Who do you Glorify?

Who do you give the glory to? On reading Genesis 40 today that was the question that came to mind. This is once again a famous story of Joseph in prison. He interprets some dreams that some other inmates have and the interpretations come true.

The reason I start today with a question is because of verse 8, "We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams." In this one verse Joseph is telling them who he serves and who will interpret their dreams.
Joseph knew that he could do it, he knew that as soon as they told him what the dreams were God would tell him what they meant. However, he gave God the glory before he even did it. He told them that it is God and God alone that can tell the meaning of dreams.

How often do we give God the glory for the things He does through us? How often do we give God the glory before we've even done a thing? When we do something good do we say...Well I worked really hard and it paid off or it was all my own idea!

When we do things for God, we need to give Him the glory. When we do anything we should give God the glory. It's not about what we can or cannot do, it's about our Father in Heaven who works through us for the glory of His Kingdom!
I know that most of the time I will say it's not me it's God, but I also know there are times when I take the credit and the credit is all His! Without God we are nothing, so let's make sure today that we give Him the glory for what we do.

Be a blessing!

So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food that he ate.
This short passage comes from Genesis 39. Joseph is a servant in the house of an Egyptian official called Potiphar. In this verse we see that Joseph is put in charge of everything that Potiphar owns. Potiphar trusts Joseph completely and worries for nothing except his food. What a great trust to put on someone else. Why did Potiphar trust this Israelite slave so much? What made Joseph stand out from the rest of his servants? What made Joseph different?
The answer is simple - God. Joseph was blessed by God in everything he did, from the small things to the large things. Joseph trusted and loved God in such a way that God poured out blessings on Potiphar because Joseph worked in his household.
Are we the same in our place of work? Are we the same in the school yard? Are we the same when we go shopping? It says in this chapter, when his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant.
Joseph got a promotion because of the favour of God. I'm not saying that when we are close to God everything will be all rosy - but what I am saying is that we are blessed to be a blessing. Let's remember that today. Wherever we go or whoever we meet - we are blessed to be a blessing. We are privileged! We are saved! We know the truth! We know the creator of the universe! Let's show others how privileged we are and share the blessing that we have.

Dare to be different!

Genesis 37 is probably one of the most famous passages in the Old Testament. It recalls the story of Joseph telling his brothers about some dreams that he's had. His brothers are not too keen on Joseph and so he ends up being sold as a slave to some Ishmaelites.
The story of Joseph's life is so famous that there is even a musical about it. But sometimes we can be so familiar with something that it looses its meaning.
Yes Joseph was a show off, yes he was probably really annoying - but- he was God's chosen. God saw something in Joseph that his family didn't see. He was different - which was something his brothers could see, but they didn't like it.
Sometimes people don't like what they see in us. It's not because we are weird or different, its because we make them feel uneasy. We should be in the world not of the world and so we are meant to be different.
This doesn't mean that we should stand out like a sore thumb, or annoy people so much that they don't want to be in the same room as us. But it does mean that they should see something different about us.
Do we stand out in the crowd? Do we act differently to others? Do we show others that we have something special?
We don't want to be thrown into a pit for being annoying, but we should show others that we are different because we have a Saviour who wants to be their Saviour too!

Number 1

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone"

This passage of scripture is found in Genesis 35. Jacob has returned to the land his family is from and has now gone to Bethel where God appeared to him previously.

It amazed me to think that Jacob's household had foreign gods to get rid of. I have read this passage before and not really taken any notice of this, but you would've thought that a home that served and worshipped God wouldn't have any idols to get rid of. 

This got me thinking about our worship. Do we come before the Lord purified? Do we enter His presence knowing that we serve another god? I don't mean that we have a house full of statues that we bow down to in secret, but I do mean that the things that consume our lives can so often get in the way of our worship to God. 

Our God is an awesome god. He is the creator of the universe. He is also a jealous god and so therefore we should serve Him and Him alone. When we come before Him, whether in church, prayer or in service, we need to make sure that He is the only god in our lives. We need to get rid of all the stuff that might take us into idolatry. This could be anything from family, finance, work, shopping, television, reading whatever our lives revolve around if we put God in second or third place then we are worshipping other things.

Let's purify ourselves today and get rid of the idols in our lives. Let's make God number 1

Humble Pie!

In Chapters 31 & 32 of Genesis, Jacob returns to his homeland with his family and his possessions. He is worried about meeting Esau as the last time they met, things were not rosy between them. In fact the last time they saw one another it was just after Jacob had stolen his brother's birth right and legged it to his uncle's house.
God had made promises to Jacob, God had blessed Jacob, however Jacob was still worried about Esau. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of him again, and so he sent gifts to him. He wanted to appease his brother; in fact he bows down before his brother and humbles himself.
How often do we do something that seems a good idea when we are doing it, but then when we have to face up to the consequences it doesn't seem so great?
Sometimes we need to humble ourselves and just admit we got it wrong, or even just let matters go so that we can get on with the job at hand. I know from personal experience that I often get things wrong. Then I have to get to that place where I can admit my mistake and move out of it. Humbling ourselves before others is not easy, humbling ourselves before God isn't always easy either. We need to make sure that we are humble enough to know when we are wrong so that we can grow in the way that God wants us to.

God's way not man's way!

In Genesis 31 we find Jacob running away from Laban with his wives, his children and his flocks in tow. He has decided that its time to go back home to his family. He has worked for Laban for 20 years and feels that Laban hasn't paid him right. Laban hasn't behaved towards Jacob in an honouring way, but God sees the work of Jacobs hands and blesses him with more than he could imagine.
How often do we feel put upon? How often do we feel that the person or people we work for don't recognise the job we are doing? How often do we feel like saying, "I've had enough, I'm off!" I'm sure that we can all say that at some point in our working lives - I know that I have.
Like I said yesterday, we should have such a good work ethic no matter how we are treated by those we work for. Jesus is glorified through our actions. The good news is this - when we do God's will, he will bless us. 
Why do we constantly look for man's approval when God looks at us and says - Great job!Why do we worry about what people think? We should only worry about what the Master thinks. Let's not look for the approval of others, let's not worry about the way people see us, let's just make sure that whatever we do is done to point to heaven. 

Workers or Shirkers?

But Laban said to him, "If I have found favour in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you." He added, "Name your wages, and I will pay them."
This passage is found in Genesis 30. Jacob has been working for his uncle for a long time and he wants to take his family and make a home for himself. Jacob has worked hard and Laban doesn't want him to go. Laban has also noticed that since Jacob has worked for him, he too has been blessed by God.
When we work for God others notice. They see a difference in us. We should be the kind of people that work hard even if our work benefits others instead of ourselves. I'm not saying that we should be putting work first, but I am saying that we as Christians should have such a good work ethic that it shows others who we are in Christ.
Are we workers or are we shirkers? How are we going to show Christ in our workplace today? We are blessed to be a blessing, so let's share our blessing with the work of our hands today.

God does Exist!

I saw this on Facebook and decided to post this as my blog today instead of my thoughts on Genesis. 
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don't believe that God exists."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.
The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
"No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside."
"Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me."
"Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

Be Blessed!

I haven't written my blog for a few days now, its amazing how when you are busy its so easy to get out of the habit of doing something - even something that you enjoy! 
Anyway, back to Genesis. In chapter 29 we find Isaac blessing Jacob and sending him to find a wife. This got me thinking - how often do we bless others? How often do we send our children out with a blessing?
We are blessed to be a blessing, so why not share it? We need to be a blessing to others, and they need to be a blessing to those they meet. I'm not going to go on and on about this today, I just want to think about how much of a blessing am I? Do I show others the love of Jesus in everything I say and do? Probably not! Well if not why not? I need in fact we all need to look to Him and make sure that everything we do blesses and shows the love of Jesus to the world outside. We can't stay in our holy huddles and expect to make a difference in the world - we need to get out and share the blessings that we have with everyone else - and that means we leave the building!