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Life’s a mess without Jesus enthroned in our lives.
Good people can become bad.
Faithful people can turn unfaithful.
Clean instruments can become unclean.
When sin or ourselves/ or our own wills are enthroned in our lives. It is a leaven that works through the whole batch of dough (our lives).
Only true joy comes in having Jesus enthroned in our lives and hearts. Praise His holy name.
Sovereign hands
Nailed to a humble cross
Scars you bear
Speak of your redeeming love
* I find these rather insightful*
(From Matthew Henry commentary):
Matthew Henry commentary regarding Genesis 39:1-6-
Our enemies may strip us of outward distinctions and ornaments; but wisdom and grace cannot be taken from us. They may separate us from friends, relatives, and country; but they cannot take us from the presence of the Lord. They may shut us from outward blessings, rob us of liberty, and confine us in dungeons; but they cannot shut us out from communion with God, from the throne of grace, or take from us the blessings of salvation.
My own thoughts:
Verses had these repeated phrases:
And the Lord was with Joseph (Gen 39:2, 21 KJV) and the Lord was with him (39:3, 23, KJV)
Wondering why the Lord was with Joseph. It must be the Lord’s grace that has come unto Joseph, for though Joseph was a goodly person (v6), he is also not perfect (Romans 3:10). I think the Lord had compassion on him, for his situation of how he was sold by his brothers and nearly died in the pit. And the Lord is a faithful, all powerful and all knowing God. He is also leading Joseph’s way so that the future of the Israelites can be a good one…He did not forget His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/ Israel (Joseph’s father).
Joseph must have known the Lord from his father, as he told Potiphar’s wife in v8-9: “Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because you art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
We see that the blessings of the Lord came unto Joseph greatly, prospering all the things he did, and also blessing his master’s house along with it (the Egyptian’s house). Now we ponder… all the good things and blessings we have come from the Lord. And we ought to be thankful for his grace. And to live worthy lives so as not to fail Him.
We also see that troubles are allowed by the Lord. When Joseph was thrown into the prison for nothing wrong he had done or was wrongly accused. Joseph could have thought. “Oh not again! Why am I always the one being thrown into holes or prisons!” However, he did not blame the Lord or lost faith. Even though it was not written how Joseph had reacted, but from my impression at v20, I think that Joseph just accepted it quietly (and he was there in the prison). Did he struggle or vindicate himself? Not that it was written of. Imagine the train of thoughts that Joseph could have. He could have (I’m postulating) reasoned, it is better to be in the prison, than to go back and face Potiphar’s wife. It is better to be in prison than to sin against the Lord. It is better to suffer than to sin in pleasure. He could have argued with Potiphar that this was not the case. However, it could have sowed discord between Potiphar and his wife. Thus, he just accepted his fate. He did what had pleased the Lord and did not sin to satisfy his pleasure, to make use of Potiphar’s wife for benefits, did not have greed over the success he had in Potiphar’s house.
And now we see the grace of the Lord again in Joseph’s life in v21 “But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper in the prison.” (KJV). And the Lord continued to bless Joseph there in the prison, prospering all that he did.
If only we can also abide in the Lord everyday of our lives, choosing what pleases Him, and forsaking, fleeing from what sinful pleasures may bring. May we choose the road of suffering, than to choose the road that is sinful but pleasurable. We will find grace, blessing and providence along this road of suffering in which we aren’t alone.
From Matthew Henry’s commentary, I find the below points good reminders:
– A right sense of God’s love to us, will make us not ashamed, either of our hope, or of our sufferings for him.
– Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us.
– The carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself.
– But God designed to deliver from sin, and to work a great change.
-And that for such as these Christ should die, is a mystery; no other such an instance of love is known, so that it may well be the employment of eternity to adore and wonder at it.
– The evil, from which the deliverance could be effected only in this astonishing manner, must be more dreadful than natural death. There is no evil, to which the argument can be applied, except that which the apostle actually affirms, sin, and wrath, the punishment of sin, determined by the unerring justice of God.
-And if, by Divine grace, they were thus brought to repent, and to believe in Christ, and thus were justified by the price of his blood shedding, and by faith in that atonement, much more through Him who died for them and rose again, would they be kept from falling under the power of sin and Satan, or departing finally from him.
-…believers not only rejoiced in the hope of heave, and even in their tribulations for Christ’s sake, but they gloried in God also, as their unchangeable Friend and all-sufficient Portion, through Christ only.
My thoughts: God’s love has provided for us a solution for our sins. Through his son Jesus Christ, that we may be counted as righteous ones. We owe God our lives, our souls and all that we have. As we have been showed grace not to go into eternal damnation by believing in His son Jesus Christ. Our peace with God, our fellowship with Him, our abiding walk in Him, may be the most precious asset we have. Worldly wealth and worldly glories hold nothing in comparison to the work of salvation in which is the greatest blessing we can have and put our hope in. By knowing God’s grace and love, it is only our duties to submit our lives to Him and to obey Him in all parts of our lives, crowning Him as the Lord of our hearts and lives. Although we may be weak at times and fall into the folly of our own sinful nature, we should always remember God to be able to save us from it all to the uttermost if we commit ourselves to Him again. May the name of our Lord be magnified and glorified in all the believers’ lives. May we stand in our faith to live lives worthy of His calling. May the fellowship of believers continue to light the spark of the Gospel to those who have yet received his Grace.
*Reflections from the book “Abiding in Christ” by Andrew Murray*
Matthew 11:28 (KJV)-28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
John 15: 4 (KJV)- 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
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If we abide in worries, we abide not in Christ. If we abide in Christ, we can then enjoy the abundant blessings that in the midst of our suffering, we can have His peace, His joy and comfort for us.
He is the King of our lives and our Saviour. It is easy to forget that we have such a mighty and loving eternal Father of mercies in Heaven who have made an end to our sins. Our lives are meant to be an expression of our thanks to Him and out of our love for Him. The King who deserves our praise and the true love of our hearts, should sit on the throne of our hearts daily and guide our lives.
It is so easy to forget to consult the Lord many a times, as we rely on our own wisdom. Have I felt too powerful or too great to rely on God? Even the power of technology, of success, can sometimes blind us to our fallible and helpless estate, that we can really do nothing and can bear no fruits if we do not abide in Him.
It takes encouragement, perseverance and more love for the Lord to abide in Him. With the help of the Holy spirit.
Quiet time with the Lord is so important in the midst of our busy lives. Even in the entertainment filled society, let’s not forget to spend more quality quiet time with the Lord in communion.
For without Him, we cannot bear fruits.
It is so important to abide in Christ.
Galatians 6:9 (KJV)-9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Without Him, how can we be used for His purposes, pray for others, fight the spiritual battles, triumph over sins, sharing the gospel to others? We can never do all these on our own strength. We have to abide in Him.
This book helped me to realize the great importance of abiding in Christ.
Let us encourage each other to do more so.
Nehemiah 8:9-12 (KJV)
And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. 12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
When the people heard the words from the Lord, they wept… Because they heard about how they had offended the Lord and did wrong in His sight as their forefathers had, and also of the promises and love and grace of the Lord. They were then commanded not to weep. The understanding of the Lord’s words will bring comfort and joy as His words are true and His love everlasting and forever faithful. Praise our everlasting Father He has given us his precious bible to triumph against the sorrows in life and teaches us not to wallow in sadness. We are to go our way, eat well and drink well, and give to those who have none….. We can comfort those who are hurting as we have been comforted by God. For our strength lies in the joy of the Lord. No earthly misery can outweigh the eternal goodness and blessings of the Lord. With that strength to go our way in the narrow road of Christ, we will then be able to fight victorious battles for the King who is worthy of all our hearts and lives.
Notes from Genesis 18:23-32.
Abraham tried to bargain with the Lord to spare Sodom’s destruction, if there can be 50, or 45, or 30, or 20, or 10 righteous people inside the city. The Lord said He will not destroy Sodom if there are as little as 10 righteous people inside it. However we know that Sodom is eventually destroyed, which showed that there are definitely lesser than 10 righteous inside the city.
Abraham is indeed a great role model to us in terms of how he had a heart of compassion for the lost. He was not self-righteous and did not rejoice in the destruction of Sodom. He pleaded for them, he had a heart for the lost. He did not say “Ah Ha! Your day of destruction has come, you evil doers! Go to hell with you all!”.He was hoping that they would have a chance to repent and not to be destroyed.
He entertained strangers who passed by his house in the heat of the day. Though he could have pretended he was sleeping, but he showed them great hospitality.
Reflecting on myself. On the recent case of the false preacher who fleeced the masses, I was so hoping his sentence would be pronounced and he will get his desserts. However, I should learn from Abraham and view this incident with a heart of compassion for the false preacher. Hospitality and service attitude of that of Abraham’s cheerfulness and willingness has also shown that he places the strangers’ interests above his own. He found joy in serving the strangers, and did not know he had entertained angels.
This reading of Abraham’s life has refreshed my view of him not only as a patriarch, but also as a great example for the believers.
Genesis 17 thoughts.
It is worthy to note that Abraham did not question God why God asked Abraham to follow a covenant of circumcision. I mean if it was me I would be stupid enough to ask why and whether it can be something else instead of cutting the foreskin, like why out of all the body parts? Thankfully Abraham did not question God but obeyed his command at the very old age of 99. Imagine the pain then he had to suffer. But he was obedient to God and believed Him. He and his whole household of males on that day and His son Ishmael at 13 years old were circumcised. What a faithful servant of the Lord.
Now God told the Gentiles through through the apostles and elders in Acts 15 that instead of circumcision, they should:
Acts 15:29(KJV)
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Sounds simple enough? But it requires obedience to follow through when things unexpectedly happen and you are not prepared.
Let us follow the example of Abraham in obeying God as we received the inward circumcision of our hearts by the seal of the Holy Spirit.
It does not matter which one is easier, but I believe God wants our hearts to be truly trusting in Him and walking right before Him.
Thank the Lord for giving us a standard for living. We are not like the animals in this way.
Matthew 15 mentioned about the woman of Canaan who asked Jesus to save her daughter who was vexed with a devil. Initially Jesus did not answer her but with her persistence, and asking for his grace again and again, he commended her for her great faith.
Matthew 15:23-28(KJV)
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters ‘table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Faith is depending on the grace of God for the needs.. Faith can be great or small.. Depending if u are relying on God’s grace or not..despite uncertain and discouraging circumstances, u choose to continue to seek the Lord’s help and guidance.
It is a contrast compared to the false teachers today who claimed that your faith is related to how big ur offering is to God (in terms of money). These false teachers are trying to tell ppl that by Ye greater amount of money they offered to their Church, the greater will their faith be and the blessings from the Lord will be given them ( such as promotions etc from testimonies). What a big shame to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who have come freely for us and did not state all these prerequisites. If so, it will not be grace at all! It will be a transaction, no difference to any lottery or gambling game. Really shame on those false teachers who teach the wrong things to their mega churches. They have missed out so much, worse yet cause ppl to go into financial trouble. May God deal with their actions and hold them accountable. It makes me so angry everytime when I get to hear about them.
I need to realise also in Matthew 15 it said that it is out of the mouth from the heart which defiles a person ( by the sinful thoughts). My anger has to be toned down. And really read more bible and pray..
Matthew 8:2-3(KJV)
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Notice the attitude of the leper who came to Jesus. It was a humble request and not a demand.
How many times have we prayed to God expecting it to be answered according to our demands? Instead of seeing God as the one above sometimes we may forget and see him as a request book..
Let us remind ourselves of our helpless estate and that it is God and Jesus who is our God who gives grace to us. We have no right to demand for anything in the first place but He is gracious even more.
And as we pray, let us keep in mind Jesus’ teaching of how we should pray.. And tell God may Thy will be done not our will..
For the Lord God Almighty reigneth even in this dark and liberal society. May we be instruments of his grace upon others as well…
...attest to His good, pleasing and perfect will 