Saturday, January 31, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
LIFE IS UNFAIR
READ GENESIS 37:19-29
“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. (Genesis 37:19-25, 27-29 NIV)
There are times when life just treats us unfairly. We may protest the injustices, fall victim to self-pity, give in to a “poor me” kind of attitude, or sink into depression. During these times when life is unfair, however, what we really need is serenity.
If anyone in history could claim to have been treated unfairly, it was Joseph. He was one of twelve sons, the favorite of his father. In their jealousy, Joseph’s ten older brothers staged his death to fool their father and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Once a slave, Joseph devoted himself to serving his master well and was quickly promoted. He was then propositioned by his master’s wife, and when Joseph refused her, he was falsely accused of rape. Thrown into prison with no hope of release, he again did his best to serve. He was soon running the administration of the prison. Finally, after many long years, Joseph was freed. He was promoted to the position of prime minister of Egypt. From this position Joseph was able to eventually confront and forgive his brothers, who had sold him into slavery many years before (Genesis 37–45).
It takes serenity, courage, and[…]bthe way they should be, but we can choose our attitudes. We need serenity from God to help us change our responses to the injustices of life. We need courage to face with optimism the days when we are treated unfairly. We need wisdom to know whether to fight injustice or to make the best of a bad situation.
Excerpt From: Arterburn, Stephen. “The Life Recovery Bible NLT.” Tyndale House Publishers.
“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. (Genesis 37:19-25, 27-29 NIV)
There are times when life just treats us unfairly. We may protest the injustices, fall victim to self-pity, give in to a “poor me” kind of attitude, or sink into depression. During these times when life is unfair, however, what we really need is serenity.
If anyone in history could claim to have been treated unfairly, it was Joseph. He was one of twelve sons, the favorite of his father. In their jealousy, Joseph’s ten older brothers staged his death to fool their father and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Once a slave, Joseph devoted himself to serving his master well and was quickly promoted. He was then propositioned by his master’s wife, and when Joseph refused her, he was falsely accused of rape. Thrown into prison with no hope of release, he again did his best to serve. He was soon running the administration of the prison. Finally, after many long years, Joseph was freed. He was promoted to the position of prime minister of Egypt. From this position Joseph was able to eventually confront and forgive his brothers, who had sold him into slavery many years before (Genesis 37–45).
It takes serenity, courage, and[…]bthe way they should be, but we can choose our attitudes. We need serenity from God to help us change our responses to the injustices of life. We need courage to face with optimism the days when we are treated unfairly. We need wisdom to know whether to fight injustice or to make the best of a bad situation.
Excerpt From: Arterburn, Stephen. “The Life Recovery Bible NLT.” Tyndale House Publishers.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
The Serenity Prayer devotional
READ GENESIS 18:20-33
“We all face difficult situations that involve the people we love. In some of these situations the wise course of action may not be clear. We may feel a heavy burden to act but have no idea what to do.
Abraham found himself in such a situation. The Lord had told Abraham that he intended to destroy the people of Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness. Since Abraham’s nephew Lot lived among the people of these cities, Abraham was concerned for their welfare. So Abraham approached God and said, “ ‘ Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked? Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. . . . Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?’ And the LORD replied, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake’ ” (Genesis 18:23-26). The bargaining went on: Suppose there are only forty-five . . . forty . . . thirty . . . twenty . . . ten? Finally God said, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.” (18:32).
Abraham wasn’t sure what he could do in the situation he faced; he wasn’t even“Then I will[…]” “sure what was right in this situation. He talked it over with God, reasoning it out, trying to do whatever he could. When we don’t know how much of a change we can or even should make, we can start by talking it over with God. Then we can try to do as much as we feel confident doing.”
Excerpt From: Arterburn, Stephen. “The Life Recovery Bible NLT.” Tyndale House Publishers. iBooks.
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