Amen

And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?”
Then she said to him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ - 1 Kings 1: 16-17

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings: 1-2; Luke 19: 28-48

And Solomon did become the next king…

This is the same great and wise Solomon of the book of Proverbs. He was the second child of the Bathsheba; the woman with whom David began his fall into his biggest sins.

Once again, God turns a bad situation into a blessing, the lowest possible means into the greatest possible result. This theme occurs so much that it cries out for us to pay attention.

Joseph rises from slave to be second to Pharaoh. Gideon rises from cowardice to become a great judge of Israel. Ruth makes it through a rough situation as widow to be the forefather of David. A Young David slays the giant Goliath with a stone and sling.

It’s almost as if God enjoys defying all odds. He provides paths of victory through the impossible forests of fear and circumstance.

What is required of us is faith.

We may still be afraid. We may hesitate. We may linger at the crossroads of fate entirely too long. But once we decide to act in faith, we are asking God to move in our lives. We are granting permission for the impossible to be made possible.

So don’t worry if you come from a bad family, have a troubled past, don’t have money, education, or the resources that you need to achieve what you want to achieve.

If you have faith then no circumstance can stop you from getting where you are supposed to be.

God has already said yes, now He’s just waiting on us to say Amen.

So be it....

A Letter to Step Daddy Joseph

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2: 5-7

Hey Jo,

Man, when I read the words “and she gave birth to HER firstborn” I couldn’t help but to think about you; because when it comes down to it… Jesus is not your kin.

Honestly. I think you aren’t properly appreciated. There’s all this talk about Mary. And don’t get me wrong. Your boo was the illest… No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

But why aren’t you celebrated too? It’s kinda like the difference between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Mom gets flowers, breakfast in bed, all kinds of doting and attention. Pops gets a dusty tie.

Not cool.

But I’m here today to give you your props man. It must have been difficult to raise baby Jesus; and I can’t imagine adolescent Jesus. Jesus would go off, disappearing all willy nilly… good thing you knew to find him in the temple.

He always could give the priests a run for their money.

But you also taught him how to be a carpenter. You put food in his stomach, clothes on his back and sandals on his feet. You led the family to Egypt when Harod put out a hit on the boy. And most of all you had faith in your bride to be.

I don’t know many men who would believe that story. Your fiancé comes up to you and tells you that she’s preggers… And to add insult to injury she tells you that it’s God’s baby.

Say what!?

But God sent some help for you to understand and in the end you decided to trust her. And by trusting her you took on a daunting task. You accepted the responsibility of being Step Dad to the Son of God.

You should be celebrated. At least that’s my take on it. So I’m starting the celebration now.

Well done Step Daddy Joseph! You are an inspiration to us all.

Sincerely,

Clarence

Today’s Reading: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2: 1-24

Paying Dues

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. – Genesis 45: 4-7

Today’s Reading: Genesis 43-45; Matthew 12:24-50

The story of Joseph is one of purpose and paying dues. He starts off at the age of seventeen as a spoiled little rich kid with a fancy robe. He then becomes a slave. As a slave he transforms himself into the head of the household of Potiphar, an important man in Egyptian government. He is second in command of the household behind only Potiphar.

Then suddenly he is low again, this time as a prisoner for a crime that he did not commit. During his years in jail he transforms himself from prisoner to the head of all of the affairs in the prison. At this stage he is only second in command to the warden of the prison.

Then finally Pharaoh has a dream, the cupbearer remembers him, and he is presented to Pharaoh to interpret the dream. After interpreting the dream and suggesting a course of action Pharaoh makes him second in command over the entire country and gives him the task of executing that course of action. He is responsible for getting Egypt and its people through the seven years of famine.

Then finally, two years into the famine, Joseph is thirty-nine years old. He sees his brothers before him, bowing to him, humbly asking for the right to purchase grain. The dream that he saw as an insufferable seventeen year old kid has come true, but not nearly how that kid probably imagined it. The result of his suffering is that his family will survive the famine, so that the promise that God made to great grandfather Abraham would come to pass.

That’s heavy.

There are a couple of interesting things here in this story.

First of all… Joseph paid some serious dues. From the age of seventeen to thirty Joseph racked up constant experience in the business of governing and politics. He successfully navigated is ascension in Potiphar’s house. Then when Potiphar’s wife unexpectedly hollered at Jo he successfully rose to the top of the world he occupied as a convict. He was essentially running the whole place.

Here is this theme again of God turning lemons into lemonade. Slavery and jail… both are quite tart and sour.

The second thing is purpose. All of this experience paid off when the Pharaoh had his dreams. Joseph was prepared to lead when no one else could lead. He had the leadership skills to provide for nutritional security of an empire. And with Egypt healthy, Joseph’s father, brothers, and family were secure.

Maybe right now as you are reading this you are in a dead end job or unemployed or have lost a loved one or in some other life situation that is troubling. Maybe you don’t see a purpose in what is going on in your life.

I don’t claim to know what the purpose of those things are any more than I would claim to know if there was a purpose at all in Potiphar’s wife getting Joseph thrown in jail. I’m sure that had Joseph not been in that predicament God would have found another way for his gift of understanding dreams to get to the ears of the Pharaoh.

And that’s just it. When things happen that seem to be bad, they may in fact be the path to the next blessing for our lives. We just have to do what Joseph did. We need to do the best with what we have every single day and keep reaching, striving and growing.

Then, let God work those fancy miracles that He’s been working since the beginning. We just have to believe that God will in fact turn those lemons to lemonade and use that faith to fuel our work for those times where we can’t see the finish line.

Just because we can’t see the next blessing, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It may be just around the corner.

The Golden Globes

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." - Genesis 41: 15-16




Today’s Reading: Genesis 41-42; Matthew 12: 1-23

This has been a movie weekend for me. I did end up seeing Book of Eli. I thought it was really dope and will definitely see it again. I also saw The Hurt Locker and Jennifer’s Body courtesy of my roommate’s netflix. The former deserves all of the accolades it has received. It is an incredible film. The later is one of the worst wastes of two hours of my life that I have ever spent.

After watching the movies we watched some of the Golden Globes and then I started my reading and came across the scripture above.

Have you ever seen an awards show and been confused when an actor or athlete talked about how all of the credit goes to God for them getting the award or winning that championship?

I know that I have been. I used to think it was so dumb. I didn’t get it at all. Here are some logical questions in response:

So what about the losers, God wasn’t with them?

What makes you so special?

Does God really care about your little game or movie?

Through the course of this year the Bible will actually touch on all three of those questions but none of them really apply here. And even so, they wouldn’t get to the bottom of what is meant when someone thanks God in this scenario.

Above, Joseph is asked by Pharaoh to decipher two dreams. This scripture is important as an example of how many Christians view their relationship with God.

Usually when we see a person achieve an award or doing some fabulous or remarkable thing that makes the world take notice we heap all kinds of praise upon them. What we don’t see is the years and years of days filled with hours of hard work dedicated to their craft. We don’t see the miraculous “breaks” that happened where these people met the right person or were some how present at the right place at the right time. We don’t see all of the hardships that they had to overcome. We don’t see how insurmountable the obstacles were or how perilous the journey was.

All we see is them at that podium, on top of the world, talking about some God.

But that person standing on that podium did see all of those things. They walked the path and every day dedicated themselves to fighting the good fight that led them to where they are.

For those people who stand up on the podium and thank God, it has nothing to do with the other contestants. They are thanking God for being the only other being there with them each and every step of the way. They are thanking God for giving them the energy to go on when they were weak, the extra measure of faith when they wanted to quit, for opening doors where there only seemed to be walls, for arranging those chance meetings, and for helping them to stay strong, and do the work that was necessary for them to be prepared to take advantage of those big breaks when they came.

Some may call these people lucky. They just so happened to have things fall into place randomly when others didn’t.

But for the person who stands at the podium with the award and thanks God, their faith allows them to see God’s hand in these chance events. They see their lives as the result of some hard work fueled by God mixed in with a series of miracles magically conducted by God.

For them, it is all about God. God gets all of the glory.

So next time you see someone thank God for an award or for getting them where they have come in life think twice before dismissing this notion. After all, they are the ones standing on that podium.

Perhaps there is something to what they are saying…

Here is some bonus reading on this topic.

Retreat!

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he refused… And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. Genesis 39:6-12




Today's Reading: Genesis 39-40; Matthew 11




The homies and I went to Hollywood Saturday night for a friend’s event but we showed up way too late with way too many dudes. After a more than gracious attempt by her and the host of the event we still couldn’t get everyone in so we left and started walking around.


Suddenly we found ourselves face to face with a Popeye’s chicken.


Mmmhhmmm…


At the beginning of the month my friends and I decided to engage in a 90 day fitness challenge. We set goals for ourselves and shared them with each other as a way to stay motivated to take our fitness to the next level. However, a couple of my friends were all about getting that chicken so we walked inside.


The door opened and we were flooded with a wave of sweet, delicious aroma; the likes of which could only have its origins in a delicate mixture of hot oil, questionably fresh chicken, and secret Louisiana spices. I was weak at first but somehow held strong; sitting in a booth fifteen yards away from the cash registers with my back to the object of my temptation.


After a few minutes I turned to look at the battlefield. I saw three casualties at the register with their wallets out and big smiles on their faces.


Then I saw Kieran. He was several steps back from the carnage, held up in the trenches but looking over the edge with a contemplative glaze over his eyes. He was within range of the enemy gunfire. I had to act.


I got up, risking defeat by the tasty wings and thighs, and reached out with all my will power and grabbed him by the shoulder.


“You don’t want any of that man” I said.


“You’re right.”


We both walked away from the battle, wounded, but still in tact. It was a tough ordeal.


Joseph’s situation was just a tad tougher to deal with… but it is interesting because it is so incredibly real and relevant to today’s world.


Joseph has now been sold into slavery and grown into a smart, responsible “well-built and handsome” young man. Most women like those traits in a man and so does Potiphar’s wife.


Some time ago my Stepdad told me that the worst thing that could happen to a woman at work is for her boss to develop a crush on her. She has two choices: date him or quit.


Neither of those choice are a good look.


Joseph’s situation is much worse. Given that this woman is married to his OWNER, Joseph doesn’t have many options here. He can either run, or run.


That’s about it.


He starts off by making sure that he is never “with her”. I take that to mean that he was dodging her around the house; making sure to never be alone with her.


Smart man.


Then she corners him and grabs his cloak! And he leaves it with her!


That’s hilarious. Think about the imagery here. She grabs his robe and he straight slips out of it. I imagine a cartoon puff of smoke in his wake like the old roadrunner and coyote cartoons. What did he have on underneath? A loin cloth? Was he going commando?


Yikes.


He did what he had to do; not only to get away, but to avoid violating the spiritual and moral code he set for his life.

The moral here… sometimes you gotta run.

When you have a bad habit or a bad situation that you are dealing with the best first option is to make sure that you don’t put yourself in the same space with it. But sometimes life isn’t that easy. Sometimes your coworker hands you cigarette, or your friend buys you a drink, or that bad situation all of the sudden seems to have you backed into a corner. When you sense that temptation is about to get the best of you it is better to walk or even run away than to break down and compromise the righteous path.

Yes, we all make mistakes and can be forgiven for them. But, life is much easier if we do all that we can to avoid them. This may sound silly now, but I hope that when your “Potiphar’s wife” comes and grabs your cloak; you have the wherewithal to kick up some dust and sprint your way out of trouble.

Easier said than done

Protect your Dreams

Today's Reading: Genesis 36-38; Matthew 10: 21-42

"Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it."

His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said." - Genesis 37: 5-8


Introducing Joseph…


The insufferable, arrogant, spoiled kid Joseph.


In the beginning of this chapter we see Joseph as the favored son wearing his technicolor dream coat and snitchin’ on this brothers while playing overseer.
Not a very likeable guy at this point.


But there is something that that I once heard a pastor say about this message: we have to be careful about who we share our dreams with.
Ok I know, we don’t all have dreams about our brothers bowing to us in worship but this is an important lesson to learn. Have you ever told someone about a goal that you want to achieve, or a dream that you have held close to your heart? And when you spoke about said dream, did you ever have anyone play the naysayer role?


Clearly I’m not talking about the time that you shared with your friend that you always dreamed of robbing a bank or being a high class call girl, or trying out for American Idol when you sing like this guy. The great people in our lives will clearly try to smash out any ideas that will hurt us in the long run.


But what about when you told that naysayer about that dream you had of writing a book, or starting a business or traveling the world? All they could come up with were the risks and reasons why you shouldn’t pursue it. They didn’t help you brainstorm a plan of action or strategy for you to walk that path with grace. They didn’t encourage you to find a way.


It’s not necessarily that these kinds of people don’t love you. On the contrary they probably think that their input is an expression of their love.


Sometimes the people around us that seem to want the best for us may have a problem when we become active dreamers. Maybe it is because things aren’t going so well for them in their lives. Maybe they have some kind of deep seeded competitive nature they are unaware of that makes them compare themselves with you. Or maybe it is that they had a dream that they went for and failed and don’t want you to experience the same pain. Or even worse, they never went for it at all.


It could be many different things.


But it’s important to share your dreams with the right people. These are the same people who are there for you when you are down AND are there to celebrate with you when you are up. These are the people who believe in dreams for themselves and others; who will help you achieve them and celebrate with you when you do. They will be honest when things don’t seem right, not because they are trying to hurt you, but because they want to help you to be the best you can be in pursuit of that dream.

You may not have anyone in your life like this now. That’s tough, but it’s ok. Look for other people who have done what you want to do an connect with them. Find a mentor. Make new friends. Or even keep the dream to yourself if you have to.

Our dreams are precious. Protect it at all costs. Expose them to the refining fire of loving, and faithful people who will share in your enthusiasm to make the dream come true. Keep them from the consuming plague of folk who may have a hard time with reaching a place of true joy and happiness.

It may seem like it is hard to know who is who, but as we grow in our faith to live the life of a dreamer, those around us will make it crystal clear which camp they are in.

We just have to keep our eyes open.