The Beloved Son Forgives

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

A Way To Escape

1 Corinthians 10:13; verses from Romans 7 and 8; We are sinners; but, Paul tells us that all who are in Christ Jesus are forgiven their sins.

Saved For A Good Purpose

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

                                                                 (Gen 45:3-8 KJV)

Joseph was favored by his father and that made his brothers jealous enough to sell him into slavery. If we went no further with this story than the betrayal by his brothers it would seem like a very bad thing. But, God did not intend for Joseph to be a slave. His purpose was for Joseph to become a leader. He intended to use Joseph to save the people, including the same brothers who sold him, from death by starvation. Joseph forgave his brothers who betrayed him. He forgave and saved them.

Jesus was also sold by Judas. He was betrayed by many. His followers; his disciples deserted him. His suffering was great. Yet, there was a good purpose. His suffering was for our good. That purpose was so that we might be saved from the power of death. 

When his friend, Lazarus, died, Jesus had reassured Lazarus' sister, Martha, that Lazarus would live.

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." (John 11:25-27)

No matter how bad things may seem at any given time, know that God has a good plan for those who love him. (Rom 8:28) In the years to come those who love him will look back to today and see that God led you them these rough times to a better place even a marvelous place.

Be comforted with the knowledge that God is with you and he has a good plan for your life. He will lead you to a better place through valleys of the shadow of death, through green pastures, beside still waters. His goodness and mercy will be with you all the days of your life and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  (Psalm 23)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Lying To God

Lies invite darkness to descend upon the soul;
even upon the world.

 

  Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

  Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

  When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

  About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

  “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

  Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

  At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 

                                                                                                                              (Acts 5:1-10)

I have been lied to and about so many times that there is no way that I could even count the times. We all have. Frankly, it makes me a bit weary. Sometimes, the lies are used to make someone look like someone they are not; like they are in the right and are doing good for others; while they are in truth, not.

Ananias and his wife Sapphira attempted to make themselves look righteous. They wanted to look as generous as the others who had sold their property and gave the proceeds to the church for the good of all of the people. But, they withheld some. Their sin was not so much in keeping some for themselves. The sin was in attempting to lie to God the Holy Spirit. God knows everything we say and think and do. It is just a bad idea to try telling God lies. The humans that we might tell lies to; usually know that we are not telling the whole truth, as well. We may not be able to prove the lies; but, God knows the truth. Lying to God, to others, and to ourselves can be very detrimental to our lives, to our futures.

The rest of the story for Ananias and Sapphira was that when they lied to Peter and to God, they died. They died immediately. When we lie to protect ourselves and our own egos; a bit of us dies inside, as well. When we tell untruths we are not who we were or who we can be in Christ Jesus. Make every effort then to speak and live in the truth with integrity.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Some Things Cannot Be Bought

Rossmeyer's Destination Daytona

"How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 36:7 NIV

My husband is a shopper. I am not. When we were stationed in Rota, Spain, the Exchange would have ladies night out specials. He went with my friends. I stayed home. I don't like to spend money. My husband also has a passion for Harley Davidson motorcycles. He drives a three-wheeler at the present time. We live about ten minutes from the Rossmeyer's Destination Daytona so we get to tour it every few weeks. The dealership is huge and is located in a shopping center focused on bikers' dreams. I am not only not interested in shopping, I am not a biker. The only thing that interests me in the whole place is that used pick-up truck in the photo above with it's hood up. It is not for sale. It is being raffled to benefit Bikers Against Drunk Drivers (BADD). The bottom line is that it cannot be bought. One can purchase a raffle ticket among the millions that are probably being sold as it allegedly is the largest biker raffle in the world. But, that truck and the antique Harley sitting in the back of it cannot be purchased.

The most precious things in life cannot be bought. We cannot buy our salvation. That was purchased for us by the blood of Jesus that was poured out upon the cross for us. There is nothing that we can do or give that can buy us our salvation. Salvation comes by faith alone in Christ alone.

We cannot buy love. We might be able to purchase a companion for awhile. But, see what happens when the funds run out! Love is priceless. The love of God is priceless. There is nothing in this world that can buy His love for you. We don't need to buy it. He gives it to us freely even as He gave us His Son so that we might receive the free gift of salvation.

Money cannot buy love. The gift of love is priceless.

God's Peace - Pr. J