S.O.A.P. June 4, 2017
June 4, 2017
Read: Genesis 44
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Scripture- Genesis 44:33-34- “So please, my lord, let me stay here as a slave instead of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. For how can I return to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see the anguish this would cause my father!”
Observations- Judah, who hatched the scheme to sell Joseph into slavery in the first place, now speaks of the pain that leaving Benjamin, now Jacob's youngest child, behind to serve Joseph. Years earlier he had only been able think about how much he wanted to be rid of Joseph, not about the pain this action would cause to his father. Joseph sees that Judah has changed as much as he has.
Application- I say it all of the time and it's always true: we can never have a better past. Whatever you've done wrong long ago or yesterday can be forgiven and redeemed by God. We aren't stuck repeating the same mistakes and sins over and over. There is hope in Christ for new life. We should experience pain and regret for negative past actions, but with God's help we can be transformed. Our past influences who you are today, but you are not stuck being who you used to be...in Christ.
Prayer- Lord, help me learn from my past in ways that help me draw closer to You. I want to see myself as I really was with clear eyes, but I also want to see myself the way You see me- as created in Your very own image. You declare me to be a new creation. I am Your child. You call me the light of the world! Bless me to live into the way You see me, in Jesus' name. Amen.
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37),
Pastor Jamie
