My reading for yesterday was chapters 43 thru 45. Since I already gave a little bit of these chapters away in yesterday's blog, I will concentrate on chapter 45 today, which really is the heart of the story of Joseph.

In this chapter, Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers, all of them together. Vs. 3 says they were were speechless (ya think??!!) and that they were dismayed. (The MIV-remember, Marsha's Incomplete Version, translates the word dismayed as flabbergasted). I tried to imagine the scene in my mind. One minute they are bowing down before Pharaoh's head man, probably wondering if any of them would even live through the day because of the events of the previous chapter, and the next minute they are confronted with something so unimaginable it left them speechless. The instant emotion of fear and dread that must have overcome them, as they realized they were indeed standing in front of the brother they had so cruelly treated 13 years prior must have been intense. They no doubt were expecting the worst, but instead they got the best. The following verses describe the amazing love and grace of God to us...it's a picture of Jesus in the Old Testament. Vs. 4 says: "So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." And they came near. And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life."

My mind just fast forwarded to Jesus on the cross as I read the following words in vs. 4. Come near to me. I Am. Do not be dismayed. God sent me to preserve life. If these are not a picture of Jesus on the cross, I don't know what is. In the gospels we read Jesus saying, Come to me. I Am. Father forgive them. I came to seek and save the lost. Those are just a few things that came to my mind.

My friend Edie and I were having a conversation last night about all of the mysteries that are in the Bible. We talked about how so much of what we read in the Old Testament (perhaps all of it?) has it's fulfillment in the New Testament and is actually prophecy about the end times that are upon us. She is taking this 2010 year to study the book of Genesis, and she is already discovering early on in the year, that Genesis contains much end times prophecy. What I am beginning to understand is that this book that we are reading together is indeed supernatural. It is the very breath and power of God.

We marvel today when we uncover a small portion of it's depth and layers, but I wonder what it will be like when we see Jesus face to face in our glorified mind and body. When we see the WORD OF GOD in all it's majesty and in all it's GRACE. When we see the LOVE OF GOD, THE GRACE OF GOD with no blinders on...I believe it is that which will cause us to fall to our knees, cast our crowns before Him and cry HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.

There is much more in this chapter, but in a nutshell, Joseph send his brothers go back to get their father and their families in the land of Canaan. Joseph provides them with everything necessary to make the journey, way more than they will actually need. When they see their father Jacob, they tell him in vs 26: "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived."

I just know there is more to this verse than meets the natural eye. Now, when I read the Word, I ask God to show me things unseen. He knows what I'm ready for. Someone told me once, "when the student is ready to receive, the teacher will appear." I didn't understand it at the time, but I'm starting too.

Tomorrow I will talk about chapters 46 & 47. I hope you are continuing on with me on this journey. And I hope you are asking God, along with me, to show you the depths of His love for you as you read. Remember my prayer for you?
Ephesians 3:19: "And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." That "surpasses knowledge" part of this scripture is what I have been talking about today. We can know with our intellectual mind what the Word says. We can memorize it. But until it surpasses our head knowledge and becomes revelation to us it cannot change us. This is truly the "RECIPE FOR CHANGE!"