January 18, 2018
Genesis 45:7-8
But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 
New International Version (NIV)
                  My friend Buster Adkins loved to say, “We can get bitter or we can get better.”  Joseph certainly had cause for bitterness.  After all, his own brothers had separated him from his family.  The roller coaster took him down to slavery and to prison.  How did he process this pain? 
                Joseph tested his brothers to see if they would treat his little brother Benjamin as they had treated him.  When Judah showed he was willing to become a slave instead of Benjamin, Joseph revealed his true identity to them.   Joseph saw God working for good in the evil actions of his brothers.  They were getting rid of him (or so they thought), but God was actually getting ready for them to preserve their lives in Egypt during the famine.  “It was not you who sent me here but God.”
                Think about the worst things that have happened to you.  How has God worked in and in spite of those events to accomplish his greater purpose in your life?  We do not control what people do to us.  Thankfully people cannot stop the greater purposes of God.  Paul would later tell the Romans, “God works all things together for good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes.”  We know this for sure:  God is working today to make us like his perfect Son.  As his Son suffered, so may we.  God will not waste this pain.  No need to get bitter.  Let’s get better!
Pray with me:
Father, thank you for your overriding governance for good in our lives.  Enable us today to forgive those who intended to harm us.  Make us more like Jesus as we forgive others who have harmed us today.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.
This year we focus our Every Day with Jesus readings on Jesus’ story. 
Let’s focus our undivided attention on Jesus and follow where he leads us. 
He will not fail.  Neither will we!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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