January 18th One Year Bible Readings

Genesis 37:1-38:30 ~ Matthew 12:22-45 ~ Psalm 16:1-11 ~ Proverbs 3:27-32
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Old Testament - Today in Genesis chapter 37 we begin the incredible last portion of the book of Genesis where we read about Joseph!  This portion of the story that starts in today's readings will carry us through the rest of the book of Genesis and will set the stage for the exodus from Egypt.  Below is an image of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" from a modern day play of the same name (which I've heard is good - but I've never seen it - can anyone offer any reviews in the Comments below?):

In chapter 37 today we read about Joseph's dreams and how these dreams make his brothers jealous.  A couple of things came to mind to me today as reading through this.  First is that it is clear that God does some communicating through dreams in the Old Testament.  We've already seen this in our previous readings - via a dream Abimelech had or a dream Laban had.  And here we see some powerful prophetic dreams that Joseph has.  My first question I had was whether Joseph should have shared these dreams with his family?  And I asked this question because I wonder if sometimes we also maybe get an insight or what we believe to be a word from God - and if we should share these things with others?  Or keep them between God and ourselves?  I don't have an easy answer on this one...   If you have some thoughts on this, please post up in the "Comments" section below.  The other thing that came to mind for me here is what role do dreams play for us today?  Does God still communicate to people via dreams today?  I know this might be going out on some fringe thoughts or theology here...  but, if anyone has some Christian perspective on dreams, I'd appreciate it.  I'm just curious.  I honestly have had some dreams in the past that have scared me in big ways... and honestly helped me set my life on a better course back when I had them.  Below is a painting from the year 1853 by French painter Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet of Joseph's brothers in today's readings putting goat's blood on his coat:

Actually, while I am on this topic of dreams, let me share this.  I did used to have nightmares periodically.  However, when I started reading the One Year Bible each night before going to bed a few years ago the nightmares basically went away.  Seriously.  I honestly believe because of the Light & life-giving power of the Word of God that the nightmares went away.  Just a little testimony here for you on the power of reading the Bible each day.  It is spiritual food and nourishment and protection for you in ways that you may not consciously realize.  For me, there has been maybe a time or two in recent years where a nightmare has still come to fruition - and I don't remember the details of the nightmares, but somehow I know that in the midst of my dream I called out the name of Jesus and the nightmare stopped immediately!  I am not kidding.  I don't know how I got myself to call out Jesus' name in the nightmare, but I am so thankful that I did!  Maybe this is something that prayer brings - or maybe this is something that happens when we really understand and believe in the all-powerful name of Jesus?  If you suffer from nightmares, my two prescriptions are to 1. read the Bible before going to bed, 2. somehow someway say the name of Jesus in your nightmare.  Pray about this before you go to bed.  Maybe this will help you do this in your dream.  I hope so!   Below is a painting from 1630 by Spanish painter Velasquez Diego of Joseph's brothers presenting his bloody coat to their father Jacob from today's readings:

Genesis chapter 38 brings us the story of Judah and Tamar.  Keep in mind that Judah, Tamar, and Perez from this chapter are all part of the genealogy of King David and Jesus as we recently read in Matthew chapter 1 verse 3: "Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron."  Verse 24 stood out to me in this chapter as sad irony: "About three months later, word reached Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, was pregnant as a result of prostitution. "Bring her out and burn her!" Judah shouted."  This verse reminded me quite a bit of a recent teaching we read about from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7 verse 3: "“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"  Is it possible that we too are sometimes like Judah?  Condemning others for sins that we ourselves commit too?  Even if we don't commit the same sin as someone else, should we instead leave the judging and condemning to God?  Below is a painting from 1650 from the school of Rembrandt of Judah and Tamar from today's readings:

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Genesis chapter 37 titled "Jacob, Joseph, Jealousy, and a Journey to Egypt" is at this link and commentary on chapter 38 titled "The Skeleton in Judah's Closet" is at this link.

New Testament - Jesus' teaching in Matthew Chapter 12 verse 30 stood out to me in today's readings: "Anyone who isn't helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me."  This is a really really powerful verse if you think about it.  And I think we then need to ask ourselves - are we really helping Jesus?  Are we really working with Jesus?  Are we really being obedient to Jesus' teachings for our life?   And if not, are we then actually working against Him?

Jesus' teaching on the sign of Jonah in this chapter is awesome!  In verse 40 Jesus prophesies His death, burial and resurrection: "For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights."  And then the following verse is just so powerful and convicting: "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now someone greater than Jonah is here--and you refuse to repent."  Do you believe that Jesus is greater than Jonah?  And greater than Solomon? (as we read in verse 42) Do you understand Jesus' teachings?  Are you repenting?

Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Matthew chapter 12 titled "Beelzebub or the Holy Spirit?" is at this link and "The Sign of Jonah" is at this link.

Psalms - Today we read Psalm 16, which I absolutely love!  I could probably share with you some thoughts on just about every verse in this Psalm. Verse 1 tells us: "Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge."  Do you believe that God will keep you safe if you come to Him for refuge? And verse 2 is so true: "I said to the LORD, "You are my Master! All the good things I have are from you.""  Everything good thing in our life - absolutely everything good thing in our life - comes from God.  Do you believe this? Verse 3 reminds me to rejoice for and pray for our pastors and spiritual mentors: "The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!"  Do you appreciate your pastors / ministers / priests and spiritual mentors?  And do you appreciate other godly people you know too?  Are they true heroes?  Do you pray for these folks regularly? If not, will you?

And verse 11 is a powerful closing to this Psalm 16 and perhaps a prayer for us to pray fervently: "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever."   Do you want to be shown the way of life from God?   Do you want to be granted the joy of God's presence?  Do you want the pleasure of living with God forever?  Have you prayed to God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit to give you these things in your life?  Will you pray this prayer?

Proverbs - Today we read Proverbs chapter 3 verses 27 and 28: "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it's in your power to help them.  If you can help your neighbor now, don't say, "Come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you.""  How often do we say to ourselves when we think about serving the poor – "oh, I'll maybe do that in the future." Is this similar to saying "come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you" as this Proverb tells us? Can you help your neighbor now? Do you regularly volunteer with ministries or nonprofits that serve the poor?   Do you consistently give offerings of your finances to ministries and/or nonprofits that serve the poor?  Are the poor your neighbor?  Should you be helping them today?  Is it in your power to do so? Will you not wait until tomorrow?

YouTube: Okay, here's a unique YouTube I'm posting up.  It's from Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  It's definitely not a worship song...  but a bit catchy!  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOmeUnmgtAA

Please join me in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Matthew 12:30 TNIV

Prayer Point: Pray that every moment of your life that you would be with Jesus. Pray that you would be gathering people for Jesus' Kingdom in your life. Pray that you would never be against Jesus and never scatter his people.

Comments from You and Questions of the Day:  Back to my comments on dreams and how reading the Bible and proclaiming the name of Jesus has brought forth Light into my sleep - have you experienced the Bible or the name of Jesus doing powerful things in your life?  Has the Bible or the name of Jesus freed you from addictions?  Does reading the Bible make you a calmer person or more grounded person if you read it the morning?  Basically, do you believe that reading the Bible changes things in your life?  Does the name of Jesus change things in your life?  Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings?  Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!

God bless,
Mike

Comments

[Ramona]

Genesis 37:1-38:30

Something that I just saw and I could be way off the mark, Judah tried to redeem himself, by taking back his identity and sadly failed. This is a picture of everyone who relies on his own cunning, his own wealth to gain his/her rightful identity. This is a picture of all of us who reject the free gift that Jesus Christ death, burial and resurrection, we are trying to buy back our tree identity, but it can only be found in Christ.

In those days, a man’s “identity” was validated by his ring, identification seal, his cord and walking stick. The walking stick would have been hand carved and unique, a one of a kind ‘cause there were no mass marketing. Looking past the fact that Judah sold his identity for some sex (In fact usually when we pay a down payment or place a deposit, ten percent will usually do but this man gave up his whole wallet with his credit cards, birth certificate, drivers license, and to top it all off, his power of attorney), he like his uncle Esau sold everything for one “pot of stew.” WOW!!

Does God still speak to us in dreams, absolutely Yes. He speaks to us by the way we learn, the way He has created us to learn. If we learn best visually, I believe He will speak predominately to the visual learners though dreams. If we learn best through a hands on experience God will use a hands on method, something tactile, to get His message to us so we can grasp it. Just like God is able to speak our language, God is able to communicate with us through our predominate means of learning. Besides if God can use a chicken (a roosters crowing convicted Peter after denying Christ) and a donkey (Balaam received a rebuke from his trusted steed) then God can use any means necessary to convey His Truths.

Our problem is we covet other people’s experiences in hearing from God instead of taking the time to develop our own. Other people’s experiences should propel us to seek our own personal relationship; our own meetings place with God and not try to imitate someone else’s practice.

Grace and Peace,
Ramona

[Sue]

With regard to sharing Godly inspirations......Often the circumstances of a situation or the successive outcomes point to the blessings and intervention of God in our lives. Many people will simply call these, "coincidences,chance, luck (good or bad), etc." I will gently point these out as divine intervention, shedding light on it in a different direction. Some will scoff, tease, or ignore, but after this happens enough, it gets them thinking, maybe recognizing, or looking for God's presence. Just trying to be a little light in the darkness.

[Tammy]

Yes, I truly believe God speaks to us in dreams. Last February I had a very clear dream that moved me so much that as soon as I awakened I got on my computer and type it out in full detail before I could forget it. I then sent that dream to one other person. In my dream I came face to face with a Lion and while I stood there I realized that I did not know if this lion would kill me or not but I determined in my dream that it did not matter. If I lived or if I died the end result would be seeing Jesus one day and I found peace in that. I literally woke up in tears praising God. I knew this dream had significance and there are more details than I included above. To the one person I sent the copy of the dream to I simply included the dream and asked her to please remember that if she ever saw me facing a lion one day that she would pray for me that I would stand up and face it and find that peace. With all that said.... a little more than a week later I was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic and Liver Cancer of which there is no cure and the life expectancy if dismal. After being placed in the hospital, and sitting in my bed surrounded by my mom, husband, pastor and two friends I suddenly remembered my dream and knew here was my lion. I felt that very clearly. In remembering that dream, I felt peace. So it did not matter if I had cancer, and it would not matter if I died in 6 months or years later the end result is that I get to see Jesus .. what could be better. Now almost a year later I have defied the odds and am doing quite well. I take chemo every 3 weeks and for a little while last year Bible study was difficult due to effects chemo has on the brain but now I am back full force, reading, learning and serving my Savior, My Healer. So yes, I believe in dreams and yes I believe in the power of His name. Just speaking the name of Jesus has brought me peace during some of the procedures and tests I have had during the past year. Instant peace at the mention of His Name. How awesome is HE! That dream was His provision for me prior to my diagnosis. If anyone wants to read the whole dream it is on my blog and it is one of my earliest posts. www.foreverfitinmy40s.blogspot.com

[Billy]

Mike,

Thanks for your testimony about your dreams. It made me feel good and gave me strength because I believe like you that reading the bible every day does have spiritual benefit. Like you calling out to Jesus in your dream I will think back during the day to my bible reading and it helps me "do the right thing." I really think it helps me immeasurably and it is a true blessing.

[Billy]

Excellent comment Tammy. God Bless you and I'll check out your blog.

[Robert Bruce]

Mike,

I had a personal experience where God spoke to me in a dream, as well. I was going through a divorce from an alcoholic wife and after seeking God about what to do He led me to a 12-step Al-Anon program in a church where they replaced the "higher power" with the Holy Spirit. After 2 weeks of berating my ex-wife and declaring boldly to the group how she was the most awful person on the face of the earth and that she was sooooo sick that it was impossible to be around her, the leader of the group looked me right in the eye and declared, "There's somebody else in this world that is sicker than her." I looked at him surprised and said in a sarcastic tone, "You're wrong! There's nobody sicker than her, NOBODY!" He calmly, but with authority, replied back to me, "Oh yes there is!" And when I replied, "Oh yeah ...who?" he then proceeded to say to me "You ... you are sicker than her." I was enraged and stormed out of there letting him know that he had a lot of nerve saying that to me and that I was never coming back to the group. However, when I got in my car I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit, "Is he right? Am I sicker than her? If so, please show me and I will do whatever it takes to get well so that I can serve You with my whole heart." That night I had a dream and in my dream God was performing open-heart surgery on me while I was consciously watching Him. He opened up my ribs and let me see, with my own eyes, the condition of my heart. It was so detestable and so utterly disgusting, that there are not words in the English language that can accurately describe the horror of what I saw. I immediately what up, fell on my knees and cried out to God, "Please, God, heal my heart and cleanse it from that filth and stench!" Needless to say, I went back to the group leader and not only apologized to him, but also went on to complete the 12-step program where the Holy Spirit did a miraculous work in my heart to heal me of all of the rage, condemnation, and judgement that was in my heart. My open-heart surgery became a reality, spiritually speaking, as the Holy Spirit replaced my cold and sick heart with a new one over the next couple of months.

Also, there is a ministry called Streams Ministries headed by a man named John Paul Jackson. He has a powerful teaching ministry and has written several books on dreams and how to interpret them. He even teaches about this topic in his school. The link to this website is http://www.streamsministries.com/ if you are interested.

[Dan]

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:34-37

This passage always speaks to my heart. I have a tendency to run my mouth when I should keep silent. I sometimes let things slip out, forgetting who I am representing and who I am trying to honor with my life. Lord bless my words so they will be seeds that bear good fruit!

[Lily]

It's amazing how we have plans of our own (just as Joseph's brothers had for him) then God has other plans for us. I pray that when God change my course, I will recognize it and follow.

Tammy and Bruce testimonies touched my heart. I will pray for continued healing for you Tammy. I also have been touched by cancer (lung) although I have not smoked. July this year will be my third year of remission. Praise God.

[Dee dee]

You guys are so right about the Lord speaking to you in dreams. Just a year in a half, I had a dream about my eyes, and dreamed that my retina became detached. Sure enough, God was showing me what I would be going through the next couple of months which I experienced last January! God is good and he watches over His children. His free gift is eternal and forever. I never have to worry if he is there or if I have provision. I already know thta I will. :-D

be blessed!