Frank's Bible Blog

Genesis 40-- Forgotten

Have you ever felt forgotten? Maybe a family or close friend forgot about your birthday? Or you were supposed to go on a date and got "stood up"--you were forgotten? Maybe you have been in a room full of people but felt forgotten--like no one knew you were there? I think we have all had that experience at least once, if not multiple times, in our lives. It's no fun. But imagine you are in prison for a crime you didn't commit. There you help out one of the other inmates who actually worked for someone very powerful--so powerful he could spring you from your incarceration with just a word. Your fellow inmate promises that if he gets out and gets his old job back he would put in a good word for you with his boss. The day comes when the inmate is released and restored to his former position. You are so excited! "Finally," you say to yourself, "this nightmare is going to be over." And you wait. And you wait some more. Your "friend," however, forgot all about you and you are left right where you have always been. This is exactly what happened to Joseph in Genesis 40. Verse 23 says, "Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him." The chief butler worked for the pharaoh--the king of Egypt. And Joseph was in the king's prison. But alas, he would be forgotten. Maybe today you feel forgotten, like no one cares about you. Remember this: there is another chapter! There is another chapter in the life of Joseph when he is remembered and there will be another chapter in your life as well. You see, the butler may have forgotten about Joseph but God didn't. You may feel that the world has forgotten about you--but God hasn't. Joseph was right where God wanted him, right where God was preparing him for something great, right where God was grooming him to impact the world. Maybe you are in that same place today. You may feel alone and forgotten but God is getting you ready for something great! Don't lose hope! A new chapter is on its way.
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 39-- Just When You Thought It Was Safe...

The 70s saw the mega-hit movie Jaws which told the story of a great white shark that attacked swimmers near a beach. The sequel garnered some $100 million, a staggering amount for that time, propelled by the advertising slogan "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water." For young Joseph in Genesis 39, it would have seemed like he was living out Jaws 2. Just when he thought things were safe in his life, he ended up "under water." Sold into slavery, he ends up working for a high-ranking Egyptian official. There Joseph distinguished himself and soon was given the authority to run all of his household affairs (v4). God caused all that Joseph did to prosper (vv3,5). He finally gets his life back together when next thing you know he is in prison for a crime he didn't commit (v20). Life was getting good but then Joseph was faced with a life-altering decision: to give into the flirtations of Potiphar's wife or not. He chose the later. "How can I sin against God," he said (v9). His principles were firmly established before the temptation came. I doubt that Joseph considered--or even really cared about--the ramifications of rejecting the Potiphar's wife's advances. He had determined ahead of time that he would do what is right and leave the outcome to God. While that approach cost him in the short-term, it reaped great rewards for him in the long-term. Let's follow Joseph's example and determine to do right before the temptations come. Then by faith we can leave the outcome to God.
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 38--Train Wrecks

It is unavoidable. You are checking out at the grocery store and the headlines of one of those tabloid magazines catches your attention. You know that 90% of the time it is something bazaar and far from the truth, but every so often they get it right. Some "expert" was asked once why so many people buy these magazines. "Everyone wants to see the train wreck," he replied, "and these magazines are full of train wrecks." Yes, when celebrities have a train wreck the world knows about it, but there are also the quiet train wrecks that are happening in lives all around us. What seemed like the perfect trip comes to a screeching halt and next thing you know it your life "train" is off the tracks. Usually this happens because we make poor choices. You see God has a way that He wants things done, and it is for a reason. We save ourselves and those around us much heartache when we just do what God says. In Genesis 38 we see that Judah's sons (Jacob's grandsons) were wicked and the Lord killed them. We see Judah failing to keep his promise to give his youngest son in marriage to the wife of his deceased eldest son. We see Judah going to what he thought was a harlot, only to discover it was this daughter-in-law who had disguised herself to get Judah. We see a train wreck. How much agony, grief and pain could we save ourselves if we just made godly decisions? How much better off would we be if we just did what God told us to do? In the nearly three decades that I have been preaching the gospel, I have seen a lot of train wrecks. The sad thing is that most of them could have been avoided. Don't let your life be next! Make good choices.

_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 37-- The Story Behind the Story

"What good could ever come out of this?" Have you ever made that statement? Have you ever thought those words? We know intellectually that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, but do we really believe it? What if we don't see that good for 5, 10 or even 20 years? Then what? Consider the story of a father named Jacob as told to us in Genesis 37. Imagine that you are him sitting home one day when your sons come into the room carrying a coat soaked in blood. You immediately recognize the coat because it was one you had specially made for your 11th son--the pride and joy of your life. When your sons tell you they found it out in the wilderness your heart sinks. There is no doubt in your mind--your beloved son Joseph met a violent death by wild animal (v33). Your mind begins to play out a variety of what-if scenarios like "What if I hadn't sent Joseph out alone to check up on his brothers?" Then Joseph's 17 years of life flash before you. You think about all the things you wished you would have done different--like not chastising him when he naively shared his dreams with you (v10). You cry and mourn like never before. No one can comfort you (v33) and you determine that you will grieve until the day you die. Now we know the full story, as we have the rest of Genesis, but Jacob didn't at the time. He didn't know that Joseph actually was alive. He didn't know that his own sons had sold their brother into slavery. He didn't know that Joseph would distinguish himself first in Potiphar's household and then in an Egyptian prison. He didn't know that Joseph would interpret dreams and literally save the lives of countless numbers of people--including his own. He didn't know that his son would become the second most powerful person in the world's strongest nation. Jacob didn't know any of that for 20 years. There was a back-story to which Jacob was oblivious. Yet God was constantly at work even though Jacob didn't realize it. Now Jacob couldn't get back those 20 years of grieving caused by the sin of his sons. He was, however, able to go forward in peace and realize that things did work together for good, not just for his family but for scores of families living in that part of the world. Friend, whatever you are going through today, know this: there is a back-story and God is at work. It may be a long time before you realize it, but if you love Him and are called according to His purpose, you can bank on the truth that this will, some how, some way, work together for good.
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 36--The Power of Forgiveness

"I was wrong. Will you forgive me," is one of the most powerful phrases anyone can say. I've seen friendships and even families restored just by that phrase. I've seen a church that was broken and hurt healed by those words. Asking for forgiveness when we do wrong and giving forgiveness when we are wronged are some of the most important actions we can do during our lifetime. I remember seeing the sentencing trial of a man convicted of killing another man's wife. When the widower stood to give his input on the sentencing, he looked at his wife's killer and said, "What you did was wrong. It was terrible. But I want you to know, I forgive you." When later asked by reporters about what he said, the man replied that he had to forgive. He could not allow anger and bitterness to emotionally destroy his life. Forgiveness does not erase the wrongs of the past, but it does allow us to move healthy into the future. We see an example of this in Genesis 36. While the bulk of the chapter deals with Esau's descendants, who became known as the Edomites, there is an interesting story here. We are told that Esau took his family, workers, livestock, etc. and moved to another region "for their possessions were too great for them [Jacob and Esau] to dwell together, and the land...could not support them" (v7). After Esau's forgiving and reconciling with brother Jacob, they once again lived near each other. Forgiveness had brought a family back together. More than two decades earlier, they separated on angry terms. But this time the separation was on a positive note--they both had grown so wealthy that the land was not big enough to support both of their enterprises. Esau would need to move on--not out of spite or bitterness but because of positive opportunities. Forgiveness heals, restores, and breathes new life into dead relationships. Never underestimate the power of forgiveness!
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 35-- You Never Let Go

Matt Redman sings a song called "You Never Let Go" that has become a favorite in our family. Part of the lyrics go "through the calm and through the storm, oh no You never let go, every high and every low, oh no, You never let go, Lord you never let go of me." We heard that song for the first time in church two days after doctors told my wife that her thyroid cancer had spread to her bones. We had just finished singing that song when the church prayed over my wife. You Never Let Go became our anthem. It was a low time we were going through, but God reassured us He would never let go of us. A few days later when doctors did follow-up testing and additional scans they could not find any signs of cancer. Beth was completely healed! That was, and continues to be, a high for us. I imagine Jacob felt some of these high and low emotions in Genesis 35 as he journeyed back home. Along the way he buried his beloved wife Rachel (vv16-20), who died giving birth to Benjamin. Once he got home, he buried his father Isaac who died at the age of 180 (vv27-29). Besides this, there was other turmoil in his family (v22). In the midst of these low moments God showed Himself to Jacob (v9) and reassured him that His favor was still on Jacob and that He would be faithful to fulfill all of His promises to Jacob and his family (vv11-13). He had protected Jacob on his journey (v5). Jacob responded to all of this by worshiping the Lord (vv7,14). Today, you may find yourself in the midst of a storm. It may be a low point in your life. But know this...if you are God's child, He never lets go of you! He absolutely will see you through every situation. There is hope!
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 34-- Kids Gone Wild

There are some kids who you just know are going to get into major trouble as they get older. As someone outside the family, you look at how they are being parented and how they act when they are young, and you can predict problems. Now we know that some kids rebel and make bad decisions even with good parenting. As a parent, I ultimately cannot make choices for my children when they are grown, but I can do everything in my power while they are young to teach them how to make good choices. In Genesis 34 we see some bad choices made by some young people, and we see that the parents are at least partially to blame. Dinah, Jacob's daughter by wife Leah, decides to go "into town" and hang out with the pagan girls of the region. Some scholars think she wasn't more than 14 years old when this happened. She catches the eye of Shechem, the son of a prince, who was use to getting everything he wanted. He "violated her" (v2) and then decided he wanted to marry her. Like he probably had done a hundred times before, he went to his father demanding to have his way--in this case to have Dinah for a wife (vv8,18-19). So the father dutifully obliges his son and goes to work out an arrangement with Jacob (vv8-9). It didn't matter that his son had disgraced Dinah and Jacob's family. What little Shechem wanted, little Shechem got! Now when Dinah's brothers heard what had happened they "were grieved and very angry" (v7). That is an understatement! They went on to devise and execute a plan that incapacitated all of the men of Shechem's city. They then went in and killed all of the men and took their wives and children captive, along with all of their possessions. What was Jacob's response when he saw this? Was there moral outrage for needlessly destroying so many lives? No. His response was "You...have made me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land...and since I am few in number they will gather themselves against me and kill me" (v30). As you consider this passage, ask yourself "If the parents had parented differently, could this whole tragedy been avoided?" Should Dinah been allowed to hang out with that crowd? Should the world have revolved around Shechem and he get anything he wanted? Should Dinah's brothers have learned the moral ramifications of their decisions and not just the practical ones? Poor parenting does not excuse what these kids did, nor does it justify any of their actions. But could better parenting have led to a different outcome? This is something to consider for all of us who are parents.
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 33-- Rotting Wood

I was fixing my damaged wood fence when I pulled off a picket and saw nothing but rotten wood underneath. You couldn't initially see the rotten rail because the picket covered it, but it made that whole section of the fence weak. I got to thinking that this is what happens when there is unforgiveness in our lives. It eats away at us from the inside, weakening our entire lives and potentially causing us to do or say things that we wouldn't do otherwise. In Genesis 33, Jacob came face to face with his brother Esau, the one who years earlier was seeking to kill Jacob. On top of that, Esau was coming to meet Jacob with 400 men. Jacob knew he had done wrong by his brother but wanted to seek reconciliation. But what about Esau? Had he stayed bitter and unforgiving all of these years? Did that unforgiveness rot away his life? Would it now lead to him taking violent action against Jacob and his family? These questions filled Jacob's mind as their meeting time approached. Imagine Jacob's surprise when Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, kissed him, and started crying (v4). Esau had forgiven Jacob! Their relationship was restored and they could now move on with their lives. No longer would Jacob have to be looking over his shoulder wondering if his brother was on the way to hurt him. We don't know at what point Esau forgave Jacob, but we do know that because of that forgiveness he and his twin brother could now go through the rest of their lives with the kind of relationship that brothers should have. What about you today? Is there someone who you need to forgive? Is there someone whose forgiveness you need to seek? Don't let unforgiveness and broken relationships eat away at you and rot your life.
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.

Genesis 32-- Facing Your Past

When he left home 20 years prior, Jacob was a self-centered, conniving young man who had disappointed his father and angered his brother to the point that he wanted to kill Jacob. A lot had changed in 20 years and now it was time for Jacob to face his past. It was time for Jacob to see his brother Esau and seek reconciliation. Genesis 32 records Jacob's preparation for that meeting, which ended up turning into something much bigger. As Jacob prepared to meet his past, God prepared him to meet his future. Noticed what Jacob did. First, he acknowledged God (vv1-2). Second, he was humble (vv3-5, 13-18). The arrogance that once typified his life was gone. He was coming to his brother in all humility. Third, he worked through his fears. When he found out Esau was coming to meet him and he had 400 men with him, Jacob was scared. And who wouldn't be! Jacob, however, did not give in to those fears and continue to run from his past. What he did do was device a plan to protect as much of his family as possible just in case Esau attacked them (vv7-8). He also prayed (vv9-12). In the meantime, God was at work in Jacob using this encounter to make him into something great for Himself. Jacob got alone that night and "wrestled" with an angel of God refusing to let him go until he blessed Jacob. He had deceived to get his father's blessing, but Jacob knew he needed something greater--he needed God's blessing (v26)! The exciting thing is that God gave it to him. I wonder how many people miss out on God's blessing because they 1) don't ask for it and 2) don't come clean with their past in order to receive it. What about you? Are there some things in your past that you need to deal with today? Are there some things you tried to ignore or sweep under the rug that has haunted you? Remember, God is gracious and forgiving and He will guide us as we seek to do what is right.
_____________
Frank Banfill is an author, international speaker, and president of MaxPoint Ministries, whose purpose is to help individuals, churches and ministries reach their full potential. Please forward this blog to your family & friends. Not a subscriber? Sign up now at www.FranksBibleBlog.com. If you would like to share a comment about today's blog, you may do so at http://www.maxpoint.org/maxpoint/message_board.