Psalms :: I Can Rest

Psalm 4 Answer me when I call to You,     O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress;     be merciful to me and hear my prayer. How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?     How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord [...]

Psalm 1: Make Me a Tree

Psalm 1: — Blessed is the man,      who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners,     or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord,      and on his law he meditates day and [...]

Abel Wasn’t the First Shepherd

Genesis 48 — 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” — 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,    “May the God before whom my fathers 
   Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, 
the God who has been my shepherd [...]

Again? and Again? and Again…

Genesis 46 — 1 So Israel set out with all that was his,  . . .   2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied.  3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to [...]

A Campfire in a Rainstorm

Genesis 45 — 1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about [...]

Slow Hand…

Wherever You Are…

In this passage, God is establishing the outpost of His blessing- a fountain of His Kingdom, through Joseph right there in the Captain’s living room! God is setting up camp, and he brought everything with him, including the kitchen sink. And he is putting the power of the Kingdom of God all over that house, just because of one person.

…Is a Maker

terrible, awful things happen. And in Joseph’s case, it maybe years before you understand, if ever, the season of suck that is about to take you under for the last time. I can cling, in a white-knuckle, death-grip clutch, to the rock-foundation truth that God is a maker. Of good things.

Just a Rock. And Some Oil. A Plain-Jane God?

  Genesis 35: —  1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” — 6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of [...]

It is Completed

Our lives have consequence. They have meaning. They have meaning that is for us, just like Leah’s children had meaning for her. She longed for acceptance from her husband. She desired to be loved. Rachel’s children had meaning for her life. They were validation for her, on her claim on Jacob.
But while they served purposes for Leah and for Rachel, they were also serving a role in God’s plan too.