Author: Lynden McGriff

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 3-5, Romans 10 

The transition of a loved one to heaven can be hard.  The sorrow, the grief, and the pain sometimes can be unbearable. But the celebration of the life of that person and all that they have given you throughout your life is immeasurable. I’ve recently had to celebrate the life of a dear person in my life, my godmother.   The joy and the happiness and the contentment that everybody had for her is truly amazing.

This is a testament to her legacy.  She was kind, loving, and always giving.  The words and the actions that she bestowed upon me throughout my life will always be remembered. I can still hear her voice giving me advice and giving me love.

In today’s readings, Solomon and Paul are giving words of wisdom to the next generation. They are given their legacy. The words that they’re giving are from their own experiences and from their own mentor’s words to them.

Proverbs 3:1-6

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Proverbs 4:1-4

“Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.”

Proverbs 5:1-2

“My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.”

Romans 10:14 

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

In the passages from Solomon, at the beginning of each chapter, he is instructing his sons and his descendants, how to live a good life. He has shown them how to live a good life, but he’s also giving them instructions on how to live the life after he has transitioned to heaven and has given them the wisdom. Many times we are given words and insights into what we supposed to do, but sometimes we need the instructions to be written out.

In Romans, Paul is asking the question of the people of Israel and the Christians if they have understood what they have been given to by word of mouth and written word.  He is also asking them if they are working with the gifts that they have been given.

Many times in our lives we are given instruction, both verbally and written. It is in the nature in which we use the instructions and wisdom that will produce good fruit.   I have been granted many mentors throughout my life that have imparted wisdom to me.  I have received many words of wisdom from my mother, my father, my uncles, and my aunts. I have listened to their words, but sometimes I have done my own things. But the things that I’ve done have not been without understanding their wisdom. Sometimes we do things that are aligned with wisdom, and sometimes we do things that are counter to the wisdom. But in the end, we will all receive wisdom.  Then it’s our responsibility to relay this wisdom onto the next generation.

Legacy is not all about the words that you use, but the actions that match the words that have been given to you throughout your life. Legacy is also the reflection of your total person and how it will be manifested in others.  Legacy is a shadow of all of our attributes that we have together.

So what is the legacy that we are giving to the next generation? What is the direction or legacy that we are being examples of?  If we give instruction with God’s grace and God‘s wisdom and gods mercy, then the legacy that we will give will be for God‘s glory.

Be blessed

Today’s Reading : 2 Samuel 13-14; Acts 28 

Throughout our lives, we go through cycles. Sometimes we find ourselves doing routines with ourselves or our friends at the same cadence.  It sometimes can become predictable. One of the  cycles that I find myself in is the “day off cycle”.  Since working in pharmacy, I’ve always had one particular day off during the week.  This day has been on Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, and Monday. Each of these days was set aside, so that I could have a specific day off during the week to accommodate me working on the weekends. Now as this day comes up, it’s a day of reflection, refreshment, restoration. Many times in our life the cycle helps us to get a sense of routine or safety. Sometimes cycles happen for us that are good. Sometimes cycles can be placed upon us from generational things that we have to overcome. In today’s reading, we can see that David is going through several cycles that affect his entire life. 

David’s life had many cycles. To fully understand today’s passage you have to review some of the previous chapters. In the previous chapters, it is where David takes Bathsheba for his wife and kills her husband. This continued a cycle of killing and fleeing that David had for most of his life as we saw with King Saul and with his son Absalom. 

In the cycles, David shows us a wrestling between his human nature and the spirit of God. In the cycles we could see how we will fall, but if we have the Spirit of God with us, then we could be renewed. Even when we are renewed, sometimes we have to undergo the pain of our actions.  One of the most inspiring, yet hard realizations is when David’s first born child of Sheba passes away.

2 Samuel 12: 19-22

19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

In this passage, we can see an example of how to be like David, in the respect of how to give God everything that we have. In the midst of our sorrows, God is working in us. In the midst of grief, God is working with us. And despite all of the circumstances that may transpire against us, we have to understand that God will provide peace and comfort to us in our darkest times.

Sometimes we go through cycles for our benefit, or for the benefit of others. No matter what our cycles that we are going through we must continue to ask God for his guidance to show us how his glory will be revealed. Some of our cycles will be happy. Some of our cycles will be sad. But in all of our cycles, we understand that God is with us.

Be blessed.

Today’s Reading : I Samuel 26-27 ; I Chronicles 8, Acts 18 

Connections. Each of my interactions throughout the day, I attempt to find a connection between everything. In today’s readings, I try to find what is the connection between all of the passages. In the first passage, we have David fleeing again from Saul, the first king of Israel. The next passage, we are given the lineage and the descendants of Benjamin, of which Saul, the first king, is a direct descendant.  In the third passage, we have Paul the apostle, who is in his mission travels.

Upon researching,  I found that both Saul the king of the Israel and Paul the apostle were both from the tribe of Benjamin. Both were men whose internal nature was that of warriors and fighters.  In the blessing of the tribes of Israel, Jacob actually described Benjamin as a wolf. 

 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; all morning he gorges on his kill, at evening divides up what’s left over.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭49‬:‭27‬ ‭MSG‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/97/gen.49.27.MSG

Both Sauls are actually exhibiting the proclamation that Jacob gave to his son, Benjamin, who would be like the wolves. The nature of this tribe was warriors. The nature of this tribe was being clever and being very protective of your tribe. This protection and nature actually became their downfall for both of them. King Saul was so protective of his “inheritance” that he lost the vision and blessings of God.  Saul the enforcer was so protective of the Jewish faith that he almost annihilated the early Christian church. The nature or human flesh part of us can lead to unforeseen consequences. 

But in juxtaposition to these passages is the use of the Spirit of God. In these passages the Spirit of God is with David in the first passage. The Spirit of God is guiding David not to submit to his nature. If David was allowed to do as his nature intended, he could’ve killed Saul, God’s anointed. But David listens to the Spirit and not to his own nature.Paul the apostle, formerly Saul, listened to the Spirit when he was afraid, and the spirit of God allowed him to be calm in Corinth, and to continue his work in a place that he was not prepared. 

I Samuel 26:9-12

But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord‘s anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord‘s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

Acts 8: 8-11

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Many times in our life we have both the spirit and our nature that are at constant battles. It’s in our relationship with Christ, that we are able to allow the spirit to be more in us than our nature. It’s not to say that our nature will not come out more often even while we’re in the spirit. But we have to acknowledge both the spirit animal is, and allow God to work in his way. We may not do all the things correctly, but when we submit to the spirit, we can be assured that it’s going to work for God’s favor.

Be blessed 

Today’s Reading::  I Samuel 9-10; Acts 8

In both of these readings for today the main character has several encounters along their journey. These two journeys are very similar and at the same time complex. In I Samuel, Saul is on a journey to find himself as a king. In Acts, Philip is on a journey to relate Jesus as the risen Christ.  Both Saul and Phillip are guided by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is mentoring and guiding each of them on how to approach each situation that they come in contact with. Each individual at this point in their lives gives complete control over to the Holy Spirit as their guide and does not allow their human intentions to cloud their judgment or to cloud their mission.  In each of the journey’s they have: Encouragement, Adversity, and Resolution. 

 

Encouragement

In both of these journeys, each individual at the beginning of the journey is encouraged. Saul, the future King,  is encouraged about the loss of his donkeys and the potential of amazing blessings that God has in store for him if he follows the guidelines and requirements. Philip is escaping persecution from Saul (soon to be converted to Paul) and working to expand the new religion in the church of Christ. In The Old Testament, Saul is encouraged by Samuel and by the individuals who are taking the food to the celebration. For Philip, he is encouraged by speaking the gospel to the individuals.

 

Adversity

 

Each individual has some type of adversity that is presented to them along their journey.   Saul’s adversity is not a completely direct adversity, but we see in his response to his uncle when he returns from the search for the donkeys.   Lets see this as an example, when you were given a gift sometimes you cannot explain everything to everyone. Sometimes when you’re giving gifts, you have to use discretion when disclosing the blessings to individuals.  Sometimes others can be jealous of the blessings and may have malicious intent for you. So in the midst of your gifts and your blessings, we have to be on guard and listen to the Spirit to show others how we can present our blessings.

 

Philip’s adversity is seen through Simon, the magician. Simon was for himself. Simon was trying to get the best of the best. He was not thinking about the bigger picture, but how he can be seen as powerful. After Philip met Simon met, Simon was baptized.  The act of baptism could have created an existential change in Simon, but Simon did not not really change. This part of the adversary shows that some people may change on the outside, but not fully change inside. 

This encounter also shows that Peter and John when presented with Simon, were not hesitant to call out Simon for his selfishness. So as we are going on our journey, we have to be aware of the ones who may change on the outside, but not change on the inside. We have to be vigilant of the adversaries that will be with us, but not for us. We must ask the Holy Spirit to continue to strengthen us as we grow continuously in our journey.

 

Resolution

 

In both of these journeys, at the end of the journey, there’s a beautiful resolution that is marked by blessings. For Saul after he has followed the directions of Samuel, he is blessed as the king. Saul listens. Saul follows directions. Saul is under the Spirit. When we submit and allowed to be honored by the Spirit, we can do amazing things.

 

Philip also listens to the angel and the Spirit to see how to go forward. Philip listens. Phillip follows. Phillip grows. There are very few occurrences in the Bible, where the Spirit takes people away, and Philip is one of those individuals where the Spirit takes him to another place. It’s because of the connection and the relationship between these two individuals, Saul, the first king of Israel, and Philip, one of the first missionaries, that we can see the Spirit moving and growing and individuals who didn’t know that they were going to make an impact on the world.

 

In all these journeys, we have to understand that there is going to be encouragement, adversity, and resolution. These can be seen in our everyday life. We have to continue to grow and mature our relationship with God and with the spirit so that we can see God’s work in us.

 

What will the week have ahead for us? We will be in our journey this week? Can we see the encouragement, the adversity, and the resolution in all of our Works?

 

Be blessed.

Imagine if you can…… A young boy, who is searching for his purpose in life. This young boy can make friends easily. But something is always a little bit different. This young man grows up in somewhat isolation. But he has a family that loves him and a lot of relatives that interact with him all the time. As  this young man grows up, he knows that his purpose in life is a little bit different than everybody else’s. He knows that he has a specific purpose to fulfill and this waiting will lead to something greater. This young man grows up and goes.  Several years later, after living in somewhat isolation. He finally understands the purpose of his life. He finally understands the purpose of all of his preparation.  He sees Christ. John the Baptist knew the wait was worth it.

Luke 7: 24-28

24 

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus[f] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way before you.’

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Growing up in a conservative and difficult life was hard for this little girl. So many hard choices that have been handed to this girl, so early in life. She did not have a chance to truly be a child.  She didn’t have safety and compassion and security. She had to make hard decisions at an early age. These decisions and choices put her into different situations which followed in her shadow throughout her life. It wasn’t until she was able to meet Jesus later in her life, that she understood what she had to do. She waited. Her waiting has been shared throughout the ages. She has created a position in our history for her show of gratitude and atonement. For her it was worth the wait. 

Luke 7: 37-38

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

In Deuteronomy 6 & 7, we are given instructions on how to enter the promised land. But the one thing that we forget is how God had prepared the promised land in advance for the people. There were already houses, vineyards, cisterns, wells, and everything that they needed to survive. Because they waited they were able to take full advantage of all the things that God had prepared for them. They did not have to do too much preparation or hard labor to the land because life for them is prepared for them. In Deuteronomy God is telling us that he has a life prepared for us, and that we just have to have a relationship with him. We have to be in connection with him so that we can take full advantage of what God has for us.

Deuteronomy 6: 10-12

“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Deuteronomy 7:11-14 

And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples.

How many times in our life are we waiting on the next thing? How many times are we waiting on the next thing?  We have to be patient during the wait.  After the wait, we also have to remember the journey that we have gone through to get to our destination.  So many times, we go through obstacles and tests, we forget the lesson.  Let us take the opportunity to slow down and wait for the next thing that God has prepared for us.  Let us also not forget the lessons that we have learned by grace and mercy. 

Be Blessed 

Today’s Reading Numbers 8-11, Colossians 1 

With spring in the air, we were starting to see the formations of baseball teams and softball teams. This is a memory from childhood when we would play softball or basketball where there would be team captains.  Each captain would handpick each of the individuals for the team. This process can be hard on both sides: hard for the captains to try to keep everyone’s spirits up and then hard for the individuals getting picked because of being the last one picked.  In the end someone will not be happy.  The difference with Christ choosing us is we all win.  He chooses all of us, we have the option to be accepted. He has hand picked us already.  

Numbers 8:14-16

“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself.”

In Numbers 8, we see God is preparing the Levites as the chosen individuals to be set apart for the whole nation of Israel. We see how He has hand-picked them to be the priesthood to intercede, and to petition God for the entire nation. In this particular instance, God is hand-picking representatives that will be connecting with him.  He shows how he will provide for these people through these intermediaries. He can use many avenues to bless us.  We have to be in tune with his overall purpose for each of us,  this only happens when we have a relationship with him. 

 Colossians 1: 21-23

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

In Colossians 1,  it shows us again that we are hand picked for God’s grace and glory. It tells that we were already alienated and lonely and in despair, but Jesus understood this and still hand picked us to be with him.  We all have hand picked by him, but we have to accept that we are worthy of his grace.  He is ready to give us comfort and peace if we would accept it as a gift. 

A couple of days ago I had the honor of participating in a game with my kids.  The object of the game was to tie or come up with the same result as the other team.  Once you tied with the other team, the first person who recognized it was the same would scream.  Then the team that lost would then become part of the other team.  Then you would search for other teams to compete, until you are all on the same team.  It was fun and exciting on many levels:  the kids had a blast and each person wanted to tie with each other.  On another level, it was showing us how it is possible to not be the victorious one and still have fun.  It shows how God’s love no matter what the outcome of the situation,  we always win and he has chosen us not to fail, but to succeed with Him and each other.  

Be blessed 

Today’s Reading: Leviticus 8-11, Psalm 110, Hebrews 4

 

Oh, Leviticus. The book a Leviticus is the blueprint and the guide for the Levitical priest of the Hebrew to follow as a guide. Each piece and each word in Leviticus had to be done to precise letter. The most important things were in the details of each of the words. As a child, I remember reading through the first several books of the Bible, I was always confused. I did not understand why such detail was made for each chapter. As I grew up, I was able to understand how these precise details were the things that were needed for the children of Israel at the time. This is part of the Old Testament, to give us precise direction because we need this attention and direction for our life.

 

The specific information that we receive from Leviticus is similar to that of the understanding of time. We have to be given precise information about time for our minds to grasp the abstractness of God. God has allowed us to understand time, so that we can understand him better. In our most recent developments we can get time down to the trillionth of a second. At the beginning of the 1900s we could give time down to a second. At the beginning of the 12th century, we could get time down to portions of a day.

 

It’s in these details that we are able to have some foundation and clarity of our purpose. It is in these details that we understand God‘s work in us better. When I was a young adult, I had an understanding of how to digest the word of God. The understanding goes like this: the word of God is like a Thanksgiving feast, the first day you were eating so much and trying to digest it all. The following day you can have the leftovers. Then the following week you can boil the bones and the meat to make a soup.  Each time that we are digesting the word of God, sometimes we get so much from just the overall text. Then we can get down to the sentences and paragraphs and phrases. Then we get down to a single word that speaks to us on a profound level.

 

Sometimes we can run through life at such a breakneck pace that we do not understand and see the details of our life. This past week my youngest daughter brought home a project that she had worked on for several weeks in class. As part of our routine, she leaves her class work on the dining room table for me and my wife to review and to look over. This particular project was about her. It was a non-fiction, biological sketch of herself.  Now, I typically review these things and glance over them and put them away. This time, I reviewed it a little bit more closely. And when I reviewed it, the text touched my heart so much that I became very emotional. The above picture that you see for today’s post was the one that she had drawn.  Each of the figures that she has drawn shows each person in our family, their age, and the things that they love most. If you look at the one under each one, it shows something different. But under the picture for me, her father, it shows that the thing that I love most is her.

 

Lord, allow us to be able to be in tune with how you show the specific details in our life. Lord, allow us to be open to the whisper, the vapor, the flowers that are in our life. Allow us to be where you want us to be influencers to others as you have been influential to us through the small details. 

Today’s Reading: Exodus 14-16; Ephesians 4 

Countless times as a child, many of us wish that we could just grow up. Many times we did not want to hear the guidance that many people would give us. We could not wait for the day to come when we will be adults and we don’t  have to listen to anybody or ask for help. But as we grow up and become adults, we understand that we do need assistance and help. Sometimes it is hard to ask for help and assistance. Sometimes it can be difficult to hear the advice, but when we become true adults and mature to understand we are able to get to a new level of maturity.  

Some of our most recent ideas of Moses come from “ The 10 Commandments” movie. In the movie we observe Moses’ transformation overnight. This seems like a week or months journey but it actually was 40 years from when Moses left pharaoh until he returned.  The next installment that we see is the “Prince of Egypt”, which was the Disney adaptation. In this, it still seems as if it was a matter of months or years from Moses’ escape from Egypt to his return. The reason for this timeline realization is due to the passage from today’s reading.

As we read the story of Moses and the exodus of the Israelites we have had different perspectives on the timeline. When Moses fled Egypt the first time he was 40 years old. When Moses came to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, he was 80 years old. When the Israelites left the wilderness and entered the Promised Land Moses was 120 years old. This new understanding of the true timeline can bring to light new thoughts of Moses from our past experiences.

In today’s reading, Moses is met with his father-in-law, Jethro. This meeting takes place after Moses has been blessed at the burning bush. This meeting happens after the Israelites have been in the wilderness for sometime. So Moses is about 80+ years in this scenario.

In this scenario, we see three things happening.

• Jethro comes to Moses and blesses him and gives him encouragement on the things that he has done. Jethro also observes Moses in his leadership of the Israelites. 
• Jethro gives Moses some amazing advice. He has observed Moses, and is concerned for his welfare and his livelihood and his relationships between his family and his duty to his people. Jethro gives advice on how to separate and delegate his stewardship and authority that this has been given to him by God. Jethro is a man who has had a lot of experience and leadership himself. Moses is a product of Jethro’s leadership and mentorship.
• Jethro also understands that God has given Moses this position. Moses also understands Jethro’s love for him. Moses is considered one of the most influential individuals in Judeo-Christian law.  But he still seeks council for his leadership.

Many times in the Bible we are giving glimpses into how very wise and influential men have been given counsel to help them to elevate to the next level. In this passage, Jethro gives great counsel to Moses. Earlier in Genesis, Abraham receives great counsel from Melchizedek.  And countless times in and through the Old Testament and New Testament God has given counsel through prophets and apostles.

In all areas of our life, we have to understand that there are other individuals who are able to give us insight and wisdom that we may not be aware. But we need to be understanding and aware of how God works in those individuals he puts in our lives. Is there someone in your life who is giving you wisdom today? Is there someone who is breathing words of counsel into you? Lord, allow us to understand and hear your words to many videos that you were giving us. May you bless us this week so that we may be blessings upon others, and to show your glory.

Be blessed.

 

Today’s Reading: Genesis 41-42; Mark 16 

Have you ever asked yourself….Why am I in this situation? Why can’t the situation get better? How does good come from the situation?

These are some questions that our protagonists in these stories could ask themselves. Throughout our everyday life,  we have many different experiences and these are the items that build us into who we are currently.  In today’s reading our protagonists are Joseph and Jesus.  

A few days ago,  while listening to a podcast the speaker stated something that really resonates with today’s reading, “In every problem there is an answer and in every problem there is a lesson.”   In today’s reading we have several instances that we are learning from our past experiences. 

In the first reading, we have access to Joseph in prison.  In this passage, Joseph has been in prison in Egypt for some time.  He was sold into slavery by his older brothers, the sons of Israel also known as Jacob.  The reason that he was trapped and sold into slavery was because he shared his visions and dreams with his siblings.  He trusted his brothers and wanted to share his excitement and dreams.  When this happened, his brothers betrayed him and tried to extinguish his fire.  

           After he was sold into slavery, Joseph had several different experiences that led him to become a prisoner in Pharaoh’s personal dungeon.  Here he was distraught and found destitute.  At what he thought would be his final place, God created an opportunity for him to grow. Joseph used his gift of dream reading and helped the baker and chief butler.  This then led to him interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh and saving the entire empire of Egypt.  The total time that Joseph was in slavery and prison was 13 years.  The time between the interpretation of the dreams and the introduction to Pharaoh is assumed to be two years.  This can seem like an eternity when you do not know what’s on the other side.

This new found success, allows him to have grace and find room for forgiveness for his brothers.  Many times in my life, there have been questionable places and areas that God has allowed me to experience in order for Him to show me grace and in turn allow me to show grace to others.  Many times while we are in the situation, we cannot see or recognize that God is preparing us for success in his time. 

In the second reading we are at the resurrection.  This is the ultimate example of preparing for success.  Jesus has been with his apostles and close friends for most of his life.  We have the stories of his ministry, which began on earth for a period of three years. But Jesus knew these individuals for a majority of his life.  He had planted seeds of the Spirit of God in them throughout their journey together.  He was preparing them for the opportunity to be successful after his departure.  He is continually preparing us for his ministry daily. We have to be open to the opportunities and the challenges that we are presented with as chances to see success through him. 

I know that many times in my life, I’ve been in many situations where I know that God has provided for me and is going to change things for me, but at the moment in time, I cannot understand. But he was preparing me for something else, something greater.  What is God preparing you for? What current situation are you in that he might be preparing you for success? 

 

Be Blessed