Weekly Devotion

2023. Wow, time has flown. I actually cannot believe that I am writing a message concerning 2023. It feels like yesterday that I wrote about 2022. And this just reminded me that we must make most of our time. We shouldn't take time for granted, but use every opportunity that we have to further the Kingdom of God. It doesn't matter what our occupation is, right there where we are we can make a difference.

I then had a look at what the number '23' means in the 'Numbers Dictionary - A prophetic understanding of numbers' book that I have and I found the following:

"It symbolizes a call to preach the Gospel It is a calling to church planting and breaking new ground for the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God where you will receive supernatural power for that purpose. It is also a call to preach repentance and to perform miracles in Jesus' Name. Number 23 shows that you will receive your reward if you live in harmony with God (abiding in Him). This abiding presence of the Lord will urge you to go forth and preach the Gospel to those that you are sent to."

The only way that our country and in fact the world around us will ever be a better place to live for all of us is if the Gospel is preached and spread. When people truly repent and follow God, then everything will turn around. Corruption will disappear, crime will dissipate and racial hatred will subside. It is therefore imperative that we all commit to the spreading of His Word and His Kingdom. Whether it is physically going and spreading the Word, or praying for the spreading and the church leaders, or providing finances for the Word to be spread, or volunteering in between your occupation, or being an evangelist right there where you find yourself on a day to day basis. The time has come that we all need to jump in and break new ground for Him.

I also believe that in addition to breaking new ground, we need to help cultivate ground that has already received the Gospel. We need to watch what we say, how we talk about our country, our leaders, how we fuel racial fire, how we raise our children, what we watch on any media and so forth. We need to look after the garden of our soul and live in harmony with God, abiding with Him. And we can only abide in Him when we keep our side clean through the examples mentioned above. Because when we are filled with filth, we will still go to Heaven if we truly gave our hearts to Christ, but we won't be able to walk close with God and we will miss our reward. May that not be the case for us in 2023.

The end times are here. Jesus told us that we will be able to recognize the signs of the end and it is definitely here. The 'end times' can last a millennia still, or the rapture can be tomorrow. The point is our main responsibility is to spread His Gospel and to keep our own garden clean and without weeds.

It is actually exciting times and I for one look forward to 2023. I truly believe that God wants each of us to walk in the mandate that He has fashioned for us even before we were born. He wants His Kingdom to expand and He wants His children to live as examples to the world of His goodness and grace. He wants us to focus our thoughts on what is good and pure (Philippians 4:8) and leave the rest to Him. He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to look away from the scary things in the world and the doom and gloom predictions and up to Him! He is our Light, He is our way, He is our truth, and He is our Life. He is the One who will open the Red Sea for us. Nothing is impossible for Him. Go into this year with this mindset. Do not fear the future, but embrace a sound mind and all that He has to offer us. Hallelujah! All glory to Him!

Father thank you for the blessing of a new year. Thank you for the reassurance that we can trust You. We want to abide with You and live in harmony with You. For then we can know that all things will work together for our good. We dedicate this year to You. Help us to walk the narrow path and to follow You in all our ways and to spread Your Gospel everywhere we go. We love You. Amen

Twice in the Bible we read that Holy Spirit hovered over water. The first time was right at the beginning of the Bible before Creation:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:1, 2

The second time was with Jesus' baptism:

"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him." Matthew 3:16

The Spirit descending upon waters yet again was a symbol that a second creation was starting. Jesus' coming was to give us access into the Second Creation. I have written a whole book about it called The Second Creation. But today I would just like to highlight that this is what Jesus came to do. He came to bring an end to the old and to start the new of which we can all be part of. All that we need to do is to repent of our sin and accept Him into our lives as our Lord and Savior. It is as simple as that. Then we are part of the second creation, and we can start living for the fullness of His Kingdom now already.

This Christmas we need to remind ourselves yet again that His coming gave us access into the new. We are born again, no matter what has happened to us in the past, no matter what we have done, the old is gone and we are part of the new:

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things that He planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2:10

"What this means is that those who become Christians, become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to Himself through what Christ did." 2 Corinthians 5:17,18

"For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17

We are new, because Jesus came. We are His masterpiece, we can do the good things that He has planned for us, a new life has begun, and we can reign in life through Jesus Christ! That is why the angels told the shepherds the night Jesus was born:

"I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10, 11

Good tidings of great joy! And indeed it was and still is, great joy. The night Jesus was born was the most joyous night ever. The old was about to end and the new was about to come! I shudder to think where we would be today if Jesus never came. Let's not rather go there. Let's focus this Christmas on the great joy that it brought into our lives!

Good things that He planned for us lies ahead.

We can walk tall as His masterpiece.

A new life filled with zoe life lies ahead of us.

We can reign in life, in every aspect of our lives.

We can walk this journey close to God as the way to Him has been opened.

Hallelujah! Let us rejoice this Christmas in all the blessings that He has brought us! The Bible is full of it. Open your Bible today and rejoice in all the goodness Jesus came to give us!

Thank you Jesus for coming to rescue us from an old creation on its way to destruction. Thank you for giving us access into the glorious second creation of which we are part of. All glory to You in the Highest for making this possible for us! We love You and honor You and praise You. Amen

Thank you for journeying with me through the life of Joseph. I hope you have learned as much as I did and I sincerely hope that you have been inspired by his life as much as I have. He was truly an extraordinary man. And what made him so extraordinary was his unfailing trust in God amidst hardship. He continued to trust in God even though circumstances were against him. He is truly an example to us all.

That is why I would like to end off with the similarities between him and Jesus. Jesus was and still is our ultimate example and it is so interesting to see the similarities between Joseph and Jesus. I thought of a couple of similarities myself, but then I came across the most wonderful similarities on the website: 'the gospelcoalition.com' and I would like to share it with you here ( https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/erik-raymond/wonderful-similarities-joseph-jesus/) :

1. He is the object of his father's special love.
2. He had promises of divine exaltation.
3. He was mocked by his family.
4. He was sold for pieces of silver.
5. He was stripped of his robe.
6. He was delivered up to the Gentiles.
7. He was falsely accused.
8. He was faithful amid temptation.
9. He was thrown into prison.
10. He stood before rulers.
11. His power was acknowledged by those in authority.
12. He saves his rebellious brothers from death when they realize who he is.
13. He is exalted after and through humiliation.
14. He embraces God's purpose even though it brings him intense physical harm.
15. He is the instrument God uses at the hands of the Gentiles to bless his people.
16. He welcomes Gentiles to be part of his family.
17. He gives hungry people bread.
18. People must bow their knee before him.

Wow, isn't it astounding? Eighteen similarities! It truly just shows us what an amazing person Joseph was. He was certainly extraordinary in his dealings and the way he handled himself and continued to trust in God. But of course Jesus surpassed him in so many ways. Jesus was in a class of His own, having never sinned and dying a gruesome death for sinners who certainly didn't deserve it. Jesus also did miracles that we still talk about daily. He was and still is the Miracle Worker, our Savior, and King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the One we should emulate and follow. His life is the perfect example of how God wants us all to live. Now of course we can only strive to reach perfection, but day by day we can inch closer and closer to where God wants us to be. He has recreated our spirit in the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ and He wants us to renew our minds so that we can become like the spirit He has recreated. He wants us to walk in fullness with Him, covered with the robe of righteousness that Jesus freely gave us. What a liberating life, what a privileged life, to live united with God in all His fullness, having eternal life pulsating through our veins. We are citizens of Heaven already, part of His Kingdom, part of His flesh and bones. We can walk in the reality of it now already. All glory on High!

I would like to end off this series with a piece that I have received from my father a couple of years ago. I can honestly say I cannot remember where he got it from, but it is beautiful and fitting as an ending to our series:

"A place in God's creation order has been reserved for each one of us from the beginning of cosmic existence. His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe. God is grooming us for leadership. He is watching to see how we demonstrate our faithfulness. He does that through His apprenticeship programme, one that prepares us for Heaven. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us, He is preparing us for that place."

We love and praise You Jesus. You came to give us all and we graciously treasure this gift. Thank you for everything that we can learn from Your precious Word. We've learned a lot from the life of Joseph and we know that it has all been inspired by You. We thank you and we honor You. Help us to live the life that You have planned for us. We want to walk in Your ways and make You proud of us. Amen

Joseph was an amazing person. His life started out quite good. He had a father and mother who adored him and gave him everything that he could ever desire. He was even favored above his brothers and got a beautiful coat. He didn't work as hard as they did, for his father was scared that something might happen to him. He also received dreams from God of his future, dreams where he is exalted and where his brothers and father will bow before him. In the context of that day, he truly had it all. He was young, vibrant, with a strong sense of right and wrong and he was handsome too.

But then things turned south for him. His brothers hated him and sold him to slave traders. These traders treated him roughly and took him to Egypt. There he was sold as a slave to Potiphar. He worked very hard and soon Potiphar noticed him. It was not long before things started to look up for Joseph, and Potiphar appointed him as head over his household. But then trouble came. Potiphar's wife noticed Joseph too and wanted him all to herself, and when he refused she fabricated a story about him and he was thrown into prison.

Joseph must have been devastated. He didn't deserve this. He stayed in prison for a couple of years, but soon he was used by the warden for many tasks. He also helped where he could and interpreted the dreams of the chief baker and chief butler. But even though he did, they left him in prison for still another two years. Finally he came out when he had to interpret Pharaoh's dream. In an instant he was elevated up to second in command in all of Egypt. He was placed in charge of the food scheme in Egypt and helped them to prepare for the seven years of famine.

He did just that and excelled in all that he did. Finally his brothers arrived to find food. After a long story they were reunited and he could see his father again. They all came to live in Egypt and Joseph looked after them there. They got the best pasture land for shepherds. They grew and multiplied and became a great nation there.

Joseph didn't know it then, but he was never going to leave Egypt again. He was going to stay there for the rest of his life. He became one hundred and ten years old and he led a very good life. He saw Ephraim's children to the third generation and Manasseh's grandchildren were also brought up by Joseph. He had a long and fulfilling life. And until his death he held on to the promises of God:

"I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here." Genesis 50:24, 25

Joseph held unto God until his dying day. He never doubted and trusted that God will do what He said, even though he didn't see the promises in his lifetime. Just like his great great grandfather Abraham didn't, even Isaac didn't and also Jacob didn't. But many many years later Joseph's descendants would enjoy the Promised Land. They would go in and live off the fat of the land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And Joseph believed that they would and asked them to promise that they would take his bones with them, which they did in the end.

Our lives might not make a lot of sense now, but one day it will. When we look back we will see the hand of God in it. But even then we won't see the whole picture. Only one day in Heaven we will see it all and we will see the wonderful piece of the puzzle that was our lives. Therefore we shouldn't get despondent when we do not see where our lives are going or what the point of it all is. We should never feel that we are not making a difference. When we follow God and all that He has planned for us, we can know without a shadow of doubt that all things will work together for good, not only for our good, but for the good of all. We each have an important role to play. We shouldn't neglect our duty, but should move forward hand in hand with God. We are a unique piece of the bigger puzzle and we must look forward to seeing that revealed one day. God has such big plans for us, not only in this life, but also in the life to come. We simply need to look UP, do our best where we can and make a difference right there where we are. Like Joseph we need to have a heavenly perspective, for then we can tolerate a lot and we can forgive easily and help where we can, expanding the Kingdom of God.

Father thank you that each of us is part of Your kaleidoscope of colors, Your mosaic of life. We are part of Your glorious puzzle. Help us to walk this life looking up to You and glorifying You in all that we do. We love You, Amen.

Last week we learned that God has forgiven all our sins, past, present and future. He is not holding a grudge; Jesus has been punished in our place. He has taken all our sins on Him so that we can be the righteousness of God in Christ. He has freed us from the bondage to sin. So we must never believe the lie that God has not forgiven us and will still punish us. It is not true. It is what the devil wants you to believe and that saddens God. He wants a close relationship with you, but if you cannot accept His forgiveness then there will always be a rift between you and God and He doesn't want that. So accept God's forgiveness today and start living close to Him.

Joseph was so sad when his brothers still thought that he didn't forgive them. He wept and called them over. When they came they were still so afraid and fell down before his face, saying:

"Behold, we are your servants." Genesis 50: 18

But Joseph quickly reassured them:

"Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant for evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now, therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them." Genesis 50:19-21

Joseph saw the hand of God in all of this and therefore he could forgive his brothers more easily. He looked at the bigger picture and didn't get caught up in the little things. He knew God used him mightily and he was grateful for it. He didn't want to punish anyone, as he knew that God meant for him to come to Egypt and to save lives.

We must also look at the bigger picture of our lives. We shouldn't get tangled up in the little details. The little things will keep us back from progressing to the best life that the Lord wants to bless us with. We must forgive those who have wronged us in the past. We cannot move forward before we do that. God has better plans for us in mind, He wants us to see the bigger picture and be the vessel that He can mightily use.

Look back at your life. See God's hand in so many things and thank Him for it. See where you also didn't follow His advice and learn from your mistakes. Forgive those who have wronged you. Then go forward, confident that God is with you.

We must learn from Joseph. He lived out his mandate in life, so confident in the Lord and who he was in Him. He readily forgave his brothers and lived out his role that God had carved out for him. He always trusted in God and never denounced Him. He honored Him even when it was difficult and God respected that and lifted him up high at just the right time.

Throughout our lifetime we must continue to walk with God. We must learn to trust Him in everything. All things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). Our lives are truly in His hands and we honor and praise Him for that.

Thank you Father that You are with us every step of the way. We trust You that You know best for our lives. Even if we do not understand everything at the moment, we trust You that You do and we leave our lives in Your hands. Lead us unto Your paths and keep us safe and protected. We love You. Amen

Last time we learned that God wants to use us right there where we are. He wants to use us to make a difference in people's lives all around us. He wants us to build His Kingdom right there where we are and show His love to all the people around us. We are His hands and feet on earth and He wants to use us to deeply touch people's lives.

Jacob died and his funeral was a statement of his greatness. It showed what a big difference he made in the seventeen years that he had been in Egypt. The whole of Egypt mourned for him and that says a lot. In a short space of time and at his old age, he made an impact and we can certainly be inspired by that.

Now after Jacob died Joseph's brothers were very worried. After seventeen years of Joseph looking after them, they still didn't trust him. They were convinced that he was going to get even with them now that their father had died. They thought that he had been pretending to care for them these seventeen years. So they devised a plan:

"So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, 'Before your father died he commanded saying, 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespasses of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." Genesis 50:16, 17

When Joseph heard this he wept. He was so sad, he couldn't believe that this is how his brothers saw him. He had forgiven them decades ago and here they beg for forgiveness again. They even drag their deceased father into all of this. It truly saddened Joseph. He had no more anger towards his brothers and yet they still saw him as holding a grudge against them.

When I read this the Lord said to me that it is how He feels sometimes. God the Father sent Jesus His Son to die for us. He died for our sins, so that we needn't die for the sinful deeds that we have done. He died so that God will remember our sins no more. He took the punishment so that we do not have to. Our sins have been forgiven by Jesus. God tells us that in 1 John 2:12:

"I write to you little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His Name's sake."

Isn't it wonderful news? Our sins have been forgiven, it is a done deal. God even blots out our sins:

"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins." Isaiah 43:25

God sent His Son so that we can be free from sins. For He so loved the world:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

He has given us everlasting life, all we need to do is believe in His Son. And when we accept Him into our lives:

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

We confess our sins upon conversion and then we can trust that Jesus will forgive us. He promises that in His Word. We needn't fear. This is actually a very long teaching that I am trying to sum up in one devotion, but I just want you to get this one thing, God is no longer angry with you. He is not waiting to punish you at the first chance that He gets. You do not have to confess your sins over and over and over again. Once is enough, then trust Him that He has forgiven you. He promises that He does. Jesus has died for our sins, once and for all, we simply need to accept it.

We shouldn't live in fear like Joseph's brothers did. They feared him and what he might do to them. They never really accepted his forgiveness and it saddened him. God is also saddened when we do not accept His forgiveness. He is waiting for us with open arms. He has provided forgiveness to us and wants us close to Him. If we continue to fear Him and not accept His forgiveness as a gift, we will not have a close relationship with Him. We cannot and that is detrimental to our spiritual life. We will live in constant anxiety over what He is going to do to us. We will constantly confess the same sins over and over again which indicates that we do not trust Him. No my friend. God has forgiven us, He loves us and He wants the best for us. He wants you to come to Him and have a close relationship with Him. Do not allow this chance to pass you by. Go to Him and experience Him as the loving Father that He is.

Father, thank you for loving us. Thank you for wanting the best for us, every moment of every day. Thank you for Your forgiveness. We accept it humbly and we glorify Jesus for buying this freedom for us! We want to have a close relationship with You. Help us to walk this road with You and experience all of Your loving care. Amen

Last week we learned that it would be a good idea to bless our children on a regular basis. Our words carry power and it would be wonderful if our words carried the promises of God over their lives. When we pray to God He will lead us what to pray and say over their lives. He has wonderful plans and we can proclaim those plans over their lives. Start today, you won't be sorry that you did.

Jacob was on his deathbed and the final thing that he did was to prophecy over his sons and to bless them. He then asked them to bury him in Israel where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah were buried. Then he died and the Bible tells us that he 'was gathered to his people.'

Joseph was devastated and fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. He then commanded his servants to embalm his father. For seventy days the whole of Egypt mourned for him. Then after the days of mourning, Joseph went to Pharaoh and asked if he could fulfill his father's dying wish of burying him in Israel. Pharaoh immediately agreed.

"So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering." Genesis 50:7-9

There they observed seven days of mourning for his father. The Canaanites saw the mourning and commented that this is a deep mourning for the Egyptians. In other words, they noticed how deeply moved all these people were.

Now for me personally when I read this it feels a bit over the top for me. First all of Egypt mourned for seventy days for Jacob and then the top officials of the country left Egypt to go to Israel and bury him there and mourn still a further seven days. Now of course I understand for those close to Jacob it seems appropriate, but for all these people to mourn so long for him feels a bit much for me. After all he wasn't their leader, or even an Egyptian for that matter.

I understand that funerals worked differently in those days, especially if it was a high up official. But even the Canaanites commented how distraught the Egyptians were. If Jacob didn't really make an impact on them they wouldn't have been able to put on an act for seventy seven days. So this leaves me with the conclusion that Jacob made a big impact in Egypt since arriving there. He was there for seventeen years and the way that they mourned over him tells us that he must have made a difference whilst he was there. Even though he was old, he was wise in years and must have given advice to them and helped them with difficult decisions. They truly had respect for him and were sorry that he was gone.

We can also make a huge impact right there where we are. We might think that we are not qualified to make a difference. We might think we are too old, too young, too weak, too busy, too sickly etcetera to make a difference, but that is all a lie. God wants to use us right there where we are, right there where He has placed us. He has big dreams not only for us, but for those around us too. So He wants to use us to influence them. We are His hands and feet and He desperately wants to touch people's lives and we are the vehicle that they see and experience. Who knows, maybe they are praying for God to touch them and make a difference in their lives and you might just be the answer to their prayers. No act is small enough. The smallest of acts can make a big difference in people's lives. Do not dismiss His Spirit when He leads you to do something nice for someone else, whether you know them or not. He knows their hearts and what they need. So if He presses someone on your heart, follow His leading and make a difference. It could be the cashier, the car guard, your domestic worker, your friend, your colleague, your family member, whoever it might be. Just follow His prompting. You will be so blessed when you do. I have had moments in my life where people have sent me messages, or done something for me just when I needed it the most, and I have treasured those moments with so much love. I not only appreciated what they did for me, but I felt the loving hand of God on my life and showed me that He  truly cared. And that has made a big difference in my life. May we now be those who make a big difference in other people's lives as well.

Father we love You. Thank you for Your daily loving care in our lives. We honor You and treasure You. Help us to be sensitive to Your leading in our lives and to listen to Your voice so that we can make a difference in other people's lives too. We want to be Your hands and feet in this world, use us mightily in Your divine plan. Amen

Last week we were reminded that all of God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus who fulfilled it all for us. All of His promises are therefore ours for the taking. We can truly claim it for ourselves. We should search out the promises that apply to our situation and then we should speak it out loud and claim it for ourselves. God is gracious and kind and wants to help us. He has given us everything that we need.

After seventeen years in Egypt and at the age of one hundred and forty seven, it was time for Jacob to die. It was truly a sad day for his sons and especially for Joseph as he loved his father very much. In those days the father used to bless his sons and prophecy over them on his death bed. And Jacob was no different. With the help of God's Spirit he prophesied over each of his sons. And he also took Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons too, even though they were Joseph's sons. And they became part of the tribes of Israel. In fact there are not twelve, but thirteen tribes of Israel because of this. Now when the tribes of Israel are mentioned in the Bible twelve is mentioned each time, with one omitted. Sometimes Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned as one tribe namely Joseph. Other times Levi is omitted as they became the priests of God. And so it goes on. God had His reasons which one was omitted every time and it certainly makes for an interesting study.

Jacob first blessed the two sons of Joseph and then he continued prophesying over his other sons. Some received good blessings and others like Reuben who defiled his own father's bed did not. Now wonderful studies have been done looking at all of Jacob's prophesies and what came of it. It is very interesting as most of them came true. For example he prophesied that rulers would come from Judah and David and his line of kings did and ultimately Jesus also came from the line of Judah. I encourage you to go and read all these prophesies as well as what happened to the different tribes. Years later Moses would also prophesy over the different tribes of Israel and when you take the two prophesies together for all the tribes it is truly interesting and a topic for another day.

For now I just want to leave one idea with you. I think it is wonderful that fathers bless their sons. Jewish families do it on a weekly basis. Once a week they have Sabbath, their day of rest and then they have a family meal together. And after the meal the father will stand up and bless each of his sons. And I believe that besides God blessing Israel and declaring that the descendants of Abraham will be blessed, one of the reasons why the Jews are so successful is because of this weekly fatherly blessing.

We all know that our words carry power. The Word tells us that and I am sure you have heard it from different people. And it is so true. God created by speaking and we are created in His image. Therefore what we speak also has creating power. And when a father as head of the house speaks a blessing over his sons it carries creating power too.

Now we do not have to be religious about it and have Sabbath every week, but I truly think it would be a great idea if the father of the house blesses his children on a regular basis. I believe it will do the world of good if he proclaimed God's promises in His Word over the children's lives. It can make a huge difference in a child's life and I believe that we should do it more often. If you do not have children then you can speak blessings and the promises of God over those closest to you too. Start doing it this week. May you be pleasantly surprised in the weeks, months and years to come.

Father thank you that You have big dreams for our children. Thank you that You love them and have good plans for them. Help us to speak in line with those promises and that Your will be done in their lives. Use us as Your vessels, we want to speak Your Word into this world and make a difference with the sword of Your Word in our hands. Amen

Last week we learned that we must stand up in who we are in Christ. We should never be embarrassed by where God has placed us or the occupation which God has given us to do. He knows best and has placed us exactly where we need to be. He has made Jacob and his family into shepherds, that is their occupation. Now just because the Egyptians despised shepherds doesn't mean that they must become someone else now. They should still do what God has placed on their hearts to do. Other people's opinions do not matter and it shouldn't matter to us either. We must follow Him and be proud of who we are in Him.

Jacob went to see Pharaoh and he blessed Pharaoh, and went to live in Goshen with his descendants. There they received all the food that they needed from Joseph. They were abundantly supplied for. Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years. Why they didn't go back to Israel after the famine ended we do not know, the Bible doesn't tell us. But they decided to stay, and they were truly blessed:

"So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly." Genesis 47:27

They asked God whether they should go to Egypt or not and He told them to go. He led them there and provided for them there and they were truly blessed. I believe that God told them to stay there as well and not to go back to Israel. He had a plan and foretold this years before to Abraham:

"Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions." Genesis 15:13

God knew that Israel and his descendants would move to Egypt long before Isaac or Jacob was even born. And He knew that they will be mistreated, before He would judge the Egyptians and lead them back home. He also knew that they would leave Egypt with great possessions. He foretold all of this to Abraham. Whether Abraham passed this information on to his descendants we do not know, but I think he didn't. For later on when Joseph died and the new Pharaoh began to mistreat them, we do not read in the Bible that they were holding on to this promise that God would deliver them and lead them home with great possessions. It is actually a pity that they didn't know, it would have helped them a lot to keep hold of God's promises.

Today we can hold on to His promises. We have the whole Bible and we are free to study it at any time we want. We can take a hold of His promises and make it our own. For God said that all His promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and Jesus lives within us, so all of His promises are ours for the taking:

"For all the promises of God in Him (Christ) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." 2 Corinthians 1:20

He has given His promises to us through Jesus Who lives inside of us. How wonderful is that? I am so glad and rejoice in that! His promises are amazing and true and something to hold on to, especially if we are going through tough times. Google the promises of God and select those that are applicable to your situation at the moment. Apply it to your situation and speak the words out loud. There is a lot of power in speaking God's Word over your situation. His Word is our sword and we need to use it to fight the enemy. It is the way how we can conquer anything that comes our way.

The Israelites would have had more peace if they knew that God was going to deliver them, as well as avenge them and help them to return to Israel with a lot of possessions. It would have been reassuring to them. Unfortunately they didn't have the written Word then, but we do. Open up your Bible and start claiming God's promises in your life. It will certainly be worth it.

Father thank you for all Your promises. We are so fortunate that Your promises are Yes and Amen in Jesus and He lives within us. Hallelujah! He is the fulfillment of all that You have planned for us, to give us a future and a hope. We glorify Your Name. Amen

Last week we saw how God reassured Jacob that he should go to Egypt. We saw how God clearly told him to go. And we learned that God will help us in our big decisions in life too. We simply need to honor Him and seek His advice first and above all else. Unfortunately many times we run to others first or make hasty decisions. But when we take it to God first, we can rest assured that it will be the right decision for us and that it would take us on the best plan of God for our lives.

Jacob and his descendants moved to Egypt. With Joseph, his wife and two sons, they were seventy people in total. When Joseph and Jacob reunited it was a very emotional moment. They cried for a long while holding one another. I wish I could have seen this reunion; it must have been something very special. His son that he thought had died was still alive and he had the privilege of being reunited with him. And I bet Jacob was so proud of the man that Joseph had become.

Then Joseph said to them that they must go and live in the land of Goshen, as Goshen was the best place to live for shepherds. But first they needed to clear that with Pharaoh. On the way to Pharaoh Joseph told them to tell Pharaoh that they were shepherds, even though shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.

I wonder how Joseph's brothers must have felt like. Here they come to Egypt, their brother is honored above all, and yet their occupation was an abomination and Egyptians refused to eat with them. Under different circumstances they might have felt inferior, but I think they were just so grateful to have food and an escape from this dreadful famine.

Once they were in front of Pharaoh they didn't lie about their occupation, but told him that they were shepherds and he agreed to give them the land in Goshen to live. He even offered them the job of being chief herdsman over his flock as well.

Sometimes we might be embarrassed by our occupation, our education, by where we are in our career, how our children are doing at school etcetera that we do not speak the truth. We might sugarcoat some things in our lives, exaggerate a bit or down right lie just to feel better about where we are in life.

I have experienced it many times before that people in the business world would downgrade what I do. I have attended business conferences for my CPD points, where I tell people how I work for the Lord by writing books, presenting Bible studies etcetera that they literally turn their backs on me and start talking with someone else. I contemplated to change my story in future, but why? So that I can feel better about myself at that moment? That people who I do not even know would think highly of me? I know I am exactly where God wants me to be and in that lies a lot of freedom and grace and I am proud of it. Even though I might not seem as successful in their eyes, I know I am in God's eyes and that is at the end of the day what counts. I know it is not always easy to see it this way, but it is the truth.

We should stand tall in who we are in Christ. We should be proud of who we are even though the world shuns us and makes us feel less important. We are the apple of God's eye and He loves us and is so proud of who we are. We needn't pretend to be someone else. Joseph's brothers stood tall in front of Pharaoh and declared who they were. And Pharaoh didn't ridicule them, no in fact he gave them the best place to live for shepherds and he asked that they be in charge of his flock too. He honored them. And we should do the same. Imagine his brothers lied about their occupation. Then Pharaoh would have given them another piece of land, not suited for shepherds and it would have been a disaster. He could also have given them positions in his government for which they were not ready if they pretended to be someone that they are not. And that would not have ended well either.

Stand tall in who you are in Christ and do not allow the world to faze you. They will always have their opinions and when will good enough be good enough? No, rather stand up in who you are, be proud of who you are and face this world, knowing that God is proud of you and with you every step of the way.

Father thank you for who You made us to be. You made every one of us unique, thank you for that. Help us to stand up in who we truly are and to make You proud of us. At the end of the day it is only Your opinion that counts. We love You. Amen