The last couple of days have been all about integrity.  That’s right, good all integrity.  Joseph has it in spades.  Do you?  Who are you when no one is looking? That is what integrity is all about.  Joseph does what is right, no matter what it cost him.  How about you?  Has the love of God transformed you to the point that you want to live for Him every day?  Gods love does make a huge difference.

Keep on reading today!  Any questions about today’s readings?  What did you read that surprised you?  What brought you comfort?

Oh yeah, Genesis 38 can make any family seem normal.  Its hard to imagine that these are Gods people as they do awful thing after awful thing.  What is God going to do?  Well, if the Bible was all about making humans seem great, God would have to punt.  Since the Bible is all about God’s glory – He is faithful to His promise!  That doesn’t mean that God allows sin – He sent Jesus to the cross to pay the price for our sins.  Go God!

Just when you thought the story of Jacob’s family couldn’t get any worse – here we go.  It all starts with Jacobs favoring of Joseph.  Actually, God has some big plans for Joseph – but that is for later.  Right now, Joseph is a young guy and he is having these dreams where his brothers bow down to him (remember, its a dream so its actually sheaves of grain bowing down to another sheave – its a dream – go with it!).  They get mad and then plot to kill him.  They end up selling him into slavery which actually places him in just the right place for Gods purposes.

Does this mean we should do horrible things to our brothers because God might do something great because of it.  NO!  Bad move!  God uses what they did and makes good come from it.  What they did was awful and it caused pain for the entire family.  Its hard to see that God will do something unbelievable despite what these brothers do against their brother.  Isn’t God amazing as He works and saves us?

Time to keep on going with the reading.  Today in Genesis its an accounting of Esau’s family.  You may think of zipping through this but check it out.  Maybe God wants us to think of these people as people – not some list.  Isn’t that what happens when we get to these lists – we skim or skip!  Remember. people matter to God and just because these people don’t have a story written down in the Bible, doesn’t mean they don’t have a story.  What’s your story all about?  Are you like Esau and are you defined by conflict or the Cross of Jesus?

We all make promises.  We promise to help people and we promise to take care of business.  Problem is that we break promises and so we figure that God will be the same way.  The great truth today is that God always keeps His promises – no matter what.  Even when we mess up royally, like Jacob – God is faithful.  God kept His promise to Jacob and to us.  He gave us Jesus, who suffered and died for us!  We are now forgiven – we are free because of Christ! What an amazing truth to live by – God is for us!

Time for some wrestling!  Yup, wrestling.  Jacob is at it again.  Seems like he is convinced that the only way to get something is to weasel it away from someone.  Here is Jacob with this angel and after wrestling with him, Jacob forces him to bless him.  Does Jacob really have to wrestle a blessing out of God?

Don’t we sometimes think that way – that we have to get rough with God if we are going to get what we want?  Doesn’t God want to help us and give us what we need?  Careful here, I am talking about needs, not wants.  God helps us and has saved us in Christ.  He will give us all what we need to serve Him.  The key to our lives is serving Him because He saved us – not getting what we want by taking from others.  Which way you going?

How can we know that God listens?  Check out Genesis 30.  Rachel and Leah are in this baby contest and Rachel is losing. She cannot have kids and its all on her.  She does some bad stuff to try and keep up and yet God listens to her.  She has kid because its all about Gods promise! God is in control and we all need to know his strength!

More questionable family values.  What gives?  How can this be?  Answer?  It is all about God and His faithfulness.  How can you see God working when things go dark?