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Wednesday August 27 - Bitterness’s tragic story
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill
him. Genesis 37:17-18
‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it’ (Proverbs 4:23). Guard your heart! Why? Because the condition of your heart is the source of your thought life and the driver of your actions. This is fundamentally important. Jesus put it this way: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).
Today, let’s take time to consider the condition of our hearts. Joseph’s brothers’ hearts were full of bitterness and jealousy, built up over years of seeing their father’s favour fall on Joseph. The writer of Hebrews warns, ‘see... that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble... ’ (Hebrews 12:15). Unattended bitterness leads to trouble. The brothers saw Joseph’s brightly coloured coat in the distance, and before Joseph had chance to give an account of himself, their plan had been hatched. Rather than putting their hearts right, they determined to eradicate the irritation! The consequence is that sin begets sin; their attitude of heart led to evil intent, deception and resultant heartache. If only they had seen Joseph as their own father saw him. Similarly, if only we could see others as our Heavenly Father sees them!
Dear Heavenly Father, I am sorry. Please remove all bitterness and jealousy from my heart and replace it with your love. Amen.
Thursday August 28 - Grace’s hopeful story
...his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty
shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Genesis 37:28
Without warning, Joseph was stripped of his father’s coat and thrown into an empty cistern. The first grace – the cistern was empty; if not Joseph would have drowned! The second grace – his stepbrothers Reuben and Judah pleaded for his life to be spared. The third grace – a group of Ishmaelite traders were on hand, travelling to Egypt and willing to purchase Joseph as a slave.
Dear friend, all three are not coincidences; they are evidence of God’s grace. Joseph was not destined to die in obscurity but to be part of the lineage of Jesus, and the saviour of his own family. As I look back over my life, I can see the hand of God directing my life at crucial times – through people, circumstances, and especially through his Word. This is the grace of God. You may be going through very testing times; feeling alone, cast away with no apparent way of escape. Take heart – know that God has not forsaken you.
Paul reminds struggling Corinthians, ‘God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When there seems to be no way, God will provide a way. He is faithful; therefore resist temptation, pray for deliverance and know that God will make a way!
Thank you Father, that you are faithful in all your ways. May I stay faithful in your ways too. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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