Week 23 - June 28 - Merv Miller

Genesis 45 is amazing.

Joseph has the power to put his brothers to death but, because of who he puts his trust, of whom he surrendered his life to, because of how he believes shapes events to fulfill his greater purpose Joseph tells his brothers that God used his being sold in to slavery to for a greater good.

Joseph also gives God the credit for the success in his life.

We also learn that some things never change; the youngest child gets spoiled rotten. (editor's note: Sounds like Merv has some baggage from his childhood?)

Genesis 46

It’s interesting to me that early man was doing sacrifices. This is before God’s instructions to Moses for doing sacrifices which means (to me at least) that, to early man, sacrifices were a way of getting God’s attention… a kind of smoke signal if you will. Job did sacrifices as did Cane and Able.

Maybe it’s random but I find it interesting that they brought all of their possessions (no garage sale) even though Joseph said “Don’t worry about your personal belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.” Maybe Joseph wanted his family to look and live more like the Egyptians so they would fit in better. This is fascinating history and it teaches us how God worked with man 3,700 years ago.

Psalm 23

This psalm was written by David. But it could have been written by Joseph if he was a poet. Both Joseph and David had an understanding of a God who walked with them and guided them. It’s challenged me to ask myself do I seek a continual guidance of God or do I try to do too much on my own power?

Proverbs 23

5 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.

The writer of this proverb has looked at my IRA statement.

And how about this one?

34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,clinging to a swaying mast.

Is this where term “drunk as a sailor” came from?

I’m thankful for the wisdom of the Proverbs. What do you think about the “spanking” verse?

Acts 2

God gives the Holy Spirit to His people. This is why our body is now called a temple. God exists in it in the form of His Spirit.

Peter was convinced that they were in the last days. From our perspective of time he was wrong but hey… some believe the earth could be around 4.5 billion years old. If that’s true then, relatively speaking, Peter was right we are living in the final chapter of man’s life on the earth as we know it.

Editor's Comment: Or another way of looking at "last days" is rather than looking at the last days as the the end of something (such as the last pages of a book or the final drops of mlk in the carton) it could be the next era of God's activity. This is the "last days" chapter of God. Is there another chapter? Absolutely! That's the good news. The Last Days is the period of time between Jesus' resurection and his Return! When the Return comes we enter a brand new era...