January 20, 2013 - Genesis 45:16 - 47:28
"Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving, he said to them, 'Don't quarrel on the way!'"Genesis 45:24
Why did he say this? They must have been a quarrelsome bunch!
Hey! Listen up, everybody! Why can't we stop fighting and be supportive of our brothers and sisters! In Christ and also our blood families. Why do we pick fights? Why do we poke fun at each other? It's hurtful and abusive. (I'm talking to myself. I used to be the queen of sarcasm and hurtful jesting. I have changed a lot, but I still need to change some more.) Why do we feel so intensely annoyed with those we love intensely? Why do we chuckle, roll our eyes, criticize those we love the most! We need to replace the degrading humor and negative remarks with kind, supportive words of affirmation. What if we all agreed to just stop? Let's redirect our jokes and annoyance to the devil instead of each other. The biggest joke is on him anyway. If we want to cut on someone, let it be him! Laugh at the devil! He's the one who tries to tear families and churches apart. Next time you feel annoyed or irritation toward someone you love, just laugh and say,"Oh no you don't, devil! You're the bad guy here not my loved one. You're not about to cause division in my family!" Then say, "Just remember Revelation 20:10, devil, just remember Revelation 20:10!!!"
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelation 20:10 KJV
Now THAT'S very funny.
On the other hand, do YOU feel despised and rejected? Looked down on, made fun of? Joseph's family were shepherds and detestable to the Egyptians.
"Joseph then spoke to his brothers and his father’s family. “I’ll go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, all of whom lived in Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they’ve always made their living by raising livestock. And they’ve brought their flocks and herds with them, along with everything else they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks what kind of work you do, tell him, ‘Your servants have always kept livestock for as long as we can remember—we and our parents also.’ That way he’ll let you stay apart in the area of Goshen—for Egyptians look down on anyone who is a shepherd.” Genesis 46:31-34 MSG
And yet, they were God's favorites. God prospered them!
"And so Israel settled down in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property and flourished. They became a large company of people..."
Genesis 47:27 AMP
I can think of others in the Bible who were despised by man and favored by God.
"When the seventh day came, they got up early and marched around the city this same way but seven times—yes, this day they circled the city seven times. On the seventh time around the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua signaled the people, “Shout!—God has given you the city! The city and everything in it is under a holy curse and offered up to God.
“Except for Rahab the harlot—she is to live, she and everyone in her house with her, because she hid the agents we sent. But Joshua let Rahab the harlot live—Rahab and her father’s household and everyone connected to her. She is still alive and well in Israel because she hid the agents whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho." Joshua 6:15-17,25 MSG
"And in [the course of] His teaching, He said, Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and [to get] greetings in the marketplaces [public forums], And [have] the front seats in the synagogues and the [a]chief couches (places of honor) at feasts, Who devour widows’ houses and to cover it up make long prayers. They will receive the heavier [sentence of] condemnation. And He sat down opposite the treasury and saw how the crowd was casting money into the treasury. Many rich [people] were throwing in large sums. And a widow who was poverty-stricken came and put in two copper mites [the smallest of coins], which together make half of a cent. And He called His disciples [to Him] and said to them, Truly and surely I tell you, this widow, [she who is] poverty-stricken, has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury. For they all threw in out of their abundance; but she, out of her deep poverty, has put in everything that she had—[even] all she had on which to live." Mark 12:38-44 AMP
"External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world." James 1:27 AMP
Jesus Christ was despised.
"He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him." Isaiah 53:3 AMP
Take heart! Encourage yourself. It's okay if people look down on you and reject you. It hurts, but you are in good company. And God has his eye on you! God is for you and that's all you need to know.
"Dear God, I feel looked down on and rejected by most people. You were despised and rejected, so I know You can relate to my pain. I give you my pain. I lay it at the foot of your Cross. Cover my pain in Your precious blood. Free me from the hurt and make me feel joy and gladness. Because I know You are for me. I ask this in Your precious name, the name of Jesus. To you be all the praise, honor, and glory. Amen.
Why did he say this? They must have been a quarrelsome bunch!
Hey! Listen up, everybody! Why can't we stop fighting and be supportive of our brothers and sisters! In Christ and also our blood families. Why do we pick fights? Why do we poke fun at each other? It's hurtful and abusive. (I'm talking to myself. I used to be the queen of sarcasm and hurtful jesting. I have changed a lot, but I still need to change some more.) Why do we feel so intensely annoyed with those we love intensely? Why do we chuckle, roll our eyes, criticize those we love the most! We need to replace the degrading humor and negative remarks with kind, supportive words of affirmation. What if we all agreed to just stop? Let's redirect our jokes and annoyance to the devil instead of each other. The biggest joke is on him anyway. If we want to cut on someone, let it be him! Laugh at the devil! He's the one who tries to tear families and churches apart. Next time you feel annoyed or irritation toward someone you love, just laugh and say,"Oh no you don't, devil! You're the bad guy here not my loved one. You're not about to cause division in my family!" Then say, "Just remember Revelation 20:10, devil, just remember Revelation 20:10!!!"
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelation 20:10 KJV
Now THAT'S very funny.
On the other hand, do YOU feel despised and rejected? Looked down on, made fun of? Joseph's family were shepherds and detestable to the Egyptians.
"Joseph then spoke to his brothers and his father’s family. “I’ll go and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, all of whom lived in Canaan, have come to me. The men are shepherds; they’ve always made their living by raising livestock. And they’ve brought their flocks and herds with them, along with everything else they own.’ When Pharaoh calls you in and asks what kind of work you do, tell him, ‘Your servants have always kept livestock for as long as we can remember—we and our parents also.’ That way he’ll let you stay apart in the area of Goshen—for Egyptians look down on anyone who is a shepherd.” Genesis 46:31-34 MSG
And yet, they were God's favorites. God prospered them!
"And so Israel settled down in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property and flourished. They became a large company of people..."
Genesis 47:27 AMP
I can think of others in the Bible who were despised by man and favored by God.
"Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the city’s gate; and they said to one another, Why do we sit here until we die? If we say, We will enter the city—then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the army of the Syrians. If they spare us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. So they arose in the twilight and went to the Syrian camp. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no man was there. For the Lord had made the Syrian army hear a noise of chariots and horses, the noise of a great army. They had said to one another, The king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to come upon us. So the Syrians arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents, horses, donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them [in the darkness]. Then they entered another tent and carried from there also and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, We are not doing right. This is a day of [glad] good news and we are silent and do not speak up! If we wait until daylight, some punishment will come upon us [for not reporting at once]. So now come, let us go and tell the king’s household." II Kings 7: 3-9 AMP
“Except for Rahab the harlot—she is to live, she and everyone in her house with her, because she hid the agents we sent. But Joshua let Rahab the harlot live—Rahab and her father’s household and everyone connected to her. She is still alive and well in Israel because she hid the agents whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho." Joshua 6:15-17,25 MSG
"And in [the course of] His teaching, He said, Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and [to get] greetings in the marketplaces [public forums], And [have] the front seats in the synagogues and the [a]chief couches (places of honor) at feasts, Who devour widows’ houses and to cover it up make long prayers. They will receive the heavier [sentence of] condemnation. And He sat down opposite the treasury and saw how the crowd was casting money into the treasury. Many rich [people] were throwing in large sums. And a widow who was poverty-stricken came and put in two copper mites [the smallest of coins], which together make half of a cent. And He called His disciples [to Him] and said to them, Truly and surely I tell you, this widow, [she who is] poverty-stricken, has put in more than all those contributing to the treasury. For they all threw in out of their abundance; but she, out of her deep poverty, has put in everything that she had—[even] all she had on which to live." Mark 12:38-44 AMP
"External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world." James 1:27 AMP
Jesus Christ was despised.
"He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him." Isaiah 53:3 AMP
Take heart! Encourage yourself. It's okay if people look down on you and reject you. It hurts, but you are in good company. And God has his eye on you! God is for you and that's all you need to know.
"Dear God, I feel looked down on and rejected by most people. You were despised and rejected, so I know You can relate to my pain. I give you my pain. I lay it at the foot of your Cross. Cover my pain in Your precious blood. Free me from the hurt and make me feel joy and gladness. Because I know You are for me. I ask this in Your precious name, the name of Jesus. To you be all the praise, honor, and glory. Amen.
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