Give thanks in everything, even when you are sick

Okay, so, guess what guys?

I'm sick.

This really stinks, I mean, come on, who likes being sick??

But really, if you think about it the right way, being sick can be a blessing in disguise.

A really REALLY good disguise.

Okay, I'm sure you are probably thinking that I am crazy or that the sickness has given me brain fever and made me stupid.

But no, I just really need to think of ways that being sick can be a blessing.

Cause we are supposed to give thanks in everything, right?

So, here are 10 reasons that being sick is a blessing:

1. You get to just lay in bed all day.

I mean, come on, this is a plus....most of the time.

2.You get to eat all the foods that you don't get to eat unless you are sick.

Like cottage cheese, oranges, toast, chicken broth...all that good stuff.

3. You get access to the television, the whole time.

You get to choose the movie, you get the remote, and nobody ever tries to stop you.

4. Everyone is really really nice to you.

Everyone.

5.You get to stay in your pajamas ALL DAY.

And nobody tries to get you to take a shower, or to comb you hair, or to brush your teeth, you can just...lay there...feeling sick and...not...have to...yeah never mind, this one isn't helping me.

6. You don't have to do chores!

If you are in bed all day, you can't do chores, right?

7. You don't have to do school!

Because concentrating on history is too hard...but I can concentrate on Doctor Who ALL DAY LONG!

8.You get the chance to beat every video game you own!

And then you can get more!

9.You're get breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed.

And hope that you don't end up sleeping on bread crumbs later.

aaaaaaand

10. You can get as much sympathy as you want.

 

Okay, so maybe those aren't all really good reasons.

And even the ones that are still don't compensate for being sick and not being able to keep your food down.

But either way, we are supposed to give thanks in every situation, so here is me, thanking God for the good things.

Like being able to watch Blimey Cow all day.

Don't get sick guys!!

Cheers!

Joseph's story, Genesis chapter 46

Hey guys! It's Saturday, time for another part in Joseph's Story!

So, remember, Joseph's brothers had gone back to get their father, Jacob, also named Israel, and bring him back to see Joseph again.

Israel hears God speak to him in a dream, telling his that he should not fear going to Egypt, because God will make a great nation out of him (the nation of Israel, for those of you who haven't caught that yet).

So Israel and all of his family take a trip.

And when I say all his family, I mean EVERYONE, except Joseph, his wife, and his two sons.

And Israel has a big family.

There  is Reuben and his sons, Hanoch, Phallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

There's Simeon and his sons, Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul.

Then there's Levi and his sons,  Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

There's Judah and his sons, Shelah, Pharez, and Zerah. He had two other sons, but they died while still in Canaan.

There's Issachar and his sons, Tola, Phuvah, Job, and Shimron.

There's Zebulun, and his sons, Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

And those are just the kids and grandkids from Leah. Don't forget, Israel was also married to Rachel, who had Joseph, who now has two kids, and Benjamin, who now has ten kids.

And then there is also the kids from Zilpah, Leah's maid, and Bilhah, Rachel's maid.

So when I say that Israel has a big family, I mean a HUGE family.

So anyway, this big family is headed for Goshen.

Israel sends Judah ahead of them to get directions to Goshen from Joseph, who then meets his family up there.

When Joseph sees his father, there is, of course, a good deal of crying. Israel is satisfied, knowing that his favorite son is a man of power, alive, well taken care of. He tells his family that he can now die in peace.

Joseph tells his family to make sure that they mention to the Pharaoh that they are shepherds, so that they can tend to the sheep in Goshen.

The Egyptians hate being shepherds and consider it beneath them, an abomination.

That's it for the chapter today. Yeah, I know, kinda short. But most of it was just a family tree, who's kid was who's, stuff like that.

Cheers!  

Messy Lives

Admit it. Life is messy.

There never is a single day that goes by where we don't make a mess of things.

Everyday there are dishes and laundry and cooking and cleaning and dusting and vacuuming, the list is endless. 

We also have a tendency to mess up our lives. 

Calling your friend a nasty word, you just messed that friendship up.

Calling your boyfriend to tell him you don't love him anymore, you just messed that relationship up.

Not thinking before you say something offensive to a stranger, you just messed up any potential for a friendship.

Or even throwing your phone in a hasty moment of fury, you just messed your phone up.

We lead messy lives.

We make mistakes all the time, it's part of being human. But the beauty comes in when we realize that we've made a mess of things and realize that we have to fix things.

Which of course, we can't do on our own.

Think about when you're a little kid, and you make a really big mistake on your homework, and you know that something is wrong, but you just don't know how to fix it.

So you go to your dad and ask him if he can see what the problem is. 

Since he has done this sort of problem before, he can see your mistake. 

So you have to ask him to help you fix it.

He explains to you what you did wrong, then he shows you how to correct it. You come out at the end a little smarter, and a whole lot wiser.

But it was kind of embarrassing to admit that you were wrong in the first place, because nobody likes to be wrong. You hate to admit to your dad that you don't know what you are doing and that you messed something up, and that you don't know how to fix it.

But you wisely went to him anyway, admitting your mistake and asking for help.

It the same way when we mess things up in our lives. 

When you break a friendship by saying something nasty, by starting a rumor, by relentlessly making fun of someone, you know that you have broken something that was good.

And eventually, you regret what you said or did. But your pride is still there, telling you that you were right, that the other person shouldn't be so sensitive, but deep down, you know what you did was wrong.

So you lay in bed at night, unsure of how you can go about fixing this while still keeping your pride intact.

Let me tell you a secret.

You can't.

In order to fix a mistake, you first have to admit that there is a mistake. How can you fix something if you won't admit that it needs fixing?

So you swallow your pride and admit to your friend that you were wrong, that you were being a total jerk. 

Then you have to apologize, which is sometimes the hardest part.

But if you want to save that friendship, you have to do it. So you apologize. 

They might not always forgive you. Sometimes you have done something so terrible to them that they might have a hard time forgiving you. There still might not ever be a friendship between you again. But you have to try and apologize, then give them the time they need to tend the wound that you so thoughtlessly gave them.

Maybe in the end, you can mend your friendship.

But only if first, you are willing to swallow your pride and admit that you made a mess of things.

Because we all live messy lives. And we all have to admit that. 

And sometimes our messy lives can be beautiful.

But only if we are willing to let them be.

So don't worry about how messy your house is, don't worry about the messes that have already been cleaned up.

Just admit it, your life is a mess. Don't proudly say that you've got it all together, because you don't, nobody does. If you want to share your messy life with someone else, you can't pretend to be something you're not.

Just be messy. 

Be willing to admit that you're messy.

Be willing to clean up the mess.

Cheers!

Joseph's story, Genesis chapter 45 (yes, I know it's not Saturday)

Okay, so I know it isn't Saturday, and that is usually the day that I work on Joseph's story, but I got excited and went ahead and read the next chapter and so I'm writing about it.

Recall that in the last chapter, Joseph had tricked his brothers by putting their money back into their bags, and putting his special cup into Benjamin's. He had told them that he was going to keep Benjamin as a slave because of what he had done, but then Judah had tried to take Benjamin's place.

So now, Joseph can't stand it any more. He tells all the Egyptians in his house to leave him with the Hebrew men.

Once they are alone, Joseph starts crying, and he tells them that he is Joseph.

Naturally, his brothers are very disturbed. Perhaps they think that they are being tricked, but wondering how this man knew about Joseph. Perhaps they believe him, but they know that he is the most powerful man in Egypt and could have the executed on the spot. Perhaps they feel bad, knowing they had lied to him about what had happened to their other brother, and now they know that he knew they were lying. No matter the reason, they were incredibly disturbed and bewildered.

Joseph asks about his father, but his brothers don't really answer, they just stand back, away from him.

Joseph tells them to come near him, which they of course do.

He tells them that he is Joseph, the brother they sold as a slave into Egypt, but he doesn't want them to be alarmed or upset or angry with themselves, because God had brought Joseph to Egypt for a purpose.

He tells them that for the two years of the famine so far, he has been taking care of the people, feeding them. He tells them he knows that there are still five more years of famine, but he can take care of them and his father, because he has stored up food.

He says that God had sent him to Egypt so that he could preserve the line of his father, so thy would not die, or fall into poverty.

He tells them to go back to their home and get their father, tell him what happened and bring him to the land of Goshen, where he can live in peace and comfort for the rest of his life.

He tells them to tell their father of the things that Joseph has in Egypt, that he is a rich and powerful man.

The Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh hears about what was going on in Joseph's house. Pharaoh is very pleased to hear that Joseph's brothers have come to Egypt (remember, the Pharaoh favors Joseph and is probably his close friend). He tells them to take wagons from Egypt and take them with them when they go get their father, so they can use the wagons to put their families in when they bring them back. He tells them that they shall eat from the food stored in Egypt.

Joseph gives each of his brothers a change of clothes (that is a big deal back then because most people did not have more than one outfit), but he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and 5 changes of clothes. Benjamin was his only full-blooded brother, and he had had nothing to do with selling Joseph into Egypt.

They send the brothers with provisions and they leave to go and get their father and their families.

When the arrive home, they tell their father about what had happened (imagine the dread they must have felt when they had to tell their father that they had not only sold his favorite son as a slave to Egypt, but on top of that, they had been lying to him all these years about what really happened. They can't exactly keep up their farce if they are going to tell him where Joseph is, what can they say? "Oh yeah, he must have come back to life after those animals ripped him to shreds, and now he is in Egypt where he is going to save the lives of his entire family." Yeah, I don't think so.).

Jacob doesn't believe them at first. He probably think that he has demons for sons and they are just playing a horribly cruel joke on him.

But then he sees the wagons from Egypt, the extra clothes, the food, all the things they brought back with them, and his heart is enlightened.

I imagine that this old man was probably dancing with joy because his son, the one he had loved so much, they one that he had never gotten over, is still alive.

He tells his boys that he is going to Egypt, so that he can see Joseph's face again before he dies.

I hope that this has been exactly what you needed to hear today. I hope that throughout your day, every time that something feels too hard to handle, you think about Joseph's story. I hope that you think about how God brought Joseph to Egypt for a purpose, just as everything in your life that happens has a purpose. I hope you think about the joy of Joseph's father on hearing that his son was still alive and remember that joyful things can come out of even the most dire of situations.

I hope your day has been uplifted, just as Jacob's was when his sons returned with the news that Joseph was alive.

Cheers!

Joseph's Story, Genesis chapter 44

Hey guys!! I clearly forget to write on my blog sometimes.

But today is Saturday, and it is time for JOSEPH'S STORY!!

So, remember, Joseph's brothers have all come to Egypt to buy more food. Joseph had invited them to eat at his house with him and they had.

Now, they are getting ready to leave. Joseph tells his Steward to fill his brother's sacks with food, and also to put their money back into their sacks. And then he tells him to put Joseph's favorite cup into Benjamin's bag.

So the Steward does as he is told.

The brothers leave, unaware that the treasures have been placed in their grain sacks.

They are just barely out of the city when Joseph sends his Steward after them and ask them why they have done such a wicked thing, why have they stolen Joseph's cup that he drinks out of and practices divination with?

I don't personally think that Joseph really practiced divination, but because he is pretending to be Egyptian, I think he just said that to scare his brothers and make them realize what thing they have taken. That would have been a very valuable thing to take from him.

When the Steward catches up to the brothers, he asks them why they have stolen Joseph's cup.

The brothers are so sure that none of them took anything that they tell the Steward to search their sacks. They say that whoever has the cup should die and the rest of them be Joseph's slaves.

So the Steward searches the sacks, of course knowing what was in them because he put it there. He starts with the oldest and makes his way down to Benjamin, who has the cup.

The brothers are incredibly upset. They return to Joseph's house with the Steward. Joesph, knowing what was going on, has stayed at his house instead of going back to work.

Joseph pretends to be upset and asks them why they have done this evil thing to him, when all he has ever done was be kind to them.

Judah responds by saying that he does not know what to tell him. He does not know how the money got there but clearly, it was there. So he says that he has no choice but to declare himself and his brothers slaves.

Joseph says that he would never do such a thing, he doesn't want to punish them all because of something that Benjamin did. So he tells the rest of them that they can leave, but Benjamin will stay as a slave.

Judah then proceeds to tell Joseph that Benjamin is the only remaining son of their father's most loved wife. He tells him that the other son had been torn apart by wild animals years before (I bet Joseph is rolling his eyes at this point). He says that unless he can bring Benjamin back, their father will likely die of sorrow.

Judah offers himself to take the place of Benjamin as a slave instead.

That is the end of the chapter, but there is something that I have been wondering about.

Obviously, the brothers knew that Joseph had been sold as a slave into Egypt, or at least, that was the last they had head of him, that he was headed to Egypt.

I wonder if they were afraid of running into him when they had to go buy food. They had kept up the lie that he was torn apart on his way to come see them that day, they had never told their father the truth.

But they all knew the truth. But even now, after all these years, they are keeping up the lie, telling Joseph what they had told their father.

Joseph had not known until then what they had told their father when they got home. He had not known anything about his family until the famine hit. For all he knew, they could have all been dead, or his brothers could have killed Benjamin, or they could have moved into a distant country, or they could have stayed where they were, knowing what had become of Joseph and just no cared. He had no way of finding out.

But know he knows what they had said to their father. He knows where they live. He knows what became of Benjamin, and of his father, and of the brothers who had sold him.

But his brothers still don't know what has become of Joseph. Well, I mean, they do know, but they don't know that they know.

I wonder if they felt guilty every time they went to buy food, not knowing that it was the very brother that they despised who was feeding them.

I wonder if they ever looked around while they were in Egypt, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face.

I wonder if they hope he was dead so that he wouldn't trouble them anymore.

I wonder if they even cared at all.

I guess that is something that we will not know while we are on Earth.

Anyway, that is all for today.

Cheers!!

The End of Time

I am a Whovian (which means I watch Doctor Who).

For those of you who don't know, it's a show about a time-traveling alien and his friends.

The Doctor travels to any point in time and space that he likes, past, present, and future.

In one episode, the Doctor takes Rose (his companion at the time) five billion years into her future to watch the earth blow up.

The earth blows up, and of course there are no more people on it, they have all moved away to different planets.

Later, after the Doctor has regenerated, Rose and the Doctor go to a planet called New Earth, which is where a lot of the humans had run to when the earth was going to blow up.

And still later, after Rose has left, the Doctor takes Martha to the end of time.

While of course this show is science fiction, it does make you think. Sometimes I forget that one day the earth will end. One day, the Believers in Christ, the Messiah, will be taken away from the earth and the earth will be destroyed.

It's hard to think about these things. One day Jesus (Hebrew name Yeshua) will come back and get us.

But one day, the end of the world really will happen. It won't be like it was on Doctor Who, but one day it will happen.

"Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away"- Matthew 24:35 NIV

One day, after the end of everything, God's Word will still remain. It will still be the truth. It will last.

"Do not store for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21 NIV

It doesn't matter what things we acquire on earth, once we are dead and gone, our stuff will still just be here, eventually breaking down and turning into dust.

While you go about living your life, think about what really matters.

Leave a legacy of hope and love for your children and those who are on the earth after you. The only part of you that will last is the memories you leave behind. The things you taught. The people you loved.

The world isn't going to blow up like it did in Doctor Who, the humans won't find another planet to go live on, the end of time won't result because all the people go back into the past to take over the world.

But time will end. The earth will pass away. Humans will no longer inhabit this planet.

But God will always remain. People will still remain. Our legacy will still remain.

Even though things will end, what are we leaving behind until that day comes?

Are we too preoccupied with gathering stuff to ourselves, making ourselves rich and powerful, pleasing ourselves?

Or are we about the business of our Father? Are we wining souls to Him through our actions and words? Are we laying up treasures for ourselves in Heaven by loving others on earth?

Who are we? What memory will be left behind?

Make it a good one. A godly one. One that people actually want to remember.

Don't die with regrets and a heavy heart.

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans."-Proverbs 16:3 NIV

Follow God's plan for you and you won't have to die with regrets.

Leave a legacy of Love. Because in the end, nothing else we do will matter. One day, everything that we own will be dust, our homes, our cars, our computers, our books, our movies. Even the people will die one day, become nothing.

But our souls are eternal, and if we remember that, if we follow God's plan and keep his commandments, then we don't have to worry.

"This is my commandment: Love each other."-John 15:17 NIV

"The King will reply,'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me'." -Matthew 25:40 NIV

Nobody ever said "I wish I had been less kind, I wish I had loved someone less."

When earth passes away, our souls, what we have done with the time we were given, that will still remain.

Make sure you use your time like you should.


Cheers!

Joseph's story, Genesis 43

Hey guys!

Oh my gosh, I have so much blogging to do! That's what I get for forgetting about my blog for too long!

I guess I can write several posts today, but first, lets start off with Joseph's story in Genesis chapter 43.

The famine is still in the land, so there is only grain in the store houses in Egypt.

When they said 'famine', I think what they mean is a lack of wheat, and therefore, a lack of bread, because, as we will discover in a moment, there was other food.

Remember, Simeon is in a prison in Egypt because Jacob will not allow Benjamin to go to Egypt with his brothers.

Eventually though, the food they bought in Egypt runs out, and the family is again in desperate need of food.

Jacob tells his sons that he needs them to go back and buy some more food.

But Judah reminds his father what Joseph had said. He had told them not to come back unless they were to bring Benjamin with them.

Judah knows that his family needs food, so he tells his father that he will take care of Benjamin and make sure that he comes home safe.

Jacob accepts this offer.

Notice that Jacob *did not* accept the offer when Reuben said he would take care of Benjamin, but allowed Judah to be in charge of his younger brother. Jacob possibly still did not trust Reuben, since he had been in charge both when Joseph went missing and when Simeon got left in Egypt.

So the brothers set off for Egypt, bringing with them extra money, as well as the money that was in their sacks when they got back home, and additional gifts, being some balm, some honey, spices and myrrh, some pistachios and some almonds. Obviously, they had *some* food, but they need the grain in order to have proper nutrition.

When they arrive in Egypt, and Joseph sees Benjamin with his other brothers, he tells the Steward of his house (Joseph was the Steward of Potiphar's house) to get some food ready and bring the Hebrew men into his house.

The brothers were afraid. They thought they were probably brought to Joseph's house because he discovered the missing money and knew that it was in their bags.

When they get to the door of his house, they start telling the Steward about the mistake that had been made about the money, telling him that they never meant to take it with them.

The Steward sets them at ease, telling them that he had known where the money was the entire time, and their God had blessed them with treasure (being the money).

After this, he gets Simeon out of prison and brings him into the house with the other brothers.

The servants prepared the meal for noon, because that is when Joseph was to come home. After all, he was a busy man, and didn't sit around at home all day, he had a very important job to do.

When Joseph comes home, his brothers bring him the gifts they had brought with them from home and bowed down to him.

Here we see Joseph's dreams coming true again. His brothers had scorned him when he told them, and now, without even realizing it, they are bringing to pass the very thing that they were angry with him over in the first place.

Joseph asks them about his father, calling him 'the old man of whom you spoke'. They tell him that their father is doing quite well, which was no doubt something that made Joseph very happy.

Then he sees Benjamin.

He asks them, even though he knows the answer, if he is the younger brother of whom they spoke. They reply that yes, he is.

Joseph tells Benjamin that he hopes that God is gracious to him.

After this, he hurries away for a little while. He hides in his room and cries, swept away with emotion.

After he has had his cry, he comes back out and refrains himself from crying anymore in the presence of his brothers.

The Egyptians consider eating with the Hebrews an abomination, so the Egyptians eat on one side of a curtain, the Hebrews on the other. Joseph sits at a table by himself, because he is the head of the household.

Joseph has his brothers seated in order of age, which really surprises them.

So the servant took food to the brothers, but Joseph makes sure than Benjamin gets more than his other brothers.