MONDAY
1 Pet. 3:17 – ‘It is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.’ Joseph (not his real name) was the model of a trusted military officer, rising in his nation’s army to the rank of colonel in the Special Forces. With this came great opportunity, both for good and bad. Deployed into a region racked with drug trafficking, Joseph was intent on bringing justice to that plagued area. He and his troops began dealing with the criminals to protect the people. Some of his superiors, who were corrupt and took bribes from the drug runners, ordered him to turn his head to let them move their drugs. He repeatedly refused until he was finally arrested and imprisoned for 8 years – for doing good. Sadly, we live in a world where at times doing good brings suffering. This was true for Joseph; his payment for serving his people was unjust imprisonment. The apostle Peter, having been jailed for doing good, understood that kind of heartache. He gave us this perspective: ‘It is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.’ (1 Pet. 3:17). As Joseph shared the stories of what God taught him in prison, I learned that the justice of God is not hampered by the evil of men. Doing good is still pleasing in His sight – even when we’re mistreated by the world for it.
TUESDAY
Deut 4:40 – ‘Keep His statutes and His commandments…that it may go well with you and with your children after you.’ “God never threatens; the devil never warns,” declared Oswald Chambers. We sometimes use the word threat and warning interchangeably, but Chambers saw a principle that suggests a distinction. Threats are used to get people to do what is in our best interest. Warnings are issued to get people to do what is in their best interest. In other words, threats seek to preserve power whereas warnings serve to protect people from danger. Satan wants us to think of God’s loving warnings as mean-spirited threats, but he is wrong. According to Chambers, ‘A Warning is a great arresting statement of God’s, inspired by His love and patience.’ The evidence of this is found in the many commands that are coupled with phrases like ‘that it may go well with you…’ (Deut 4:40). In loving relationships, people warn one another of the inevitable consequences of foolish behavior. In unhealthy relationships, people threaten one another with punishment if they fail to live up to unreasonable demands. As we interact with others, it’s good to consider the nature of our counsel and commands. Do we use ultimatums to preserve our own well-being? Or do we lovingly warn others to keep them from harm?
WEDNESDAY
Mt. 5:39 – ‘I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.’ The pastor of an inner-city church told his congregation, ‘Some people believe in ‘an eye for an eye’. But in this neighborhood, it’s two eyes for an eye. You can never even the score; you can only raise the stakes.’ The people the nodded in solemn understanding of the reality they faced each day. We’ve seen it happen on a school playground or in our own homes – a child bumps into another during a game. The one who was bumped pushes back and the shoving quickly grows into fight. It’s the process of retaliation and escalation in which each act of revenge exceeds the one that provoked it. In Matthew 5, Jesus tackled a number of key relational issues by raising the standard to the one that pleases God, ‘You have heard that it was said…but I tell you…’ His words about turning the other cheek, going the second mile, and giving to those who ask may sound as radical and unrealistic to us as they did to those who first heard them. Are we willing to ponder and pray about Jesus’ teaching? Are we ready to apply it when we are wronged at home, at work or at school? The cycle of escalation can be broken when a courageous, faith-filled person refuses to strike back
THURSDAY
Ps. 63:3 – ‘Because your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.’
In his book ‘Objects of His Affection’, Scotty Smith shares his journey of learning to personally experience the passionate love of God. As a young boy, he lost his mother suddenly in a car accident. Because of this, he closed off his wounded heart to others – including God. Several years later he received Jesus as his Savior and began to learn the truths about Christianity. Yet his relationship with the Lord in those days was, as he described, “side by side rather than face to face. Important, but not intimate.”
Do you ever feel that way? You talk to the Lord a little bit, read His words in the Bible, but don’t sense a passionate connection with Him like that expressed by the psalmist David in Ps. 63. Scotty suggests ways to overcome the obstacles to intimacy, from which we may glean these two ideas.
Live honestly. Open up to the Lord about the pain of your losses and admit your failures. And ponder and believe the Scripture about God’s character and His longing for you. Being close in a relationship takes time and effort – even when it’s with the Lord. As Scotty Smith says, ‘God pursues us in our relentlessness, receives us in our sinfulness, and holds us in our brokenness.’
FRIDAY
So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. And Joseph said to them, "What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?" Then Judah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord's slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found." But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father."Genesis 44:14-17
What kind of response do you think Joseph was looking for? He placed his cup into the pouch of his brother, Benjamin (the only brother that had the same mother). Did Joseph want to reveal his identity to Benjamin alone or was he testing the hearts of the brothers to see if they had changed after all of these years? Both Joseph and Benjamin were their father’s favorite children because they were born by the mother Jacob loved most. Favoritism does bring about jealousy, resentment and bitterness but the brothers were still responsible for their own behavior before God. After all these years, Joseph probably wondered what his other brothers thought of their actions in selling him. Did they regret it? Would they do it again? Were they treating Benjamin the same way?
Now, God has given Joseph the upper hand and patiently and wisely tested them to discern what was in their hearts. Judah said, “God has found out the iniquity of your servants.” In other words, he was acknowledging that the brothers deserve to be treated as slaves for the sin they had been hiding all these years in selling Joseph as a slave.
What goes around, comes around… We truly do reap what we sow and these boys knew it first hand. God is willing to forgive and we find Joseph acting like the God he trusts in.
God tests our hearts because He wants us to know what is in them. He is so gracious to forgive if we are willing to confess.
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