Maybe you feel like you have nothing to offer God. Maybe you look at all the mistakes you’ve made or people you’ve hurt and think God couldn’t possibly use you. Or maybe you think that you are just too messed up, too broken for God to fix. That’s probably how…

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Can Joseph possibly be right? He had been enslaved for thirteen years. He had been falsely accused and imprisoned for two years. Could God somehow have meant all those terrible things to happen to him? In a word, yes….

Why did God have to tell Jacob not to be afraid to go down to Egypt? After all, he was about to receive the greatest blessing he could imagine – to see his long-lost son Joseph again. So, why would he be afraid to experience something so joyful? Well, isn’t…

Bible Reading for January 27 – Genesis 43-45 So, what does repentance look like in real life? We need look no further than the example Judah gives in today’s passage. Remember, he had been the ringleader, the one who suggested that his brothers sell Joseph into slavery so many years…

Why did Joseph continue to serve God? And why would he want to help his captors? By the time he appeared before Pharaoh, he had been held as a slave in Egypt for 13 years. And he had spent two years in prison, falsely accused of rape because he had…

Have you ever gotten in trouble because you tried to do the right thing? Joseph certainly did. Far from remaining the bratty, tattletale little brother that his brothers sold into slavery, he seems to have been chastened by his experience, becoming a responsible, respected manager (39:4). Even though he was…

It’s hard to imagine a family more divided. Jacob learned nothing from his own father’s preference of his older brother Esau, but repeated the same error by making Joseph his favorite (v. 3). Jacob’s other 11 sons naturally resented Joseph, especially when their father lavished Joseph with special gifts (v….

Have you ever wrestled with God? Job did, as he kept on crying out for justice. He knew that only God could vindicate him, so he wouldn’t stop praying, begging God to explain why he was suffering so much. That seems to be the same sort of thing Jacob was…

What a mess. Jacob had been a trickster all his life, and now he had met his match. He wanted to marry Rachel, the woman he loved (Genesis 29:18), but his father-in-law had tricked him into marrying Rachel’s sister Leah as well (Genesis 29:23-25). Oh, and Laban also got Jacob…

God made an unconditional promise to Jacob. In fact, God repeated the two great promises He had made to Abraham and then to Isaac – promises that Jacob would have many descendants, and that they would indeed inherit the land (Genesis 28:13-14). Moreover, God promised to protect Jacob personally, and…