Promise 99 Gen. 45:7

Gen. 45:7 - "God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance." You never know what God is going to do in you and through you, or through the people He puts in our lives. God has used specific people in my life to speak new revelation of Him and new life into me the past couple of years that will change the direction of my spiritual walk forever. I will always be grateful to them for their unreserved approach to bringing out the areas of growth I needed to address. Just as God has put transforming people into my life, I'm mindful that God might be putting me in someone else's life for that same purpose; to deliver them into the arms of the Heavenly Father. The key to those people encounters is through a clear communication with the Lord. To hear His voice giving our assignments where others are concerned. This doesn't mean we are to go and preach to people, but we are to make ourselves available for God to use us, at His choosing, in their lives. I don't ever want to fall asleep on my watch and miss what God is wanting to do to me and through me for others.

Promise 98 Gen. 45:5

Gen. 45:5 - "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life." Confrontation is a difficult thing. Sometimes we unintentionally bring offence to others. Maybe someone will get offended by something we say or do and we can become oblivious to it. So how do we handle those moments? God gives us a picture of graciousness through Joseph. When we are stuck in a position of conflict with a brother or sister, it is our opportunity to be life preservers. We can speak life into that other person, we can build them up and share God's love with them, we can 'be' love to them because Christ who is love, is in us. Its not always easy, I know, but it is a choice we have the privilege of making. God gave us life, lets do the same for others!

Promise 97 Gen. 43:14

Gen. 43:14 - "And may God Almighty grant you compassion in the sight of man, so that he will release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.'" Israel is in a tough place, Jacob was pushed to a point of surrendering the last thing he loved the most, and that was Benjamin. He held on to him until he couldn't anymore for the risk of his whole family dying. He finally said, "here take him!' Even though he was releasing him to his other sons, he was really releasing him to God. He was also prepared to suffer the harsh consequences if anything were to happen to Benjamin. What he was missing though in the midst of this decision was that he wasn't recognizing Who he was releasing them to. He prayed that the God of compassion would grant favor for his sons but He didn't accept that prayer for himself. Instead of desperate hope, he should have known that God IS a compassionate God and that his sons would return to him. I know it looked like all the cards were stacked against him; thinking Joseph was dead, they were two years into a famine and now he had to send his youngest beloved son away. But Jacob forgot, he forgot to look at the character of God, of whom he knows Him to be. The God who keeps His promises. He will soon be reminded once again that God is the faithful, compassionate God. Let US never forget!

Promise 96 Gen. 42:28

Gen. 42:28 - "Then he said to his brothers, 'My money has been returned, and behold, it is even in my sack.' and their hearts sank, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, 'What is this that God has done to us?'" How often do we think God is punishing us for something? More often than we would like to admit I'm sure. Sadly, many many people actually believe that every time something tragic happens, its God's wrath pouring down. It is simply not so, we get to see the full picture of what is going on in Joseph's brother's lives because through God's word He is allowing us to see what He sees. We get to see that it was Joseph who put the money back into their bags and that this story has a good ending because it is God who is orchestrating the events that happen. I believe that if we open our eyes and ears more, then we can see more of the bigger picture of what is going on around us than what we think. We already know the outcome of our lives, we already know that God loves us, we know that He desires to give us a future of hope and not of calamity. So attribute the things of God within that framework and look for other things He is doing that is according to His character and not out of it.

Promise 95 Gen. 41:52

Gen. 41:52 - "He named the second Ephraim, 'For' he said, 'God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.'" Now Joseph remembers his recent pain, being locked up for years as an innocent man. But he doesn't name his son to be a scar of his pain, but as a memory stone of God's presence and provision during the difficult times, and through how God brought him out of that. God does show us blessings even in the midst of difficult times. We need to either write those down or have something symbolic that will remind us of His presence during those times. I have various rocks that I've picked up at pivotal God encounter times to remind me of what He said or of what He's done. If we don't keep things to remind us that God is good all the time, then we so quickly forget when life gets so incredibly difficult and we don't see Him immediately in front of us. So go gather some memory stones today, because He is with you, look for the blessings.

Promise 94 Gen. 41:51

Gen. 41:51 - "Joseph named the first born Manasseh, 'For' he said, 'God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household.'" Joseph could have named his 1st born based on God's deliverance or work in something more recent like getting him out of prison or granting him favour in the eyes of Pharaoh but he didn't. His 1st born has a name that address' the long, deep wounds and pain of his past. Joseph felt it was from God that he has forgotten his family. But the very fact that he is naming his son on the rememberance of the forgotten shows that the family isn't really forgotten but the healing has begun and he is no longer affected by the pain of his family. God brings healing to deep wounds, deep pain. He can take away the feelings that the perpetrator owes something or needs to make their wrongs right, God can redeem time lost to sorrow and can restore joy. He can and He will!

Promise 93 Gen. 41:16

Gen. 41:16 - "Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying 'It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.'" When Joseph speaks to Pharaoh there is no indication of any doubt or begging of God to come through for him. There is no worry that he'll misinterpret the dream, then be put back in jail. Joseph is confident in who he knows his God to be. He had full confidence that God would interpret the dream. He knew His God. When Joseph heard the dream he didn't take time to analyse the words, he spoke the exact words that God gave him to speak, not only the interpretation but the solution to the problem as well. Have you spent enough time with your God to know that you can be confident in the presence, confident in hearing His voice and seeing where He is working? Do you trust your God, trust that He will give you the words and wisdom you will need at the right moment? We should all know our God that well.