WATCHWORD:
You planned to harm me. But God planned it for good. He planned to do what is now being done. He wanted to save many lives. Genesis 50:20 NIRV
Meditation:
Classic Story Line
Three or four years ago, when I first got the bug to write Christian fiction, I added Christopher Booker’s remarkable book, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, to my library, and I actually read it, and retained some. Recently, when reviewing the story of Joseph, found in Genesis Chapters 37– 50, it occurred to me that that storyline was classic. I returned to The Seven Basic Plots thinking, surely Joseph’s story would be there. No, it wasn’t. What is included is a 3400 year-old piece of ancient Egyptian story-telling called Tale of Two Brothers which closely follows a portion of the life story of Joseph, the part where Potiphar’s wife tries to frame our hero.
Despite Booker’s omission, I have always considered the story of Joseph an interesting, morality story of God’s divine plan and, probably, a model of a fiction outline that could be applied in a variety of settings, with a variety of characters that would entertain the reader. You know the story; Joseph, most beloved of Jacob’s sons, is hated by his envious brothers. Angry and jealous of Jacob’s gift to Joseph, a “coat of many colors,” the brothers seize him and sell him to a party of Ishmaelites, who carry him to Egypt. There Joseph eventually gains the favor of Potiphar, the pharaoh of Egypt, by his interpretation of a dream and obtains a high place in the pharaoh’s kingdom. Joseph is instrumental in Egypt’s success over a famine, which brought him face to face with his brothers. The story ends with a twist of love and support. A happy ending.
It is a big story, a complicated one, but it is God’s story, and it achieves the purpose and goal that God had set. We are characters in God’s story. Sometimes we forget how big and inclusive is our God. We have no idea what may happen to us tomorrow, what may unfold and present challenges to us. We can, however, cling to the fact that we are loved by God, and, through our faith, have been adopted as children of the Most High.
Whatever may have happened to you in the past, or is happening to you in the present moment, doesn’t have to dictate your future. Rest in the fact that God is in charge and that God loves us. As we set our faith and trust in God, we then should watch to see how He will turn it around for our good. God has a good plan for our lives. We need to trust that and to rejoice. Amen.
Aspects of the Holy Spirit by Robert Morris:
We need to understand that when the Holy Spirit convicts lost people of sin, that’s a good thing!
Note:
Over the past several editions of Watchword I have included “Aspects of the Holy Spirit” as enumerated by Pastor Robert Morris in his book, The God I Never Knew. My understanding of the Holy Spirit has greatly expanded in my reading of Pastor Morris’ thesis and my intention is to share some of those thoughts in subsequent Watchword Meditations. For many of us, the Holy Spirit seems mysterious, and you may wonder why the third person of the Godhead – the one Jesus said would be the believer’s ultimate source of truth and comfort – is the source of such confusion. Let me see what highlights I can pull out from The God I Never Knew.
Prayer:
Open my heart to new understandings of your Holy Spirit within each one of us. Help us to know that you are with us in the form of the Holy Spirit, that we will never be alone, and we will always be supported and continue to learn of your great Majesty and how we can live our lives fully and in line with your will and purpose for us. Thank you Lord for the gift. Thank you Lord for the amazing grace the falls around us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
