The Faith Override by Gene McGuire Wednesday, September 10, 2008

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

COMMENT: Recently I reread the story of Joseph’s early life just to make sure I had come to the right conclusion. As you know, the future #2 man in Egypt had a couple of dreams of grandeur and, in my opinion, he didn’t use wisdom by telling his brothers those visions.

They were already jealous of him because their father showed partiality to his youngest son. I believe that Joseph allowed his mouth to get him into trouble by those disclosures. However, God had a distinct plan for his life and, through all the trials and tribulations, Joseph kept the faith and was delivered. Again, this is just conjecture, but I believe that our hero could have arrived at his designated destination without as much grief if he had been a little more discrete about the future God revealed to him.

My conclusion is that we Christians may make blunders along our journeys which may cause us a few bruises, but if we continue to be strong in faith, God will fulfill the promises made to us.

SCRIPTURE STUDY: Genesis 37:3-11

WISE SAYING: GOD CAN STILL BLESS US, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T BRING OUR “A GAME” WITH US.

God’s Will by Gene McGuire Saturday, May 18, 2008

“. . .Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)

COMMENT: Of course you recognize that our Lead Scripture is from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane where he agonized over the fate that laid before him. We all know that Paul was a obedient follower of Jesus, but recently while reading my devotional, it dawned on me how Paul was put into a similar position as Jesus and made the same correct decision.

In Acts 21:11 a prophet informed Paul that the Holy Spirit told him that if the apostle were to go to Jerusalem, he would be taken by the Jews and handed over to the Romans. Paul, like Jesus, decided to follow the will of God. True enough, in Jerusalem he was mobbed by the Jews and eventually sent to Rome. The will of God for us Christians is the Word of God. For instance, there may be times when it would seem more advantageous to tell a “little white lie” because it might bring a lot of embarrassment if the whole truth were told. Even though we may imagine dire results if we were to tell the truth, we can be assured that the Lord will work all things together for our good when we follow His Word. Romans 8:28 tells us that if we love Him we will have that good outcome and loving the Lord is synonymous to keeping His commandments. (John 14:15) So we could rephrase Romans 8:28 this way: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who keep God’s commandments, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

SCRIPTURE STUDY:Proverbs 3:1-8

WISE SAYING: OBEDIENCE LEADS TO ABUNDANCE (Pastor Amos Dodge)