Confirming One’s Calling and Election

2 Peter 1:5-7 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Genesis 48, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Your Place at God’s Table

Angry.  Sullen.  Accusatory.  Whiny.  Put them all together in one word and spell it b-i-t-t-e-r.  If you put them all in one person, that person’s in the pit, the dungeon of bitterness.  The dungeon calls you to enter.  You can, you know. You’ve experienced enough hurt.  You’ve been betrayed enough times. You can choose, like many, to chain yourself to your hurt.

Or you can choose, like some, to put away your hurts.  You can choose to go to the party.  You have a place there. If you’re a child of God, no one can take away your sonship. Which is precisely what the father said to his prodigal son in Luke 15. “You are always with me; all that I have is yours.”

What you have is more important than what you don’t have, and that is, your relationship with God the Father!  Your place at God’s table is permanent!

from He Still Moves Stones

Genesis 48

Manasseh and Ephraim

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[m] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’

5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,[n] to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”

10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

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
    all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
    —may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
    and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
    on the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,

“In your[o] name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
    ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[p] and take you[q] back to the land of your[r] fathers. 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[s] than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Proverbs 18:1-10

An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
    and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.
2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding
    but delight in airing their own opinions.
3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
    and with shame comes reproach.
4 The words of the mouth are deep waters,
    but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
    and so deprive the innocent of justice.
6 The lips of fools bring them strife,
    and their mouths invite a beating.
7 The mouths of fools are their undoing,
    and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
    they go down to the inmost parts.
9 One who is slack in his work
    is brother to one who destroys.
10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
    the righteous run to it and are safe.

Insight
The book of Proverbs provides us with insight on everything from words to work to relationships. Interestingly, sprinkled throughout the book are sayings that don’t tell us something about life but rather about God. Yet those theological truths should not be separated from the idea of practical day-to-day living. It is as important to know that the name of the Lord is strong and provides safety (18:10) as it is to know that a fool’s mouth leads to his destruction (v.7).

The Power Of A Name
By Joe Stowell

The name of the Lord is a strong tower. —Proverbs 18:10

Nicknames are often descriptive of some noticeable aspect of a person’s character or physical attributes. Growing up, my elementary school friends brutally called me “liver lips” since at that stage of development my lips seemed disproportionately large. Needless to say, I have always been glad that the name didn’t stick.

Unlike my nickname, I love the names of God that describe His magnificent characteristics. God is so wonderfully multifaceted that He has many names that communicate His capabilities and character. To name just a few, He is:

Elohim, the God above all gods

Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides

El-Shaddai, the almighty God

Jehovah Rapha, our healer God

Jehovah Shalom, our God of peace

Jehovah Shamma, our God who is present

Jehovah Yahweh, our loving, covenant-keeping God

It’s no wonder the writer of Proverbs encourages us to remember that “the name of the Lord is a strong tower,” that in times of need God-fearing people run to it and “are safe” (Prov. 18:10). When unwelcome circumstances threaten you and you feel vulnerable, reflect on one of God’s names. Be assured—He will be faithful to His name.

Lord, remind us that Your names reveal Your
character. Help us to remember them in our times
of need and distress. Thank You for the assurance
that You are faithful to Your name.
God’s names, which describe His character, can bring comfort when we need it most.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, July 12, 2014

The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church

. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13
Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually, but also in our lives collectively. Jesus Christ sent apostles and teachers for this very purpose— that the corporate Person of Christ and His church, made up of many members, might be brought into being and made known. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own, or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.

Am I building up the body of Christ, or am I only concerned about my own personal development? The essential thing is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ— “. . . that I may know Him. . .” (Philippians 3:10). To fulfill God’s perfect design for me requires my total surrender— complete abandonment of myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is distorted. And I will suffer great humiliation once I come to acknowledge and understand that I have not really been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ Himself, but only concerned with knowing what He has done for me.

My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.

Am I measuring my life by this standard or by something less?