Genesis 45, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: At the Right Moment - September 9, 2021

Satan tried to write his own story in which he was the hero and God was an afterthought. He admitted as much: “I will ascend to the heavens…I will make myself like the Most High” as quoted in Isaiah 14:13 and 14.

Satan wanted to take God’s place, but God wasn’t—and isn’t—moving. Satan wants to win you to his side, but God will never let you go. You have his word. Even more, you have his help. Scripture says: “For our high priest (Jesus) is able to understand our weaknesses…he was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin. Let us then…come before God’s throne where there is grace…to help us when we need it” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

You don’t have to face Satan alone! We shout, and God runs—at the right moment.

Genesis 45

 Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh’s palace.

3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word. They were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing.

4-8 “Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.

9-11 “Hurry back to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: I’m master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live in Goshen where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won’t want for a thing.’

12-13 “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here, but don’t take all day—hurry up and get my father down here.”

14-15 Then Joseph threw himself on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He then kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Only then were his brothers able to talk with him.

16 The story was reported in Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It was good news to Pharaoh and all who worked with him.

17-18 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is the plan: Load up your pack animals; go to Canaan, get your father and your families and bring them back here. I’ll settle you on the best land in Egypt—you’ll live off the fat of the land.’

19-20 “Also tell them this: ‘Here’s what I want you to do: Take wagons from Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives and load up your father and come back. Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.’”

21-23 And they did just that, the sons of Israel. Joseph gave them the wagons that Pharaoh had promised and food for the trip. He outfitted all the brothers in brand-new clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and several suits of clothes. He sent his father these gifts: ten donkeys loaded with Egypt’s best products and another ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread, provisions for his father’s journey back.

24 Then he sent his brothers off. As they left he told them, “Take it easy on the journey; try to get along with each other.”

25-28 They left Egypt and went back to their father Jacob in Canaan. When they told him, “Joseph is still alive—and he’s the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” he went numb; he couldn’t believe his ears. But the more they talked, telling him everything that Joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the blood started to flow again—their father Jacob’s spirit revived. Israel said, “I’ve heard enough—my son Joseph is still alive. I’ve got to go and see him before I die.”

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Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, September 09, 2021

Today's Scripture
2 Corinthians 5:14–20
(NIV)

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.i 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselvesj but for him who died for themk and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldlyl point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,m the new creationn has come:a The old has gone, the new is here!o 18 All this is from God,p who reconciled us to himself through Christq and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.r And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,s as though God were making his appeal through us.t We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.u

Insight

In 2 Corinthians 5:14–20, Paul writes to the believers in Corinth about the newness of life they’ve received from the life and death of Christ. This newness of life—being a new creation (v. 17) and living “for him who died . . . and was raised again” (v. 15)—is the result of the reconciliation Jesus accomplished through His death on the cross (v. 18). In verses 18–20, Paul uses a form of the word reconcile five times. He clearly wants readers to know that we’ve been reconciled to Christ and are called to bring reconciliation to others. What’s not explicitly mentioned in this passage is our broken relationship with God. Paul discusses our separation from Him because of our sinfulness and the necessity of reconciliation elsewhere (see Romans 5:1–11).

Hotel Corona

Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all . . . . From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.
2 Corinthians 5:14, 16

The Dan Hotel in Jerusalem became known by a different name in 2020—“Hotel Corona.” The government dedicated the hotel to patients recovering from COVID-19, and the hotel became known as a rare site of joy and unity during a difficult time. Since the residents already had the virus, they were free to sing, dance, and laugh together. And they did! In a country where tensions between different political and religious groups run high, the shared crisis created a space where people could learn to see each other as human beings first—and even become friends.

It’s natural, normal even, for us to be drawn toward those we see as similar to us, people we suspect share similar experiences and values to our own. But as the apostle Paul often emphasized, the gospel is a challenge to any barriers between human beings that we see as “normal” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Through the lens of the gospel, we see a bigger picture than our differences—a shared brokenness and a shared longing and need to experience healing in God’s love.

If we believe that “one died for all,” then we can also no longer be content with surface-level assumptions about others. Instead, “Christ’s love compels us” (v. 14) to share His love and mission with those God loves more than we can imagine—all of us. By:  Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray

When do you find yourself most prone to forget the “bigger picture” of your shared humanity with others? What helps remind you of our equal brokenness and need for Jesus’ love?

In hard times, Jesus, thank You for those moments when I see a glimmer of breathtaking beauty through the love and joy of others. Help me to live each day this way, regarding “no one from a worldly point of view.”

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, September 09, 2021

Do It Yourself (2)

…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… —2 Corinthians 10:5

Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenuous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “…I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ….” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will— “the Son can do nothing of Himself…” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do— we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.

Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.

We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to “be transformed by the renewing of [his] mind….” (Romans 12:2).

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.  The Highest Good, 544 R

Bible in a Year: Proverbs 6-7; 2 Corinthians 2

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, September 09, 2021
Uncontrolled Fire - #9044

It seems as if every summer there are raging fires in the American West that destroy hundreds of thousands of acres of timberland, and sometimes homes, businesses, and sadly, even lives. When a major fire broke out near an Indian reservation that our Native team had ministered on only a few months ago, I paid pretty special attention. Sadly, that fire spread to parts of the reservation, consuming the very timber that's a major part of their already impoverished economy; along with homes and property outside the reservation. I knew it was going to take a long time to recover. You know what the cause of that very costly fire was that made the whole thing even sadder? It was started by a government firefighter who was hoping there would be a small fire that would give him some work.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Uncontrolled Fire."

A man let a fire start to help meet a personal need he had. It raged out of control; it did more damage than he could have imagined in his worst nightmares. You know, that's a mistake that many a man has made-and even some women-with a deadly fire the Bible calls lust.

In a passage that warns against the costly mistakes we can make when we follow our sexual passions, God vividly describes what lust is really like. It's in Proverbs 6:25-28. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Here's what He says about misguided passion, "Do not desire her beauty in your heart...Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched.?" Lust is fire...it's hot coals. In the previous chapter, God described the way sexual passion was created to be. He says, "Rejoice with the wife of your youth...be ravished with her love" (Proverbs 5:18, 19). In other words, "Save it for your wife, buddy!"

It could be, though, that you are playing with the fire of sexual lust; maybe thinking, like that firefighter, that you can keep it under control. For a little while, maybe. But lust is a fire that's suddenly going to take you over and it's going to engulf you, and things and people that you care about as well. Maybe you're just trying to meet a personal need, but you have no idea what a blazing inferno this could become and the damage it will do.

You may be playing with fire on the Internet, in magazines you look at or movies you watch, or just in the way you look at the opposite sex, or the way you push all the boundaries in what you're doing physically with someone. If you'll be honest with yourself, you'll see increasing evidence that you're not controlling your passions. They're beginning to control you. The fire is spreading.

The first thing they do to stop a fire is burn the ground ahead of it so it will run out of fuel. You've been feeding the fire of lust. Well, while there's time, you've got to start to starve that fire. No more fuel. Get rid of it all! And get some help to put out the fire. Confide in a spiritually mature person you trust; tell them you want to beat this and meet them regularly as an accountability partner. And every new day, give this battle to your all-holy, all-powerful Lord to help you win it one day at a time. You have His promise in Romans 6:14, "Sin" - that sin...name it whatever it is - "shall no longer be your master!"

Before the fire spreads, before it does any more damage, please turn and fight it with everything you've got. The landscape is scorched and scarred with the desolation of those who didn't.