bsf blog – Page 5 – The Notes are Good

BSF Genesis: Week 27, Day 2

Questions:

3.
a.
Lord is present, Lord gives success, Lord is with people (like Joseph)

Shows kindness and grants favor

Be strong and courageous for God is with us wherever we may go. Expects obedience

b.
Obedience, avoidance of sin, walking in the path of the righteous, meditating on the law (the scriptures) day and night

4.
He was trustworthy. Potiphar was a leader of men and he saw Joseph’s trustworthiness and character. These were not of his own, but a gift from God who continued to bless him and bless everything he did (to the benefit of Potiphar)

5.
a.
Faith in God and in His promises delivered through dreams and a walk with the Lord. He had sustained Joseph through everything so far

b.
through prosperity

My Daily Journal:

Potiphar trusted Joseph because Joseph was trustworthy. Joseph was worthy of trust (trustworthy) not because of his own background, status, heritage, power, position or wealth but because Joseph trusted God. Joseph showed his obedience to God by trusting in Him. God showed his love for Joseph and his power and mercy by blessing everything that Joseph oversaw.

So what does obedience and trust mean. Our Joshua 1 and Psalm 1 references are great illustrations, and I love the way they paint the picture. As parents we learned that it is important not only to teach your kids what not to do but to teach them what to do instead. I remember teaching woodworking. It was important to not only say, don’t put your hand there, but to also say, put your hands here and here instead.

These aren’t do’s and don’ts, but proper methods of teaching and learning. Don’t be afraid, don’t be terrified, don’t be discouraged but instead be strong, be courageous, obey the laws, know that God is with you wherever you may go. Do not walk in step with the wicked, do not stand in the way that sinners take, do not sit in the company of mockers, but instead delight in the law, meditate on it day and night, stand in the assembly of the righteous.

BSF Genesis: Week 26, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

9.
a.
He had created the divide through his favoritism. He pledged to mourn until he died

b.
Until this had occurred the Isrealites would not have survived the famine because without Joseph in Egypt they would not have had access to food. In Egypt the flourished for many years, became enslaved, then were set free by God.

10.
thrown in well, clothes stolen, sold into slavery, sold to Potiphar, falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, imprisoned, promised to be remembered by cupbearer but forgotten, 2 years pass,

11.
favored in Potiphar’s house, put in charge, fortitude to not sleep with Potiphar’s wife, God with him in prison, put in charge of prisoners, ability to interpret dreams, survived dungeon, honored by Pharoah

My Daily Journal:

I think we see the years of craftiness and cunning that characterized Jacob’s life fully on display with Reuben and Judah. Their over-arching desire was to “fit in.” To fit in with a group, especially one with a moral compass that would conclude that it is a good idea to murder their own brother, means you have to shave a bit off the edges. Think of it literally. We are a stone crafted by the Master, square and true, finely measured. But, that stone won’t fit in with a bunch of crooked other stones. There are three choices: either help the other stones get straight with God, find other stones to connect with or start shaving off bits and pieces of your own self to fit in.

Reuben and Judah both made weak attempts to save Joseph. Both helped keep him from death. But neither still had the moral character, the true shape that matches the cornerstone of the church, that enabled them to stand up to the wrong thinking and action of their brothers. That would have meant they didn’t fit in, just like Joseph didn’t, and we see how that went.

But Christ did not do that. He shaved off nothing. He did not conform to the world, and it hated Him for it. He did not try to fit in with the vision that the religious leaders had, He stayed true to the task the Father had charged Him with.

Fitting in is only a good thing when those who you are trying to fit in with are true and level.

BSF Genesis: Week 26, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

5.
He walked about 100 miles. His brothers plotted to kill him, thrown into a cistern, sold into slavery to the Ishmaelites/Midianites, taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar (here is a good map)

6.
a.
Reuben, Judah

b.
Distressed. Pleading for his life. Unjustly wronged

c.
Hatred for the message and favoritism of our Father

d.
guarded as a prisoner, stole his robe

7.
a.
20 Sheckels / 30

b.
He had been treated as something special, honored with an ornate robe. He had only obeyed. Unjustly treated

c.
When things seem unjust and unfair. When the innocent are victimized.

8.
a.
1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith…. may be proved genuine…

b.
prophecy through dreams. A walk with God (literally, for about 100 miles)

My Daily Journal:

It is easy to see the troubles surrounding Joseph. He obediently walks almost 100 miles in search of his brothers and everything goes south. But, in this story, just like in the challenges within our own life, we need to pull our eyes from “the troubles all around us” and see God’s amazing provision.

When they are ready to kill him, there just happens to be a cistern available. It just happens to be a dry cistern. No bones are broken throwing him into the cistern, no poisonous creatures are present. Within minutes or hours at most a caravan just happens to be coming by. It just happens to be heading to Egypt and the proprietors have cash, not just goods to sell. Joseph just happens to be sold to Potiphar instead of into some other service. Backing up Joseph just happens to find someone who just happened to hear his brothers in Shechem, who, by the way, doesn’t choose to kill Joseph since he does belong to the family that killed all the men in Shechem in the not too distant past. And, most amazing of all, Joseph, a guy, actually stops and asks directions!

I can see God’s hand in so many ways when I look for the blessings and the provision.

On a different thought, I get it that these are his brothers, but I saw a strong lesson for myself and my children (and the children in my class) about carefully choosing our inner-circle of friends. Let’s put it this way, if the people you are closest with are the ones who are willing to throw you in the cistern and kill you, having one phone call to call for help doesn’t do you much good. Do I spend my time with people that would come to my protection or people that would throw me under the bus when they are angry? How strong would my friends stand against the sentiment of the group?

BSF Genesis: Week 26, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.
a.
As prophecy of things to come. To give Joseph guidance and fortitude

b.
He wasn’t street smart or worldly wise, but, is it unwise to share visions from above?

c.
Keep your audience in mind when delivering something sacred, the sweetness will turn to bitterness when mixed with their emotions and contempt

4.
He was his father’s favorite. He was a dreamer. They were jealous of him and he came across to them as being arrogant

My Daily Journal:

I liked the discussion on Matthew 7:6, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” While my answer stemmed from the viewpoint of the giver in the sentence, it is interesting to turn the tables and look at it from the opposite perspective.

Joseph’s brothers, and even father for that matter, were only able to see Joseph’s dream through the goggles of their own sinful heart. They couldn’t rejoice for him that God might someday make him a king or ruler, they couldn’t see the blessings that might flow to them if he achieved such a stature. They could only see him as something less than themselves. What nerve for him to have such a dream. Who does he think he is? We need to knock him back down a few notches.

There is an old saying, when you lay down with dogs you get fleas. In the same way, when you wallow in sin, you get dirty like a pig. This is where Joseph’s family was. With itchy fleas and mud-caked flesh, how could they have possibly seen God’s providential blessing for their brother and son?

But how often do I do the same thing. My own sin clouds my ability to see God’s blessing. My sin distracts me and irritates me so that I miss rejoicing and come across as upset, irritated or distracted. Like Joseph’s brothers, the sin in my heart can make it so I can’t look past the mud.

But, that is also the beauty of the analogy of this scripture. Through the saving grace of Jesus, God offers to wash my sins away and cloth me in new garments. He offers to remove the scales from my eyes, as he healed the blind time and again. All I need do is the same thing Joseph’s family should have done, repent my sin and seek the cleansing power of my loving Father.

BSF Genesis: Week 25, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

11.
a.
Spiritual cleansing is purity: whiter than snow, pure heart, steadfast spirit. Spiritual cleansing means change: stop doing wrong, turn away from evil deeds, walk in the light

b.
leads to fruit, the Holy Spirit, Humble yourself and He will lift you up

c.
Not just sacrifice, but who it is offered to – to God. Separate ourselves from sin: immoral, impure, greedy have no inheritence. We must abandon idols and turn only to God

d.
Time spent in pursuit of non-God serving activities, or better said, the activities are not the problem, but I am doing them on my own without seeking God and without giving the glory to Him alone.

12.
a.
Terror of God fell on towns around them so no one pursued them. God reclaimed not only Jacob/Israel but his descendants

b.
He has reclaimed me and brought me back into His family of believers. He has strengthened me by reminding me of His promises

c.
That God’s own voice is speaking to me, through the scriptures, in answer to prayer and through other believers

d.
Reunited for a time with his brother (vs 6-7), many descendents, chiefs, kings, a mighty nation

My Daily Journal

One of the comments our leader made in his lecture last week was “God is waiting for me to realize that He is in control.” I thought it was amazing how we see this lived out in Jacob/Israel. Jacob wrestles with “the man” and receives a blessing where he becomes a new person with a new name. Clearly he has changed, but, he continued to live a life wanting to still be in the driver’s seat and have God as his co-pilot.

Instead of going to Bethel, as promised, he goes the opposite direction. Instead of living apart, he moves right next door to people who, evidently, believe there is nothing wrong with raping someone then buying them to marry them. Instead of being the spiritual leader of his house, he does nothing because his sons are out in the fields with the flocks.

But when things go south and he repents and returns to God, God is waiting. God repeats His promise to him and changes his name (again) to Israel.

God’s place is not as co-pilot of our life. If you were in a car with Jeff Gordon, would you want him riding shotgun or sitting behind the wheel? I need to move over and let God drive.

God is waiting patiently for me to realize that He is in control.

BSF Genesis: Week 25, Day 3

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

6.
a.
13. they were deceitful, v25, Simeon and Levi killed every male in the city. 28 they looted the city 29 they carried off the women

b.
Took matters into their own hands. No mention of prayer or reliance on God. The diminished the value of the covenant by using it as a trap for others. They twisted it from something holy into something useful.

c.
They were angered on behalf of their sister. Yes, I am protective of my family and feel hatred to those who harm them.

d.
do not repay evil with evil, do what is right, do not take revenge, trust in God to exercise His wrath

7.
a.
He did not trust their judgment, believing them quick to act in a state of anger. He chastised them for “bringing trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites

b.
Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?

8.
Am I controlled by God and faith or by my emotions? Where am I unwilling to wait to receive rightfully what I want and desire.

My Daily Journal:

So, I have to admit, my first inclination is to be more like Simeon and Levi than Jacob. If someone hurts a member of my family like this, I would want to do them harm. Clearly, though, Simeon and Levi crossed the line. Any one would be very hard pressed to explain how looting the city and carrying off the women from this city in any way was done to bring honor to their sister.

But, as we work through this lesson and, in particular, the Romans 12:17-21 passage, it helped me realize how my first reaction (and that of Simeon and Levi) was allowing my emotions to rule me and not my faith.

Here is one way to look at it. I’m this big (think very small) and God is that big (think very big). Hamor and Shechem sinned against Dinah, but, even more so, they sinned against God, because any sin upon His people is a sin against Him. So, if I’m the deliverer of vengence onto the wrong-doer, it is like a tiny child disciplining them with a toothpick and standing in the way of a very big God using a club.

I simply do not need to be in the middle of it. I need to show the joy and blessing of the saving work of Jesus, offered to me while I was still a sinner and, which is also offered to anyone else who sins against God, as well, who repents and seeks to be saved. If they do not make that choice, then God says He has it covered and I need to trust that His righteous wrath and punishment is far more significant than anything I would dispense.

BSF Genesis: Week 25, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Question:

3.
No, he saw God at Bethel. He committed to build a house to God there and to return to his father’s household

4.
a.
Dinah did not bring on the danger, but it clearly would have been avoided if they did not live there

b.
To be set apart from the worldly and immoral. To live a life that separates us from sinful things and sinful people

c.
No “sense” of wrongdoing. He did wrong, but didn’t see it that way. He treated her as a possession to be used and acquired

d.
They married. Isaac and Jacob sought their wives from kin, believers. But they also lied out of fear and put their wives at risk. Abraham allowed the mother of his first child to be abused by his wife and sent her out into the wilderness.

5.
intermarry with us, vs 9

My Daily Journal:

There is a very fine line being walked in our questions today regarding Dinah and could things have been avoided. I think it is very important to note that Dinah did not do anything wrong. She was the victim. She was raped.

As a children’s leader I was, at first, very hesitant and concerned about our lesson this week. My inclination was to move through it as quickly as possible. However, this week I had the opportunity to hear Josh McDowell speak. Josh is an amazing evangelist and apologetic who has spread the Word to college campuses for many years. He has written some amazing books including my favorite, More than a Carpenter. But, on this occasion Josh was sharing a movie and discussion about his own childhood which included not only a horribly broken home but also experiencing sexual abuse from the age of 6 to 13. He pointed out that 1 out of 3 children have experienced sexual abuse but we just don’t talk about it.

BSF is not a counseling session or the right venue for disclosure, but we need to be bold in what the bible says and not shy away from teaching the truth as spelled out in the bible. Just like Josh was not to blame for what occurred to him, Dinah is not to blame. This was wrong. This was a sin, whether Shechem, Hamor or her dad or anyone else saw it as such or not. Through all of this story that is the part that troubles me most. We have the accounts of what everyone else was doing but not what was going on with Dinah and the torment that she must have felt. No where does it say she was comforted or cared for through this difficulty, although I trust in God that she was.

We will have women in BSF classes who have experienced rape. We will have men who have forced themselves inappropriately on women and we will have young adults and children who have been or will be involved in inappropriate sexual situations. We don’t need to be graphic, but we need to be clear that this is wrong and if someone is in this situation they need to get with a mature christian and seek help and counseling.

BSF Genesis: Week 24, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.
a.
That angel soldiers are camped on the earth . Jacob met with them. Those who would harm Elisha witnessed them

b.
Trust in God, knowing he has set forces of heaven to the ready to battle those who would stand in opposition to Him and His plan

4.
a.
i.
Angels of God met Jacob – “This is the camp of God”

ii.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them

iii.
My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight

iv.
We are competent to judge earthly matters. We will judge angels. How much more the things of this life

v.
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

b.
The protection of the encampment of angels. When I am apart from family I know that God’s army of angels encircles them and protects them from harm

My Daily Journal:

I believe in God. I believe in the bible. I believe in angels.

That may sound silly to say, but I’m amazed sometimes on the cafeteria approach that some christians take to the words in the bible. Accepting this and that because it says so, but not believing other things because, well, just because those don’t choose to. I don’t think that is how it works. The bible is either true or not. I understand some things are stories and parables and illustrations and some things are specifically relevant to specific people and times. Angels don’t fall into either of these categories.

The fact that there is a supernatural spirit world going on all around us is clearly stated throughout scripture. From the fall of man and an angel guarding the entrance to Eden through to the angels in revelation, they permeate the scriptures. Christ reference angels repeatedly.

So, while we some may choose to ignore them or treat them like dolls or decorations, angels with the strength and power to fight God’s battles and protect his believers are a fact. It is a fact that I love and appreciate.

I leave my family each day to go to work. I drop my children off at school and I have a child away at college. My mother lives alone, my sister lives in another town and I have many other friends and family across the country. I am thankful to the police, firemen and soldiers who do their duty to protect not only me, but my loved ones from earthly harm. I am even more grateful for the angelic protectors who stand guard protecting them from things I do not even see or know are present. What a greater risk and duty they perform!

BSF Genesis: Week 24, Day 4

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

9.
His penchant for deception. His predisposition to use deceit, financial strength, or other cunning to take advantage of a situation

10.
punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds, he struggled with God, he wept and begged for his favor

11.
The angel of the Lord, Jesus. Face of God

12.
Man cannot force God to do anything. Anything any man receives is a gift from the Almighty. Jacob refused to let go showing a tenacity to cling to the Lord. The greater blesses the lesser, not the other way around.

13.
We too rely on our own wit and cunning. We believe that we can buy our way out of wrongs. We confess our weaknesses but do not reject the things that make us weak

My Daily Journal:

What do we cling to?

The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel of the Lord is one with many facets. Jacob is not chastised for wrestling with the Lord, but through his own strength he is unable to win, either over God or man. In wrestling strength comes from the legs and hips. Wrestlers, like most athletes, spend a lot of time physically developing “the core”, the mid body strength that transfers out. In Jacob’s wrestling, one touch showed the weakness of his own core of relying on his own strength. All he could do was hold on, cling to his opponent.

Did Jacob win? Did he force the angel to do anything? Given what he seeks, the answer is obvious. A blessing is always and only transferred from the greater to the lesser. Giving something back to someone that already belongs to them in not a blessing. Nor can a blessing be bought or forced. Receiving something unmerited is the definition of a blessing.

But, to cling to one thing, we have to let go of other things. To cling to the Angel of the Lord, forced Jacob to not cling to himself. To cling to God means to let go of our own desires to be in control.

BSF Genesis: Week 24, Day 5

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

14.
a.
Bowed down 7 times

b.
They wept. Called him “my lord” “For to see your face is like seeing the face of God”

c.
He seemed to place a longing for family that was greater than the anger he held.

15.
No. He should have done as God commanded in Gen 31:3, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”Back to Bethel where God told him he would live in Gen 28:13

My Daily Journal:

I was struck by the lesson that humility and love go hand in hand. Jacob had spent his youth conniving to get the upper hand on his brother. He clung to his heal at birth, he bought his birthright, he stole his blessing from his father. He always wanted to be over his brother, dominating in authority. But to receive the love of his brother and overcome the hatred and anger Jacob had pushed into his brothers heart, could not be received through strength or cunning. To receive love requires humility.