From Gary... The heart of the matter

Don't bother looking- there is no "heart" key! As surely as I can say this, I am also sure that a few (and perhaps more than a few) will look anyway.  And NO, THIS POST HAS NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH VALENTINE'S DAY! However, the heart is the subject of today's thoughts and therefore the picture is VERY IMPORTANT!! Jesus spoke a lot of parables and I like the following one because behind all the words, it asks the question: What is your heart like?

Luke, Chapter 6 (WEB)

 39  He spoke a parable to them. “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit?   40  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.   41  Why do you see the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?   42  Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye.   43  For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that produces good fruit.   44  For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don’t gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.   45  The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

Getting right with God will be invaluable in doing right to both God and your brother. Do yourself a favor; don't assume you're OK if you haven't thought about it lately. Sin is extremely deceitful and can creep into your life without you realizing it. So, be right and do right. And after all, isn't that the key to everything?

From Gary... Bible Reading February 12, 13, 14

Bible Reading 

February 12, 13, 14

The World English Bible

Feb. 12

Genesis 43

Gen 43:1 The famine was severe in the land.

Gen 43:2 It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food."

Gen 43:3 Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'

Gen 43:4 If you'll send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy you food,

Gen 43:5 but if you'll not send him, we'll not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.' "

Gen 43:6 Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?"

Gen 43:7 They said, "The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down?' "

Gen 43:8 Judah said to Israel, his father, "Send the boy with me, and we'll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.

Gen 43:9 I'll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don't bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,

Gen 43:10 for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now."

Gen 43:11 Their father, Israel, said to them, "If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;

Gen 43:12 and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

Gen 43:13 Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man.

Gen 43:14 May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."

Gen 43:15 The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Gen 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and make ready; for the men will dine with me at noon."

Gen 43:17 The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph's house.

Gen 43:18 The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we're brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys."

Gen 43:19 They came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,

Gen 43:20 and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.

Gen 43:21 When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand.

Gen 43:22 We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don't know who put our money in our sacks."

Gen 43:23 He said, "Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money." He brought Simeon out to them.

Gen 43:24 The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder.

Gen 43:25 They made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

Gen 43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth.

Gen 43:27 He asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?"

Gen 43:28 They said, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." They bowed the head, and did homage.

Gen 43:29 He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" He said, "God be gracious to you, my son."

Gen 43:30 Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there.

Gen 43:31 He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, "Serve the meal."

Gen 43:32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don't eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Gen 43:33 They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another.

Gen 43:34 He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

Feb. 13

Genesis 44

Gen 44:1 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.

Gen 44:2 Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

Gen 44:4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, 'Why have you rewarded evil for good?

Gen 44:5 Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.' "

Gen 44:6 He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.

Gen 44:7 They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!

Gen 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house?

Gen 44:9 With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants."

Gen 44:10 He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless."

Gen 44:11 Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the ground, and every man opened his sack.

Gen 44:12 He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Gen 44:13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

Gen 44:14 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.

Gen 44:15 Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"

Gen 44:16 Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."

Gen 44:17 He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."

Gen 44:18 Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.

Gen 44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'

Gen 44:20 We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.'

Gen 44:21 You said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.'

Gen 44:22 We said to my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'

Gen 44:23 You said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.'

Gen 44:24 It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

Gen 44:25 Our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.'

Gen 44:26 We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.'

Gen 44:27 Your servant, my father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons:

Gen 44:28 and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.

Gen 44:29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'

Gen 44:30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy's life;

Gen 44:31 it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.

Gen 44:32 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.'

Gen 44:33 Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers.

Gen 44:34 For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father."

Feb. 14

Genesis 45

Gen 45:1 Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

Gen 45:2 He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

Gen 45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?" His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.

Gen 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

Gen 45:5 Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Gen 45:6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

Gen 45:7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.

Gen 45:8 So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Gen 45:9 Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait.

Gen 45:10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

Gen 45:11 There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have." '

Gen 45:12 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.

Gen 45:13 You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here."

Gen 45:14 He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

Gen 45:15 He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

Gen 45:16 The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

Gen 45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan.

Gen 45:18 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.'

Gen 45:19 Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

Gen 45:20 Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."

Gen 45:21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

Gen 45:22 He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

Gen 45:23 To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.

Gen 45:24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way."

Gen 45:25 They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.

Gen 45:26 They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.

Gen 45:27 They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.

Gen 45:28 Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."

Feb. 12

Genesis 43

Gen 43:1 The famine was severe in the land.

Gen 43:2 It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food."

Gen 43:3 Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'

Gen 43:4 If you'll send our brother with us, we'll go down and buy you food,

Gen 43:5 but if you'll not send him, we'll not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.' "

Gen 43:6 Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?"

Gen 43:7 They said, "The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down?' "

Gen 43:8 Judah said to Israel, his father, "Send the boy with me, and we'll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.

Gen 43:9 I'll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don't bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,

Gen 43:10 for if we hadn't delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now."

Gen 43:11 Their father, Israel, said to them, "If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds;

Gen 43:12 and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.

Gen 43:13 Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man.

Gen 43:14 May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."

Gen 43:15 The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Gen 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and make ready; for the men will dine with me at noon."

Gen 43:17 The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph's house.

Gen 43:18 The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said, "Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we're brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and seize us as slaves, along with our donkeys."

Gen 43:19 They came near to the steward of Joseph's house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,

Gen 43:20 and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.

Gen 43:21 When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, every man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand.

Gen 43:22 We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don't know who put our money in our sacks."

Gen 43:23 He said, "Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money." He brought Simeon out to them.

Gen 43:24 The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder.

Gen 43:25 They made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

Gen 43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth.

Gen 43:27 He asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?"

Gen 43:28 They said, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." They bowed the head, and did homage.

Gen 43:29 He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" He said, "God be gracious to you, my son."

Gen 43:30 Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there.

Gen 43:31 He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, "Serve the meal."

Gen 43:32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don't eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

Gen 43:33 They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another.

Gen 43:34 He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

Feb. 13

Genesis 44

Gen 44:1 He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.

Gen 44:2 Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

Gen 44:3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

Gen 44:4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, 'Why have you rewarded evil for good?

Gen 44:5 Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.' "

Gen 44:6 He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.

Gen 44:7 They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!

Gen 44:8 Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house?

Gen 44:9 With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants."

Gen 44:10 He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless."

Gen 44:11 Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the ground, and every man opened his sack.

Gen 44:12 He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

Gen 44:13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

Gen 44:14 Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.

Gen 44:15 Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"

Gen 44:16 Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."

Gen 44:17 He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."

Gen 44:18 Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.

Gen 44:19 My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'

Gen 44:20 We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.'

Gen 44:21 You said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.'

Gen 44:22 We said to my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'

Gen 44:23 You said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.'

Gen 44:24 It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

Gen 44:25 Our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.'

Gen 44:26 We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.'

Gen 44:27 Your servant, my father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons:

Gen 44:28 and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.

Gen 44:29 If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'

Gen 44:30 Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy's life;

Gen 44:31 it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.

Gen 44:32 For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.'

Gen 44:33 Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers.

Gen 44:34 For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father."

Feb. 14

Genesis 45

Gen 45:1 Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

Gen 45:2 He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

Gen 45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?" His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.

Gen 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

Gen 45:5 Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Gen 45:6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

Gen 45:7 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.

Gen 45:8 So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Gen 45:9 Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait.

Gen 45:10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

Gen 45:11 There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have." '

Gen 45:12 Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.

Gen 45:13 You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here."

Gen 45:14 He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

Gen 45:15 He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

Gen 45:16 The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

Gen 45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan.

Gen 45:18 Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.'

Gen 45:19 Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

Gen 45:20 Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."

Gen 45:21 The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

Gen 45:22 He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.

Gen 45:23 To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.

Gen 45:24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way."

Gen 45:25 They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.

Gen 45:26 They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.

Gen 45:27 They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.

Gen 45:28 Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."

From Roy Davison... Are you an heir of God?

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/023-heirs.html

Are you an heir of God?

Will you receive “an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith”? (Acts 26:18).
An heir is someone who is entitled to a legacy because of a family relationship or a testament. Although an inheritance is a gift, a testament can require that certain conditions be met.
Some people imagine how grand it would be to inherit a fortune from some unknown, wealthy relative.
As they dream, they fail to realize that their heavenly Father has willed them a fortune worth more than all the world. “Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5).
This inheritance is received in the resurrection. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). This inheritance is an eternal kingdom where death will be no more.
There are conditions. They who live according to the flesh will not inherit the kingdom. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5). “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Only by the power of God and with the help of His Son, Jesus Christ, can we be restored to a close family relationship with the Father. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “Your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2).
Christ bore the punishment for our sins so we could be reconciled with the Father and receive the inheritance: “He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15). The New Testament grants the inheritance and states the conditions.
Christ told Paul to preach to the nations: “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:17, 18).
Only by faith in Christ can one become a child of God. Believers must be baptized into Christ to receive the inheritance. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
God saves us by grace through a rebirth at baptism. “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7).
We are reborn to an inheritance in heaven: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3, 4).
Through Christ we are freed from bondage to sin so we can be adopted into the family of God. “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:1-7).
To receive the inheritance, we must be led by the Spirit: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:14-17).
God leads us through His word: “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
To inherit eternal life we must love God: “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?'
So he answered and said, '“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”' And He said to him, 'You have answered rightly; do this and you will live'“ (Luke 10:25-28).
Keeping commandments is not enough. To inherit eternal life we must take up the cross and follow Christ: “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?' So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not bear false witness,” “Do not defraud,” “Honor your father and your mother.”' And he answered and said to Him, 'Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.' Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me'“ (Mark 10:17-21 // Luke 18:18-22).
Jesus promises blessings and eternal life to those who put Him first in their lives: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).
To inherit the kingdom we must do good: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me'“ (Matthew 25:34-40).
This inheritance is in Christ: “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:11-14). The Holy Spirit is a seal, a guarantee of our inheritance.
As we grow in the knowledge of Christ, we better understand how great this inheritance is. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would “know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).
The New Testament explains how you can be an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ. To receive the inheritance you must be rich in faith and you must love God will all your heart. Through the death of Christ your sins can be forgiven so you can be in the family of God. You must be baptized into Christ to become an heir. By the mercy of God through the washing of regeneration you are reborn to an incorruptible inheritance in heaven. To inherit eternal life, you must be led by the Spirit through the guidance of God's word. You must do good, keep God's commandments and follow Christ.
God gives this great promise: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Revelation 21:7).
Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

From Jim McGuiggan... CONSISTENT REALISM

CONSISTENT REALISM

Is there no one you'd die for? Gladly die for? Gladly die for in a heartbeat?

Every day in hamlets and villages and towns and huge cities there are people who are dying for those they love. Sometimes the death is sudden and violent but in the vast majority it is a longer dying process where lovers deprive them themselves to keep their beloved ones alive. They deny themselves sufficient food so that others might eat, deny themselves sleep so that others might rest and be cared for, deny themselves adequate clothing so that others might be warmed; they worry about others and are driven by love into lives that are a long crucifixion and into an early grave. 

They aren't few in number—they live and die in their multiplied millions; generation after generation. They wander cities looking for work, any kind of work, any hours, any conditions to get money to feed their young, their aged or their sick; together they wander the earth to to find a protected place for their families as they are presently doing in the great European Exodus. This great wandering will cease to be a gripping news item as it now is—and should be—but the daily, ceaseless, generation after generation self-giving that goes unheralded will still be going on.

It's those of us who are comfortable who view all this as “heroic” and that's no bad thing but those who live that way view it as inevitable. They love and while it's true that love sets free it's also true that love leaves them no choice. In their millions they don't have time or energy to think about how their lives are interpreted by the comfortable. To call them heroes because they love their beloved ones would make no sense to them—”And what else would we do?” they'd say.

The wonderful music of Paul Williams [by far my favorite song writer] has now gone out of style; it doesn't reflect the way the world actually sounds. The popular music is feverish, wild, loud, saturated with sensation that knows nothing of commitment, starkly taking without giving, pregnant with gutter speech and devoid of mystique and sneering at what it calls “sentimentalism”—it's realistic, we're told, and that is the central issue. So Williams' music is “old-fashioned” and [though he's anything but dead and forgotten] it's not in step with the grand drift of popular music. Maybe so, but “You & Me Against the World” is as realistic as songs about smash-and-grab sexual experiences; his “Loneliness” is as true to the human condition as any of the “we want it all and we want it now” songs and his “Flash” is as happy and true as any “curse society and everybody in it” productions.

The call to realism is no bad thing but if we're going to be realistic we need to be thoroughly realistic. The rape of a child by a morally-deranged father is a fact but so is the pure love of children—one is as real as the other! People trafficking is a heart-stopping reality but so is the life of someone like Toyohiko Kagawa, so are the tens of thousands of “Child Haven” enterprises in every major country. The brutal religions and their ruthless adherents who without apology promote and practice heartless violence are real but so is the faith that has Jesus Christ as its throbbing center. Realism will insist that there are hypocrites but consistent realism will insist that there are millions of the genuine. There's Hitler but there's Frank and Nini Lott; there's Pol Pot and Papa Doc but there's also a Toyohiko Kagawa. Realism must take into account the good as well as the evil. There's a Nero but there's also a Paul, there's a cross on which people are murdered but there's also a Jesus of Nazareth who dies on one of them.

It is a strange and complex world where a Jesus is murdered on a cross and the baleful Tiberius sits on a throne. It makes no sense to fasten our eyes on the spellbinding reality of Jesus Christ and deny the stupefying reality of the stake of torment he died on. Equally it makes no sense to ceaselessly note the instrument of torture and death and ignore the young man [who is God being a man] who hangs there. The NT will force us to look at the reality of corrupt and murderous authorities but it confronts us with the resurrected and glorified Jesus Christ who conquered them.

It insists he conquered them for the world, as one sufferer among the countless sufferers; he did it not simply for himself and to please the Holy Father, he did it for the entire human family and in doing it for us all he is the revelation of God.

We mustn’t speak the gospel as if God found it difficult to love us. Sinners love not only their own, they also love strangers and even enemies; are we to speak of God as though he finds it difficult to do what countless numbers of sinners  do? God calls his followers to love their own and the stranger and the enemy but has a hard time doing it himself?

A one-sided realism that denies or completely ignores the goodness in the world strips the world of glory and gallantry and makes it a place of unrelieved gloom, it promotes unyielding despair and calls nobody upward to brawl against the evil invisible force that moves like a plague or a starving parasite that feeds on the human family. But a one-sided realism can also produce sentimentalism that turns its blind eyes heavenward [as a blind person will sometimes do] to enjoy only “the sunny side of doubt” [Tennyson]
.

Tomorrow millions of Christians will gather to “participate in the body of Christ” as they Supper together. In this they will bear witness to [“proclaim”--1 Corinthians 11:26] the One who in himself and on the cross embodies the kind of realism Christians in their best moments embrace. Through him they know about suffering and death and, like him, they seek no exemption from those harsh realities but through him they know about the triumph of life and righteousness over death and evil.

As the NT teaches us, in a believer's baptism as they enter into union with the slain but resurrected Jesus Christ, the believers take into account the meaning and purpose of Christ's self-giving death and they say, “Dear God, count me in.” So it is as they gather and together they feed on the living Christ they also renew their covenant in and with him who said, “This is my blood of the new covenant” the believers again say, “Dear God count me in.”

This means that in his name and for his sake they will commit themselves to embody the Story they teach and sing and pray and reflect on and bear witness to. They will commit to being people who are part of a vast ocean of moral goodness but they will do that in his name, in the name of the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will be congregations of balanced realism and followers of the Holy One who in and as Jesus Christ is the one true realist.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com