Communal Devotion
I started this whole blog thing earlier this year with no particular goal, just to put thoughts down. This year, our church is asking the whole body to follow the same Bible reading plan. I think this is great. It fosters discipline and builds community, two things that are so seriously lacking in Christianity. So I was thinking, what if we all read the same Scriptures and then blogged about it together? We could exchange ideas regularly, encourage each other, offer suggestions, maybe even expose ourselves a little and receive healing. An army needs to think and act as one. What a great way to build oneness – everyone read the same Manual at the same time and discuss it together. I haven’t talked to anyone else about this, but I am going to. I don’t know if it would be best as a blog, an online journal, or a cyber group; I’ll have to look into that. But I think a lot of good can come out of communal devotion.
So here are my 2 cents for the day. I was reading Genesis 45 as part of the plan and Joseph make a very interesting statement in verse 8: “So then, it was not you who sent me here but God.” Joseph as the 2nd most important in Egypt had just revealed himself to his brothers. He is forgiving them for the wrongs they have done him. In fact, he is not even calling what they did wrong. Of course it was, but he is looking at things from God’s vantage point. God uses and even orchestrates circumstances to get us where He can use us. Slavery and prison was what God did to him, not his evil brothers. God’s divine purposes sometimes rise up out of the muck and mire of our lives. So in the end, isn’t the muck and mire part of his plan as well? God sent us into it, and it is for good (Gen. 50:20). Not necessarily for our good either – I think we must get away from this idea that God is out to fulfill all my wishes and make my life grand and glorious, etc. He meant it for the good of the world in Joseph’s case – even the unbelieving Egyptians. God’s primary concern was not for Joseph to have health and wealth, but to preserve his people the Israelites.
God’s plan, even the crappy parts, is for his glory. Yeah, I do believe it is for our good – to grow us into mature Jesus followers, but his version of “for our good” may not be the same as our version. And ultimately, He wants to use us to build his kingdom.
So here are my 2 cents for the day. I was reading Genesis 45 as part of the plan and Joseph make a very interesting statement in verse 8: “So then, it was not you who sent me here but God.” Joseph as the 2nd most important in Egypt had just revealed himself to his brothers. He is forgiving them for the wrongs they have done him. In fact, he is not even calling what they did wrong. Of course it was, but he is looking at things from God’s vantage point. God uses and even orchestrates circumstances to get us where He can use us. Slavery and prison was what God did to him, not his evil brothers. God’s divine purposes sometimes rise up out of the muck and mire of our lives. So in the end, isn’t the muck and mire part of his plan as well? God sent us into it, and it is for good (Gen. 50:20). Not necessarily for our good either – I think we must get away from this idea that God is out to fulfill all my wishes and make my life grand and glorious, etc. He meant it for the good of the world in Joseph’s case – even the unbelieving Egyptians. God’s primary concern was not for Joseph to have health and wealth, but to preserve his people the Israelites.
God’s plan, even the crappy parts, is for his glory. Yeah, I do believe it is for our good – to grow us into mature Jesus followers, but his version of “for our good” may not be the same as our version. And ultimately, He wants to use us to build his kingdom.
posted by brian | 1:45 PM
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