TUESDAY, September 23rd, 2008

Hey everyone! I am glad so many of you were on yesterday. There were several of our regular faithful attenders who did not get on though. WHAT IS THE DEAL? We go to disney and then you stop doing the devos? :) J/K! Just stay faithful!

Genesis 41

1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
2 Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow.
3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.
4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.
5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good.
6 Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.
7 And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.
8 Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: “I remember my faults this day.
10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker,
11 we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12 Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
13 And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it.”
16 So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river.
18 Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow.
19 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt.
20 And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.
21 When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke.
22 Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good.
23 Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.
24 And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:
26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one.
27 And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.
28 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt;
30 but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land.
31 So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe.
32 And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33 “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years.
35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

This is such a neat story. I am sure almost all of you are familiar with it, so lets take some time and look for new ideas about it.

First of all I thought: Why did God wait two years, while Joseph was in prison before He gave Pharaoh a dream... I mean, if God would have given Pharaoh the dream right at the beginning, then the story could have stilled worked out fine...

Well, I know that God is in control and I know that God says that "all things work together for good". so if I know both of those tihngs then I must also acknowledge that evewn though Joseph was sitting in prison, God had a plan.

Sometimes we seem to be going through a difficult time, but we too must remember that God has a plan.

Next I saw how Joseph gave all the credit to God for his accomplishments. That is true, God was the one to give Joseph the ability to interpret dreams, but if Joseph were more like many of us He would have started thinking that he can interpret dreams because he is talented, skillfull and special. NOPE! God is the one in charge who gave Joseph the ability to do those things.

God is also the one that gives you the ability to do well in school, to sing, to play an instrument, even the giver of coordination so that you can beat me in video games. All of these things are not because of how great we are... but they are because of how great HE IS!!!!

Thank you God for giving us many blessings, and many abilities! Help us to use those abilities for YOUR GLORY!!! NOT OURS!!