Genesis 39-40, Matthew 11

Genesis 39-40 is the story of Joseph and his experience being sold into slavery to the Egyptians.

Joseph was sold into slavery and Gen. 39:2 says "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of this Egyptian master." but then then the wife of his master told lies about him and he was put in prison but then in the end of verse 20 and 21 it says "But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him favor in the eyes of the prison warden." Of course, I've heard this story a hundred times and know that God used Joseph's presence in Egypt to save his family from the upcoming drought. Knowing the end, it is amazing to see God's plan unfold. But in the midst of the story Joseph says "For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon." He feels like he's had a string of bad luck and injustice. In the short term he is absolutely correct. Although he is constantly described as receiving the Lord's blessing, I'm not sure Joseph thought of it that way all the time.

This is a good story to remember when we go through bad times. I'm beginning to trust God to be faithful for the end of the story. Things happen to us for his glory, we must trust him with the big picture.

Matthew 11 is a comfort for me, having just read all of the warnings of Matthew 10 where he tells us that family will turn against us and we will experience persecution for his sake (again, this is terrible now but earns us eternal rewards). Matthew 11 tells us that we aren't in this alone. Matt 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus gives us hard experiences, but he helps us to carry them. Even in the story of Joseph he asks Joseph to go through hard things but he gives his blessing to Joseph along the way.

When I was training for a marathon I didn't just run and run with no purpose, I was training for a particular day and a particular race. Sometimes the question comes to mind: what am I training for right now? I think the answer is that sometimes hard things happen in life, although I don't know the day, but training gives us the spiritual maturity to handle the hardships that come our way. That is one of the things that I am training for.

Genesis 33-38, Matthew 10

The passages in Genesis continue the story of Jacob and Esau, the death of Rachel, the death of Isaac, the sale of Joseph into slavery by his brothers, and the story of Judah's sons and their widow Tamar who Judah impregnates thinking she is a prostitute. I just keep thinking about how God uses such flawed humans to bring about his plan!

Matthew 10 is when Jesus sends out his disciples. His description of missions work is not very appealing! Jesus is the one who saves us eternally, but following him is not without cost in this world. He makes it very clear to expect persecution, even loss of life. Jesus says in verse 34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." This is certainly not prosperity gospel! Jesus is telling us not to focus on what is temporary, but what is eternal.

This reminds me of a conversation that I once had with my cousin Joe where he told me that if he went through a day where he did not feel persecuted for Christ: if he didn't have someone snub him, ignore him, demote him at work, etc. then he wasn't doing it right. This is a philosophy that is a little hard to swallow, but Jesus gives comfort. Verses 28-30: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Jesus tells us that when we follow him, we should expect hard times. But he also promises to be with us and that our eternal reward is worth our earthly troubles.

Genesis 29-32, Matthew 9

The passages in Genesis continues the story of Jacob. He fled his brother Esau and went to stay with his uncle Laban and find a wife among his mother's relatives. He works for Laban and they negotiate wages: 7 years for Rachel. When the time comes Laban switches his daughters and gives him Leah instead. In order to marry Rachel, Laban asks for another 7 years.

After 20 years with Laban, Jacob decides to head home to land where he grew up. On the way there he literally wrestles with the Lord, who renames him Israel. I don't really understand this exchange, honestly. Why did the Lord come to him? If it was just to rename him, why did he need to come and fight him first, why not just come to him as he did Abraham?

Throughout it all, the years and the deceptions, the Lord continues to bless the sons of Abraham. They increase in number and wealth. God's patience and faithfulness is evident.

Matthew 9 is the ministry of Jesus. Jesus calls a tax collector to be his disciple and dines with him and 'sinners'. When Jesus is criticized for it he says" But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I have to say that reading that he said this makes me love him all the more; to see his heart for saving the lost. How he values mercy.

As Christians we often try to remove ourselves from the influences of the world as much as possible. Although it is right to stay away from sin, I think that God wants us to be in places where we will meet people who are lost and show mercy to them. As I go along in my spiritual training I believe I need to look for times to be uncomfortable and share his love with people who otherwise might now hear.

Training - Day 9: Genesis 25-28, Matthew 8

In Genesis the story of Abraham and his family continues. Abraham dies. After 20 years of marriage Isaac and Rebekah have twins. Isaac borrows from Abraham's playbook and tells the king in the land he is living that Rebekah is his sister rather than his wife. Esau and Jacob are very different men. Jacob trades with Esau: a meal for his birthright. I've always thought of this as Jacob being tricky, but I noticed it says "So Esau despised his birthright." That sentence makes sense to me - if it had value to Esau he would not have traded it simply for a meal.

As Isaac is about to die Jacob also steals from Esau his final blessing and Esau isn't very happy about it and threatens to kill him. Rebekah sends him to her family to escape from Esau. On his journey the Lord appears to Jacob in a dream and promises to bless his family and make his descendants like the dust of the earth and "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring". There Jacob built an alter and promised to give to God 10% of all that God gives him.

The second time that I've seen a tithe mentioned, before there are even priests!

I don't know why I am so surprised by all the drama and tricking and lying. Maybe it's more so that I'm surprised all of that makes it into the story. Maybe it's just that I'm surprised that these are the methods that bring about God's will. He takes our sin and turns it instead into something beautiful.

Matthew 8 has in it the story of a centurion who came to Jesus to ask for healing for his servant. Jesus offers to come help him and the centurion responds "Just say the word, and my servant will be healed". He recognizes Jesus authority and has faith that he is able to heal him. He doesn't feel like he needs to be there seeing the healing take place, he just trusts that it will happen.

I am longing for this kind of faith. I believe that God called us to be living in the house we are living. As an extension of that, I believe that God has a school already picked out for our son for kindergarten. Although I don't know where he is going yet, that hasn't been a source of stress for me, I just believe that God will give us peace and direction in his timing. I haven't felt peace like this before about something important that is unknown so I feel like my faith is taking baby steps forward. What other burdens can I lay at his feet and just trust that it will happen?

Training - Day 8: Genesis 23-24, Matthew 7

Matthew 7 is a continuation of Jesus' famed Sermon on the Mount.

I have to admit, I'm very confused. If anyone is reading my blog and has any insight, that would be great.

It starts out saying "Do not judge, or you too will be judged". Okay, I think I get that. We don't know the heart of other people or what point on their journey they are on so it's not our place to judge them. He then talks about the measure we use to judge others will be used to judge us as well. I think he's saying to make sure that we spend more time examining our own hearts than other people, but does God judge us according to how we judge others? Or is it a more absolute standard? Or maybe he's not talking about God's judgement but of other people who use our standard against us if we are guilty of the same thing?

Then in vs 6 Jesus says: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw pearls to pigs." Does that relate to the verse before, after, or is it random? I don't really understand what he is referring to there at all.

Then in vs 15-23 Jesus talks about identifying false prophets by the fruit they bear. vs. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." I understand what he's saying (and will be thinking all day on the fruit that I bear) but I am surprised that it's the same chapter that spent the first 5 verses talking about "don't judge" and then shortly after that he talks about recognizing people by their fruit. What's the distinction between "judging" and "recognizing good fruit"? Does he just mean discerning whose advise to follow versus publicly criticizing?

I do get the point that is being made over and over: don't just hear the words Jesus says - do them. Faith isn't faith without action. (James 2:17) Faith isn't faith without fruit. I think this is where my training heats up: moving from hearing the word to concentrating on bearing fruit.

Training - Day 7: Genesis 20-22

Abraham is a complex character. My reading started today with him telling a half truth to King Abimelech saying that Sarah was his sister, but failing to mention that she is his wife. The Lord tell Abimelech in a dream that it is his wife so he confronts Abraham who finally admits that she is his wife. But, it's not really a lie because she is also his half sister (I don't think Abimelech found that to be a satisfying justification). This flawed man is the one that God chose to be the father of his chosen people?

Genesis 22, however, is the complete opposite of that. The Lord tests his faith by asking him to sacrifice his only son, his son that he longed for and was finally given to him at an old age. Abraham doesn't negotiate (as he did for Sodom and Gomorrah) or ask questions, he merely obeys.

This left me wondering about my own character. In the face of adversity, am I the Abraham that tells a white lie to make things a little easier or am I the Abraham that doesn't ask questions, just obeys.

Then I realized that Abraham is both at the same time. God saw the faith that he was capable of and so he pursued Abraham. Romans 5:8 tells us "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

God doesn't expect us to be perfect from the beginning, but he does expect us to keep working at it. To keep up our training for a crown that will last.

Training - Day 6 (con't): Matthew 5-6

It is amazing how when you're struggling with an issue God can speak to you by using a scripture you've read a million times before to speak to you in a way it hasn't before. Today I felt like I was having a conversation with God where he heard my "yeah, but..." and answered with the next verse.

I had a business dealing that didn't go according to plan and left both partners feeling like the ore had wronged them. I don't think that either party meant for harm to come to the other, but it turned out that way. As I have been reading about putting God and people above money, I've been asking God to reveal to me areas where money was coming in front of him or people and this is something that keeps coming to mind.

So, the conversation went something like this:

"Lord, we did all that we told him we were going to and gave him more time and chances than we were obligated to. Isn't that enough?"

Matt. 5:40-41 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

"If I knew it would make a difference to him, maybe I'd be more willing to pay him above what he is due. What if I do this and he still looks on me with contempt?"

Matt. 5:44-45 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.

"What? Am I to bring blessing into his life, even if he still continues in an unrighteous lifestyle? To be like God I must love those who don't love me? What if I seek to correct things with him and it doesn't restore our reputation with those he spread gossip about us? Would he actually tell anyone? If he doesn't, should we still pay him?"

Matt. 6:3-4 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. *

"But if we give to him, that will affect our ability to repay debt and save. Is it financially responsible to voluntarily give him money?"

Matt 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"But sometimes I worry even about paying my own bills, much less be looking for more things to pay. My first responsibility is to my family and make sure they are provided for. What if giving him money in an effort to make amends makes me less able to provide for my family?"

Matt. 6:31-33 So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all the things will be given to you as well.

"So are you saying that if I am seeking your kingdom and your righteousness and we feel that you are leading us to give money to him, that when we are in your will you make sure our needs are provided for? Sovereign Lord, please give us wisdom to decipher your message. This training is getting expensive! Please lead us in what your will is. If you are leading us to pay him, please strengthen our faith that you will provide for our needs. May your name be glorified."



* It's not lost on me that the simple fact of blogging about this experience means that I am not doing it in secret. I am balancing in my mind the benefit I receive from the accountability of maintaining a blog and the potential for being prideful through it. I decided to share my experiences as honestly as I can, knowing that my audience is small and most people who would read it already know the situation I am speaking of.

Training - Day 6: Genesis 16-19

The story of Abraham is one that is a great example of faith, and it is also an example of trying to fulfill God's promises by our own hands. Genesis 16 is the story of Sarai doubting that she would have a child and so she gives her maidservant Hagar to her husband so that he could have offspring through her. Abram must have had his own doubts because he went along with that plan.

When Hagar leaves because Sarai is mistreating her an angel of the Lord greets her to give her comfort and Hagar responds by naming the Lord who spoke to her. Vs 13 says "She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me'."

I remember the time in my life when I first realized that God sees me. I had grown up in a Christian home and gone to Christian school and knew all about God. I knew the bible stories, I had memorized Psalm 100, I knew how to talk the talk like a pro. But there was something missing. I knew that this was a God that looked after people with cancer or going through some other tragedy in their life, but maybe was a bit busy for me. Then, I felt Him interceding in my life. Circumstances came together in a way that didn't feel like coincidence. It felt like orchestration. Could this be? Does the creator of the universe and all mankind not just see me, but care about me? Me, a person struggling in my sin?

I, like Hagar, call the Lord the God who sees me. Now I am trying to let God know that I see him too and thank him for seeing me first.

Training - Day 5: Genesis 13-15

As I discussed in an earlier post, I believe that one of the disciplines that God requires is a godly attitude about money. In Genesis 13 the story of Abram and Lot unfolds further where the material possessions of both had grown so large that the land was no longer able to handle all of their herds if they stayed together. It seems to me that one way that God sometimes chooses to bless us is through material possessions. (Although in chapter 15 we see that it lacked meaning to Abram without an heir).

Chapter 14 describes Abram going to war to retrieve Lot and when he is successful the king of Salem came out to meet him and the scripture says that he was a priest of the God Most High and after he blesses Abram, Abram gives him 10% of everything. This is the first that I remember seeing any kind of tithe practiced. He also refuses any more of the spoils so that the king of Sodom can never claim to have made him rich. I'm not sure I follow totally what's going on here, but what I can see is that Abram is not acting out of greed and although he is wealthy he isn't driven by a want for more.

Chapter 15 starts with God telling Abram "I am your shield, your very great reward." and God makes a covenant with Abram to bless him with many descendants and all the land. The beginning phrase is interesting to me. It seems to me that the Lord is saying to Abram that He himself is the great reward. Abram gets a relationship with the Lord! Abram wants a child, and the Lord promises him that as well.

Vs 6 Abram believe the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Believe, obey, always keep God and people above money - I'm starting to see a theme.

Training - Day 4: Genesis 10-12, Matthew 4

The passages in Genesis recount the geneology of Abram/Abraham and tells the story of God calling him to leave his family and go to Canaan. Matthew 4 tells about the temptation of Christ and the calling of the first disciples.

Both passages included stories where God said "Go" and they uprooted themselves from friends and family and obeyed - without knowing anything more than they had been asked to go.

To be honest, my first reaction is to be freaked out a little bit. The people in these stories had God speaking directly to them, what if God had been asking me to do something that I didn't hear? I suppose that why I am going into more rigorous "training" so that I am more in tune to his voice.

My second reaction is that if Jesus is asking me to do something, he has the power to make sure i get the message. I need to just be attentive and then obey. Obey because even though Abram only saw that he was losing his family, he became the father of many nations. Obey because even though James and John left their father Zebedee to fish and prepare nets by himself, they became apostles and at the beginning of the whole religion on Christianity. I'm not expecting anything so grand, but I have to trust that God sees the big picture and it's not for me to question why.

Training - Day 3: Genesis 7-9, Matthew 3

Yesterday I was at the grocery store and I saw a woman there that kind of reminded me of the cat lady on the Simpsons: wild hair, worn skin, disheveled clothing. My first thought when I saw her was "avoid eye contact so she doesn't think you're staring at her" while judging some kind of craziness. The Spirit stopped me right in my tracks and I was reminded of what I have been reading in Genesis: all people are created in the image of God. All people reveal something of God's character and he loves us all.

The most important "training discipline" that I must learn more fully is to love all people. It does not please God when I think that I am better than someone else.

The passage I read in Genesis today was the account of Noah and the flood. I found it interesting that when Noah was allowed off of the ark God gave him three commands: Do not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it and "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." (Genesis 9:6) The third was to be fruitful and increase upon the earth.

In Genesis 9:5 God says that He will demand from each man an accounting for the life of his fellow man. We're responsible to God for lives other than our own? I know that he wants us to be good and kind to one another, but I've never seen it worded so strongly before.

What does this mean in my life? How can I make the lives of my fellow man better? What lengths does he demand from us in keeping this command?

Training - Day 2: Genesis 4-6, Matthew 2

When training for the marathon there were many different facets to that training. One is just heavy mileage, that's the obvious one. The other things include proper diet, speed work and interval training, pace training, weight lifting, flexibility training and I'm sure I'm missing some things. As I think about training for a crown that will last I think I think about the different facets that go into a healthy spiritual life. I've been thinking about this blog and what those disciplines are. Of course, there is one that comes up in my scripture reading almost right away.

Genesis 4 is the story of Cain and Abel and brings up the issue of our giving to God. Cain gave God an offering, Abel gave him the best of his possessions. Abel pleased God and Cain didn't. God knows our hearts so he knows if we give to truly please him, or if we give because we think it will appease him.

This brings to mind the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21) where a man tries so hard to store up possessions and food in barns so that later he can take life easy. Just as he gets to that point he dies, having only stored up things but was not rich towards God. Jesus continues to say (vs. 33) "Sell your possesions and give to the poor." and then in vs 34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".

And of course there is the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. He asks Jesus what he must do for eternal life and Jesus says "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." and the man goes away sad. He chose his money over sitting at the literal feet of Jesus.

So, the discipline that I am faced with right away is putting money in it's proper priority. What will this mean to me and my family. I'm sure the Lord will reveal to me if there are times that I put money above people or money above God. I'm praying for sensitivity to this revelation.

Training - Day 1: Genesis 1-3, Matthew 1

Anyone that trains for a race knows that one of the main things you have to figure out from the beginning is a consistent time to work out. If you just see how the day goes and hope that you have some time to fit it in, it's not going to happen. For my training I decided that I still want to do my regular running, so I will get up earlier in the morning. I am generally a morning person and this is before the kids are up and about. Also, I'm hoping that if there are things that puzzle me as I read through scripture that I can contemplate it during the day and God will answer my questions.

Today's scripture is Genesis 1-3 and Matthew 1. Both are notable beginnings: God creating the world, and the birth of Jesus. I am coming to understand that because the Bible isn't written in a style with any extra words that aren't packed with meaning, this blog has to just be the highlights. For some reason I was struck with how God had Adam name all the creatures. I never thought about the why behind that before. Maybe so that Adam felt more connected with the animals since he was charged with their care? The other thing that I found interesting is how Matthew starts right in with scandal: the genealogy is full of it (Rahab the prostitute, the adultery of David) and instead of glossing over it, he calls attention to it.

Maybe He can make something good and beautiful out of the mistakes that I have made as well.

Introduction

1 Corinthians 9:24-25
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."

I have run multiple marathons and half marathons, competed in track and cross country since I was small so something about this verse resonated with me. After I had run two marathons I joined a running club and made a commitment to my training to do whatever I could to qualify for the Boston Marathon. To achieve this I had to take almost a full hour off of my time. And I did it! I went into strict training where I watched my diet and took off excess pounds, I ramped up my mileage, I read books on my mental state and pacing so that I was at my very best on race day.

I qualified, and then I ran the Boston Marathon which was a very cool experience and something that I am very proud of.

As I read this verse I know what he is talking about about where he says the competitors going into strict training. And I know the difference between training just to finish and training "to get a crown". As I look at my relationship with Jesus and how much I strive to know him better I think that I have been training just to finish - enough to get me by. This blog is my public commitment to begin training for a crown that lasts.

I'm not sure what this will mean. I'm going to start with more time in scripture and prayer and then see how the Lord guides me. I am using a website called youvision.com which has a plan for reading the entire Bible in a year. Thanks for joining me on this journey!