Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images and lyrics from Hillary Scott, of the group Lady Antebellum, singing her song … Thy Will … poignantly singing of the choices we have every day, even in the midst of trying circumstances … to follow MY WAY … or GOD”S …
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Highlight Verse[s]: Genesis 45:8a [NLT] …
8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! …
… Choosing to do life God’s way … not his own.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Genesis 45:1-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Joseph reveals his CHOICE to follow God’s will rather than his own in dealing with the past treachery of his family.
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Reference Passage #1 [NKJV] : … Joshua 24:15 [NLT] …
15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
… Joshua challenges God’s people to choose to follow God’s way … the way of life rather than the way of death.
Reference Passage #3 [NKJV] : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
… Jesus commands His disciples which way to go.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David C McCasland, used the Old Testament example of Joseph choosing to follow God’s will, rather than taking the way of the flesh. The ODB author wrote: Yet, along Joseph’s journey of life, he chose to be true to his God and rely on Him even when it seemed to make his situation worse. After being falsely accused by his employer’s wife and imprisoned for something he didn’t do, Joseph struggled with the injustice of his situation but kept trusting the Lord. Years later his brothers came to Egypt to buy grain during a famine and were terrified to discover that their despised younger brother was now the Prime Minister. But Joseph told them, “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you . . . . It was not you who sent me here, but God” (45:5, 8).
Joseph’s kind words cause me to wonder if I would be ready for revenge. Or would I be gracious because my heart had confidence in the Lord?
Choices! …
We all have them everyday, … don’t we?
And sometimes those choices, given the pressures of the world or the desires of our flesh, are really hard to make for Christians, … aren’t they?
As the photo depicts, which was the choice Joseph had to make, we can seek to follow our way or God’s highway, … can’t we?
I hope any reader here with me here today takes the time to hear the touching song, written and performed by Hillary Scott, … a song written when this dear lady had just lost a baby to miscarriage, and a song which expresses the same choice Joshua wrote about in his desire to follow the ways of God, … the ways which lead to life, rather than the ways of man, which leads to death (see Joshua 24:15 above).
So … which way will we seek to follow today?
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PS: It’s interesting to me that each Scripture verse quoted above was authored by God’s Spirit but voiced or written by men whose names were different in our Bible translations … Joseph … Joshua … and Jesus. BUT … in Hebrew, their names are all the same … “Yeshua!” God’s way of calling us to follow Him thru His word is AMAZING … isn’t it?
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My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … As You commanded me in Luke 9:23, I choose to follow You today … and all days!! … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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