Today's Thought

Today’s thought form Exodus 7-9

 

          Does the word egomaniac, mean anything to anyone, Pharaoh, he has some real controlling issues.  How much does one person have to see to be convinced, but not really just one person, because even at the time of the hailstorm enough people were still not convinced of the Hebrew God’s power that they stayed outside and died.  It seams hard to believe that anyone could be that unbelieving, and yet they are.  Undoubtedly, much of it has to do with the fact that this is the God of the slaves, how powerful could this God really be, look his people are slaves.  Taking that into consideration I’m sure it was easier to dismiss Moses and the Hebrew people. 

 

          I thought it was particularly interesting that the first several plagues, God allowed the local magicians and advisors of Pharaoh to perform the same miracles, and if you think about it, that alone is amusing, here God is delivering a plague, a punishment a warning, and the magicians aren’t countering the plague they are adding to it.  It is somewhat amusing how God allowed that to play out.  Sure, create more, blood, and frogs, you all are the ones left to deal with them.   The magicians couldn’t remove the frogs, only add to them. You have to wonder if God got a little chuckle out of that.    When it came time to clean them all up I wonder if you could tell which was which, heaping insult to injury.

 

          Even in the most evident of times, people will still ignore the very presence, power, and authority of God.

 

Have a great day

Rob

 

Today's thought

Today’s thought from Exodus 1-7

 

Here we are introduced to the life of Moses and his brother Aaron.  In keeping with the story line, Moses is still in the same family line.  Think about how amazing scripture is for a moment,  we have the internet, computerized birth records, ability to communicate nearly instantly around the world and yet we have trouble going back more than a few hundred years.  Here we are some 4000+ years into the future and we have this genealogy that is going to span millennia, not simply centuries.  This all being done in a pre record keeping era, this is yet another proof of God’s amazing ability to take the insignificant and make it amazingly significant.  This information will span numerous kings, nations rising and falling, from slavery to superpower, to captivity, from meager existence to kingdom, on and on, yet this families line continues to be preserved, coincidence, I don’t think so.   So anyhow, Moses is in the line of Levi who was the third son of Israel (Jacob).  Moses, unlike his Hebrew brothers grew up in a very privileged life, saved from the river by the Daughter of Pharaoh, Moses was afforded every opportunity that could have been given to Hebrew in that time. And was likely alone in that category.  Moses finds himself fleeing from Egypt as a man, fearful that Pharaoh will kill him because while trying to protect one of his Hebrew brothers Moses killed an Egyptian, the one who was beating the man.  So Moses fled to Midian and spent many years there, married had a child, and for all intensive purposes, put his life in Egypt behind him.  It wasn’t till God came to Moses did Moses entertain the thought of returning to Egypt.  God speaks to Moses through a burning bush, demonstrates miracles with Moses’ staff, and even creates leprosy, instantly and then heals it instantly, and Moses still isn’t sure that he can be God’s man.  So much so that he wears God down and God allows Aaron, Moses’ brother to go and be the voice for Moses.   Moses is instructed to have various meetings with Pharaoh, all of which go poorly and heap additional burden on the very people that he is there to lead to liberty.  God continues to convince Moses, that he is the man to carry God’s message and that God has a plan to demonstrate to the Hebrews and to the Egyptians that God is in control and Pharaoh will have to concede to Gods’ commands.  While we are all pretty familiar with this story,  Watch the character development of Moses.  We are going to see him go from privileged youth, to brash young male, to frightened and timid adult to perhaps one of the greatest leaders of all time.

 

 

 

Today's thought

Today’s thought from Genesis 45-50

 

Joseph was a rather extra ordinary man, His belief, trust and obedience to his God played an obvious role in the many tough and gigantic decisions that he had to routinely make.  But even personally, he not only forgave his brothers of their terrible transgressions, he saved their lives from certain ruin in the famine.  Not only did he save them, but he provided so generously for them that their families together became a great nation that threatened the very existence of Egypt, one of the most powerful nations of that time.  Joseph’s forgiveness went beyond words it went even beyond reconciliation; it went the whole way to restoration and full relationship with his brothers.  Joseph recognized that regardless of the actions of his brothers, his God was greater and his God could take even the most egregious action and use it for kingdom glory. 

 

What does forgiveness for us look like, is it words without relationship. Are we willing to forgive but only at a distance?  Do we allow restoration and relationship with the offender to be part of our forgiveness track?  While these steps take time are we willing to allow the process to be implemented?  What would God have us do in forgiving those who have come against us?

 

Think about it

Rob

 

Today's Thought

Today’s thoughts from Genesis 42 – 44

 

It is the time of famine in the land that Joseph had predicted and it has reached as far back as his home land, his family is without food and his father sends all but Benjamin to Egypt to buy grain for the family. Egypt is the only place with grain thanks to the diligent management of Joseph.  When Joseph sees his brothers they do not recognize him but he knows who they are.  Joseph sets out an elaborate plan that will test the hearts of his brothers as well as reunite him with his youngest brother.  This testing takes months and once again we see the favoritism that Israel shows to his son Benjamin the only remaining son of Rachel the wife he loved the most.  He willingly lets one son sit in prison in order to protect the son Benjamin.  It isn’t hard to understand the animosity that the brothers would have held for Joseph and maybe even for Benjamin.  The brothers clearly believe that these tests are a punishment for what they did to Joseph, so it is obviously still very much apart of their mind all these years later the betrayal and evil that they did to their sibling.  While at this point in the story Josephs full reasoning for this elaborate plan is not known, it falls very much in line with what human nature would drive anyone to do.  Joseph wants to be restored to his family but he is rightfully cautious in his dealings with his brothers.

 

These stories aren’t just fascinating because of their interconnectedness with the relationship of God to his people, but because they speak so clearly to the way in which we all still engage one anther today.  Hopefully we learn from the stories rather than repeat them.

 

Rob

 

Today's thought

Today’s thought from Genesis 40 & 40

 

When faced with tragedy people are willing to try just about anything.  Look at those around Joseph a cupbearer and the baker are in prison with Joseph, (sounds like the start of an old joke) and are perplexed by dreams that they had while sleeping.  These two guys obviously were in a bad spot, accused by Pharaoh, spending an undetermined amount of time in prison and now are having disturbing dreams; they have fallen far from their lofty positions as pharaoh’s attendants.  Do you really think that they would normally have sought advice from a foreign born slave in his early twenties and serving time for accursedly attacking the wife of a public official if they weren’t at the end of their options.  Regardless of how well Joseph was liked in prison, his resume as a consultant wasn’t looking all that good at the moment.  Even thought Joseph’s interpretation to these men was spot on he was quickly forgotten by the cup bearer when he was restored to his life and position in the Pharaoh’s service.  He was also forgotten by the baker, but we’ll cut him some slack since he was hung. But is it really all that hard to believe. How many people do we encounter through our lives that we touch and forget, I can think of dozens if not hundred of people that I have briefly encountered who may have been interesting or given some random advice that I would never recall to my recollection without significant thought.  I think it is just our nature to remember the significant and the rest just kind of blurs to the background, not forgotten, just not remembered. 

Pharaoh finds himself in a similar spot to his servant’s early situation, he is having lousy dreams, and none of his wise men and magicians capable of interpreting, and a foul mood is developing in the palace.  When that little crisis spark is lit and the cupbearer remembers that insignificant young man in prison that had accurately interpreted his dream.  Now the cupbearer brings this to the Pharaoh’s attention and once again, council is sought in the most bizarre of realms, not because of likely success but because there is no other option.  Joseph however rather than taking credit for his ability gives all the glory and credit to his God.  And when he is able to interpret the dream to pharaoh’s satisfaction he is not only removed from prison he is elevated to the highest position in Egypt, second only to the pharaoh himself.  The task that is before him is enormous and it has taken years for Joseph to be prepared for this role.  In God’s timing and through circumstances that are definitely God arraigned, God now has a devout follower as the lead man of a nation that has no relationship with him. 

For God nothing is unattainable.  When his people are willing to be his instrument God is willing and capable to accomplish the bizarre and it will often happen in the most unlikely of ways.  For Joseph it was from the lowest of positions, foreign slave imprisoned, to second in command in a matter of moments.  And in that moment, Joseph had obtained greater authority than anyone could have imaged in that land.  He now had a platform to transform a nation and openly communicate the power of his God.

 

 

 

Today's thought

Today’s thought from Genesis 37-39

 

          As we open the life of Joseph several things are evident, he has God’s blessing upon him, he is a favorite child (a problem not a blessing) he is loathed to the point of almost murder by his siblings, and he is a very capable leader.  In the few short chapters we see that God is beginning to reveal to Joseph that he has a very special plan for him, through his dreams he is given a glimpse of what his role in his family will be, even thought it isn’t supported by his birth order. We also see what destructive nature a fathers favoritism does to the relationship between Joseph and his brother.  While I doubt that favoritism is the only catalyst here since Joseph had no apparent problem sharing his dreams with his brothers and his father.  That favoritism stoked an already hot set of coals.  But is most apparent that God has a plan for him, He is blessed at every turn even in his darkest moments, of slavery and prison, God has his eye on Joseph and Joseph, aware or not of God’s presence has the foresight to make the best of an ever increasingly worst situation and develop real leadership and authority out of it.  We learn that Joseph is honorable even when taken advantage of and will not dishonor himself before his God for his own or other selfish pleasure.  As a result God is with him in his deepest despair.  Joseph must have in those prison moments thought back to his dreams/visions and wondered how they would ever be fulfilled when he found himself sold as a slave and now locked in a foreign prison.  I can’t imagine it gets much bleaker than that. Yet even there Joseph is elevated to leadership because of the obvious blessing that is on him from his God.  As seen with Joseph, when God’s blessing is with you there is little that seams impossible to bear.

 

Have a great day

Rob

 

 

Rob Minton
3231 Ruckriegel Parkway
Suite 111
Louisville, KY  40299

502-299-8986 cell - (best option)
502-713-4859
www.crossroadsmissions.com

 

Today's Thought

Today’s thought from Genesis 31-36

 

Jacob has worn out his welcome in the land of his brothers in law and they have turned against him since he has prospered so well and surpassed his father in law in wealth and possession.  So God tells Jacob to go home to the land of his fathers, and that God would be with him.  For Jacob the biggest issue in going home is still the same issue that drove him from home.  The broken relationship with his brother Esau, Jacob had deceived his brother stolen from him then fled for his life.  Jacob not knowing what his brother now felt for him devised a plan to hopefully soften the anger in Esau’s heart as he learns of Jacob’s returning.  From Abraham to Jacob, they are a shrewd group of characters, seemingly living in the grey area of life a large portion of the time.  Just before Jacob is to encounter his brother he sends ahead his flocks, his servants and his family and he is left alone, that night Jacob encounters God, and God changes his name to Israel.  The next day, Jacob’s plan works, or at least Esau’s heart isn’t as bitter as Jacob once remembered it and the two brothers are reconciled to one another.  Jacob insists that Esau keep his gifts and Jacob and his clan settle back in the region of his youth.  Settling in isn’t smooth and almost at once Jacob is at odds with the Canaanites and Perizzites.    Shortly after returning to his homeland, Rachel the wife that Jacob loved, dies while bearing him another son Benjamin.   God reaffirms his covenant with Jacob/Israel.  We leave the story today with the passing of Isaac the father of Jacob.  Jacob and Esau bury their father together.

 

Have a great day

Rob

 

 

Rob Minton
3231 Ruckriegel Parkway
Suite 111
Louisville, KY  40299

502-299-8986 cell - (best option)
502-713-4859
www.crossroadsmissions.com

 

Daily Thought

Today’s Thought from Genesis 27-30

 

When you look at the family of Isaac, Rebecca, their children and their spouses you aren’t looking at what we would call the Cleavers or some typical Christian family (or are we),  In these chapters you have a brother betraying a brother, a mother conspiring with a son to deceive the father, sisters despising one anther and an son-in-law deceiving and taking advantage of his father-in-law.  These are just the obvious stories.  If God likes to work with imperfect people and he obviously does, he has really hit the jackpot here. But are these people that different from a lot of the people we normally see at church.  Without even thinking about it, I can imagine that you can identify people you know who are followers that have real family issues, have personal conflict issues, have addictions etc… are they that much different from the story we see here.  But look between the negative stories, God still is using these imperfect people to do some absolutely amazing things, not because they are sinners, but in spite of the fact that they are sinners.  While these characters have huge failures some also have a greater desire to be right with their God.  

How many times do we hear, I have been to bad for God to love me, God could never forgive me, etc…  Those people have not read the story, they may have difficulty forgiving themselves but the problem in those cases isn’t with God.  Likewise how often do we write off good people because of big failures?  If you are reading along in this relationship journey, we have some pretty amazing people doing some pretty horrific deeds.  It doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for these actions there are and sometimes they are huge, but in time the relationship with God and often the offended one is restored, in the cases of the people we are reading about some of their greatest accomplishments came after their greatest failures.  By all means people must be held accountable, but when God can restore someone from failure and sin and we can’t, the problem is not with God or the one who has offended it is solely with us.  There is an old saying that time heals all wounds, not true.  While healing will take time, it will come because of a change in the heart of those involved not simply the passing of time. Forgiveness requires repentance and repentance requires action, so time alone will not suffice.  As we move through relationship with God, there will be great highs and awesome moments and we are going to struggle.  We will be disappointed when those close to us fail, when they hurt us and/or the ones we love, when their life doesn’t reflect the person they claim to be.  And rightly, for a time there will be separation and possible consequence, but if the offending person is repentant, has sought forgiveness and making an effort to restore right relationships with God and us and we cannot forgive then like before the problem is not with the offender it is with us. 

God works with imperfect people better than anyone, and He is the only one who doesn’t have too.

 

Have a great day

Rob

 

Today's Thought

Today’s thought from Genesis 25 & 26

 

I had never noticed before today that Abraham took another wife after Sarah, after Sarah’s death he married one of his concubines Keturah, and she bore him 6 more children, so we know of at least 8 children born to Abraham, Even though we will only follow the life of one of the me closely, you can see how God fulfilled his promise to Abraham of making him the father of a great Nation, in actuality great nations.  A couple things popped out in this section.  There seems to be a reoccurring theme of barren women.  In God’s time he opened their wombs to produce the next leader.  I don’t fully understand this but it was clear that God was developing the man and the relationship before he let the man continue his line in the way that God wanted the line continued.   A further example of God’s timing not ours.  The message is clear, in these stories that God is delivering on the desires of the heart for both Abraham and Isaac, but in His time.  The next thing that really stood out is that these are normal families blessed by God, not exempt from trial but blessed because of faithfulness.  Look at the strained relationship developing between Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Rebecca have clear favorites for children (obviously unhealthy for the siblings) Esau maried outside his people and it says that he and his wife are a source of Grief for Isaac and Rebecca.

 

Yet in that same time, Isaac amasses great wealth, power and influence in the land, enough so that he is a threat to entire kingdoms.  Treaties are forged with him because of his obvious blessings by God.  Normal people, leading extraordinary lives, not by their own doing but because they are willing to listen and wait on the Lord.  The Lords blessing is with them even in their trials.  Too often I think we miss the humanity of the characters and read through their lives as if they were a flash of time and couple pages deep, yet these people lived long lives, with great accomplishment and trial.  Dissecting their lives while looking at the length of their lives just shows how involved and committed God is to these people, His relationship with them.  It further demonstrates his Grace, Love and maybe most of all His patience with His people.

 

Be patient and wait upon the Lord.

 

 

 

Today's Thought

Today’s thought from Genesis 22 through 24

 

Abraham is asked by God to make an extreme sacrifice.  He is asked to take his son, the son whom he loves, and sacrifice him on the mountain as a burnt offering.  Abraham knew the covenant, he knew of his relationship with God, and he knew of God’s power.  He also knew that being faithful had produced blessings and deeper relationship with God, where disobedience had brought misery and trial.  Abraham had seen God overcome Abraham’s enemies, destroy cities, and create life in a barren womb.  Abraham was familiar with the power of the God he served.  I also believe that Abraham trusted that God would provide. I don’t think he was just giving lip service to his son, when his son asked where the sacrifice was.  I also think that Abraham was prepared to go all the way with sacrificing Isaac.  While I believe that he didn’t know how God would provide he did in fact believe that God would fulfill his covenant promise and Abraham knew that that in involved Isaac.  This passage further demonstrates however that God does not dictate our relationship.  Abraham had a choice, and his choice affected his relationship.  God, tremendously pleased with Abraham’s faith and dedication, swears by himself that Abraham’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars and the sands of the beach.

 

I can’t imagine what Abraham must have felt when asked to sacrifice his son, being a recent father of my own son, it is unimaginable.  I have seen God do amazing things, lead myself and others into wonderful and challenging places.  Blessed me beyond my expectations and yet I can’t imagine being asked to do what Abraham did.  It is further evidence for me that the deeper we go into relationship with the father the greater the expectation, the greater the challenge, the greater the sacrifice.  I have seen it demonstrated countless times, that we can’t out give God.  Yet in our humanness, we question nearly every stage of the relationship, never fully getting past that God has even greater concern for us than we have for ourselves.

 

Have a great day