Category: Bible (Page 253 of 361)

I’ve been reading and thinking about spiritual gifts lately, as a result of a study we’re going through in our small group at church. Everyone is taking a spiritual gifts inventory test and we’ll discuss our results in a couple of weeks. It’s fascinating to ponder the idea that the Lord provides gifting in new ways to those who choose to commit to him.

Joseph (of the amazing technicolor dream coat) demonstrated two specific gifts. First, he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams about emaciated, carnivorous cows and violent wheat stalks. God calmed Pharaoh’s troubled mind with clarity about an impending famine, and Pharaoh immediately drafted Joseph to lead the preparations.

Here we see Joseph’s second spiritual gift in action: During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

Joseph demonstrated the gift of administration. The gift is described as bringing order out of chaos, focusing on the best possible utilization of available resources, formulating plans, framing policies and setting objectives. Sounds like Joseph as he managed the food supply of a nation headed into crisis.

The Lord previously blessed Joseph in Potiphar’s house and in an Egyptian prison, places where his organizational gifts emerged and strengthened. Turns out these challenging situations sharpened his skills for the major test on the horizon.

How in touch are you with your spiritual gifts? I’ll admit, I don’t think about them much. Joseph never took a spiritual gifts inventory, but the Lord clearly gifted him in the service of others. It’s worth some thought to consider how the Lord might do so in our lives as well.

Genesis 41 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Shalitha Dissanayaka

Late last night my wife and I and two fellow members of our church drove three vehicles out to Denver International Airport to pick up two families relocating to Colorado. These couples and their young children fled Afghanistan following the US withdrawal last year.

We tracked down errant luggage, schlepped bags to our cars, helped one of the husbands care for his air-sick wife, drove to their temporary housing and introduced them to aid workers. Sometime after midnight we headed home.

We are part of a larger team from our church who are working to resettle several Afghan families. Our church raised money during Advent to help with expenses, and we’ll soon (fingers crossed) move these families into apartments furnished by these offerings. Then we’ll help the men find jobs and begin English lessons for everyone—did I forget to mention that none of them speak English?

Over time, these young parents will get jobs, learn the language, raise their kids and hopefully prosper in this country. The team of folks from our church will be super helpful throughout the process. I pray these shell-shocked travelers might discover the love of Jesus through the caring work of our church community. Someday all that will sink in.

But for now, will you join me in praying for these newly arrived refugees? I can’t share their names or pictures, but they are two young married couples, with 4 children between them, including the youngest baby born here in the States. Pray also for our team, that we will demonstrate love and patience as we work together.

I can’t help but remember that Moses referred to himself as a stranger in the strange land (Exodus 2:22). Surely these young Afghans feel the same way, so perhaps we can ease their anxiety a bit as we welcome them into our (and their new) land.

Photo: Sgt. Samuel Ruiz/U.S. Marine Corps via AP, File

Simon, a man visiting Jerusalem from Cyrene, a city in Libya, happened across the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe, the wrong place at the right time.

The Roman soldiers parading Jesus through the streets forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus. Nothing in the text makes Simon look like a volunteer—he was pressed into service. I guess he looked big and strong and available. The soldiers carried swords and so Simon carried the cross.

What happened to Simon after his chore of bearing the cross for Jesus? Evidence points to Simon becoming a dedicated disciple. The gospel spread quickly to Cyrene—did Simon carry the news of the cross home with him?

Tradition holds that both his sons, Alexander and Rufus, became missionaries. Perhaps they watched the crucifixion with their father in Jerusalem? Or maybe the news of the resurrection overtook them on their way home to Cyrene, and they realized like the centurion, surely this man was the Son of God!

No matter the details, Jesus on his way to Golgotha shook their world, and these dedicated men carried his cross the rest of their lives.

Photo: Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene in The Greatest Story Ever Told

Often in one of the genealogies of the Bible you find a hidden gem. Along with lots of odd names (why doesn’t anyone name their kid Me-Zahab anymore?), glimpses of past lives peek from the soil.

Anah shot to fame because he discovered the hot springs in the desert. Any water source in the desert creates value, and apparently the story of Anah carried down generations. The author assumes the audience knew the reference.

Also interesting is the fact that he discovered the springs while grazing his father’s donkeys. Older translations use the term “mules” instead of donkeys, but since a mule is the offspring of a donkey and a horse, and no horses were thought to be present in that part of the world at that time, it’s doubtful he grazed mules. So, later translations use “donkeys.” Who knew so much detail and argumentation existed over a minuscule character in the biblical stories?

This anecdote about Anah, along with all the other names listed in the various genealogies in the Bible, remind me of the value of each and every person. So much breadth of life! Perhaps Anah explored new regions, or actively sought a fabled source of wealth, or merely dragged along behind the donkeys until they smelled water? We don’t know anything more about him, but we do know he warranted a line in scripture.

These lists of names represent faces and hopes and tragedies and triumphs and parents and children and lives lived into old age and lives cut short.

The Lord paid attention to each one of these fascinating people, just as he pays attention to me and you today.

Genesis 36 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Juli Kosolapova