Tag: Providence
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God Was Writing Another Story – Genesis 50:20
Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. This is one of the richest verses in Joseph’s story. Joseph does not deny what his brothers did. He does not paint it over…
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Going Down as Needy Men – Genesis 46:21-26
Genesis 46:21-26 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. And the sons of Dan; Hushim. And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and…
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A Name in the Middle of the List – Genesis 46:8-13
Genesis 46:8-13 And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. And the sons of Reuben Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi. And the sons of Simeon Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a…
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The Whole House Comes – Genesis 46:5-7
Genesis 46:5-7 And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt,…
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Saved to Preserve – Genesis 45:6-11
Genesis 45:6-11 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it…
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The Hidden Brother at a Separate Table – Genesis 43:31-33
Genesis 43:31-32 And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread. And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is…
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A Father Holding Too Tight – Genesis 42:37-38
Genesis 42:37-38 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if…
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When Jacob Talks Instead of Israel – Genesis 42:36
Genesis 42:36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. This is one of those painfully honest verses in Scripture. Jacob looks at the whole situation and says, “All these…
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Fear in Every Sack – Genesis 42:29-35
Genesis 42:29-35 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying, The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country. And we said unto him, We are true men; we are…
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Right Where You Are – Genesis 39:6
Genesis 39:6 … And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. Joseph could have said, “Lord, You gave me dreams, gifts, ability, and look where I ended up. A slave house in Egypt. What a waste.” But he did not think that way. He threw himself into the work in front of him. That…
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Chains of Iron, Chains of Gold – Genesis 39:1
Genesis 39:1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. Joseph entered Egypt a seventeen year old in chains of iron. He would leave it at one hundred and ten…
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When Jacob Could Not See It – Genesis 37:33-35
Genesis 37:33-35 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him;…
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God Blessed It Anyway – Genesis 30:39-43
Genesis 30:39-43And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s…
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What Was Jacob Doing? – Genesis 30:37-38
Genesis 30:37, 38And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks…
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The Deal Was Barely Made Before Laban Started Cheating – Genesis 30:33-36
Genesis 30:33-36So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according…
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The Wages That Did Not Make Sense – Genesis 30:31-32
Genesis 30:31-32And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all…
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Strength at the Well – Genesis 29:8-11
Genesis 29:8-11 And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep. And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel…
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Trying to Clear the Field – Genesis 29:5-7
Genesis 29:5-7 And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it…
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A Little Wine and a Lot of Wisdom — 1 Timothy 5:23
1 Timothy 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities. This verse almost feels like a quiet aside in the middle of Paul’s instructions to Timothy. After speaking about leadership, discipline, and purity, Paul suddenly gives a very personal piece of advice. Take a little…
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Who Is Really on the Throne — 1 Timothy 2:2
1 Timothy 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Paul tells Timothy to pray for kings and all who are in authority. That would have sounded strange in his day. The emperor was not sympathetic to Christians. Rome…
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Closed Doors, Open Rivers – Philippians 1:2–5
Philippians 1:2–5 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Paul writes with joy. But that…
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The Wheel You Do Not Control – Ephesians 1:11
There are seasons when life feels exactly like that wheel. You are spinning. Pressed. Reshaped. Nothing feels stable.
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The Bird That Forgets
In Job 39 the Lord describes the ostrich in striking terms. She lays her eggs in the dirt. She warms them in the dust. And it reads almost like this: she forgets where she put them.