Pastor's Blog (Page 17)

Cultivate the habit of considering what has been given rather than what has been withheld…. We can promote a cheerful heart by dwelling on the bright things of our lot, by counting up the mercies which are left, rather than dwelling on what we have lost. To trust when the light has burned to its socket in the house of life, and the heart is as lonely as Job’s…

Have you ever wondered why God determined that our Savior should descend from Judah rather than from Joseph? Consider how brilliantly Joseph’s star shines, no matter how bitterly the archers attacked him and shot at him and harassed him (Gen. 49:23). Time and again he responded with grace. In spite of mistreatment and injustice, he never returned evil for evil or sought…

“Do this and you will live, for I fear God.” Joseph had imprisoned his 10 brothers, accusing them of being spies. To prove they weren’t, one brother was to fetch Benjamin from their father, while the other brothers remained confined. But after 3 days in prison he came to them and said, “Look, I understand your families are back in Canaan starving from the famine.…

Is it just me or do these statements about Joseph strongly parallel and foreshadow Him who was to come? Is Joseph a symbol of Someone future and distant? Is he an example prepared and evidently designed by God to prefigure our Lord? Did God place in Joseph an anticipation of Christ? Whether or not Joseph fits the precise definition of a type of Christ, I am stirred the…

They say real men don’t cry. But I don’t think I’ve ever met a more real man than Joseph, who was certainly not ashamed to weep: Was he just an emotional wreck of a man? Or do we insufficiently comprehend the crushing weight of his brothers’ betrayal? the sheer terror of having been trafficked into slavery? the monumental grief and sadness of “losing” his father? To say…

When my ship comes in… Last Sunday we explored the lives of two biblical heroes whose ship had most certainly come in: Mary, mother of Jesus, and Joseph, son of Jacob—two model young people who were suddenly thrust into greatness. Their stellar character and integrity had been noted by God and He was pleased to favor them with choice roles in His story. And there are many…