Tag Archives: Joseph and his brothers

October 3, 2023 · 5:49 AM

Controlling Your Words

When a toddler is mad at someone and wants to hurt them, they use their mouth to bite them. When they get a little older and they want to hurt someone, they say, “You’re not my best friend!” As they age a little more, they start name calling. Then the preteen and teen years come and the put downs start. It’s not long before they’re married, and when they get into an argument with their spouse, they use their words to attack the vulnerabilities of the person they love most in the world. No one has to teach us to use words to hurt. It starts at a very young age and if we don’t learn to control that urge, we’ll leave a lot of hurting people in our wake.

In Genesis 37, Joseph shared his God given dream with his brothers. Verse 8 says, “His brothers responded, ‘So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them” (NLT). Their put downs of Joseph turned into murmuring among themselves about Joseph. Those words became a breeding ground for bitterness and hate until finally they decided to kill him. Instead they sold him into slavery for 14 years until God raised him up to be second in command of Egypt which saved his family. When they realized it was him, they were scared. But in Genesis 50:20, he spoke kindness to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” His words restored the relationship.

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” You and I have a choice every day of how to use our words. We can use them to tear people down or to build them up. In this passage, Paul leads up to this verse telling us as believers to not lie or to sin when we get angry. Instead of using our words in anger towards someone, we must learn to edify. The power of life and death is in the words you use. Don’t go shooting it off just because you’re mad, angry or upset. Think about how your words will be interpreted and the ramifications of what you say because once words get past your lips, you can never get them back. Make it a habit to praise the people around you and watch lives change including yours.

Photo by Sujal Patel on Unsplash

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February 7, 2023 · 6:00 AM

Good Trade

There’s a scene in “Dances With Wolves” that I always remember. After Lieutenant Dunbar tells the Native American tribe that the buffaloes are moving through and they hunt, Dunbar is invited to their camp for a feast. After dinner, Wind In His Hair wants Dunbar to she a story again, but Dunbar is tired of sharing it. He sees that Wind In His Hair is eyeing his military jacket. He immediately takes it off and offers it to him. Wind In His Hair tries it on and loves it. He then takes off his chest beads and gives them to Dunbar, who puts them on. Wind In His Hair then hits hit chest and reaches across and pats Dunbar’s chest trying to communicate that he wants to trade. Dunbar accepts and says, “Good trade.” It reminds me that even though trades like that aren’t very common anymore, but we still make trades every day.

In Genesis 42, there is a severe famine in Egypt and it’s surrounding areas. Jacob and his sons are deeply affected by it. He hears that there is food in Egypt and sends ten of his eleven sons to get food. He refuses to let Joseph’s younger brother go. When they arrive, Joseph recognizes them, but they don’t recognize him. They ask for food, but he accuses them of being spies and locks them up in jail. He then agrees to let all but one go home until they bring back their other brother. When they tell Jacob.he refuses. He’s now lost two sons and Benjamin is his favorite now. They try to convince him to let them go back, but in verse 38 he says, “My son will not go down with you. His brother Joseph is dead, and he is all I have left. If anything should happen to him on your journey, you would send this grieving, white-haired man to his grave” (NLT). Jacob refused to let go of his son to trade him for food to live. It would take a long time before he let go, thereby delaying the blessing God had for him.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” God offers many trades with us. We give Him our burdens and He gives us rest. We give Him our sin and guilt and He gives eternal life. We give Him our old life and He gives us a new one. What are you still holding onto that God is offering a trade for? Don’t let fear or pride keep you from making a good trade. He takes our worst and gives us His best in exchange. Release it to Him today. By holding onto it you’re denying yourself the blessings He has for you in exchange.

Photo by Francesca Veronesi on Unsplash

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February 6, 2023 · 5:48 AM

Facing Adversity

Most of us can point to a period of adversity in our lives that shaped up. Some of us look back on that time with a bit of sorrow or even bitterness because of how bad it was and where it left them. Others look back on it as a bad time that created a positive outcome in their life. It could have been just as bad as someone else’s, but because the end result was different, they change how they look at it. How do you view that time? How far had God brought you since then? It’s hard to see God’s hand in our lives the closer we are to that time. However, the farther away we get, if we look back, we should be able to see God’s hand in it carrying us or moving us into a position through it. We rarely know everything He is doing, but with some distance and perspective we should be able to see how He can work everything out for our good.

In Genesis, we find the story of Joseph. He was a man that went through 13 years of adversity without letting it make him bitter towards God or others. His own family beat him, threw him in a pit and sold him as a slave. The man who purchased him from the slave traders lived in a foreign land. Joseph was a hard worker despite his circumstances. He was given more and more responsibility until his master’s wife made a pass at him. Because he rejected her, she lied and had him thrown in prison with no parole. He was left there and forgotten even though he helped people there. After he interpreted pharaoh’s dream, he was given all authority in Egypt to make decisions as he led them for 7 years of blessings and through 7 years of famine. During those 14 years, he got married and had two kids, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Genesis 41:52 says, “He named the second [son] Ephraim (fruitfulness), for ‘God has caused me to be fruitful and very successful in the land of my suffering.’” The more Joseph looked back on that time, the more he could see the faithfulness of God who was positioning him so that the dreams God gave him as a boy could be fulfilled. He didn’t allow bitterness to grow in his heart towards God or others. In doing so, he was able to be fruitful and successful even though he didn’t understand as he went through it. Our attitude in adversity, and even after, will often affect our outcome. God is faithful and able to turn any situation around for our good, no matter how bad it was. When I’m discouraged in times of adversity, I find hope when I look at Joseph knowing that God can make me fruitful and successful no matter how bad things get, and that He will be faithful to His Word through it.

Photo by Brad Barmore on Unsplash

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