Guest Blog written by: Charley Goode

You know, one of my favorite things about the Bible is the fact that you’ll never read the same thing twice. Every time I re-read a story or verse, I always seem to have something new to compare it to or God just talks to me in a different way every time. Recently, I have heard of Joseph’s story and struggle quite a lot. However, today it hit me in a different way and in a powerful way which leads me to want to share about him.

So often we ask ourselves, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people”?  A good example of this, for me, is the story we read today of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife.  Joseph did no harm to her, he respected her and Pharaoh.  Potiphar’s wife, however, lied about Joseph and said that he attempted to sleep with her.  So, why would God allow Joseph to be thrown into prison for something he did not do?  Hey, God was supposed to be with Joseph, right?  The Lord indeed was with Joseph.  So much so that, God gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison and appointed Joseph to be in charge of all the prisoners (Gen. 39:21-22). So, maybe God puts us in sticky situations because, that’s where God is needed the most. A bad situation to us is bad because it’s somewhere we just do not want to be.  However, what we call a “bad situation”, God just calls His plan.  This story really helped me to remember that my plan will not always be about sunshine and rainbows and it won’t always be about death and disease. I have to remember that it WILL ALWAYS be about the advancement of the Gospel. Wherever, however, or whatsoever the situation I am in, is.

The story of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, for me, hit really deep. I believe that God put Joseph in the prison for a frenzy of reasons; mostly to advance the Kingdom.  If I were Jacob, I’d probably wonder where God is in the midst of all of this. He however, didn’t doubt or hide from his faith. When the chief cupbearer and the chief baker were lost in wonder about their dream, he was not ashamed of his faith either, he approached them and interpreted it. He tells the chief cupbearer that his dream will allow him to prosper and that the Pharaoh will find favor in him, but he tells the chief baker that Pharaoh plans to kill him.  To the one with the prosperous dream, he asks for nothing in return except for the cupbearer to remember him so, he will put in a good word for Pharaoh so, we can be free. Although the cupbearer says he will remember, he doesn’t.

In these two lessons I was taught two very important lessons. The first is, no matter where we are, who we are, or what we are; God can use you.  He is not finished with us until our last day.  Whether we are in prison or on an exotic island; we can be used. To us, we see all these things going on in the world and classify them as “bad things”, but to God; it’s all part of His master plan.  I pray one day, I will be able to embrace this as much as Joseph did.  Secondly, we cannot allow ourselves to be focused on I.  He > I.  The cupbearer was only looking out for himself and he forgot about the one who helped him. I also pray that Christians won’t be so self-centered. I know I struggle with only looking out for myself and I forget sometimes to thank the people who have helped me along the way. Therefore, I hope this story reminds us to always be humbled.

Like I said, every time I read, I get something different out of it.  The Word of God is so beautiful.  This is the 3rd day of this challenge and I feel as if my heart is going to explode now.  I can’t wait for day #90.

Guest Blog written by: Colin Raynor

No Hesitation
Obedience to God. That’s not something that we as Christians always like to do. It’s hard sometimes, because things God wants us to do are sometimes the opposite of what we want to do. Whether its decisions we make with friends, or the Holy Spirit telling us to witness or whatever falls under that category. Two people in todays reading exemplify what obedience to God truly is. First, we all know the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, but one thing you miss by only reading that story is how much Isaac meant to Abraham. Yes, we all know it would be really hard to do, and most of us wouldn’t do it because it’s our son, but to Abraham, Isaac was much more than that. Isaac was Abraham’s only son with Sarah, and was the key to having Abrahams descendants being as many as the stars in the sky, yet when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, there was zero hesitation from Abraham. Second is one that you don’t hear much of. Genesis 24 is when Abrahams servant is sent to go get Isaac’s (to be) wife. When the servant was shown by the LORD that Rebekah would be Isaac’s wife, he went to visit her house and explain to her parents what was going on. Genesis 24:50-51 says, “Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, the thing has come from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good. Behold, let her be the wife of your masters son, as the LORD has spoken.” Once again we are shown that there was zero hesitation from Rebekah’s parents to give up their daughter to someone they didn’t know, but they did it because they felt the LORD guiding them. Lets use these examples of obedient followers, in our own lives to follow what God is telling us to do.