Genesis - a book of beginnings with an almost happy ending (though not quite the one I would have written)!!

Attitude is Everything!

Times of Abundance. They fortify us when the going gets rough. Occasionally though,

It’s a MEAGER stretch that prepares us for a FULL one….

It was neither fear inspired by an exacting master nor devotion merited by a particularly kind one that lay behind Joseph's refusal to sleep with Potipher's wife. Joseph was loyal to Potipher - because he was loyal to GOD.

How often am I guilty of assuming more grace than I extend?

Seeing what’s wrong with other people must be one of the easiest things in the world. What's not at all easy is confronting the wrong within ourselves.

For three years, I had all the attention; then Karen came along. My jealous episodes ranged from a potty chair being thrown at visiting relatives to a certain intruding baby getting bopped over the head with one of my white “go-go” boots! Let’s not even talk about the time I hid Karen in a closet - where she fell asleep and I went happily about life!

Jealous toddlers provide some funny moments. As we outgrow the innocence of childhood, however, those jealous tales become far less amusing. In fact, some of the stories aren’t funny at all.

A bit of background on the Sons of Israel as we prepare to explore the life of Joseph…

Mistakes, regrets, damaged relationships … It’s always too late to re-write history but never too late for grace.

Jacob prayer in the face of “great fear and distress.” It’s to the point; it’s powerful. And it demonstrates an effective strategy for when we’re overwhelmed with challenges of our own.

Jacob’s story is a great reminder that God is much better at settling our scores for us than we are at avenging ourselves! My problem is staying out of the way long enough to let Him.

Jacob had a wife he loved, Rachel, and a wife he … well, he had Leah, too. Reality TV has nothing on the sister-wives of Genesis 30!

A broken agreement, a surprise bride, disillusionment, and delays.

If all we learn from Jacob’s story is, “What goes around comes around,” we are underestimating Jacob and short-changing ourselves!

Isaac could have insisted on his “right to be bitter,” but what good is a right that does nothing other than destroy from the inside out?

Dysfunction, deception, duplicity… and a mother’s fierce determination.

Why be robbed of joy by dwelling on what some person has done to us when we should be celebrating what God has done for us?

Esau’s nearsightedness bought him satisfaction for a moment, maybe even a day. The cost? Regret he’d pay for a lifetime. It’s easy to be critical….until I consider how often I allow a shortsighted focus to deflect my vision of the eternal?

Legacy … what a wealthy one Abraham left behind! Even today, the mention of his name brings to mind qualities such as courage, faithfulness, and unyielding devotion to God.

Sometimes God’s answer to prayer isn’t obvious at all. Every so often, though, there’s one that comes undeniably and immediately. I love it when that happens!

When it comes to property, there’s something better than even a generous “gift.” It’s a legal deed!

Did Abraham put on a brave face for his son, or when he said, “God will provide,” did He really expect that He would?