OUR DAILY BREAD : IN DISGUISE

[cimi]

February 6
Friday


IN DISGUISE

READ:
Genesis 45:4-8
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Oh, how great is Your
goodness, which You
have laid up for those
who fear You.
__Psalm 31:19
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In the weeks after my husband survived a heart attack, we often thanked God for sparing his life. I was asked many times during the next few months how I was doing. My answer was often a simple one: "Blessed. I feel blessed."

Blessings, however, come in different sizes and shapes. In fact, we don't always recognize them. Even when we are doing everything we think God wants us to do, we may still experience suffering. We are sometimes surprised that God does not answer the way we want or that his timing appears to be tardy.

We see this in Joseph's life. From a human perspective, we would think that God had forgotten all about him. For more than a decade, Joseph experienced suffering. He was tossed in a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, unjustly put in prison. Finally, however, God's faithfulness to him became evident to all as he was lifted up as a ruler of Egypt and saved many people from famine (Gen. 37-46). C. S. Lewis wrote: "When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place."

God had always had His hand of blessing on Joseph, as He does for all who trust Him. "Oh, how great is Your goodness" (Ps. 31:19). __Cindy Hess Kasper

`````````````````````Lord, You love us with an extravagant love,``````````````````
````````````````````but so often we don't trust You in the crisis.```````````````````
```````````````````Help us to learn and appreciate that You have``````````````````
`````````````````````everything we need__and so much more.````````````````````
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True happiness is knowing that God is good.

*********************Today's Bible Reading __ Genesis 45:4-8**********************

4 And Joseph said to his
brothers, "Please come near
to me." So they came near.
Then he said: "I am Joseph
your brother, whom you
sold into Egypt. 5 But now,
do not therefore be grieved
or angry with yourselves
because you sold me here;
for God sent me before you
to preserve life. 6 For these
two years the famine has
been in the land, and there
are still five years in which
there will be neither
plowing nor harvesting.

7 And God sent me before
you to preserve a posterity
for you in the earth, and to
save your lives by a great
deliverance.

8 So now it was not you
who sent me here, but God;
and He has made me a
father to Pharaoh, and lord
of all his house, and a ruler
throughout all the land of
Egypt."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Because of severe and widespread famine, Joseph's brother's came
to Egypt to buy grain to take home to feed their families (Gen.
42-45). Though Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not
recognize him. It seems that from this point forward he set out to
bring reconciliation to his broken family. Eventually, Joseph reveals
himself to his brothers (45:4-8), forgives them, and promises to care
for them (50:16-21). Joseph's story is one of the great reconciliation
stories of all time.