Christian daily devotionals

Pay Attention

Posted on by Betsy

Being around young children can be exhausting for a number of reasons. Their energy, their craziness, the noise, your worry over their safety…it can wear you flat OUT. One of the main reasons that kids are exhausting is that they want you to watch everything they are doing every minute of your wakefulness. Who has not spent an afternoon “relaxing” at the pool with children only to realize you’ve read the same paragraph of your beach novel eighteen times because they kept yelling for you to look up and watch them?

This, my friends, is why God created nap/quiet time on the eighth day.

Moses’ call to action came about in the same manner. Here he was, minding his own business and his father-in-law’s sheep, and suddenly God demanded his full attention. “MOSES. MOSES. MOSES. LOOK OVER HERE. WATCH THIS, MOSES! WATCH ME DO THIS TRICK. ARE YOU WATCHING? MOSES? MOSES?”

Instead of the tenth cannonball into the pool, God sent Moses a much more subtle sign…a burning bush.

Exodus 3 (Common English Bible)

3 Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb. 2 The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. 3 Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up.

I have to wonder what God had been doing prior to the burning bush to get Moses’ attention. Did he tap Moses’ shoulder? Clear his throat? Create a great wind in the desert? Yet somehow Moses was unaware of God’s presence right up until the bush burst into flames but didn’t burn up.

Where is God trying to get your attention? We know with great certainty that God was present with Moses before this moment. God had protected Moses from infanticide by hiding him in plain sight with Pharaoh’s daughter. God saved him again when Pharaoh tried to kill him and then helped him safely escape to the place where he found his wife and security. God was always with Moses. Yet somehow in this particular moment Moses was preoccupied to the point that it took a burning bush to get his attention.

4 When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

Moses said, “I’m here.”

This begs the question of our own preoccupation as well. Is God trying to call you into action and you are simply not seeing the signs? Are you looking the other way due to your reluctance to respond to what he might ask you to do?

5 Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” 6 He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Are you hiding YOUR face because you’re afraid to see where God may be sending you?

7 Then the Lord said, “I’ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. 8 I’ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians in order to take them out of that land and bring them to a good and broad land, a land that’s full of milk and honey, a place where the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites all live. 9 Now the Israelites’ cries of injustice have reached me. I’ve seen just how much the Egyptians have oppressed them.10 So get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

Moses did not want this job. He did everything he could to get out of it but in the end Moses was the one to bring the Hebrew people safely out of slavery in Egypt.

As you consider where God might be calling you to action, remember Moses. Don’t make God send you a burning bush. Lay aside your objections and say yes. You just might be the one that God is using to deliver somebody from oppression and injustice today.

Maybe it’s you he’s trying to save.

Pay attention!

Where God Leads You by Teresa Silverman

God’s House

Posted on by Betsy

What or where is ”God’s house” for you? Is it a large modern sanctuary with rear projection screens? Is it a one hundred-year-old sanctuary with a beautiful wood ceiling? What image comes to mind when you hear the phrase “God’s house?”

Many years ago I was in the downstairs portion of our church sanctuary with my four-year-old daughter. I used my master key to get into the janitor’s closet to fetch a vacuum. Jamie had never been in that part of the church and her eyes got big as she looked at the large sink, the shelves and shelves of toilet paper and paper towels, and the rest of the supplies.

“Mommy, we’re in God’s house, aren’t we?”

“Yes, sweetheart, we are!” I replied.

“Well, then! THIS must be God’s bathroom!” she exclaimed.

The pandemic has completely upended our concrete notions of what “God’s house” looks like. Maybe that is one good thing we can claim from all of this mess. We have realized that “God’s house” is wherever God and God’s people are. It can be a parking lot, a lawn, a baseball field, your living room, the beach, a tall sand dune with a cup of coffee…God’s house is a movable place, just like it was in the very beginning.

The writer of today’s psalm is troubled. He heads straight for God’s house in search of justice. While others around him are up to no good, he has walked in integrity and avoided any contact with the wicked people. He would have done well with social distancing.

Psalm 26 (Common English Bible)

Establish justice for me, Lord,
    because I have walked with integrity.
    I’ve trusted the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord; put me to the test!
    Purify my mind and my heart.
3 Because your faithful love is right in front of me—
    I walk in your truth!
4 I don’t spend time with people up to no good;
    I don’t keep company with liars.
5 I detest the company of evildoers,
    and I don’t sit with wicked people.

He prepares to go into God’s house with hands washed (!) and with thanksgiving on his lips.

6 I wash my hands—they are innocent!
    I walk all around your altar, Lord,
7         proclaiming out loud my thanks,
        declaring all your wonderful deeds!

No matter where you are experiencing the house of the Lord, know that wherever you go, God is with you. When you come to him in an attitude of worship, his glory resides. Praise God! His presence cannot be constrained by four walls.


8 I love the beauty of your house, Lord;
    I love the place where your glory resides.

Also God’s House

Bronze Walls

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever been picked on?

Bullied?

Lied about?

Rejected?

Do you wonder where God is when it happens?

Like all of you, I have suffered at the hands of an attacker. I have felt vulnerable, misunderstood, publicly humiliated, and outcast. When this happens, it can be challenging to feel God’s presence. We want to be defended. We want to be championed. We want to be exonerated.

We want revenge.

What is God doing when someone is on the attack?

In the fifteenth chapter of Jeremiah, we see the great Old Testament prophet suffering for his role as “prophet of doom.” God has called him to speak words of stern instruction and rebuke to the people who had gone very far astray of God’s word. This results in the people‘s attacking Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 15 (Contemporary English Version)

You can see how I suffer
insult after insult,
    all because of you, Lord.
Don’t be so patient
    with my enemies;
take revenge on them
    before they kill me.

This phrase “don’t be so patient with my enemies” speaks right to my heart. I have said the same when being attacked for something I preached (or worse, didn’t preach) or said in a church meeting. I want vengeance, God! I’m only in this situation because I am speaking for you, so where are you??

16 When you spoke to me,
    I was glad to obey,
because I belong to you,
    the Lord All-Powerful.
17 I don’t go to parties
    and have a good time.
Instead, I keep to myself,
because you have filled me
    with your anger.

18 I am badly injured
    and in constant pain.
Are you going to disappoint me,
like a stream that goes dry
    in the heat of summer?

Have you ever felt this way? This beautiful image of a stream that goes dry in the heat of the summer is poignant. When your heart is badly injured and you are experiencing constant pain from the assault, it very much can feel as though all of the joy in your spirit has completely dried up.

Then God responds to Jeremiah. And us.

The Lord Replies

19 Then the Lord told me:
    Stop talking like a fool!
If you turn back to me
    and speak my message,
I will let you be my prophet
    once again.
I hope the people of Judah
    will accept what you say.
But you can ignore their threats,
20 because I am making you strong,
    like a bronze wall.
They are evil and violent,
    but when they attack,
21 I will be there to rescue you.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.

When you are under siege God is making you into a BRONZE WALL. A bronze wall! Strong, upright, impenetrable….nothing and no one can get past you when he is finished.

So take heart. This siege you are under is being used for your own good. You will emerge stronger, harder, taller, and immovable. God will be your rescuer when the time is right. He did it for Jeremiah and he’ll do it for you.

God Strengthens by Michelle Robertson

Don’t Let Go

Posted on by Betsy

Can you name a time when you cried out to God and knew that he answered you? Sometimes that answer comes right away. Sometimes it comes after a period of time. Sometimes YOU have to make a change before the answer is revealed. But every time God DOES answer.

In the last seven months I have found myself waking up at 4:00 AM with a burden to pray. In the black of the night I have lifted up a young man whom I love and admire and have prayed for God to answer his situation. This week the answer came. I give thanks to God with all my heart for this. Not only is that situation resolved, but I finally may sleep through the night!

Psalm 138 (Common English Bible)

I give thanks to you with all my heart, Lord.
    I sing your praise before all other gods.
2 I bow toward your holy temple
    and thank your name
    for your loyal love and faithfulness
        because you have made your name and word
        greater than everything else.

When is the last time you cried out to God?

3 On the day I cried out, you answered me.
    You encouraged me with inner strength.

I realize now that when the answer wasn’t given right way, God was encouraging both of us with his inner strength. The young man whom I love and admire had to keep trying and I had to keep praying.

4 Let all the earth’s rulers give thanks to you, Lord,
    when they hear what you say.
5 Let them sing about the Lord’s ways
    because the Lord’s glory is so great!
6 Even though the Lord is high,
    he can still see the lowly,
    but God keeps his distance from the arrogant.

Here the Psalmist takes a step away from his own rejoicing and looks at the world around him. This is interesting to consider in the midst of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. We are about to elect a leader. The world’s leaders are watching. It is amazing to think what would happen if all the earth’s rulers would hear what God says and give thanks to him.

But then the warning comes…God keeps his distance from the arrogant. How many world leaders do you suppose that leaves out?

7 Whenever I am in deep trouble,
    you make me live again;
    you send your power against my enemies’ wrath;
    you save me with your strong hand.
8 The Lord will do all this for my sake.

Are you in deep trouble? Are we in deep trouble? Is the world in deep trouble? Take heart. God will make us live again. God sends his power to fight everything that assaults us, including bad politics and a deadly virus. God will save us with his strong hand.

Your faithful love lasts forever, Lord!
    Don’t let go of what your hands
    have made.

Yes, Lord. Please don’t EVER let go of what your hands have made! We need you to never let go of us.

What God’s Hands Made by Bonnie Bennett

WHO and WHOSE

Posted on by Betsy

My journey into ministry began innocently enough. I was a young mother of two when a good friend talked me into taking a Bible study called DISCIPLE. It was a year-long study that covered about 75% of the Bible. It also had a free nursery and like many young mothers, anything that came with a free nursery was pure GOLD. I immediately signed up. At that point in my life if a course on taxidermy had come with a free nursery, I would be the proud owner of many stuffed things right now.

The video presenter was a beautiful man named Zan Holmes. His resonant voice still echoes in my mind these many years later. I remember sitting spell-bound one day listening him say, “Always remember WHO you are…and WHOSE you are.” That struck a chord with me. It was during that year of intensive study that I discerned my call to ordination. God was directing me to the WHO by reassuring me of the WHOSE. I am a flawed and inconsequential child of God who is also the daughter of the great, high King. So if he decides to send me to seminary, I figured I would be alright.

God indeed went ahead and the rest is my history. The Holy Spirit acts as our on-site supervisor, available 24/7 for everything we are called to do. You can’t learn this from a bible study or a divinity school. You simply have to yield to God’s understanding and remember WHO God is.

Watch what happens to Peter:

Matthew 16 (The Message)

13 When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

15 He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17-18 Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

By the power of God’s Spirit, Peter had discerned that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. He understood that Jesus was the Son of God. The three years of journeying with Jesus revealed WHO God is in a profound way to Peter. Then Jesus helped Peter understand WHOSE Peter was. He was a sinful man raised up to be the rock upon which the church would be built. In typical Messiah-transformation fashion, Peter the worst became Peter the first.

Imagine what he can do with YOUR life.

19 “And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.”

Where is God saying yes to you? And where is the no? We are all called to some form of ministry in the kingdom of God. Some will be bishops and some will be NICU nurses. Some will be dads and some will be Sunday School teachers. Who are you?

When we remember who we are, and more importantly whose we are, the kingdom is open wide to us. There are no barriers to God. There are no obstacles except our own disobedience and reluctance.

YOU are a child of God. Who do you say that he is?

Remembering Whose by Michelle Robertson

God Rocks

Posted on by Betsy

The pandemic has brought forth a plethora of new ideas for spending time at home. In my case it has prompted me to find new ways to use the word “plethora.” For others with artistic abilities, small crafts like rock painting have emerged. Think about the beauty of that! You order some paint stuff from Amazon, you go out into your yard, find a rock, and VOILA! Instant stress-relieving fun.

Rock painting has been popular for some time now. At my church, a kind person painted a rock with my name on it as a “gratitude rock.” I think it says something like, “Betsy, you rock.” Every once in a while I spot it on the way into the Fellowship Hall and it makes my heart smile.

Ever contemplate where rocks come from? Smaller rocks have been quarried from larger rocks and have either been deliberately tumbled to create their smooth roundness, or have managed to lose their sharp edges through time and erosion.

Kind of like people.

Isaiah was keenly aware that we have all been quarried from the rock that is our family of God. All of us can trace our lineage back to father Abraham and mother Sarah. God took that rock and has shaped it down over time to resemble us, the children of God.

Isaiah 51 (The Message)

1-3 “Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living
    and committed to seeking God.
Ponder the rock from which you were cut,
    the quarry from which you were dug.
Yes, ponder Abraham, your father,
    and Sarah, who bore you.
Think of it! One solitary man when I called him,
    but once I blessed him, he multiplied.

Because of Abraham’s faith, we have inherited the right to God’s protection and comfort. This is an extremely important thing right now, as we find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic, national unrest, hurricane season, wildfires, and all other manner of evil.

Likewise I, God, will comfort Zion,
    comfort all her mounds of ruins.
I’ll transform her dead ground into Eden,
    her moonscape into the garden of God,
A place filled with exuberance and laughter,
    thankful voices and melodic songs.

All of those things will come to pass. All of our mounds of ruins will become a garden that rivals Eden. Every dead place will rise up again in the name of Jesus…even the dead places in our pandemic-weary hearts.

We will be filled with exuberance and laughter, and we will SING songs in the sanctuary that are expressions of our thankfulness. I can’t wait for that day! In the meantime, remember: we are one day closer to the end of this thing.

Jesus is our rock, and he will never leave our side.

Beauty Stones by Jan Wilson

EveryBODY

Posted on by Betsy

My dad once told me a story about something that happened to him when he was a kid. It involved his school lunch. Even in the long years of the depression, his family had enough to feed four kids. My grandfather was a Pennsylvania State prison guard, and my grandmother was an admissions clerk at the local hospital, so their work was steady.

My grandmother was an extraordinary baker. Homemade bread, rolls, cakes, pies….she could really stretch her grocery dollar with her skill and while they didn’t have much, they had enough.

One day my grandmother asked my father if he enjoyed the peach pie she had packed. She chastised him a little for never mentioning the wonderful homemade baked goods that she packed every day. He was confused, and told her that he didn’t have any pie in his lunch pail. The next day she asked about the cinnamon roll she had packed, and again, he replied that all he had was a sandwich.

They tracked this for a few more days and realized that one of the other children was taking one item from his pail every day….likely a child who had nothing to eat. From that day on, Grandma packed two sandwiches, two pieces of fruit, and two baked goods. Every day when my Dad got to the lunch room, only one of each item was left. They never did find out which child they were feeding, but together they made sure a child didn’t go hungry. 

In the body of Christ, my grandmother was the baker. She quietly made sure that there was enough to feed her four, and one other. That child might have felt very ashamed to have to steal food to survive. But my father never mentioned it at school. In the body of Christ, he was the silent partner.

Romans 12 (Common English Version)

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 

What is your place in the body of Christ? Are you the ear, able to listen to someone’s problems? Are you the wallet, able to give your financial resources to help those in need? Maybe you are the feet that are willing to go and do disaster recovery, or the hands that hold a sleeping baby so that a tired mother can sit under the cypress trees and hear the sermon…

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Everybody is somebody in the BODY. Next time you see a place to use your gift, say yes. You never know whose life may be forever changed by it.

Grace Accordingly by Joe McGraw

Flash Flood Warning

Posted on by Betsy

Driving home from the airport this weekend was a frustrating experience. First, it was a Saturday in the summer in the Outer Banks, so I got caught in the stream of people coming from the north to check in to their beach cottages for the week. I landed around 4:00 and thought that I would be behind the surge. I had forgotten that check-in time has moved from 3:00 to 5:00 to accommodate a longer cleaning time between guests.

Then apparently there was an accident ahead of me that took some time to clear, which was followed by a torrential rain. The rain came down so hard I could barely see for about twenty minutes.

During that time NPR broke in with an emergency alert. It was already stressful enough, but that sound of ERRRRT—-ERRRRT——ERRT blasting though my car speakers was unnerving. The alert was a flash flood warning for the county next to me. I was driving through a good deal of standing water and could see how easy it would be for creeks to suddenly overflow.

Do you know what to do if you get caught in a sudden flash flood? “Turn around, don’t drown.” Attempting to drive through a large area of moving water is dangerous and sometimes fatal. People have died trying to drive through water that suddenly swept their car away.

In our Psalm today, the writer describes a time when the raging waters were coming over the necks of the people, but God saved them from the torrent:

Psalm 124 (Common English Bible)

If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
    let Israel now repeat!—
2     if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
        when those people attacked us
3 then they would have swallowed us up whole
        with their rage burning against us!


4 Then the waters would have drowned us;
    the torrent would have come over our necks;
5     then the raging waters would have come over our necks!

Can you name a time in your life when God saved you from some form of rushing water that threatened to overtake you? I have a friend who has been battling the floods of alcohol abuse overtaking her life. Her drinking almost cost her marriage, her home, and her family. Just at the point where she was pinned underwater and unable to breathe, she called out for help. Months later, she is now restored in every aspect of her life. God did not hand her over to the enemy of addiction. She escaped because she turned around.

6 Bless the Lord
    because he didn’t hand us over
    like food for our enemies’ teeth!
7 We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
    the trap was broken so we escaped!

I don’t know what kind of flash flood you may be experiencing right now, but I know this for certain…God is with you. God is FOR you. Do you hear him sounding an emergency alert over some aspect of your life? God is waiting for you to turn around so that you won’t drown.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the maker of heaven and earth.

Our help comes from the maker of heaven and earth! Rise up and shine.

I’m in that line of cars somewhere! Photo by Brant Honeycutt

Doxology

Posted on by Betsy

A doxology is a “lyrical expression of praise to God” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. In a worship service it provides a liturgical response to the presentation of the offering. Various forms of “Praise God from whom all blessings flow” have been sung in churches since the late 1600’s.

I once had a profound moment singing the doxology at a women’s retreat. We had gathered in the dining room and our music leader suggested we sing it a cappella as our grace before the meal. The harmonies blended beautifully in the room and it was a stunning offering to the Lord.

Psalm 67 is introduced as a doxology in one bible translation. That is fitting, as this brief psalm is a beautiful and lyrical praise chorus. It was written to the director of music “to be performed with string instruments.” We’ll get right on that as soon as we’re back in church!

Psalm 67 (New Revised Standard Version)

May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

This may sound familiar to you. It is part of the Aaronic blessing that appears in Numbers 6. The lovely phrase “make his face to shine upon us” is a word-picture that invokes an image of God’s joy in giving his blessing and his grace to a happy, responsive people.

2 that your way may be known upon earth,
    your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.

The psalmist cleverly offers God a small incentive. If God will bestow his blessing on us, then the world will see and thus his way will be known on all the earth. That is kind of like promising to tithe if God would just make you win the lottery.

4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth.Selah

God will judge the people with equity. That is an amazing thought. There is no hierarchy of sin according to this. There is no privilege, status, religious preference, or condition that will get you off easy. Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, atheists, etc. will be judged equally with all the people of the earth. Humbling, isn’t it?

5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you.

Praise is the appropriate response to all of God’s blessings. As the harvest of provision comes in the form of daily bread to us, let us join in singing our praises with all the creatures here below! For God indeed is worthy of our praise.

6 The earth has yielded its increase;
    God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God continue to bless us;
    let all the ends of the earth revere him.

Amen.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow by Becca Ziegler

Reconciled

Posted on by Betsy

Can you name a time in your life where circumstance, decisions, jealousy, malice, or someone’s bad intention left you on the outside of something you cherished? It is hard when that happens. Job changes “for the good of the company” that result in your layoff can be devastating. Family conflicts that end up with your invitation to the table being rescinded can result in pain that lasts a long time. Anytime we are rejected, it just doesn’t feel good.

It is in those moments that we need to heavily rely on God’s word to help us through a myriad of emotions and try to see what God is doing in the midst of our suffering.

Today we are in the part of the Joseph story where he is living in Egypt long after his brothers threw him in a pit and sold him to traders. Many years have passed and God has provided Joseph with a rise to power that puts him in charge of Egypt’s grain stores, which he himself had created. Meanwhile back in Israel, a famine has decimated the land and Joseph’s brothers have fled to Egypt in hopes of finding food.

Genesis 45 (Contemporary English Version)

Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. 5 Don’t worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.

6 There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. 7 But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. 8 After all, you weren’t really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king’s court and placed me over all Egypt.

This is a profound moment. Even with everything that happened to Joseph…all the hurt, rejection, harm, and estrangement from his family…he is able to claim that God was the agent of everything that happened. It was not the result of his brothers’ actions, nor evil forces, nor jealousy, nor even a consequence of intentional harm. Only God could bring about the miracle that was to happen next and this had been God’s plan all along.

9 Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can. 10 You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own. 11 I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don’t come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death.”

And so Joseph, who was thrown away by his insecure brothers, is now able to save not only his family but all of their livestock from starvation. He makes them the incredible offer to come and bring their entire households to Egypt where he will give them all homes and enough food to live.

12 All of you, including my brother Benjamin, can tell by what I have said that I really am Joseph. 13 Tell my father about my great power here in Egypt and about everything you have seen. Hurry and bring him here.

14 Joseph and Benjamin hugged each other and started crying. 15 Joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers. After this, they started talking with Joseph.

This last part is a touching reminder of the power of FORGIVENESS. When Joseph was able to recognize that God had placed him in Egypt in order to save generations of his family, he was able to let go of his anger and open his heart up to his brothers.

Where is God calling you to open your heart today? Where is he calling you to forgive a grievance that you have harbored for decades? Where can you see God working in your life despite the hardships?

Make today the day. Make that phone call, write that letter, or send that text. God just may be sending you ahead so that you, too, can save your family.

Peaceful Moonrise by Amanda Sprinkle