Mark 13-14
"Stay with it - that's what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry; you'll be saved."
It's the last minute of the second half, someone from the opposite team just took you to the ground, should be a red card, but the ref didn't call it. Your head is pounding, your heart racing, your lips eager to throw out some less than kind words, the score is tied, but it feels more like you have been losing the whole game...you hear your coach "Come on, get up! I believe you! I have trained you for this!"
That's what life is like right now. We are fighting Satan's team, and it feels like we are losing, it feels like Satan is taking a lot of cheap shots and God isn't calling him out on it, it feels like we don't want to fight anymore, and then we hear God's voice, "Child, don't give up, I am here for you, I have made you for this."
It is only when we choose to block out the voice of our coach that we make mistakes. It is only when we choose to hate and give up on our team, our coach, that we lose ourselves.
There are only 2 sides in a game. Each with it's own coach. And you are either with God or against him. So which team are you on? Who's coaching your life?
Psalm 22:1-11
"Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help."
Are you asking God to stay close to you? Are you staying close to Him? Tell him you need Him, call on His power. He's been waiting to hear your voice.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Ditch Doubt
Mark 10-12
"Jesus looked him hard in the eye - and love him! He said, 'There's one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.' The man's face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go."
Mark 11:12-25
Ok so basically this is what happens, Jesus realizes he is hungry and could use a snack, and he is looking around wondering what to eat, and he sees a fig tree! And thinks, man a fig would hit the spot. So he walks over to the tree, only to realize that there were no figs on the fig tree. And he is annoyed, and he curses the fig tree! And the very next day the discples and Jesus walk past the same tree and the disciples are like what! it worked?! The tree had died!! Turned into a shriveled up stick! And Jesus is like hey, thats nothing, if you want to throw a mountain in the sea, all you have to do is ditch your doubt, and command it to happen. Power of prayer, ta da. But he also adds, that prayer is for forgiveness, and we need to remember to forgive others as well as asking for our own forgiveness.
Mark 11:27
This is so great...
"Then when they were back in Jerusalem once again, as they were walking through the Temple, the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders came up and demanded, 'Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to speak and act like this?"
This is straight out of a movie! "Can I see some identification please? Where is your badge? Who do you work for? Who let you in here?"
And then it gets better, Jesus asks them a tricky question. And he says, if you answer me, I will answer you. He asks if John was baptizing with the power of heaven or man? And they knew if they said heaven Jesus would ask why they didn't believe him, and if they said from men, the people would be mad, because they believed John was a prophet. So They don't answer. And Jesus is like well I am not answering your question then, peace.
Mark 12:44
Everyone is putting their money in the offerring plate, some people who are rich are giving lots of money, then a woman comes up and gives only 2 cents. Jesus said to his disciples, "The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss, she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford- she gave her all."
Will God be able to say that about me? Will he be able to say I gave my all to him?
Question: Does this Jesus resemble the Jesus you learned about as a child? Why or why not? Basically in these 2 chapters God tells off a lot of people. Tells of people for making things up, Tells off 2 of his disciples for wanting special places in heaven, Tells them off for selling things in his Temple of prayer, tells off a fig tree for not having figs, tells the priests/religious people off for killing God's son (even though they hadn't done it yet), tells off people for asking him ridiculous questions...but he also teaches us a lot in these 2 chapters. We learn that divorce was not part of Gods plan, we learn what we have to sacrifice to truly follow God, we learn that Jesus will be killed, we learn that Jesus cares enough to heal one blind man, We learn that church is not the place for business, we learn that through prayer we have LOADS of power, we learn that we should pay our taxes, and that marriage won't happen in heaven, we learn that the greatest commandment is love, and we learn that we can give money all we want, but until it hurts, until we are really sacrificing, we aren't giving that much.
Psalm 21
"Show your strength God, so no one can miss it."
"Jesus looked him hard in the eye - and love him! He said, 'There's one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.' The man's face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go."
Mark 11:12-25
Ok so basically this is what happens, Jesus realizes he is hungry and could use a snack, and he is looking around wondering what to eat, and he sees a fig tree! And thinks, man a fig would hit the spot. So he walks over to the tree, only to realize that there were no figs on the fig tree. And he is annoyed, and he curses the fig tree! And the very next day the discples and Jesus walk past the same tree and the disciples are like what! it worked?! The tree had died!! Turned into a shriveled up stick! And Jesus is like hey, thats nothing, if you want to throw a mountain in the sea, all you have to do is ditch your doubt, and command it to happen. Power of prayer, ta da. But he also adds, that prayer is for forgiveness, and we need to remember to forgive others as well as asking for our own forgiveness.
Mark 11:27
This is so great...
"Then when they were back in Jerusalem once again, as they were walking through the Temple, the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders came up and demanded, 'Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to speak and act like this?"
This is straight out of a movie! "Can I see some identification please? Where is your badge? Who do you work for? Who let you in here?"
And then it gets better, Jesus asks them a tricky question. And he says, if you answer me, I will answer you. He asks if John was baptizing with the power of heaven or man? And they knew if they said heaven Jesus would ask why they didn't believe him, and if they said from men, the people would be mad, because they believed John was a prophet. So They don't answer. And Jesus is like well I am not answering your question then, peace.
Mark 12:44
Everyone is putting their money in the offerring plate, some people who are rich are giving lots of money, then a woman comes up and gives only 2 cents. Jesus said to his disciples, "The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss, she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford- she gave her all."
Will God be able to say that about me? Will he be able to say I gave my all to him?
Question: Does this Jesus resemble the Jesus you learned about as a child? Why or why not? Basically in these 2 chapters God tells off a lot of people. Tells of people for making things up, Tells off 2 of his disciples for wanting special places in heaven, Tells them off for selling things in his Temple of prayer, tells off a fig tree for not having figs, tells the priests/religious people off for killing God's son (even though they hadn't done it yet), tells off people for asking him ridiculous questions...but he also teaches us a lot in these 2 chapters. We learn that divorce was not part of Gods plan, we learn what we have to sacrifice to truly follow God, we learn that Jesus will be killed, we learn that Jesus cares enough to heal one blind man, We learn that church is not the place for business, we learn that through prayer we have LOADS of power, we learn that we should pay our taxes, and that marriage won't happen in heaven, we learn that the greatest commandment is love, and we learn that we can give money all we want, but until it hurts, until we are really sacrificing, we aren't giving that much.
Psalm 21
"Show your strength God, so no one can miss it."
Friday, February 5, 2010
911 - I have an emergency
MARK 7-9
"Jesus called the crowd together again and said, 'Listen now, all of you- take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life;it's what you vomit-that's the real pollution."
"He went on: "it's not what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness - all these are vomit from the herat. There is the source of your pollution."
OH SNAP, MARK 8
So I never realized that Jesus mutlipied food for thousands of people twice, I mean everyone knows about the fishes and loaves story, how Jesus fed 5,000 people, but does everyone know he did it again for 4,000 people? And the discples still said to him "what do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?". Like come on guys! You have seen him do this before! But hey, are we any better? We know all the miracles God has done, and yet, we still doubt he will get us breakfast for 4 sometimes, much less 4,000.
Ahhh... and then again, the discples are on the boat, starting stuff with each other because no one remembered to bring bread, and rather than be like Hey, Jesus, um, yeah we really, totally, forgot food, can you help us out? Rather than that, they choose to argue and point fingers, they want someone to blame for their growling stomachs. And we do that, we see God helping other people, and rather than ask for that same help, we choose to argue and point fingers, we want someone to blame for our problems.
Mark 8:33-37
" For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Song: Lose my soul by Toby Mac feat Kirk Franklin
Mark 9:23
"Jesus said, 'If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen"
This verse is so powerful to me. I can hear God telling me this over and over again in life, and I think the reason I have been successful in a lot of ways in life, is that I cling to this. I cling to the truth that with God all things are possible.
"If your hand or your foot gets in God's way, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire."
Well. That's, um, pretty straight forward. Just to clarify, I don't think Jesus was talking about a literal hand or foot, but I am sure it wouldn't change the meaning much if he was. Basically if there is something in my life, like my movies, and all the time I am watching movies and buying movies and thinking about movies, and it is distracting me from God, I should get rid of my movies, because what good are my movies when I am dead?
PSALM 20
"God answer you on the day you crash..."
What a blessing. "May God answer you on the day you crash...". That would be my prayer for all of my friends and family, for everyone in this world. That when you finally hit that wall, when you finally wake up, and realize if you don't call 911, you will die, may you see that 911 has already been dialed for you, a long time ago. That God planned for this crash, that God is ready to take you away from it, to heal you, to get you back on your feet.
"Jesus called the crowd together again and said, 'Listen now, all of you- take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life;it's what you vomit-that's the real pollution."
"He went on: "it's not what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness - all these are vomit from the herat. There is the source of your pollution."
OH SNAP, MARK 8
So I never realized that Jesus mutlipied food for thousands of people twice, I mean everyone knows about the fishes and loaves story, how Jesus fed 5,000 people, but does everyone know he did it again for 4,000 people? And the discples still said to him "what do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?". Like come on guys! You have seen him do this before! But hey, are we any better? We know all the miracles God has done, and yet, we still doubt he will get us breakfast for 4 sometimes, much less 4,000.
Ahhh... and then again, the discples are on the boat, starting stuff with each other because no one remembered to bring bread, and rather than be like Hey, Jesus, um, yeah we really, totally, forgot food, can you help us out? Rather than that, they choose to argue and point fingers, they want someone to blame for their growling stomachs. And we do that, we see God helping other people, and rather than ask for that same help, we choose to argue and point fingers, we want someone to blame for our problems.
Mark 8:33-37
" For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Song: Lose my soul by Toby Mac feat Kirk Franklin
Mark 9:23
"Jesus said, 'If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen"
This verse is so powerful to me. I can hear God telling me this over and over again in life, and I think the reason I have been successful in a lot of ways in life, is that I cling to this. I cling to the truth that with God all things are possible.
"If your hand or your foot gets in God's way, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire."
Well. That's, um, pretty straight forward. Just to clarify, I don't think Jesus was talking about a literal hand or foot, but I am sure it wouldn't change the meaning much if he was. Basically if there is something in my life, like my movies, and all the time I am watching movies and buying movies and thinking about movies, and it is distracting me from God, I should get rid of my movies, because what good are my movies when I am dead?
PSALM 20
"God answer you on the day you crash..."
What a blessing. "May God answer you on the day you crash...". That would be my prayer for all of my friends and family, for everyone in this world. That when you finally hit that wall, when you finally wake up, and realize if you don't call 911, you will die, may you see that 911 has already been dialed for you, a long time ago. That God planned for this crash, that God is ready to take you away from it, to heal you, to get you back on your feet.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Talith Koum
Mark 4-6
" He was never without a story when he spoke..."
"Talith Koum, little girl, get up"
"(Speaking to the disciples before sending them out on their own to preach and heal) Don't think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No appeals for special funds, keep it simple....If you're not welcomed, not listend to, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way."
"But he (Jesus) answered, 'You give them something to eat'"
"...He climbed a mountain to pray"
I love reading the stories of Jesus. I love to think of what it must have been like to witness His miracles. And I wonder, what can I learn from our Jesus. Stories, everyone loves a story, He used stories to reach people, we should use stories to reach people. I can learn to use Powerful, yet gentle words. Jesus, the perfection of powerful and gentle. "Lion and Lamb"... To remember how to use the Lord's power, but also, how to use his love...To remember that God can use whatever we have, whatever we are willing to dedicate to Him... To remember not to take things personally, not to let ourselves by road blocked by something so-and-so said ...To have faith that with God, we can "feed" everyone, even if we are feeling like we are running low on "food"... Why climb a mountain? Couldn't Jesus pray at the bottom of the mountain? Or is it that nature, that distant places, are sometimes important for our spiritual lives? Do we sometimes need to get away, leave the world, climb a mountain, and go to a place where it is just God and us?
Psalm 19
NIV: "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
The MSG: " God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon"
Think about how it makes you feel to watch a sunrise, a sunset? How does it make you feel to look at the stars, or to look at the shapes in the clouds? Isn't a moment of peace? Or sometimes a moment of despair, when looking upward is all we can do to make ourselves feel there is hope? To remind ourselves that there must be something bigger than us out there? Why do we love all these things going on up above is? Is it because, deep inside us, we know, we know that we belong up there? We know that God is there? God is everywhere, but the sky is something so un-touchable, somethiing we can only see, but not touch. But we can still feel it's power, we can still be in awe. We can still, whether we know it or not, see God.
" He was never without a story when he spoke..."
"Talith Koum, little girl, get up"
"(Speaking to the disciples before sending them out on their own to preach and heal) Don't think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No appeals for special funds, keep it simple....If you're not welcomed, not listend to, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way."
"But he (Jesus) answered, 'You give them something to eat'"
"...He climbed a mountain to pray"
I love reading the stories of Jesus. I love to think of what it must have been like to witness His miracles. And I wonder, what can I learn from our Jesus. Stories, everyone loves a story, He used stories to reach people, we should use stories to reach people. I can learn to use Powerful, yet gentle words. Jesus, the perfection of powerful and gentle. "Lion and Lamb"... To remember how to use the Lord's power, but also, how to use his love...To remember that God can use whatever we have, whatever we are willing to dedicate to Him... To remember not to take things personally, not to let ourselves by road blocked by something so-and-so said ...To have faith that with God, we can "feed" everyone, even if we are feeling like we are running low on "food"... Why climb a mountain? Couldn't Jesus pray at the bottom of the mountain? Or is it that nature, that distant places, are sometimes important for our spiritual lives? Do we sometimes need to get away, leave the world, climb a mountain, and go to a place where it is just God and us?
Psalm 19
NIV: "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
The MSG: " God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon"
Think about how it makes you feel to watch a sunrise, a sunset? How does it make you feel to look at the stars, or to look at the shapes in the clouds? Isn't a moment of peace? Or sometimes a moment of despair, when looking upward is all we can do to make ourselves feel there is hope? To remind ourselves that there must be something bigger than us out there? Why do we love all these things going on up above is? Is it because, deep inside us, we know, we know that we belong up there? We know that God is there? God is everywhere, but the sky is something so un-touchable, somethiing we can only see, but not touch. But we can still feel it's power, we can still be in awe. We can still, whether we know it or not, see God.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Can our God tell people to shut up?
Day 21 was a day of reflection...SO...onto day 22 :).
Mark 1-3
Question: What surprised you in this passage? Why? I think sometimes we get this image of God stuck in our heads, an image of a quiet, slow to speak God. A God who doesn't want to hurt out feelings, and breaks it to us sugar coated. A God who doesn't know how to raise his voice, gentle. A God who has good etiquette. But if you read the first 3 chapters of Mark, you will be surprised. "Jesus, overhearing, shot back, 'Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually fit.'" He shot back?! He asked them a question with an obvious answer, sarcasm almost... and I love this about Jesus. I would much rather have a Jesus who is gentle, yet rough. A Jesus who is quiet, yet louder than I will ever be. A Jesus who obeys the rules of God, but not the rules of man.
Psalm 18:25-50
"This God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back." Does this sentence stir up any memories in you? How about desires? Memories: Fall. 2008. I was attending PUC. I was only there for a couple months, when I realized I wasn't ready for college. I had a desire to do "more" with my life. I wanted to be a student missionary. I wanted to do something for God, and for His people. I talked to the PUC missions people, and they told me it would easily be another year before I could go...that I should stay in school this year and we would begin to work on it and blah blah blah. I wasn't having it. So I finished the fall quarter, and went home, everyone told me to stay in college, told me that if I left I would never go back, told me this was a good idea, but to wait another year or so. There were people who I disappointed by leaving. I immediately began searching for mission jobs on the Adventist Volunteers website. There were plenty of your typical mission jobs in places like Nicarauga and Africa...but then I saw a job in England, and I was like, well that would be cool. I looked at the description, and loved it right away, I applied. It took a few months just to compelte the application process! It was so long and a lot of work and organization. I was feeling discouraged, and overwhelmed. But finally my application was processed and sent to the Church looking for a Youth Worker in England. The division in America that was sending me, advised me on a few things, I still remember the conversation I had with one of their employees. He asked me if I had ever been interested in going to one of the islands for a mission trip, that lots of college students go to these certain islands, and maybe I should think about it. I explained that no, I had applied for the job I felt God was calling me for. He said, well it is very likely that you won't get that job, there are a few people applying, and you should think about your other options. I was quite hurt, and annoyed, and responded with a no thank you I know what I want, and if it doesn't work out, I will consider your suggestion, thank and have a great day kind sir. UGH. And I wanted to hit someone. Everyone was telling me I couldn't do this, I shouldn't do this, and I just wanted to ask them if God told them that, and if he didn't, then to shut up. God didn't tell anyone to shut up, as far as I know. But when I got the job, and I left for England in July of 2009, 6 months after applying, everyone did shut up. God had a plan for me, and I knew it. "God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back"
It sounds almost against our image of God to say he shut someone up, but maybe it's not.
Mark 1-3
Question: What surprised you in this passage? Why? I think sometimes we get this image of God stuck in our heads, an image of a quiet, slow to speak God. A God who doesn't want to hurt out feelings, and breaks it to us sugar coated. A God who doesn't know how to raise his voice, gentle. A God who has good etiquette. But if you read the first 3 chapters of Mark, you will be surprised. "Jesus, overhearing, shot back, 'Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually fit.'" He shot back?! He asked them a question with an obvious answer, sarcasm almost... and I love this about Jesus. I would much rather have a Jesus who is gentle, yet rough. A Jesus who is quiet, yet louder than I will ever be. A Jesus who obeys the rules of God, but not the rules of man.
Psalm 18:25-50
"This God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back." Does this sentence stir up any memories in you? How about desires? Memories: Fall. 2008. I was attending PUC. I was only there for a couple months, when I realized I wasn't ready for college. I had a desire to do "more" with my life. I wanted to be a student missionary. I wanted to do something for God, and for His people. I talked to the PUC missions people, and they told me it would easily be another year before I could go...that I should stay in school this year and we would begin to work on it and blah blah blah. I wasn't having it. So I finished the fall quarter, and went home, everyone told me to stay in college, told me that if I left I would never go back, told me this was a good idea, but to wait another year or so. There were people who I disappointed by leaving. I immediately began searching for mission jobs on the Adventist Volunteers website. There were plenty of your typical mission jobs in places like Nicarauga and Africa...but then I saw a job in England, and I was like, well that would be cool. I looked at the description, and loved it right away, I applied. It took a few months just to compelte the application process! It was so long and a lot of work and organization. I was feeling discouraged, and overwhelmed. But finally my application was processed and sent to the Church looking for a Youth Worker in England. The division in America that was sending me, advised me on a few things, I still remember the conversation I had with one of their employees. He asked me if I had ever been interested in going to one of the islands for a mission trip, that lots of college students go to these certain islands, and maybe I should think about it. I explained that no, I had applied for the job I felt God was calling me for. He said, well it is very likely that you won't get that job, there are a few people applying, and you should think about your other options. I was quite hurt, and annoyed, and responded with a no thank you I know what I want, and if it doesn't work out, I will consider your suggestion, thank and have a great day kind sir. UGH. And I wanted to hit someone. Everyone was telling me I couldn't do this, I shouldn't do this, and I just wanted to ask them if God told them that, and if he didn't, then to shut up. God didn't tell anyone to shut up, as far as I know. But when I got the job, and I left for England in July of 2009, 6 months after applying, everyone did shut up. God had a plan for me, and I knew it. "God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back"
It sounds almost against our image of God to say he shut someone up, but maybe it's not.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Day 20
Genesis 47-50
The good and the bad times, we've been through them all.
You make me rise when I fall.''...
((more on the story of Joseph))
"...Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his Fathers family..."
Question: Choose a key element in Josephs story. What makes it key?
The power of choice. Joseph chose to first of all forgive his brothers, and accept his situation. He chose to follow and trust God, and he chose to do his best. I am sure Joseph sometimes struggled with his decisions, just as any of us do, but, he always ended up making the right choice. He could have chose to hate his brothers, to run away from his position as a slave, he could have chose revenge rather than forgiveness, bitterness rather than acceptance. We can learn so much from Joseph, but I would say on of the main lessons, is that we do have power over the out come of our lives. We can choose to be angry, and resentful. Or we can choose to make the best out of our situations. If we trust God, he can turn the worst of situations into outcomes we never dreamed were possible. What choices will I make today that could change my life?
Psalm 18:1-24
"I love you, God - you make me strong. God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight."
this almost reminds me of the cascada song...
''Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky.
They wipe away tears that I cry.The good and the bad times, we've been through them all.
You make me rise when I fall.''...
How often do we take the time to write a song, a poem, a letter, to God? He's written us a whole book on his love for us, can we take the time to write him one back?
for God, thank you:
heart beating
breathe moving
mind thinking
all because of the life you gave to me
sin cleansed
destination planned
purpose bestowed
all because of the love you gave to me
Love, me.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Day 19
Man. I am bad at doing something everyday. God, forgive me for not being committed. Continue to remind me that this is important!!!
Genesis 43-46
(Joseph after revealing himself to his brothers)"...But don't feel badly, don't blame yourselves for selling me. God was behnd it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives..."
Thoughts: Humans have free will, so his brothers could have choice not to sell him as slave, which means God wasn't behind the initial action, he didn't make Josephs brother sell him, but when God saw them put him in the pit, he sent the right Slave trader to get Joseph, and from there on out never left him. God did send Joseph to save Egypt, but I am sure he had a plan B, hoping Josephs brothers would not be so harsh as to betray him. Even then, by being there for Joseph, and leading him, he gave Joseph a good heart, and Joseph was able to forgive deeply.
Psalm 17
"Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night - you'll find I'm just who I say I am. My words don't run loose."
God, I am who I say am, because you are who you say you are. I am constantly working to be the person you made me to be. The Audrey you have planned. Show me who I am. Show me who you are. I know you won't give up on me, I know you are my God.
Genesis 43-46
(Joseph after revealing himself to his brothers)"...But don't feel badly, don't blame yourselves for selling me. God was behnd it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives..."
Thoughts: Humans have free will, so his brothers could have choice not to sell him as slave, which means God wasn't behind the initial action, he didn't make Josephs brother sell him, but when God saw them put him in the pit, he sent the right Slave trader to get Joseph, and from there on out never left him. God did send Joseph to save Egypt, but I am sure he had a plan B, hoping Josephs brothers would not be so harsh as to betray him. Even then, by being there for Joseph, and leading him, he gave Joseph a good heart, and Joseph was able to forgive deeply.
Psalm 17
"Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night - you'll find I'm just who I say I am. My words don't run loose."
God, I am who I say am, because you are who you say you are. I am constantly working to be the person you made me to be. The Audrey you have planned. Show me who I am. Show me who you are. I know you won't give up on me, I know you are my God.
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