Today’s Scrip-Bit    9 September 2023 Genesis 39:21a.

09 Sep 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Genesis 39:21a.         But the Lord was with Joseph,

Oh friends, unfortunately there’s no bright sun shining outside, just a mess of threatening dark clouds. But the day is still young, and who knows what can happen; the mighty sun can still win the battle against those dreary clouds and shine forth valiantly. That’s the attitude, we believers ought to have, one of constant hope and positivity. 

And I guess some of you are wondering what I’m doing up so early on a lazy-day Saturday morning? Well, the truth is, by my standards, I went to bed early, and thus after a certain amount of time in bed, the various parts of my anatomy took umbrage that we were still lying there, and they began to act up negatively. And if it wasn’t for my absolute refusal to get up at such an early hour, despite the pain, we would have been up even earlier. 

Brother! What a life when you can’t lie in your warm, comfortable bed for more than four hours at a time without having your aches and pains act up and drive you out of that wonderful cocoon. (smile) But as we say, them’s the breaks, we just have to grin and bear it! Anyway, enough of my griping, let’s say our Lazy-Day Saturday prayer with all sincerity and truth. 

As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And as always, that simple, heartfelt prayer touches my soul and calms me, makes me feel like I’m truly in God’s presence. Now, let’s get to that wonderful, God-engineered saga of Bruh Joseph. Yesterday we left him wrongfully cast into prison for sexual assault on his master Potiphar’s wife, but friends, when the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob writes your story, then you can be sure it’s unlike any other. So, let’s hear how the Bible reveals the story after Bruh Joseph was cast into prison. 

It says: ‘But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy (LOVING-kindness), and gave him favour (caused him to be viewed with favour) in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it (it was his doing). The keeper of the prison looked not to anything (did not look into anything) that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.’ (Gen. 39:21-23) 

Oh what a mighty and faithful God we serve my brethren! Yuh see, although Bruh Joseph was innocently undergoing some tough times, the Lord still made his life somewhat easier by causing him to experience the favour of those above him. And you’ll notice that in each instance, he was given power over others, so that he could learn the leadership skills he needed if he was to handle his God-given role properly. 

And who says our God isn’t a great dramatist eh? He’s the greatest of the great! In fact, He is the Creator of the genre! Just look at His book, the Bible, there’s no other tome in all of history that has so much drama, from Genesis right down to Revelation, thousands of years of history, it’s filled with pure drama, drama like no man can pen! And if yuh think you’d seen drama in Bruh Joseph’s story, believe me, the best is yet to come. 

The Lord writes it that Pharoah’s butler (cup-bearer) and baker offend him, and he places them in the same prison with Bruh Joseph. ‘And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward (were in custody for a while.’ (Gen. 40:4) Now the plot thickens. And the scholars explain that ‘when the captain charged Joseph with them, he gave Joseph control over administrative affairs in the prison, not merely over high-ranking prisoners (cf. 41:12).’ 

So, we know that Bruh Joseph was literally running the prison, while the captain of the guard merely enjoyed the title and perks that came with the position. But then, as the Lord would have it, both the butler and baker dream a dream the same night about Pharaoh. And when Bruh Joseph came in the next morning, they were totally sad and downcast. And he asked them ‘Wherefore look ye so sadly today? And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.’ (Gen. 40:7-8) 

Now the scholars make a significant point here, when in response to the dreams of the perplexed baker and butler, they say that ‘Joseph’s immediate response was do not interpretations belong to God?’ And they point out that God was always the immediate response of his mind and give these references to prove it. (Gen. 39:9; 41:16, 51-52; 45:8) And if you look them up, you’ll see that yes, God was always uppermost in Bruh Joseph’s mind, just like it ought to be uppermost in ours. 

Now, let’s take a gander at the dreams of the butler and the baker. The butler dreamed that there was a vine before him: ‘And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes. And Pharoah’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: yet within three days shall Pharoah lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place (position): and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.’ (Gen. 40:10-13)  

Now that was certainly good news for the butler, and after interpreting the dream, Bruh Joseph made this request of him. ‘But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.’ (Gen. 40:14:15) 

And finally, we have the first recorded complaint of Bruh Joseph in all of his misfortunes. No doubt the unfair situation was eating away at his soul like a venomous cancer, but he never appears to complain about it before. How many of us would have borne such unfair misfortune so doggedly eh? Not many. We would have been up in arms crying out about the unfairness and injustice, the unfair restriction of our rights, and whatever other complaint that came to our minds. 

But my fellow saints, sometimes when we’re doing God’s will and the going gets tough, He expects us to hang in there with a good attitude, trusting in His faithfulness, in His promises that he will never leave nor forsake us, and always make a way for us where there seems to be no way. That’s what it means to walk faithfully with God! Much LOVE!

…our faith walk will always have bumps and potholes along the way…but we must be trusting enough…to know that God will see us through those rough periods… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ    

Today’s Scrip-Bit   29 August 2023 Matthew 28:20b.

29 Aug 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 28:20b.       …and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Oh friends, what a beautiful Tuesday morning it is in my area! The sun’s shining brightly in a clear blue sky, the birds are singing, the insects chirping, and everything seems right with the world! (smile) But we know that’s not true. In fact, it’s the opposite, not a whole lot is right with our world. When you consider the overwhelming natural disasters happening all over our world; the wildfires, the hurricanes and tornadoes, the flooding, the drought, famine, economic deprivation and sickness, plus the serious strife caused by man’s greed and inhumanity to his fellow man, how can anything be right eh? 

But that’s what we believers in Christ Jesus are here for, to make it better, or as best as we can before our Lord and Saviour returns. But we have to get serious about it, not only talk, but gallivant ourselves into action, helping those in need; that’s the vocation and purpose of Christ’s body, the church. Unfortunately, it’s an area in which we have not been doing as well as we should. But with things as bad as they are right now, it’s of the utmost importance that believers rise to the occasion and help alleviate the serious situation existing in our disaster filled world. 

And the best place to begin is always with prayer. So, here’s this month’s prayer from the In Touch Devotional. Please pray with me. ‘Father, all my striving has one goal – to know You. Have mercy on me. I make mistakes, I stumble, but always toward You. Have mercy on me. I confess, Lord, that I long to rest with You. Have mercy on me. Teach me to experience You without wringing my hands. Have mercy on me. Forgive me for scrambling and striving – You’ve never required it. Have mercy on me. You’ve always been here and always will be. Have mercy on me. Amen.’ 

Yes my fellow believers, two things jump out at me in that prayer; first that our wonderful and merciful God doesn’t ever require us to strive and scramble, because if we dwell sincerely with Him, He always provides for our needs. And secondly, He has always been with us, and always will be. And until that fact becomes a permanent and active part of our lives, our spiritual walk will not be as comfortable and significant as it ought to be. And there are numerous scriptures where the Lord has promised to be with us, so let’s look at a few to remind ourselves of his gracious promise and thus renew our faith and trust in Him. 

And the first one comes from way back when, when Moses told the Israelites on the Lord’s behalf. ‘Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.’ (Deut. 31:6) Then there’s the personal outpouring of God’s favour in the life of Bruh Joesph. Yes, Joseph is one of our three Bros: we just don’t talk about him as much as we do the other two, Paul and David, but he was the forerunner of the Israelite nation in Egypt, and though he suffered much misfortune, the Lord was always with him. 

As the Bible records in Genesis. ‘But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.’ (Gen. 39:21) Wherever Joseph went, despite his many misfortunes, he remained faithful to God and God favoured him with steadfast LOVE, so that he was always well looked upon. And it’s the same way the Lord will look upon us with favour and steadfast LOVE if we are faithful to His will. 

And Isaiah made this pronouncement about the coming of Jesus, long before it ever happened. ‘Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ (Is. 7:14) And what does ‘Immanuel mean? God with us! So the Lord didn’t just talk about being with us, but He sent His Son, God in the flesh to be with us! You can’t get any better than that! 

And probably the most in your face and direct promise of God being with us, is when He said to Joshua: ‘Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.’ (Josh. 1:9) And believe me friends, the same promise holds good for each and every sincere believer in Christ Jesus! He is with us wherever we go! 

The problem is that we have to believe it, do like Bruh Joseph and have strong faith despite all the unfortunate and unfair things that happen to us. Don’t think that he was not confused and wondering why his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, why Potiphar’s wife wrongly accused him of sexual abuse, and why the chief butler forgot for two years to tell Pharaoh about him. But despite all that stuff, he held on to the dream the Lord had placed in his heart, and because of his faithfulness, it eventually came true. 

That’s how we have to be my fellow believers; strong in our faith, despite whatever happens that doesn’t sync with what we expect, for our God is faithful. As Hebrews tells us: ‘Let us hold fast the profession (confession) of our faith (hope) without wavering: (for he is faithful that promised.)’ (Heb. 10:23) And again there’s this promise through Isaiah to the people of Israel. ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.’ (Is. 41:10) How much more can we ask eh? 

Now listen to Zephaniah tell it like it is. ‘The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest (quiet you) in his LOVE, he will joy over thee with singing.’ (Zeph. 3:17) How much reassurance do we need of God’s faithfulness eh? And Bruh David lived it and said it in spades in our favourite psalm. ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’ (Ps. 23:4) And why do you think Bruh David escaped all the times that Saul tried to kill him eh? Because the Lord was with him, and will be with us too if we stick close and faithful to Him. 

Now there are many more scriptures where God poured out His promise to be with us, but we’ll close with this one straight from the horse’s mouth as it were. (smile) It’s Jesus promise, when He gives the disciples the Great Commission: ‘and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ (Matt. 28:20b) And if we can’t believe that, then I don’t know what else to say. 

Now, let’s go home declaring (awright!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one sincere voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And it’s now our duty to go out and share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Christ with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…the most important aspect of a successful walk with Christ…a heart overflowing with faith… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ