Tuesday, Ordinary 20/Proper 15-- Aug 19
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Meditation
Tuesday, Ordinary 20, Proper 15, recalled two clichés: “worst fears coming true” and “you can’t slide in on your parent’s coattails.” The Psalmist established that when things went wrong, a believer could pray to God and the Lord was faithful in answering and saving. The Old Testament lesson in Genesis relayed Joseph’s trickery on his brothers.
The first time the brothers showed, Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him. He challenged them that they were spies and asked about any other brothers. They confessed that Benjamin, the youngest, was with the aging father. Joseph, hungry to see his kid brother, insisted they bring Benjamin back or he would not provide food. He compounded things by adding their payment in their bags of grains, which they discovered on their return to Canaan.
Jacob didn’t want to let Benjamin go because of the risk of the loss of his life, like he believed had happened to Joseph. Judah stepped up and offered his guarantee that Benjamin’s life would be on his head, so that Jacob would send Benjamin with them. They came with Benjamin and Joseph was overcome with emotion.
The brothers have still not recognized Joseph in his Egyptian garb and makeup. In this lesson, Joseph ordered his servants to give his brothers as much grain as they could carry. He added that his special silver chalice should be added to Benjamin’s sack. Then, after they set off, he sent a servant to ‘find’ it and accuse Benjamin of stealing it.
The brothers denied the theft and to prove it, opened their sacks, where it was found in Benjamin’s sack. He was declared to be a slave as a result.
The brothers returned, they bowed to the ground before Joseph (just like his youthful dream had showed) and offered no explanation of how it could of happened. They tried other ways of making amends, but Joseph insisted Benjamin would stay.
Your worst fears realized.
Judah stepped up to explain that all this had happened because they had done wrong in the past and that their elderly father, who doted on the son of his old age, would die if Benjamin did not return with them. He offered himself in exchange as a slave instead of Benjamin. The fear in Judah’s pleas leapt off the page. His nightmares were coming true. His future bleak, he must have felt his heart ache, his stomach roil and his lunch come up in his throat. Tears might have cluttered his eyes, but he gave it his best offering.
The New Testament lesson in Romans carried on the issues of the Jew and non-Jew being part of the family of God. Paul distinctively indicated that just because the Jews were born as chosen people of God, it was possible for their ‘branch’ to be torn off the tree. Similarly, non-Jews grafted on to the tree of God’s family, could also be torn off the tree. You couldn’t get to heaven on your parent’s coattails. Just because your parents were believers (Jew or non-Jew) did not make you automatically a believer.
Everyone comes to the throne of God as an individual. The benefits of being part of the chosen family from the start would be extra opportunities, or extra learning, but it didn’t guarantee rights to the Kingdom.
Just going to temple or church regularly (like the Psalmist declared) didn’t make us part of the family. We each must declare our allegiance. Joseph brought God to the Egyptians (non-Jews); Paul brought God to the Gentiles (non-Jews) and he preached to the Jews first, since he was a scholarly Pharisee.
The trick that Joseph played highlighted the need for pleading for our lives. The Psalmist prayed for God to help him through the rough spots. Paul pleaded for all to put aside arrogance of thinking they had somehow deserved the blessing more than others. We are equally without goodness and we are equally in need of God’s saving grace. Not any one of us can claim to be more entitled. It is all God’s grace who can settle our worst fears and provide the guarantee of salvation. We must approach God humbly as individuals, and not assume because some family connection, we have it made. God’s grace alone is sufficient for salvation.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 20, Proper 15Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 130;Genesis 44:1-34;Romans 11:13-29&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Tuesday, Ordinary 20, Proper 15
Psalm 130
Genesis 44:1-34
Romans 11:13-29
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 133:1
King James Version (KJV)
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Genesis 44:1-34
King James Version (KJV)
44 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.
2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their *kitten*.
4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?
9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.
10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his *kitten*, and returned to the city.
14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.
15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.
26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us.
27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:
28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;
31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we give you thanks and praise for the grace you give us to be your children. We are undeserving, but you loved us anyway and you provided us with a means to be saved. Help us to avoid arrogance and self-aggrandizement. Instead, we humbly ask for your favor that we might show others your love and grace. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Tuesday, Ordinary 20, Proper 15 put the responsibility of faith squarely on the shoulders of every individual. We are not entitled to God’s grace. We must accept the gift of God’s grace. Our position in the family of God is not because of our doing, but it is wholly because of God’s doing.
God offers the gift of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. The Scriptures show how some accept the gift and others reject it.
In front of our house, we have two identical Amber saplings, planted at the same time, watered at the same time, feed nutrients at the same time, pruned at the same time. They are feet apart, receiving the same sunlight every day. One tree is flourishing—the branches spreading out and the trunk reaching upward, the leaves bright green and full. A beautiful tree towers offering shade and perches for birds. The other is barren; there are few leaves and those are mostly shriveled and darkened, the branches are dead and gnarled; it offers no shade and birds don’t gravitate to it.
We don’t know the reason for its difference, but it matched the difference between children of the same family—one accepting God’s gift and the other rejecting it. God provides the same gift for both. God offers the blessing to both. But one receives and integrates it, while the other blocks the blessing and loses the nourishment and favor. We have equal opportunity before the Lord. Let us go out and celebrate it.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Tuesday, Ordinary 20, Proper 15, recalled two clichés: “worst fears coming true” and “you can’t slide in on your parent’s coattails.” The Psalmist established that when things went wrong, a believer could pray to God and the Lord was faithful in answering and saving. The Old Testament lesson in Genesis relayed Joseph’s trickery on his brothers.
The first time the brothers showed, Joseph recognized them, but they didn’t recognize him. He challenged them that they were spies and asked about any other brothers. They confessed that Benjamin, the youngest, was with the aging father. Joseph, hungry to see his kid brother, insisted they bring Benjamin back or he would not provide food. He compounded things by adding their payment in their bags of grains, which they discovered on their return to Canaan.
Jacob didn’t want to let Benjamin go because of the risk of the loss of his life, like he believed had happened to Joseph. Judah stepped up and offered his guarantee that Benjamin’s life would be on his head, so that Jacob would send Benjamin with them. They came with Benjamin and Joseph was overcome with emotion.
The brothers have still not recognized Joseph in his Egyptian garb and makeup. In this lesson, Joseph ordered his servants to give his brothers as much grain as they could carry. He added that his special silver chalice should be added to Benjamin’s sack. Then, after they set off, he sent a servant to ‘find’ it and accuse Benjamin of stealing it.
The brothers denied the theft and to prove it, opened their sacks, where it was found in Benjamin’s sack. He was declared to be a slave as a result.
The brothers returned, they bowed to the ground before Joseph (just like his youthful dream had showed) and offered no explanation of how it could of happened. They tried other ways of making amends, but Joseph insisted Benjamin would stay.
Your worst fears realized.
Judah stepped up to explain that all this had happened because they had done wrong in the past and that their elderly father, who doted on the son of his old age, would die if Benjamin did not return with them. He offered himself in exchange as a slave instead of Benjamin. The fear in Judah’s pleas leapt off the page. His nightmares were coming true. His future bleak, he must have felt his heart ache, his stomach roil and his lunch come up in his throat. Tears might have cluttered his eyes, but he gave it his best offering.
The New Testament lesson in Romans carried on the issues of the Jew and non-Jew being part of the family of God. Paul distinctively indicated that just because the Jews were born as chosen people of God, it was possible for their ‘branch’ to be torn off the tree. Similarly, non-Jews grafted on to the tree of God’s family, could also be torn off the tree. You couldn’t get to heaven on your parent’s coattails. Just because your parents were believers (Jew or non-Jew) did not make you automatically a believer.
Everyone comes to the throne of God as an individual. The benefits of being part of the chosen family from the start would be extra opportunities, or extra learning, but it didn’t guarantee rights to the Kingdom.
Just going to temple or church regularly (like the Psalmist declared) didn’t make us part of the family. We each must declare our allegiance. Joseph brought God to the Egyptians (non-Jews); Paul brought God to the Gentiles (non-Jews) and he preached to the Jews first, since he was a scholarly Pharisee.
The trick that Joseph played highlighted the need for pleading for our lives. The Psalmist prayed for God to help him through the rough spots. Paul pleaded for all to put aside arrogance of thinking they had somehow deserved the blessing more than others. We are equally without goodness and we are equally in need of God’s saving grace. Not any one of us can claim to be more entitled. It is all God’s grace who can settle our worst fears and provide the guarantee of salvation. We must approach God humbly as individuals, and not assume because some family connection, we have it made. God’s grace alone is sufficient for salvation.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 20, Proper 15Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 130;Genesis 44:1-34;Romans 11:13-29&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Tuesday, Ordinary 20, Proper 15
Psalm 130
Genesis 44:1-34
Romans 11:13-29
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 133:1
King James Version (KJV)
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Genesis 44:1-34
King James Version (KJV)
44 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.
2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their *kitten*.
4 And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?
5 Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
6 And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
7 And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:
8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?
9 With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.
10 And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.
11 Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his *kitten*, and returned to the city.
14 And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.
15 And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?
16 And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.
17 And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
18 Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.
19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
20 And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
21 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
22 And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
23 And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.
24 And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
25 And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.
26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us.
27 And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:
28 And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
29 And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
30 Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life;
31 It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
32 For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
33 Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
34 For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we give you thanks and praise for the grace you give us to be your children. We are undeserving, but you loved us anyway and you provided us with a means to be saved. Help us to avoid arrogance and self-aggrandizement. Instead, we humbly ask for your favor that we might show others your love and grace. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Tuesday, Ordinary 20, Proper 15 put the responsibility of faith squarely on the shoulders of every individual. We are not entitled to God’s grace. We must accept the gift of God’s grace. Our position in the family of God is not because of our doing, but it is wholly because of God’s doing.
God offers the gift of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. The Scriptures show how some accept the gift and others reject it.
In front of our house, we have two identical Amber saplings, planted at the same time, watered at the same time, feed nutrients at the same time, pruned at the same time. They are feet apart, receiving the same sunlight every day. One tree is flourishing—the branches spreading out and the trunk reaching upward, the leaves bright green and full. A beautiful tree towers offering shade and perches for birds. The other is barren; there are few leaves and those are mostly shriveled and darkened, the branches are dead and gnarled; it offers no shade and birds don’t gravitate to it.
We don’t know the reason for its difference, but it matched the difference between children of the same family—one accepting God’s gift and the other rejecting it. God provides the same gift for both. God offers the blessing to both. But one receives and integrates it, while the other blocks the blessing and loses the nourishment and favor. We have equal opportunity before the Lord. Let us go out and celebrate it.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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