The Beloved Son Forgives

Genesis 50:15-21 KJV; 16th Sunday after Pentecost; The beloved sons forgive. Joseph forgave his brothers. Jesus forgives us.

Give Thanks!

Psalm 136

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:

The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:

The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:

And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:

With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:

But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:

And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:

And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:

Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:

And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

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Today we have just a short list from the psalmist of things that the people of God were or at least should have been thankful for. There is all of that and so much more.  

Around the holidays and especially thanksgiving we are reminded to be thankful for the gifts that God has given us. What are we thankful for?  Are we thankful for friends and family? How about the food that we eat even it may seem meager at times.  In the wilderness God provided the Israelites with  manna that fell from the sky when they were without enough food. At first they were thankful; but, then they complained because they were tired of the same old thing. Are you bored with the provisions that you have been given so that you are no longer thankful for the food you eat? Maybe you just don't like the kind of food that you are being served? House not big enough or fancy enough?  Let us be thankful for whatever shelter we have been provided with.

God has given us much to be thankful for. But, most of all He has given us His Son to live and die and live again for us and with us and through us. 

Let us be thankful that although we have sinned against Him and deserve nothing, He loves us enough to reconcile us to Himself and to one another through the blood of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and his mercy endures forever!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

And... The Children Of God Complained

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 

                                                    (Ex 16:2-3 KJV)

God led Moses and the people of Israel out of bondage. And... they complained...

They complained. They felt that they would have been better off as slaves rather than wandering around free from Pharaoh. Freedom came with a price. They were without a real home for many years. They had to actually trust the Lord to provide for them. Those were just a couple of prices that were paid by the people not to be property of another human being. Even after God finally led them to their own land they had to work hard to build up that land. They had to work hard to build homes, supply their families with the things needed to sustain their lives. Many had to work for others in order to survive; in order to live life. It was not an easy way of life for all.

It is not easy for everyone (maybe not for anyone) to provide for anyone today either. It can take a lot of work to survive.  When Adam and Eve turned their back on God and decided that what he had given them was not enough they ate of the tree that the Creator had said not to eat of. The consequence given to Adam by the Lord was: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen 3:17-19 KJV)

St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." (2 Thess 3:10-12)

So, maybe we should just figure out that in order to eat we have to work. There are exceptions of course. There are those who cannot work due to illness or handicap or age. These the rest of us must provide for.

"Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." (Deut 15:9-11)

There are simply too many examples of Jesus reminding us to take care of the poor to begin listing them. We are expected to care for our brothers and sisters; in fact, for all of creation.

The Lord helped the Israelites escape their slavery and they complained. He fed them with manna from heaven and after awhile they complained about that too.

The moral of this blog this morning is to quit complaining; live life thanking God for what he has given you!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

He Frees His Children

And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. 

                                                                              (Exod 14:19-22 KJV)

Pharaoh had let the people go and then had a change of heart. His army pursued the Israelites to bring them back into slavery. But, God had another plan. He intended for His people to be set free. The Lord parted the Red Sea so that His children could pass through unharmed and then He drowned Pharaoh's army when they tried to pursue them.

God intends for His children to be free; to be free to worship Him; to be live in freedom from bondage to those who would use and abuse them. If you feel trapped at the present time know that there is a path to freedom. God who parted the Red Sea for His people to pass through will also open up a path for you. The enemy of God's children will not prevail. 

Trust Him and follow in The Way that He has shown you. Trust His Way who is Jesus the Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Moses' Sin; Our Sin

And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

                                  (Deuteronomy 34:4-5 KJV)

If the Lord prevented Moses from entering the promised land because of his sin; what about us? Moses was about as faithful as any man could possibly be. He gave up his place as royalty in Egypt. He faced off with Pharaoh under God's direction and power. He was as God's instrument to deliver God's people from slavery. If Moses was not good enough to enter the promised land what would make us think that we are? 

After all; Moses was chosen by God. God spoke directly to him. Moses saw His glory. Was he not favored? He was. He was God's chosen. But, Moses after all of the challenges he had faced for the children of God began to get a little bit of an ego and probably even began to feel sorry for himself having to be the one that everyone went to with every complaint. 

Well, the complaint that instigated Moses' sin was that they had no water. They were in the desert and they were thirsty. So according to God's direction Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation around the rock. Moses then spoke to the people: "...Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." (Numbers 20:10-12)

Moses had struck the rock as he was told to do. The Israelites had water to drink. So where is the sin? The sin was Moses' ego. Moses in doing God's will attributed the work of delivering the water to the people to himself and Aaron. He said, "must we?" And, he did it begrudgingly failing to give God the glory. 

Moses was not the only one not allowed to enter the promised land. Every man, except for two that had been delivered from Egypt, would die before they got to the promised land. God would have delivered them to the promised land almost immediately after leaving Egypt. But, when they were instructed to enter Canaan and the advance exploratory party returned with news of the strength of the Canaanites the people became afraid and did not trust the Lord enough to enter it. Of the people only Joshua and Caleb trusted the Lord enough to deliver the promised land to them. The Israelites had witnessed many miracles by God already. Yet, they did not trust Him. The sentence for this lack of trust by the Israelites was that they would wander in the desert for forty years. Anyone twenty years of age and up at the time would not enter the promised land themselves. Their children would. Joshua and Caleb would. But, they would not.

For these sins, many were not allowed entrance into the promised land. If Moses and the people of Israel who were so favored by God that they were delivered by God's own hand from slavery were not allowed entry into this promised land; what chance have we to enter His Kingdom? Are we so much better than they? Are our sins so much less?

But, thanks be to God we do have a deliverer! 

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

                                                                                          (John 3:14-17)  

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.

                                                                                       (Eph 2:5-9 KJV) 

Cherish the gift of God. Put aside your ego and trust in His promises. Remember, that it is He who has created you. It is He who sustains you. It is He who has delivered you from the bondage and power of sin. It is He who has welcomed you into His Kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

All glory belongs to God!

God's Peace - Pr. J

A Woe And A Promise

Oh, rebellious children, says the Lord,
who carry out a plan, but not mine;
who make an alliance, but against my will,
    adding sin to sin;
² who set out to go down to Egypt
    without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh,
    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt;
³ Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become 
    your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your 
    humiliation.

                                           (Isa 30:1-3 NRSV)


Woe to those obstinate children who do not listen to the word of the LORD given through the prophet. Those who trust Pharaoh to protect them are going to be very sorry, indeed!

God tells Isaiah: 
For they are a rebellious people,
    faithless children,
children who will not hear
    the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ who say to the seers, “Do not see”;
    and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
    prophesy illusions,
¹¹ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused...  

                                                        (Isa 30:9-11,15)

They are in trouble. They are in fear for their futures; their lives. However; rather than turn to God, they turn to Egypt. They run, they flee, to Egypt when all it really would take to be helped is to repent and rest in the assurance of their salvation.

Isaiah 30 provides those who trust in the LORD a promise as well as a great woe for those obstinate children who won't and don't.

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.

                                                                           (Isa 30:18-19)

Are you in trouble? When you are, what is it that you do? Do you turn (repent) to the LORD and follow in the Way or do you attempt to make a way out of the trouble for yourself? Do you lean on others who haven't figured a way out of the trouble they're in themselves? Maybe, they don't even realize how much trouble they're in? 

I find that often we attempt to do both; carve a path for ourselves while 

begging God to keep us safe. Isaiah reminds us that there is only one way to salvation... You cannot travel along both ways. May God keep you in His Way.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Follow In The Way He Leads You

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.  
                                                                                                               (Exodus 14:21-23; 26-29 NIV)

Slave to the Egyptians; the Lord was finally leading out of their bondage to a land of promise and hope. But, they were not going easily. The enemy close at their heels they found themselves trapped. How often have we felt cornered and trapped by an adversary? Even as the Lord parted the seas so that the Israelites could pass through unharmed; so shall He always find a way for all of His children. The enemy of God's children could not follow on the same path. They could not overtake them. The Lord closed the road and destroyed the enemy. There may be times when we feel like we might be overtaken and destroyed. But, God's children will never be destroyed for through Jesus Christ we have the hope of eternal life in the promised land; in His eternal Kingdom. He will make straight the path so that we might follow in the way that we must go no matter what might threaten to overtake us.

God's Peace be with you all - Pr. J

Slave Or Child

     When that year was over, they came to him the following year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you, there is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land. Why should we perish before your eyes—we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.”

     So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.  (Gen 47:18-20 NIV)

During the great famine, Pharaoh fed everyone in Egypt thru Joseph.  However; there was a cost to the Egyptians, everything they have now belongs to Pharaoh.  They trade their land and even themselves for food.  They now have to pay 1/5 of their harvests to Pharaoh in order to eat and live.  Every time I mention that scripture speaks of a tithe; that is, 1/10 of all we have should be given freely to the Lord's work, I get some really strange looks. Those looks are not usually pleasant looks. The tithe; however, is not demanded. Whatever is given to the Lord's work should be given freely and with joy. But, Pharaoh actually demanded more than 1/5 or 1/10 of the people.  Pharaoh made them slaves. We are not slaves to God. He has made us his own children. We are free to love and serve him. We are never forced or coerced.

All the gifts that God gives to us are freely given. But, sometimes (okay often) we neglect or ignore those gifts. We do not use them wisely. We fritter them away. Sometimes, we don't use them at all. It is sort of like giving some children really nice gifts. Often parents are not even thanked for the gifts that they give their children. It is just expected that parents will give generously because that's what parents are supposed to do. Since the children did not earn it, they don't take care of it and sometimes don't even use or play with it even if they may have begged for it in advance.  However; if they have to work for it; if it costs them something then it seems that the gift is a little more precious in their site.  Why is it that we think so little of the gifts give to us and so much more of what we earn with our own hands?  I am not suggesting that we should not work; just wondering why it is that so often we think so little of the gifts that God gives to us that we would prefer to sell ourselves into servitude to this world to get the things of this world. Will we trade our (abundant) lives as children of God to be slaves to those things that we think will give us temporary life (abundance) in this world? Or... will we receive the freely given food that will give us eternal life? Slave to the world or child of God? That is the question!

May God help us to receive the free gift of life given to us through Jesus the Christ and to share that free gift with others.

God's Peace - Pr. J