Category: Daily Devotionals

Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Genesis 50:19-20

I’ve been waiting for get to this verse the whole time I’ve in Genesis. It’s taken sixteen months. I want to have a Genesis 50/20 outlook of faith on all things done against me, from the petty to the catastrophic. I want my initial reaction to injustice to be confidence in God’s redemptive power instead of anguish.

There is no evil that wins in my life if I press in to seek redemption. No evil done against me takes God by surprise. Ever. He saw it ahead of time and planned long ago how He would wield authoritative power to transform it from a ‘Calvary’ to a ‘resurrection.’ Believing this is always my dilemma when it appears my life has been taken from me. This is the battle for faith.

Does this mean that I am spared the pain of betrayal? Does this mean that crying out from the pit as Joseph did is spiritually unbecoming to God?  Not at all.  Jesus cried so deeply that the stress caused his body to sweat drops of blood. Grief is to be acknowledged, felt, and explored.  But underlying all of that can be an unshakeable trust in God, the One that does not let evil have the last word.

If two scriptures could marry, consider wedding together Genesis 50:20 and Romans 8:28. The first explains why the latter is true. Because God uses any evil done against me for my good, all things will work together for good to those who love God.

At this very moment, you may be a victim of evil scheming. The perpetrator looks all-powerful. Your present circumstances predict a bleak future. This is the time to put on the eyeglasses of faith. A Genesis 50/20 vision can be the lens through which you view your circumstances. You can choose to believe that this is not the end, but God’s doorway to a resurrection.

Joseph was a dreamer ~ then a slave ~ then a prisoner ~ but finally a ruler. The one who lived this story is the one who preached to his perpetrators, “You meant evil, but God meant it for good.” He realized this truth after his deliverance.  Oh, but Jesus predicted His own resurrection long before His death. Redemption ruled His perspective in the middle of His darkest times. It can also rule mine.

I cry but I don’t despair. Permeate every part of me with responses of faith. Amen

When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. Genesis 49:33-50:3

Why would the Egyptians mourn over Jacob’s death for 70 days?  Was it required?  Was it truly their collective emotional response to his absence?  Or perhaps it was out of respect for Joseph.  But still. . .

Seventy days were how long people mourned the death of a Pharaoh and Jacob was not a pharaoh. He was not even an Egyptian! To further complicate this ~ Egypt did not value Israelites.  They were considered peculiar, truly outsiders.

Did Joseph rule so well that people automatically loved his father too?  Whom Joseph loved, they loved?  I suppose that’s possible.  This one thing is certain ~ For seventeen years Jacob lived in Egypt.  He was visible, a powerful presence and he left an indelible mark on the people. 

I am wide-eyed over this, and conjecture is all I have to address my many questions. 

Fill each of us with Your Spirit so that we make such an impact for the kingdom.  Amen

Then Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.”              Genesis 49:1-2

Is it possible to imagine someone’s future based on past behavior? Yes. Their patterns of righteousness or unrighteousness spell out their future unless they make a course change. The principles of the kingdom accurately predict their days ahead.

If I know someone well who has a history of anger, I can forecast what will set him off down the road. If someone is greedy, I know not to expect generosity in the future. However, I do not know if an unrepentant will repent. I also do not know if a faithful servant will throw in the towel and choose an ungodly lifestyle. I do know, however, the principles of scripture. God put us in a sowing and reaping world. What we sow, we will reap. To be able to guess someone’s behavior from experience is not rocket science. It’s biblical wisdom.

Jacob knew the patterns of his sons. He knew that God often defined the destinies of His people by the bent of a men’s hearts. Jacob revealed the future of the twelve tribes of Israel to each of his sons. His knowledge of them, coupled with the revelation of God, accurately forecasted their destinies. I wonder how it felt to each one as this truth sunk in ~ What I’ve done with my life so far is determining my future.

What do I do today if I see the shipwrecked life of someone I love? I know that without a spiritual turnaround, the days ahead of them are foreboding. I ask God to have mercy on them. I ask God to destroy the schemes of the evil one to ‘blind the mind of my unbelieving loved one so that they might not see the glory of Christ.’ 2 Cor. 4:4 I ask God to reveal Himself to them and bring them to a place of spiritual need.

Each of us knows that our past does not have to define our future. With God, there is mercy. With God, there is forgiveness and a clean canvas upon which He can paint a glorious destiny of grace.

Thank you for not giving me what I deserve. Thank you for your fathomless mercy. Amen

Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Genesis 48:21

When good fathers are alive, their children dwell securely under their shade. God’s favor is on the father, and by extension, the sons and daughters who share his faith. The children might not think about the day when their father no longer lives. If they do, they wonder if God’s favor will shadow them in the same way.

How reassuring were Jacob’s words to Joseph. “I am about to die but God will be with you.” Didn’t Joseph already know that? God had brought him safely through slavery, captivity, and enthronement. But ascending a throne in Egypt is not the same as stepping into the role of a patriarch within ‘the’ covenant family. It was easier for him to follow in Jacob’s footsteps while he was alive than to step into his shoes after death. This very thing, every son of a larger-than-life father, feels.

In taking Joseph to Egypt, God gave him distance between his iconic father and himself. He became his own person, a unique son of Yahweh. The sons of famous fathers must do the same today. Leave home. In their father’s shadow, it is difficult to know themselves and to also give themselves permission to be different from what others expect. How unfair to hear, “He not like his father.” Or, “He’s going to be just like his father!”  Either way, it’s a pile of expectations. The public sees perfection. The family sees the humanity. We are god-makers by our fallen natures and cast this heavy burden upon their children.

Like you perhaps, I’m aware that the story would be different if Reuben, or Judah, or Simeon had become the vice-chancellor of Egypt. Great fathers don’t always raise great sons. Joseph was great because God had his hand on him and cast him into refining fires early in life. The others stayed in their father’s shade, resented his faith, and acted out a kind of teenage rebellion throughout their adult lives.

I’m married to the son of an iconic father ~ a larger-than-life evangelist. No matter where we go, Ron is Jack Wyrtzen’s son. Expectations have always been high. At 32, God called Ron away from his father’s organization to become the unique leader he is today. He was cast into great refining fires for two decades. Today, he is a great man much like his father but different from his father. He has been a ‘Jesus’ in the business world instead of in ministry. Carving out God’s path for himself would not have happened without time and distance but this has proven true ~ As God was with Jack Wyrtzen, God has been, and is, with Ron Wyrtzen. I see God’s favor on him every single day as he brings the kingdom to our world with wisdom, holy restraint, and grace.

You made me. Only You should shape Your own creation. Strengthen the holy legacies with our fathers and break the back of idolatry. Amen

When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Mannasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” Genesis 48:17-19

God is unpredictable. We say we want Him to have His way with our lives but do we really? What in the world would happen if we completely relinquished the reins?  By trying to control things, we forfeit God’s blessing.

Mannaseh was Joseph’s firstborn, the heir to the firstborn’s blessing. But Jacob perceived that God wanted something different when he went to pronounce a final blessing on the two brothers. God intended to bless the younger over the older. History would reveal that Jacob heard God correctly. After the exodus, Ephraim became the leading tribe in the Northern Kingdom, much superior to the tribe of Mannasseh. Oh, but how Jacob’s spiritual hunch offended Joseph!

God does not exalt whom we think he should. He is full of surprises as he chooses the overlooked, the weak, the average, the unsuspecting. Talent does not impress him. Stature in the eyes of men and family don’t weigh into the decision either. God looks at the heart and if that heart has an inclination toward humility and utter dependence on God, that qualifies him for spiritual greatness. Why should Joseph have been surprised? He, himself, was in fact, far removed in birth order from the firstborn.

I’m reminded again this morning that I dare not live prayerless. I cannot guess what God wants. I am to bless whom He blesses and withhold when He withholds. Who am I affirming today that may be far from God’s blessing? Perhaps I’m impressed by their talents and charisma. And whom would God have me encourage? That person might be unnoticed, living outside of the spotlight. It just might be the ‘David’ who tends sheep; the one the family has all but waved off as an afterthought.

Align me to Your purposes. I forfeit my logic and declare that it is flawed. Amen

And he [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” Genesis 48:15-16

When I look back in time, I can see how God provided and blessed. In the present however, I fear that He won’t continue to be gracious. Words of faith are choked out in environments of deprivation. That’s unfortunate because remembrance is meant to feed my faith. God did show up when things were dire. When I tried to quit the fight for faith, God brought new manna to breathe hope into the crevices of my soul.

Jacob embraced his two newly adopted grandsons. Half-Egyptian grandsons. He remembered God’s promised covenant to his family. He remembered that God was faithful to preserve their lives when it looked like their line would be extinct. He praised God for the past, but his language quickly changed to thank God for what He would do to bless his descendants. Faith is future.

Some years ago, I was lamenting to an older woman that I greatly respect that I feared God was not going to answer my prayers.  I had plenty of evidence to prove it. She listened to it all. Her reply was this, “Live joyfully confident!” When I questioned her further, she replied again, “Live joyfully confident!” I understood that she wasn’t going to spoon-feed me the meaning.

The phrase describes what faith is. When all things point to failure – I live joyfully confident that God can create options where I see none. When people I love are disinterested in the God I cherish – I live joyfully confident that God is a wooing God and will not forget to offer them every opportunity to become His child.   

What ‘joyfully confident’ statements of faith might you need to make today about some area of your life that invites despair?  You may smell death but know that God is a Resurrector. Affirm this out loud and then ask for the grace to live in joyful anticipation. 

I’m learning to dance before the party. Amen

After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. Genesis 48:1-2 

Jacob was very ill, near death, but the arrival of Joseph and his sons gave him an uncanny strength to finish what was unfinished. He needed to give Joseph the birthright of the family and adopt Joseph’s two sons as his grandchildren. The future inheritance of Israel depended on this moment and Jacob knew it.

Perhaps you’ve known someone who was near death with a prediction that they wouldn’t last much longer. Then, they hung on against all odds and refused to die. Something was unfinished. There was someone they needed to see; something they needed to say. When that person arrived, they might have gained their full faculties. Like Jacob, they rose to have a needed conversation.

After moving to Georgia, I made a connection with an older saint named Iris. She became a prayer partner and spiritual mother to me. Our bond was as deep as family and because the foundation was spiritual, our connection was like iron. Iris was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. It took her life in a matter of weeks. I was out of town when she lay on her deathbed in a local hospital.

I kept calling home to get an update on her but got the news that she was holding on beyond what anyone thought possible. When I got back into town, I went straight to the hospital to see her. I can’t say for certain that she was waiting to say goodbye to me but within an hour after visiting her, she died. I got to talk with her, sing to her, and express my thanks for all she had meant to me.

We will each say goodbye to someone we love. It’s inevitable. We should tuck away the truth of this reality ~ that a person will often hang on at the end because something needs closure. Sadly, they are oftentimes in a coma and can’t express what they want to say. Families need to be prayerful and intuitive to realize what is happening. Otherwise, there will be needless suffering for everyone.

Is there unfinished business in your family, things that need to be expressed that haven’t yet been said. Maybe there are relationships that need to be reconciled.  We often waste the joy that could be ours if we made things right much earlier in life. The bedside of a dying loved one is not the ideal place for long overdue family communication but if it’s the only option, it’s a crucial one. Loved ones should die in peace and leave those they love with quieted hearts.

 Lord, give spiritual intuition to any who need to know how to wrap up unfinished business with family. Amen

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So, the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were 147 years. And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.” Genesis 47:28-30

Jacob’s wish to be buried in Canaan surprises me on the one hand.  He appeared to be living the best part of his life. His whole family had been reunited. Joseph was alive and blessed. His sons were older, wiser, and had repented of earlier sins. They had plenty of food. Their lineage was blessed and would continue to multiply.  So why not ask to be buried in the land where God had redeemed your story?

If I love God, it is interesting what I come to value most. My heart travels back, as Jacob’s did, to the places where God spoke in the most personal ways one can experience Him. Jacob wanted to be buried near ‘Bethels’, where monuments marked the spots of God’s revelation. Time in Egypt, in a period of plenty, did not alter what he cherished. I also remember, with great passion, the places where the voice of God intersected my life and changed me.

If I value the wrong things, I will be a bitter woman when I lay down to die. I will realize that I invested in things I’ll be forced to leave behind. And, if I know my Bible, I’ll also realize that these so-called treasures will eventually burn.

When it comes down to it, I want my family near me. They are eternal. I want to bless them and give them last words they will remember.  I want to hold their hands one last time as I know that we will be temporarily separated. I want my favorite music.  I also want one more thing nearby ~ The Bible that went with me through the darkest period of my life. I had to put a new binding on it recently when it fell apart because I could not part with it. Buying a brand new one didn’t appeal at all!  This old Bible is a journal of my fears and God’s faithfulness.

In the event of his death, Jacob decided to leave the land of plenty to be buried in a strange and barren place to the naked eye. Though it was nothing to look at, for him, it was rich with memories.

Thank you for taking me through hard times that re-aligned my priorities. Amen

Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh. Genesis 47:7-10

Writers in Jewish history say that when Jacob came to Egypt, the land was immediately blessed and began to heal from famine. They also say that when Pharaoh saw that Jacob was old, he feared that Jacob might not live much longer and that the blessing would cease. 

Someone who has spent a lifetime in the presence of God brings God’s presence with them anywhere they go. To those who are discerning, the impact is immediately felt. Instantly, everything feels better, like whatever is wrong will be righted.  I can name a half dozen people that make me feel that way. But every child of the kingdom is to be sanctified to the point of having this spiritual effect.  Jesus teaches His disciples to pray ‘Thy kingdom come.’ But He also, by the indwelling of His Spirit, brings His kingdom to any place the disciples are.

Just as Jacob did, God may ask you to bless your superior.  He may ask a secretary today to speak words of blessing over her boss, or a nurse her attending physician.  Parishioners will be moved to bless their pastor and it will seem upside down.  In the story of Joseph, Pharoah should have been the one to bless a nomad like Jacob, but when prompted by the Spirit of God, kingdom order prevailed.  Pharoah was the one blessed.  In that brief encounter, God’s presence was felt by an Egyptian pharaoh.

I don’t know all the places I will visit today, nor do I know all the people I will encounter. But I’m praying for an impact because I know that I am a container for the Spirit of God.

In this stressed-out world, purify me and prepare me to bless.  Like you, Jesus, I will be no respecter of persons.  Amen

They came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him. Genesis 46:6

Jacob and his entire family are walking in the desert toward Egypt. There are several hundred of them. Jacob is out in front. He is old, slowly plodding along with the help of a cane and a son on each side. His face is determined but the weariness of such a long journey is evident in his gait.

Meanwhile, Joseph is leaving the gates of Egypt in a royal entourage. In the chariot with him are his two sons, both under the age of ten. They come to the crest of a hill that overlooks the desert floor below. The dust settles and as it does, the scene of several hundred nomads in the distance fill his view. Joseph knows who they are. Though a mile away, Joseph cannot wait. He drives his chariot at breakneck speed downward into the valley.

As he nears his father, his horses are recklessly pulled to a stop. Joseph jumps out, sees his father a few dozen feet away, and is overcome. He loses all strength and crumbles to his knees. Jacob rushes to him and draws his head into the folds of his tunic. “My son. Praise be to God. My son!”  Jacob finally looks up to see two young boys in Joseph’s chariot. “These are your sons, my grandchildren? “Come!” Jacob says. “Come, so I may bless you.” He speaks prophetic words over each boy and kisses the tops of their heads. Everyone understands that God brought them to Egypt to save their lives. There will be a season of joy ahead.

I can never think about this reunion without being moved. And I can never picture it without thinking of the reunion that is coming between Jesus and me. It will far surpass this one.

I’ve only caught a nuance of how you feel about me. I get a sense of it each time we talk in prayer, but I’ll see the full effect at our reunion. The pleasure of my company that you describe in Scripture humbles me, Lord. Amen