Genesis 50: 1-3 ~ Father's Day ~ Joseph fell on his father's face

Art by Alma Tadem

Genesis 50

Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. 

4 And when the days of weeping for him were past,

Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.” Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return.’” 6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

Burial of Jacob, painted by Tissot

11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim;[a] it is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17 ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own.   24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Sarcophogus and Goshen


This particular biblical family has been through a lot. They live in tents in land that is theirs' by God's promise. They have cheated a brother from his family. They have lied to Jacob. Joseph is an excellent servant of God and Egypt because he is not a without knowledge of hardship for the Pharoah and for the people of Egypt.

We would love to read this passage in Father's Day. This passage is about renewal. Joseph has brought his family out of poverty and out of the Philistine lands and into abundance. It seems tragic Joseph looses Jacob so soon. Lest we should forget:

Matthew 22:29, 32

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, " I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

Hosea 3:5

Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His blessings in the last days.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 

15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Romans 6

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.

Thank You, Abba

Father,

the rain

has Majestically

Abated in Houston area.

Your Glory

Thank You

We PRAY

for Your Mercy as

Tropical Storm Arthur

departs

and will quit.

We pray for Safety.

And Recovery.

Your Glory.

So many times

we all think and sometimes

pray

for more Heaven on earth

and God's good will be done.

And we must be the Heaven

and we must be the Light

Dwell in me

Dwell in those I love

Dwell in those I pray for 

To seek God first

Help us to see more Heaven on earth

Help us to be more Heaven on earth

And we will finish well

in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

John 21

Thank you, Jesus our Lord Christ

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You, Jesus

Psalm 95 ~ The Rock of our Salvation

 

Psalm 95

 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord

Let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our Salvation!

Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!

3 For the Lord is a great God,

 and 

a great King above all gods.

In His Hand are the depths of the earth;

The heights of the mountains

 are His also.

5 The sea is His, 

for 

He made it,

    and 

His Hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord, 

our Maker!

For He is our God,

 and 

we are the people of His Pasture,

 and 

the sheep of His Hand.

Today, if you hear His Voice,

Do not harden your hearts

as at Meribah,

 as on the day at Massah 

in the wilderness

When your fathers put Me to the test

 and 

put Me to the proof, 

though 

they had seen 

My Work.

For forty years I loathed that generation

    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,

 and they have not known my ways.”

11 Therefore I swore in My wrath,

 “They shall not 

enter 

My rest.”

  

We all need a little rest. When we were in Hoonah, Alaska, the first time, we had the opportunity to ride some of the mountains with one of the clan elected leaders.  He told us quite a bit about the entrepreneurship of one teenager wanting to bring in a Utah zipline.  And the two began a campaign. A very good campaign.

The old four clans combined to be the Huna Tlingit people on Chichagof Island,  which is 30 miles west of Juneau, across the Alaskan Inside Passage.  Chichagof Island is the 109th-largest island in the world and the 5th-largest island in the U.S. The population is 931. The day we went, it had just increased by 2 births, and, indeed, the Clan people all know each other by name.  Tongass National Forest borders the area and has an unpaved road system of over 300 miles of incredibly sized trees. Views of the smaller islands. Beautiful ponds dot all the mountains and valleys. 

This was a day Psalm 95 began suddenly to rise up in me and live in my heart. The vista, the town, the Tribe compete for a glimpse of Heaven.  Living in the rain forest, the people like the quiet of the clouds. Sunny days are somewhat few and they sometimes miss the clouds on those days.

We arrived at the top of the mountain, and I asked our guide if we could just listen to the quiet.  He said this surprised him because usually there are many questions on botany medicine and trees, all kinds of questions on the land, sea, and wildlife. I said I live in the city surrounded by traffic noise, car noise, electronics all making noise and with television, ceiling fans. There is usually and almost always sound. Let's listen to God's quietness in His earth.  Before we began, our clan leader guide asked, "Like Prayer."  Yes.  And we stood and listened. No one had a dry eye after a few minutes.   We ended this perfection as someone said, Thank You. And then, we all did.

We know the Glory of God within. 

We accept no less. 

Thank God.

Abba, Father,

We ask Jesus Christ may dwell in our hearts 

through 

faith

We ask to be rooted and grounded in love

and 

have strength to comprehend with all 

what is the breadth and length and height and depth

of Your Love.

To know 

the love of Christ 

surpassing all the books ever written 

fully know

We are filled with all the fullness of God

Your Promises,

Father,

Are Sure

Dwell in us, please, Father.

In Jesus Christ, only, call us

as His saved child.

Wash us white as snow.

In Your Love and Mercy,

we Rejoice!

Dwell in those we Love.

Help us 

to seek You first.

In Jesus Christ, we will finish well.

We walked through God's 

Hoonah gift

and the 1st time we heard whales breech

multiple times.

The next time, I heard the whale at least 3 times,

Edward is so much taller than I am

and he saw the whale through the forest.

I heard the power of the breath

and the tremendous movement of the water.

Leviathan.

To be

more Heaven today

to see more Heaven 

today

Thy Kingdom come

Thy will be done

on earth

as it is

in Heaven. 

And the June birth

of our

first Grandchild.

Jesus Christ, please,

Your blessings of

Health, Peace,

Wisdom

and Prosperity

for His Glory!

In Jesus Christ

is

Our 

Love, Joy and Hope.

ALLELUIA
AND
AMEN IN JESUS CHRIST

In Jesus Christ,

we live and move and

have our being.

Amen!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Yes, The Lord Fulfills His Purpose

Thank You, Jesus

†

Ephesians 1 ~ He chose us

 

Ephesians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.



15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Verse 15 to 21 is One Entire Sentence.

Why? Paul is completely taken up with the Extraordinary Plan of Jesus Christ.

Paul has a lot of insight.

Paul says his generation is the first to Hope in Christ to the Praise of His Glory.

Verse 15 to 21 is the most heartwarming run on sentence in the History of All Things.
As Paul considers the amazing blessing of being given Life Forever - Paul is recorded in every and all of his Books - to show so much love for the people he explains Jesus. This Love spills out and Paul just has to testify and raise his voice to explain how lavish is God's Love for the people He has named and called His Children. Everything Paul touches to explain - dissolves into Love.

Paul loves the people in front of the Unknown God Statue.

Paul loves Priscilla and Aquila as they make tents and speak of Jesus.

Paul loves Titus. Paul loves the people he prays for. Paul calls Timothy his son.

And all this Love is for the Praise of God's Glory. Paul says he has learned to be happy in good circumstances and bad situations. Paul anticipates today will have Blessings. Paul is certain in God good circumstances will be seen again. Paul wrote this suffering will not compare to the Glory to arrive. Paul can remember overcoming shipwrecks and bitten by snakes and Lived to Enjoy Overcoming.

When you talk to Christians, they smile about uncertain circumstances because we agree there is more Hidden Goodness than any of us anticipated. We have Hope. And this is a little of being blessed in the misfortunes we all gasp to think might land upon us in the Beatitudes. Rarely does someone say, "And the Blessings of the Beatitudes Be Upon You!" Jesus is not recorded as having said that. Thank God.

Jesus always, as God, says something more rich and enduring. Forgiveness, Healing and Heaven have Arrived!!! We are reassured knowing Jesus knew where every single person was He set out to find.

In being Zacchaeus, we Know Jesus Knows right where we are. Today.




We are able to give God a gift He has not given us.
We can be slow speaking, quick hearing and slow down when in anger. Meek. Solomon had another word for this - "Wise". We can be Merciful. And obtain many more pathways leading to the fulfillment of being with Father God. We can be Merciful and show our gratitude to what and whom God has given us. Gratitude. Peacemakers are assured they will see Father God - assuring us this - Peacemakers are Children of God and Therefore Invited Before God Himself. His Written Word has issued the invitation to - you.

Abba, Father,

Cover us in all weathers and all seasons, that we will grow in Hope, Faith and Love.

In Your Goodness, Righteousness and Mercy. 

We will rejoice as we see prayers answered.

Knowing with gratitude, these Gifts come from Your Love. 

Thank You, Father God and Your Son, Jesus.

We are praying for Tropical Storm Arthur to be

healed.

We give all our cares to You and say Your Will is Good for our lives. 

Praying for Edward's eye seeing today from

the second retina 8 week recovery surgery.

We trust in You and fling ourselves, 

the ones we love, 

the people You give us and this Nation in Your Goodness. 

The Nations trusting in You

and More Heaven on earth as the Children of God cover 

His creation in expectant Prayer.

His Blessings of Peace

Dwell in me

Dwell in those I love

Dwell in those I pray for 

To seek God first

Help us to see more Heaven on earth

Help us to be more Heaven on earth

And we will finish well

in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Jezreel Valley, Israel

John 21

Thank you, Jesus our Lord Christ

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You, Jesus