May 28 - Day 4

Thank you God for allowing me the privilege of reading your Word today. Though it wasn't all in one sitting I was able to complete the reading and gain new and exciting truths from it. The Living Word is coming new to me as I read these familiar passages in light of my current situations and draw linkages between what you said then and what you are speaking directly to me today.

As I read about these Old Testament saints I realize I am strongly envious of their ability to hear you and sense your guiding. I recognize that not everyone I'm reading about understands who you are and what you are saying, but those Fathers of your chosen people remained humble and obedient. Through that humility you taught them and each successive step of obedience helped them gain the courage to trust you more.

Joseph displayed humility when he was asked by Pharaoh to interpret the dreams. Though he had been in prison for many years for a crime he didn't commit, he chose to help rather than to become bitter for the treatment he'd received. Not only that but he remembered his source of gifting. He replied to Pharaoh, "I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." This serves as a great warning to me. How often do I usurp God's glory by negating the gifting He's bestowed upon me? Daily I have the opportunity to interact and influence people. I asked for such an opportunity and God delivered. Yet, daily I plunge into my routines with my own strength and try to rely on my gifting rather than the SOURCE of my gifting. God has blessed me with tremendous talents and I use them daily. Yet using them is not enough. Using them for His glory and at His prompting enables me not to become depleted or defeated. Lately, I've been feeling defeat. I've not been enlarged and my territory and responsibility is diminished. Help me be more like Joseph and remember not only my gifts but the SOURCE of my gifts as well - that I may again feel your leading and your prompting.

In Genesis 47 during the famine that struck Egypt and the surrounding area I received a warning about helping people in crisis while helping them realize the source of their blessing. Many people were coming to Joseph to purchase grain from the Egyptian storehouse. When their money ran out they begged for more food. Joseph told them that he would sell the grain to them in exchange for their livestock. When the livestock ran out, Joseph told them he would sell them the grain for their land. Then in exchange for seeds Joseph contracted the people to return 1/5 of their crop to Pharaoh. How easy it would have been for Joseph to give the people exactly what they asked for? They wanted a handout. He could have simply provided them with the grain out of mercy. It seems almost cruel, but Joseph made them pay for the handout despite their dire circumstances. Yet he did it in a way that helped them maintain their dignity AND caused the to continually recognize the source of the blessing. I as God's child must realize the SOURCE of a blessing as well as the blessing itself. If I do not, the blessing becomes an entitlement and soon my pride creeps back in. Look at our world around us today. How many people have forgotten the SOURCE of our blessings. The government provides us with many benefits as citizens. God provides us with many benefits as citizens of Earth. Yet on both accounts we are guilty of usurping the glory intended by these blessings because we fail to acknowledge the source and view them as an entitlement. Who am I that I should be called both a citizen of this great nation as well as a child of God? Help me always acknowledge YOU as the SOURCE of my blessings.

Genesis 50:19 - After the death of Jacob, Joseph's brothers were afraid that he would exact revenge on them for their harmful acts against him. They pleaded for mercy and fell down before him offering to be his slaves. I extracted two learnings from this example. The first is that God's Word always comes true. In Joseph's early life he had a dream that showed him that his brothers would kneel before him. And here it is that the dream has come true. How easily it would have been for Joseph to say "I told you so." And in my humanness, this is probably what I would have said. Instead, I gained a second application... how Joseph chose to respond. Instead of revenge or anger, Joseph recognized His calling and Who had called him. His response was "Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." In challenges or frustrations of this life, I all too often look for how to get even or how to get back at those who've hurt me. I rarely look for the opportunity to bring Glory to God by recognizing WHOSE I am first and WHAT God may have called me to accomplish by allowing me to go through this specific trial or frustration. Lord, Help me apply this to every aspect of my life. . . That I may have eternal eyes to see things in lieu of your plan and not my momentary frustrations.