It is important for us to have our own rocks of remembrance; times and places where we have seen the hand of God in our lives, times where God has shown Himself faithful to us. These remembrances build our faith, they are tangible reminders of how good God is to us. We all have times of despair or even forgetfulness. We need to remind ourselves often of God's love and care. We also need to use these rocks to tell our story to others. To leave our legacy of faith. It doesn't have to be an actual rock. It can be a journal, scrapbook, stories told along the way of our lives. They can be mental markers, but we need to make sure that we remind ourselves of everything God has saved us from.

After they crossed the Jordan, they built their memorial. God also had them place twelve stones in the river where the priests stood to mark the spot they crossed. Joshua then prepared the people by leading them to obedience. None of that generation had been circumcised and that was the next order of business. What a vulnerable state the people were in!! Their men were incapacitated in a way that we ladies cannot imagine as they waited in a new land totally at the mercy of others. Then they celebrated Passover. Obedience always precedes blessing. They were victorious at Jericho because they obeyed the Lord's commands. (We also need to take note that in Joshua 5:13-15, Jesus appears to Joshua in preincarnate form as the Commander of the Lord's Army.) Jericho then falls to Israel and Rahab and her family is spared.

Next we see how disobedience brings cursing to Israel. Achan was disobedient to the Lord and stole some of the things that were to be set apart for the Lord. No one knew about it but God and Achan. When Israel went out to defeat Ai, the Lord did not go with them and they were defeated.

God brought the truth out and Israel was called to purge the evil from their midst. Achan's sin cost him, his family and all of Israel. We cannot hide our sin from God and it affects more than just ourselves. It may seem harsh that Achan's family shared his fate, but Rahab's faith saved her household. Achan's sin condemned his. We must purge all sin and disobedience from our lives. When we do, blessing follows. After Achan and his family were destroyed, God delivered Ai into the hands of Israel.

As we ended our reading last week, we saw how important it is to seek God in all things. In Joshua 9:1-27, Israel fails to seek the Lord and end up being deceived by the Gibeonites. They entered into a treaty that was expressly forbidden and put them in a dangerous position. It is important to seek the Lord. If we don't get a fresh word from God, it doesn't mean that He approves. Silence doesn't indicate blessing. It is silence. Don't depart from the last word from God until you clearly get a new one. Silence is tough. But trust God anyway. Waiting on the Lord is far better than being out of His will.

"Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD." Psalm 27:14

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11

Believing God in the Wilderness

Numbers... In the Wilderness

As Leviticus stresses worship and spiritual position, the theme of Numbers is a walk of spiritual progress. This book is full of modern application for believers. It would certainly be nice if, once we got saved, we reached spiritual maturity but it just doesn't happen that way. The best part is the journey with the Lord. It's the relationship we have invested along the way. We learn. We grow. We take two steps forward and five back. Other times we take two or three forward and stay there for awhile. As we read about the Israelites and how they griped and complained and whined to God, we are often quick to judge but upon closer reflection we see that we are not so different. We resemble the pattern of complaining, backsliding and utter disbelief. Sometimes we get it right, but all too often we get it wayyyy wrong.

The good news is that we do not need to repeat the wanderings of Israel in our spiritual journey. God has made full provision for spiritual success through faith.

I want to skip ahead in this lesson to the point where God sends the 12 men to survey the land. This was their Promised Land. God had already given it to them. All they were going to have to do was claim it and believe God for the rest. After all that they had seen God do for them they still didn't trust Him. Yet am I all that different?

As I was reading this passage this week I was reminded of something that happened to me a few years ago. Without going into all the gory details, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God called me specifically to do something. I felt it in my soul, it was confirmed by a few of my spiritual mentors and God really laid the path clear before me. I took a step of faith and quickly obstacles arose. Satan knew exactly where to get me and instead of trusting God, I crumbled. I didn't believe God. I didn't believe that He could overcome and I didn't trust that He would fight my battle. I tucked tail and ran and that disobedience began a cycle of disobedience that I have never seen before in my life and pray that I never see it again. I'm not saying that one instance of disobedience automatically brings a series of them but for me it was a very slippery slope.

As a follower of the God of the universe and the Creator of all things, I still did not trust Him when things looked insurmountable. I was afraid of losing temporal things instead of storing up things that have eternal value. I like to think that I have learned that lesson. In this world we will be asked to trust God for big things. We will be asked to choose Him over things we hold dear. We must always remember to trust Him. He will never leave us or forsake us. Just as the twelve went to spy out the land and ten of them were scared silly! Caleb and Joshua didn't look at what they might lose. They looked only at what they had to gain! They believed God was true to His word and that He was big enough to do what He said He could do. I understand the ten. I know how easy it is to look around and see everything you have to lose in order to enter the Promised Land. Our Promised Land is waiting for us. There will be giants. There will be hills and valleys. We will have to leave some things behind. But I can promise you this... IT IS WORTH IT!! I do not want to spend 40 years wandering in a desert because I didn't trust God. After my disobedience to God I experienced a desert. I know how dry I felt. I knew the Lord was there but I couldn't feel Him as tenderly as I did before. He was there but seemed so far away.

Above all else, God wants us to believe Him. It's not about following rules and walking the straight and narrow. It's about believing God. I did a study from Beth Moore called "Believing God" several years ago. The five statement pledge of faith has stuck with me and it makes more sense to me now than ever before.

1. God is who He says He is.

2. God can do what He says He can do.

3. I am who God says I am.

4. God's Word is alive and active and living in me.

5. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

They all seem so simple and so, well... "Duh". But it really all boils down to the 5 things. I want to trust Him. I believe that my God is huge and can do all things. He is all powerful. All loving. All everything. I believe it. I really do. But now, I want to live like I believe it. I want my steps to be steps toward faith. Hebrews 11:6, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He is and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." I want to please God. I want to earnestly seek Him and the reward is that when I seek Him, I will find Him. And He is enough. God is more than enough for me. Though the mountains shall fall and the sky may crumble... God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will never leave.

 I know in my heart that God wanted me to share this with you. He began burning the words into my heart awhile back. I want to close this with one question. What is God asking you to believe Him for? Believe Him. When everyone else has walked away, God will still be there. And He is enough. More than enough.

"The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm." Exodus 14:14 NLT

Jesus in the Tabernacle

We have been reading so many details in the Old Testament books of the Law that it is overwhelming at times! Just remember that Jesus is in the details!!
Some highlights from what we discussed on Sunday...

Scripture is specific about where each tribe is positioned around the Tabernacle. It is no coincidence that the tribe of Judah is positioned right in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle. Jesus' lineage is traced back to the tribe of Judah.. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
The gate to the outer court of the Tabernacle faced the east... Jesus is the Eastern gate!! He is the door, He is the entrance, The Way to enter into the Presence of God.
When we enter into the outer court, first we come to the alter of sacrifice... Jesus is our sacrifice once for all! We must first accept Him as our sacrifice... by His blood we are forgiven. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins... The blood of the perfect sacrifice covers our sin. The alter of sacrifice was a picture of the shedding of innocent blood (by a perfect sacrifice) on behalf of the guilty.
Next we come to the Brazen Laver. It was a washbasin that was lined with mirrors for the priests to cleanse themselves. We must see ourselves as who we really are and allow ourselves to be cleansed before we can approach a Holy God.

Everything about the Tabernacle invites us to come to God. He shows us how we can do this. Everything He does is to make it possible for Him to dwell with us until we can dwell with Him. He wants to relate to us and us to relate to Him.  God is continually pursuing a love relationship with us. He chases after us with an unfailing love.. Who doesn't love knowing that we are pursued by the Lover of our souls?
There are so many details that can get monotonous as we read in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, but if we remember to read with the lens of Christ, then we can realize how much God loves us.  He wants the best for us... He created us and knows what is best. His law is for our good, never our harm. He wants us to be able to approach Him, He wants us to be set apart, and He wants us to be used for His glory.
Let's be open to His Word and be willing vessels to be used for His Glory.

We Have All Been Slaves to Something

This week as we studied how God raised up a Deliverer for the children of Israel enslaved in Egypt, I was struck by how I often remove myself from the Israelites. I ask myself questions like;
how in the world did they end up in bondage?
why didn't they trust God after all those miracles?
how could they whine and complain after God had done so much for them?
how could they long for slavery and bondage at the first sign of discomfort?
why are they so afraid of freedom?
why so unable to look forward and trust God?

Oh, the questions keep on until God asks me,


"Beloved, are you so different?"


I am reminded that every one of my questions about Israel apply to me as well. I may not have had physical chains and forced labor with taskmasters but I have certainly been enslaved by sin and my on rebellion. I have seen Jehovah Jireh make provision for me over and over again only to be ungrateful for the way He provided or the time He provided it. Sometimes we choose bondage. Sometimes chains are placed on us by other people or circumstances. God has raised up a Deliverer for us that we don't have to wait 400 years to be free. We can choose freedom now. God provided the once for all Sacrificial Passover Lamb so that death and sin and bondage will PASS OVER us!

We read about the first Passover last week, about the remembrance of the angel of death passing over the houses that had the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. As innocent blood dripped down the door frames, the guilty inside the house were saved because they trusted God's provision of salvation. They ate of the lamb that had been slain, ate bitter herbs to remind them of the bitterness of their slavery, rid their homes of yeast to symbolize the removal of sin and the readiness to leave that place of bondage in hurry and walk into freedom.
We can do that same thing! We need to partake of the Passover Lamb that is Jesus, trust in His Blood to set us free... allow him to cleanse us of sin and remember JUST WHAT HE SAVED US FROM.  We need to remember that a pit is a pit no matter how comfortable it is. When we are slaves to sin it is bitter and painful... Satan wants to convince us that it wasn't so bad. When we look back we need to remember the bitterness that it caused. The hurt that we cause ourselves and others. The hurt that we cause God when we turn our backs on Him, Our Creator and Lover of our souls. We need to have our eyes opened to the devastation that sin causes, even if it is within ourselves. The insecurity, the bitterness, the anger,  low self-esteem... I want to remember  the bitterness that it caused only long enough to thank the Lord for all that He has done. Don't wallow in the sin and let Satan hang you with it, but remember it only in the context of thankfulness that we don't have to stay in bondage. God has set us free. Let's be dressed and ready  to walk in that freedom and not look back. It is for freedom sake that Christ made us free.

Making Amends and Offering Forgiveness

Last week we read alot!! We covered alot! There are a few things that I wanted to point out as we leave Genesis and head into Job.
Last week  we read about God telling Jacob to take his family and leave Laban's house and go to the land He promised Abraham. Jacob obeyed but, on the way home, he knew he was going to have to face Esau and he was terrified! After planning and scheming (positioning bribes AND his wives and children between him and Esau) he prayed to God and reminded God of His promises. That night, alone at camp, Jacob wrestles with God.  He doesn't give up his struggle until God blesses him and gives him a new name. Israel. When we come face to face with God, when we struggle and wrestle with Him over something, HANG ON UNTIL THE BLESSING COMES!!! It WILL come!! And after, we will be given a new name; we will never be the same. In this wrestling, God touched Jacob's hip and he walked with a limp afterward. Metaphorically speaking, sometimes God wounds us so that we will walk differently with Him.  Sometimes we need to have something re-broken so God can heal us properly. God's wounding is always for our healing. Tough teaching but true.
After his encounter with God, Jacob is given the courage to face Esau. He makes amends with him. Before we can enter our personal Promised Land, we need to face God and make amends with our brothers and sisters.  (Research for this segment from Beth Moore's Patriarchs Bible study)

As for Joseph, this segment of Scripture taught us alot about how God uses broken and messed up people to accomplish His purpose. God never condones sin, but uses sinful people to accomplish His will. We also see a progression of spiritual maturity in Judah as he is the ones that suggests selling Joseph, then runs away from home to marry a Canaanite woman and raises 3 godless sons (2 of which God puts to death for their evilness), then Judah's sin with Tamar and finally a return home and eventually stepping in as the leader who offers himself in lieu of Benjamin on behalf of their father. Judah is the tribe from which Christ the Messiah will come and is a picture of God using sinful people to accomplish His purpose.
With the trials that Joseph goes through, we see him living a life of integrity in the face of adversity and coming to a place where he offers forgiveness to those who hurt him most. He even came to the place where he realized that God ordained his journey. He tells his brothers in Gen. 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good..."

Oh, that we could see the hurts that others deliver as a way that God can use us to bless others.  joseph had a choice. Stay bitter or be a blessing. Trials, hurts and hardships WILL come. We can choose to allow good to come from them or allow anger and bitterness to destroy us. Let's choose to allow God to use it for good...