Writing Through the Bible in a Year

Genesis 46:28-49:27

“Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.” Genesis 47:11-12.

“Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.” Genesis 47:27

I’ve been attending my church for the last five months, all the while dipping my toes into the ministries and different church functions just feeling my way around. Yesterday the church celebrated their third anniversary as a church. So, of course, we were in full-out celebration mode. During service each leader of the church stood up and gave a testimony of what God has done in their department of the church over the last year. As I sat and listened to each testimony of what God’s been doing in my friends’ lives a warm feeling filled my soul as I stared up at each now familiar face. I was home. And it was in that moment that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Sinking in” and coupled it with a picture of me sinking into a hot tub and laying my head back against the tub in total relaxation. It was glorious.

Then in this morning’s reading the word “settled” just kept jumping out to me each time I read it. And it hit me in much the same way that the phrase “sinking in” hit me. That right now I am settling into my own land of Goshen – Issachar church. (It doesn’t hurt that the pastor’s wife is one of my best friends.)

So in true Tamar style, as I sat down to write all this down I became intrigued by the name Goshen and decided to look up its meaning. I wasn’t disappointed! It is, of course, Egyptian in origin, but it means, to draw near.

Joseph, wanting his family to be near him, settled them in Goshen. Jesus wanting His family to be near Him settles us in the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit of Christ that we are able to draw near (or come home) to God the Father, Love Himself. When we draw near to Him through the Holy Spirit, His love wraps around us like a warm blanket welcoming us into His heart, our true eternal home.

We are so amazingly blessed to be called Children of God! There is so much favor and blessing that comes along with that title, but above all else, the best benefit of being His child, is being in His presence! Praise be to God!

I pray that today you find your own Goshen, both a physical one and a spiritual one. I pray that you experience the love of Christ in a new and glorious way like never before! He is so good to us; I pray that your eyes be opened wide to see the everlasting goodness of our God in this the land of the living. It is impossible to see anything in the dark, yet you are a child of Light and have within you the ability to cast His light upon all of the world’s darkness and reveal the hidden things. YOU are a child of God. Have you accepted that calling and position of Grace? Have you made that decision to choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

Genesis 43:1-46:27

“I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” Genesis 43:9

“For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.'” Genesis 44:32

As a writer and a reader these two passages speak such tremendous volumes it’s not even funny! As I writer I see character arc or a change of heart. As a reader I see an older brother that has spent years regretting the things he did to Joseph and isn’t about to make the same mistake twice. As a daughter of God Almighty I see a God who lost the first Adam and isn’t about to let anyone else slip through His fingers again.

In Judah’s act of brotherly loyalty I see Jesus stepping up to the throne of God and saying to our Father, “I will be a pledge of their safety. From MY hand you shall require them.” And He did. It cost Jesus both His hands and both His feet and a stab in the gut. He paid our price of admission into the throne room of God. Who are we not to appreciate that sacrifice by USING that ticket and entering routinely into the presence of Love itself. Through the Grace of the cross our Father’s head has been lifted from sorrow and wrath to Love and acceptance and JOY UNENDING because His children can come back home now. Hallelujah my friend, your price of admission has been paid. So let’s enter into His courts with thanksgiving today! Let’s praise Him with everything we have inside us and allow Him to come and fill in the gaping holes the world has created within us. He is our strength and our solace. In Jesus name, we will never be the same.

Genesis 40:1-42:38

“You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regard the throne will I be greater than you.” Genesis 41:40

Dreams are so over looked in this day and age. All too often we throw them aside like yesterday’s mail, without ever taking the time to stop and think about them and the fact that perhaps they might be from God. Maybe, all those prayers asking for His will are being answered in your dreams.

You know what God just revealed to me? Joseph had two dreams, in both of them everyone around him was bowing in submission to him. Now, in his dreams the ones submitting were his family members, which is the very thing that made his brothers hate him and sell him into slavery at their first opportunity. This was not new information to me. However, today, just now as I’m typing this, God revealed to me that although the exact contents of Joseph’s dreams didn’t come true until the very end of his story and after thirteen very long years. The premise of his dreams was fulfilled almost immediately! In Potiphar’s house he rose to power quite quickly and everyone in the house, except for the family themselves, were subject to Joseph. Prophetic dream fulfilled.

In the jail house Joseph again rose to power very quickly and everyone in the jail, except for the jailer, was subject to Joseph. Prophetic dream fulfilled once again.

In today’s reading we find Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and rising to the highest power possible! And while, like I said, the exact contents of his prophetic dreams hadn’t been fulfilled yet, the premise of them continued to prove true. There was no one in all the land of Egypt that held more power then Joseph, save the Pharaoh himself. No matter where Joseph was his dreams were being fulfilled right before his eyes time and time again!

Now that’s a side of this story I’ve never heard told before! And what HOPE it brings doesn’t it!?! That while Joseph had to wait for the exact contents of his personal prophecy to be fulfilled, the theme or premise of his dreams kept coming true time and time again! I had always seen Joseph pining for his dreams to be fulfilled and for his family to bow down in submission to him, but now I’m not so sure that’s how the story really went. I’m thinking that Joseph, time and time again just kept shaking his head in amazement at how God was working all things together for his favor!!!! That his dreams became a touch stone of hope for him; each time life threw him a curve ball God helped him hit it out of the park! J

If you feel like life if throwing you nothing but curve balls and all you’ve been batting is strikes, know this; GOD IS WITH YOU! No matter who you are, what you’re doing, or what’s going on in your life, God is with you. He is for you. And if God is for you…then WHO can be against you and still stand? Hallelujah! Take heart my friend; you have been made in His image. He has overcome this world, and so will you. No matter what!

Overcomer by Mandisa

Genesis 36:1-39:23

Bend (Joseph) by Brandon Heath from The Story

Reach by Peter Furler

Some things just don’t go the way we plan them.

Joseph’s brothers planned to kill him, that plan didn’t work out (thankfully). Reuben planned to rescue Joseph from the pit and return him to his father, that plan didn’t work out. Potiphar’s wife planned to seduce and sleep with Joseph, that plan didn’t work out. Potiphar planned to keep Joseph as head of his household for as long as he possibly could, that plan didn’t work out. Judah planned to enjoy watching his son’s children grow and prosper, that plan didn’t work out. Tamar planned on having children…that plan worked out.

This isn’t where I had planned on this post going, but it’s working out! 😉 God knows the plans He has for you, His plans work out. In Acts chapter five we find the story of the Apostles being arrested for preaching in the name of Jesus. And much like in the story of Joseph how Reuben diffuses his brothers blood lust, “Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, ‘Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men about four hundred, joined him. He was killed and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!'” (Acts 5:34-39)

God’s plans don’t fail. Period. He is GOD.

I think we fail to remember that far too often. He is GOD ALMIGHTY, if He can speak this entire world into being is it truly too hard for Him to speak His plans into your life and then not help you make them come to pass?

As humans living inside of time, we live in the moment. We are only able to see as far into the future as this very moment. Sure we can make plans according to what we *think* is going to happen in the future, but that doesn’t mean that those plans will come to fruition. But God doesn’t live in the moment like we do. He stands outside of time, far above all time and space in a place where He can not only see the present and the past but the future as well. And it is from this place where He makes His plans. From where God stands and plans He can see what’s coming up ahead and can direct our steps toward the correct path so that we can avoid coming disasters. However, in order to avoid certain coming disasters may involve a present danger.

Just look at Joseph! I’m going to try not to give away the ending for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, but as of today’s reading, Joseph is in some serious hot water! His brothers despise him, he’s been sold into slavery and then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, he is then thrown into prison for something he didn’t even do! Talk about life kicking you when you’re down!

But Joseph isn’t alone in all this. Through every step of his journey “the LORD was with Joseph”. (Genesis 39:2) And because of this one simple truth, Joseph’s story works out in the end. And so can ours.

Today, it may feel like your family hates you, they may have even rejected you and sent you away to live somewhere else. You may be lonely in a deep dark pit; you may be tied to a stinky caravan of Ishmaelite traders, or be wearing next to nothing as a sign of your slavery. You may even be bound up in chains sitting in a jail cell wondering if your life will ever turn around. You may be mourning the loss of a husband and the loss of a potential child. But you’re not alone. The same God that was with Joseph and Tamar is the same God who is with you. Through it all, He is there, with you, helping you get through the tough dark moments in life so that you can enjoy the more delectable light moments in life. No matter what is happening in life today, you are not alone. You never have been and you never will be. God is with you. And if God is with you, who can be against you?

Genesis 32:1-35:29

“Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:3

My friends, oh my friends! Some days I have to just shake my head at how the Lord works; in mysterious ways! Awhile back I was praying and God showed me a vision of how He works. It was like one of those really early arcade games where His blessings were falling from the top of the screen and I was the player at the bottom of the screen catching the falling blessings in a BIG basket. God was holding the joystick guiding me in the right direction in order to catch the right prizes at the right time.

Since I’ve been working on starting this school, that is precisely how it has been! Only the farther I’ve gone, the more and more the “game” has turned into sometime akin to Pac-Man. Do you remember that game? Where you start out the game in the middle of a maze, surrounded with ghosts that will kill you if they touch you. And all along each part of the maze there are these little dots that you eat up and gain points. Then in each of the four corners of the maze are larger dots that are worth more points. If you eat all four of these dots you move on to the next level.

With Grace University I started in the middle with what I knew; I needed a building, kids and teachers. Kids came quickly and so did the teachers, but the building has been an amazing maze filled with little tid-bits of new knowledge and advice, each apparent “dead end” then changing into a turning point where God was letting me know that I had traveled far enough in this direction and collected all the necessary little dots along that path and it was time to turn in a new direction and start picking up more little dots of knowledge and wisdom all leading me in the direction of the bigger dots along the path. All the while the deathly ghosts are chasing me trying to stop me from getting any farther down any of the paths.

It’s been an adventure to be sure; but a fun one nonetheless. Especially since I know that at the end there is a school waiting that will be filled with kids to love and teachers to befriend and parents to help. Your prayers mean the world to me, you have no idea how much I value them! My goal for this school is to use it to enrich our community as much as is possible. It is a school, but it’s so much more than that too. It’s a home and we’re a family – we just haven’t all met yet. And as long as I keep going in the direction God is leading me, we’ll be there before we know it!

Genesis 29:31-31:55

“When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” Genesis 29:31

Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we think that they will. Jacob worked for seven years to have Rachel as his wife, only to wake up the next morning with Leah in his nuptial bed. Then in order to get Rachel he worked another seven years. Leah was hated by their husband, while Rachel was loved. Leah had children while Rachel had none. Life just simply doesn’t go according to our plans does it?

I mean, you can almost guarantee that Leah didn’t plan on being despised by her husband, or that Rachel had planned on being barren in a society where fertility was the only thing a woman was really prized for. When we look at how Leah named each successive child we can see what she was feeling at the time that she bore them.

Reuben: “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”

Simeon: “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, He has given me this son also.”

Levi: “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”

Judah: “This time I will praise the LORD.”

With each son she hoped against all hope that this son would turn Jacob’s eyes toward her in love, yet they never did. And by the time Judah arrived, she had finally figured out that the fruit of her loins wouldn’t turn his eyes toward her, so she turned her eyes toward God instead. At some point in between Levi’s birth and Judah’s she came to the end of herself and figured out that no matter how many sons she gave to Jacob, it would never be enough to make him love her they way he loved Rachel. She longed to be prized and doted on, she longed to be held like a priceless jewel in his crown. She longed for him to linger in her presence just because he loved her presence so much. She longed for him to talk to her and tell her the secrets of his heart; to tell her about his dreams and his hopes, his fears and his aspirations. But all she got from him was his duty. His duty to perform his marital duty toward her, to provide for her needs, to give her the opportunity of children, a roof over her head and food in her belly. Yet those weren’t the things that she longed for from him. She longed for his undivided attention.

For years there were times that I would do absolutely everything in my womanly power to try and turn my husband’s attention toward me. Until one day I figured out that no matter how hard I try to get my husband to look at me, it’s not going to make a difference. So I took my eyes off my husband and turned them toward Jesus instead. And I’ll never take them off Him again.

My husband is neither my problem nor my responsibility, he’s Jesus’. My husband is not my god, nor is he my savior, Jesus is. While my husband is the person God uses to provide for our family, he is not our provider, Jesus is. While my husband is the head of our household, he is not our leader, Jesus is. For years I looked to my husband to be the source of many things in my life, without realizing, he’s human and unable to provide for me all the things I really need. But Jesus is both able and willing.

In today’s reading we got to watch as Leah did everything in her power to win her husband over. And then, there between verses 34 and 35 we see the change in her focus. While her husband wasn’t willing or able to give her the love she longed for, Jesus was. And the same is true for each and every one of us today. While our husband’s may not be willing or able to give us the deep and fulfilling love that we long for, Jesus can!

While our husbands’ may not talk to us about what is in their hearts, Jesus does. While our husbands’ may not be able to provide for all our spiritual, emotional or physical needs, Jesus can.

Jesus can and is more than willing to take all the time you need to have a conversation with you about anything and everything that you want to talk about. And more! Take some time to curl up with the Good Book today and see what He has to say to you through His word. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to come and speak to you and with you and through you. I think you’ll be amazed at the intimacy He longs to have with you; an intimacy that no human bond can ever achieve.

Jesus is ALL you need.

Genesis 26:6-29:30

“We see plainly that the LORD has been with you.” Genesis 26:28

Lord,

I want to be like that. I want to be someone that people can just look at me and know that You are with me. I want to be different in such a way that people will spend time with me and just know that that I have spent time with You. I want to be someone that isn’t so caught up in my religion that I see everyone’s faults instead of their beauty. I want to be someone who receives Your love for me in such a way that Your love becomes the only thing I seek after, and yet never have to seek it because it’s always there. Lord, You are so good and so amazing to me, I want people to see that in me and want it for themselves. Because they too can have what I have if they would only seek You first. Lord, the things of this world have an amazing way of drawing us in and taking our eyes of You and Your love for us. Please help me to keep You in my sights and to allow the things of this world to grow strangely dim in the light of Your wonderful face.

Father thank You for showing me your face and Your light! Thank You for supporting me and always being my tower of strength and refuge. Thank You for providing for all our needs according to Your glorious riches through Christ Jesus my King. Thank You for justifying me with Your Grace as a gift, and OH what a gift it is! Thank You for showing me the best features of Your gift of Grace and allowing me to be the bearer of Your good news in this world! Please help me to spread Your gospel to all the world and make disciples; not just followers, not just students, or servants, but friends!

Jesus thank You for being my friend!!! You truly are the greatest gift in all the world and I can’t imagine my life without You in it! You are my everything. The thought of living just one moment without Your presence is devastating to me and I honestly can’t imagine how in the world anyone could live without You. The peace that You bring into my heart when all the world is trembling with fear around me, it thrills my soul to know You are near.

There is nothing like knowing that I am never, no not ever, alone because You are with me. I am so sorry for ever having doubted that Lord. There have been times when I doubted Your love and Your presence in my life and I apologize, please help me with my unbelief.

You are so good! Thank You for being You! Thank You for loving me when no one else did, thank You for trusting me even when You really shouldn’t. Thank You for being with me when no one else was. Thank You for being YOU!

Amen!