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 have had some dreams in the past that have scared me in big ways... and 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 many 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?

Worship Video: Today's readings reminded me of Matt Redman's song "10,000 Reasons:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk11x52nc04

Do you have any reason to love God?  Click here for 10,000 reasons!

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

p.s. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this One Year Bible Blog ministry today and also consider financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!

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

[dee]

so true Ramona.. we should never try to imitate someone else's experiences for what could be a true one on one intimate personal first time relationship with the Father. He is an equal opportunity blesser and Lord so He wants to have a unique encounter with You today.

Comments and QOTD: The Word and studying the Bible does soften my heart and when I know I have not shown love of God-He helps gently convict me and help prepare me for next time. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want! I am definitely calmer, walk stronger, and a more grounded individual since being closer to Christ.

Gen 37:1-38:30
Alot going on today. Jacobs showing favoritism-for one, is not good. You would think he had learned when his mom and dad did that and how it affected both him and Esau.
Joseph got sold into slavery-I liked that Reuben had good intentions to not harm Joseph and return him to dad- too bad the others had other plans unbeknowest to him.
And Judah, even though that's a bad thing to hurt his father with Joseph not returning-God used the negative to be a positive-to save his family.

We read about Judah, Tamar and the twins today, which are in the line of David and Jesus-how awesome. Perez was in the lineage that brought forth Jesus.

Matthew 12;22-45
We read about Jesus healing power on lame, deaf, and mute today and Pharisees again speaking against him and believing he as Prince of Darkness and not Seeing that He is the Messiah-Jesus comes against those cursing the Holy Spirit and refusing to believe-that those miracles could only be done by someone stronger than satan-the Son of God- and He told them whatever is in your heart is what you speak-evil repore vs goodness-

Psalm 16:1-11
Lots of good blessings and reassurance form the Lord- Every good thing comes from You! It's important for He to be Master of Your Life. Calamity and troubles multiply when you chase other gods ($, work, people, pleasures, food, power), etc. Lord, you alone are my inheritance! My cup of blessing-What a reassurance

The Lord guides me, He is always with me, right beside me. You show me the Way of Life-the joy of your presence & pleasure of living -with you forever. Yes!!

Prov 3:27-32
Teaches us-do not with hold good from those who deserve it when its in your power to help them. How do we know when they deserve it? When is it best to give? One's on street wanting $ for a bus pass? Homeless with signs or to be giving the goodness of the Lord, the Word? Is it monetary or something so much greater and richer as in sharing the gospel-I love how the Lord offers his friendship to the godly. Amen!

[A.K.]

I had the exact same experience. It’s hard to describe, but I would be asleep, a nightmare would happen, then an evil presence would oppress me in the midst of the nightmare. Somehow I was conscious enough to realize it was a dream and be able to call on the name of Jesus. When I would say the name “Jesus” several times, or “Jesus is Lord,” the evil presence would release me, and I would immediately wake up. Sometimes the evil presence would linger even after waking, but I would say the name “Jesus” out loud, and it would leave. I had this experience on and off for years, but learned that the minute I would call on Jesus, the evil presence would leave. Over time I no longer feared and became bold. All of this took place while I was asleep, sometimes in a semiconscious state. Eventually the spiritual attacks in my dreams ceased. If God can speak to us in dreams, then it only makes sense that our sleep and dream life would be areas where our spiritual enemy would attack. Our bodies may sleep, but I assume our spirit is always active and engaged.

[Robert Bieberdorf]

Genesis 37

Joseph's dreams first get him into trouble, but his ability to understand them leads him to be chosen by the Pharaoh and to save the world. We could learn a lesson about the mysteries of how the world works. Believers and non-believers can see it as an illustration of the need to keep trying and persevere

An odd question comes to mind. What ever happened to the dream coat? I Googled it and there is no definitive answer. Some Jewish scholars say that Jacob buried it. One commentary said it was kept and then given to Joseph later in Egypt. Did Donny and Marie Osmond give us a clue in their Las Vegas Musical?

As a parent I have to say the Joseph story resonates with me. Bob Deffinbaugh’s commentary:

The life of Joseph is a wonderful encouragement to parents, who will someday have to turn loose of their children, allowing them to move out from under their control and protection. It may be in the form of sending a child off to a college campus, removed from the supervision of the parents. It may be by a marriage or a job change. All of us as parents will have to face the time when we cannot control the environment in which our children will live.

And he leaves us with the wonderful hope…they will be secure in the hands of the God who created them and cares for them.

Mathew 12:43-45

I think this passage speaks somewhat to addictions. In my observation, I have seen people decide to give up a bad habit, from say alcohol use, but when that addiction is thrown out there hasn’t been any preparation to replace it with a more positive practice (i.e. Cannabis or better yet a cup of tea and a walk) and that means they are vulnerable to fall off the wagon again. It can be a terrible cycle.

Allen Ross Commentary:
The illustration begins at the point of dispossession. The unclean spirit was cast out, but that spirit needed some place through which it can act, and so it was restless until it could find some place it sought. That in itself is a remarkable revelation, showing us that these spirits must have some material body as a medium. But in Jesus’ story the spirit returns to the man and finds the place “empty, swept, and put in order.” The key word is “empty” or “unoccupied.” The man was improved in some ways, swept and put in order. But he was not possessed--he was empty. So the result was that the improvement was of no avail. Seeing that there was no in-dweller possessing and holding the man in the right way, the unclean spirit re-entered and took other spirits in with him. So all the improvement was lost, and the man was far worse in the end than he had been in the beginning. The point of the story is this: to cast out the unclean spirit is of no lasting value unless there follows a new possession by the clean Spirit.