What’s been on my mind lately…

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The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is there are no ranks in the kingdom of God, and there is no time.

My primary takeaway from each of the passages was this:

• Genesis 39-40  – When God is with us we are blessed, and so are all the people we deal with. We extend God’s blessing to others through our integrity. Also, God speaks to us in our dreams.

• Matthew 20 – There are no ranks in the kingdom of God, and time is an illusion. There is no seniority and no period of initiation or internship. We either choose to walk with God or we don’t. We’re either all in or we’re all out.

• Psalms 20 – My strength and success are not dependent on other people, tools, or machinery. They come from God.

• Proverbs 20 – All things in moderation; but wisdom, patience, and discernment should be taken in long, deep drafts.

I love reading and talking about Joseph, but I think the passage about him is pretty self-explanatory. (If you want to discuss it, indicate this in the comments, because I could go on about Joseph and the lessons of his life all day long.)

The most important takeaway for me today was from Matthew. There are so many people who completely miss the point of this passage. Perhaps its the focus in our western culture on performance, vesting, and punctuality that keeps us from seeing what Jesus is telling us in that one.

It could also have to do with our enormous collective blindspot surrounding our own awareness and performance. As a young person, I was full of the arrogance and hubris involved in becoming aware of something I had not previously known. Once I knew it, surely it should have been obvious to everyone else. Additionally, I had a tendency, when made aware of some practice in the long past of history that would now be considered barbaric, to judge my ancestors (or your ancestors) harshly for something they didn’t know any better than to do. I see this happening with disturbing regularity among younger people today, as well.

Two excellent examples of this are in the areas of Feminism and Critical Race Theory (CRT). Third-wave feminists benefit by the work done by their mothers and grandmothers in the first and second waves, which established their right to vote and subsequently broke down most of the barriers preventing women from fully participating in professional life and society. Yet they speak of second-wave feminists (like me) as being a hindrance to their plans and progress, dismissing our contributions to their easily-gained socio-political advances, when the truth is that neither my generation, nor my mother’s, and certainly not my grandmothers had any of the advantages they have as young women when it comes to choosing a career and making other professional and personal choices such as when and whether to have children. It is ungrateful, at best. But do I begrudge these young women their freedom and advances? No, I do not. I worked really, really hard (and continue to) to make sure that they have those opportunities and privileges now and in the future.

The same can be said of CRT. The current generation of “woke” people (particularly the ones who like so much to use that specific term) is extremely impatient with anyone who doesn’t use the same terminology they do when referring to matters of social justice. In the five years between receiving my master’s degree in Native American Studies and taking a class on CRT, I was severely criticized for using language that had not been approved by the “woke” generation in that classroom, even though it was all perfectly politically correct and was “woke” in concept and spirit by any definition. To those people who had no knowledge of the work I had done or the contributions of anyone outside of the scholars and academics presented to them by the “woke” scholars and academics in that classroom, I might as well have been a racist.  They became “woke” basically five minutes prior to my entrance, and they were instant experts. How did I feel about that? I found it annoying, but I was also pleased that so many people were making significant changes in the world of social justice so quickly.

Both of those examples work in two ways to continue the metaphor of the recruitment and payment of the vineyard workers.

The first is this:  I could easily be really angry at those people for ignoring all the contributions made by the people who came before them, suffered, and (in many cases) died so they could have their relatively easy understanding of social justice issues across the spectrum. But what would be the point of that? Wasn’t my purpose to create exactly those results, so those younger generations would not have to go through what my generation had to go through? Isn’t their ignorance of the price paid for their advancement by my generation worth the slight? Actually, it is. And guess what? I can have the satisfaction of knowing that when they outgrow the hubris of youth and reach my age and level of experience that they will be able to look back at themselves honestly, just as I am now.

The second thing is this: If my attitude were not what it is, forgiving them for their ignorance and not taking it personally, I would be just like those people who had worked all day long and expected to get paid more: resentful. That is not a Godly attribute. Gratitude in all things is the only appropriate response to anything in this world, all of which belongs to God.

The ultimate point that I’m making here is that many people who have been Christians their entire lives have great difficulty with the “death bed confession,” that “come to Jesus” moment that occurs for so many people in the sharpening of the senses and that white-hot awareness that comes when they are dying, on death row, or after they have awakened (I confess I hate the term “woke”–call me Edwin Newman) late in life to their own negligent or generally bad behavior toward other people (like Ebenezer Scrooge, for example). It rankles them that they worked for so long to get where they are, but someone else can have an epiphany at the last minute and receive the salvation, grace, and mercy of God.

Isn’t it a little mean-spirited to feel that way about someone coming into a right relationship with God and their fellow humans? Shouldn’t we be rejoicing? Yes, indeed, we should.

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

You can join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day.

If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can Get the FREE worksheet for this program here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us!

Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit.

This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

Get the FREE worksheet for this program here.

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is it’s more important to be humble than to be right.

My primary take-away from each of the passages was this:

• Genesis 37, 38  – It’s more important to be humble than it is to be right all the time. Doing the right thing in exactly the right way is no guarantee of protection or reward. We all play a role in God’s plans, even if we choose to ignore, avoid, or thwart them. Joseph is the very picture of oblivious privilege.
• Matthew 19– Things that are impossible for us are not impossible for God. For God, all things are possible.
• Psalms 19 – The law of God is perfect.
• Proverbs 19 – Keeping the commandments (the law) is self-preservation.

This section of Genesis is where things start to really get moving, as far as I’m concerned. Joseph is arguably one of the most interesting characters in the Bible, and perhaps the most important for illustrating the entirety of what we need to know about God, and how to live in response to that knowledge.

Joseph was what we would today call a “goody-two-shoes.” He is spoiled rotten, favored by Jacob because he was Rachel’s son. Imagine how slighted and unloved his brothers must have felt in the face of the kind of favoritism Jacob showed him. Again, Jacob has learned nothing about repeating the same mistakes that both he and his own parents made, and he plays favorites with his children.

He does draw the line at letting Joseph school him on God’s will, though. When Joseph shares his dream about the twelve sheaves of wheat, Jacob is irritated; but his response is not to use it as a teachable moment, but rather to just give a flippant response and send him on his way. In my imagination Jacob ruffles Joseph’s hair and gives him a smile, preventing Joseph from learning that it is better to be humble than to be right, and sometimes when God speaks to us in our dreams those messages are not to be shared, lest people think we are “lording it over them,” as Joseph’s brothers accused him of doing.

Joseph’s behavior is no excuse for what his brothers did to him, but he definitely set the stage for his own hardship by being oblivious in his privilege as the favored son. If he had been more humble he might have avoided angering them so much that they just wanted to get rid of him.

Meanwhile, his brothers have once again decided to take matters into their own hands and create their own providence through evil acts of kidnapping, plotting murder, and selling their own brother into slavery. These are the behaviors of sociopaths, not righteous men of God. It seems that only Reuben has a conscience and is concerned about obeying the commandments, but even he is too weak-willed to stand up fully for Joseph and remind his other brothers that they are participating in criminal and ungodly behavior.

One of my favorite things about this story is that later on (spoiler alert!) all of the brothers receive God’s own perfect justice, custom-made to fit the crimes they have committed. Even so, God is merciful and gracious, because they are part of his larger plan to bless and multiply the descendants of Abraham.

Later on, we will find that Joseph learns from his circumstances, holds fast to his faith in God, and learns to humbly obey God’s laws without piously lording it over anyone. He learns the difference between being a “goody-two-shoes” and being a humble, faithful man of God. In keeping the laws of God he not only secures his own salvation, but that of his entire family, the entire nation of Egypt, and all the other surrounding nations as well. More on that as we read through the upcoming chapters.

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

You can join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day.

If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can Get the FREE worksheet for this program here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us!

Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit.

This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

Get the FREE worksheet for this program here.

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is when making a fresh start, leave everything behind.

My primary take-away from each of the passages was this:

• Genesis 35-36  – When making a fresh start, leave everything behind. Don’t hold onto the past. Pray for protection, and God will take care of your enemies.
• Matthew 18 – God’s logic and wisdom are the inverse of humankind’s.
• Psalms 18 – When I am set upon by my enemies I cry out to God, he strengthens me, and vanquishes those would do me harm.
• Proverbs 18 – “There are friends who point the way to ruin. Others are closer than a brother.” v. 24

I have a few relatives I’m close to. I have a good relationship with my mother, a few cousins, and a few aunts and uncles. But I’m not in touch with the rest of my large, extended family much anymore.

I grew up feeling like an alien on the wrong planet. I wasn’t like the rest of my relatives. I loved them. They loved me. But we were so different. I didn’t think like them, act like them, believe what they believed, or value what they valued. For one thing, I took all the lessons of my childhood straight to heart. Some would call that gullible but as a teacher I would call it being teachable. I believed every single thing that any adult in a position of authority over me told me was true. That’s how I came to have a relationship with God. I went to church, Sunday school, and I embraced those lessons (a little too much, in some cases–I lived in mortal fear of hellfire and brimstone for many years because of the kind of Christians I was raised with and by).

Then, when I realized that what I was taught (mostly the way it was taught to me) was wrong, I moved far, far away from the influence of my family. I wanted to find out what I thought about things; how I felt about things. Once I did that, I realized that I had nothing in common with my family anymore. Going “home” meant compromising, pretending, and being judged when I let the real me show.

I don’t go “home” very often anymore. I made a life for myself in Montana. I found kindred spirits out here in the west. They are my family, now.

That’s what Proverbs 18:24 is about, in part. Instead of finding kindred spirits, I could just as easily have been rebellious for the sake of being rebellious and tried to find new friends who were as different from my family as they could possibly be, simply to set myself apart and make a loud point to my family. I could have chosen “friends who point the way to ruin.” That’s what a lot of people do. That’s why so many teenagers seem to do things just to make their parents crazy. They’re not trying to make their parents crazy; they’re just trying to prove that they’re independent and can make their own decisions. At that level of maturity the only way they know how to do that is to do and be the opposite of what their parents would do and be (which makes their parents crazy). A lot of times they “grow out of it,” not because “it’s a phase,” but because they don’t know themselves well enough to know what they need to look for in those early stages. Like Pinocchio, inexperienced and gullible, many of them find “friends who point the way to ruin.”  That’s how they start figuring that out. Usually, they eventually find their way.

But that’s not why I went west. That’s not why I looked for kindred spirits and made a new family for myself. I was looking for genuine relationships with real people who I could be a friend to, also.  I was looking for a new family that might actually understand and appreciate me.

When I left the South and headed west, I left pretty much everything behind. I unintentionally made a sacrifice, cleansed myself in a manner of speaking, and started over.

Jacob and his family did the same thing, but not unintentionally. They had broken a vow, angered a whole tribe of people and made enemies of them, and were on the run. Jacob wanted to be sure that there was nothing between him and God when he went to pray over the matter, so his entourage buried all their possessions in the ground (divesting themselves of possessions), made a sacrifice, and continued on their journey to the unknown.

It is not always necessary to make such a clean and dramatic break with our past. But if you do find it necessary, make a new start, leave the past in the past, let the old pass away, make a proverbial sacrifice, and cry out to God for help. He always comes through.

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

You can join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day.

If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can Get the FREE worksheet for this program here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us!

Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit.

This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

Get the FREE worksheet for this program here.

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is fresh starts can be fraught with new problems, because “wherever you go, there you are.“

My primary take-away from each of the passages was this:

• Genesis 33, 34  – Fresh starts can be fraught with new problems, because “wherever you go, there you are.”
• Matthew 17 – The only way to prolong “holy moments” is to stay present in those moments. As soon as we remove our focus from the now, the “holy moment” disappears.
• Psalms 17 – My faith in God is my protection and he drives away my enemies when I cry out.
• Proverbs 17 – The trials I endure may feel like a fiery furnace, but their purpose is to cleanse me of impurities (dross) and make me stronger (God’s strength).

In today’s reading through Genesis, Jacob leaves his uncle’s camp and heads back toward his mother’s country. He knows he’ll likely run into his brother, and he expects Esau to hold a grudge and try to kill him for hoodwinking him out of his birthright. So he hatches a plan to appease his brother, seek his forgiveness, and also have a backup plan to skedaddle in another direction, just in case. His worries seem unfounded because like the father of the prodigal son in one of Jesus’ stories, it appears that Esau has mellowed out, forgiven Jacob, and is simply glad to see him.

Jacob moves on toward Shechem and sets up a camp there. He strikes a deal with the local sheik and gets some land outside of the town. On a visit to the town, his only daughter is raped by the sheik’s son. Times and customs being what they were, the sheik pays the bride price for her so his son can make her his wife. This seems to satisfy Jacob but Dinah’s brothers are enraged and take revenge by killing all the males in the town. Apparently the apples didn’t fall far from the tree, for they are every bit as conniving as Jacob is–after making a deal for peace, they go back on their word.

Jacob’s entourage packs up and leaves, and they go wandering for a new home, again.

It seems that everywhere that Jacob goes deception and potential disaster follows. Why? Because Jacob keeps doing the same thing the same way for the same reasons. He says he trusts God, but he makes his own plans and arrangements, just in case.

I confess that I’m a bit this way. I have backup plans for my backup plans; contingencies upon contingencies…just in case. I know I should trust God. I want to trust God. But I can’t seem to do it until I have absolutely no other choice and I have no control over a situation.

My favorite sales, motivation, and top performance trainer was a man named Zig Ziglar. He had a saying that is particularly apt for this passage:

“If you want to be successful in life at anything, find someone who is successful at that and do what they did. Because they got what they got doing what they did, and you got what you got doing what you did, and if you want to keep on getting what you’ve been getting, then just keep on doing what you’ve been doing.”–Zig Ziglar

At this juncture in the Genesis story, Jacob hasn’t yet figured out that he keeps getting what he’s been getting because he keeps doing what he’s been doing. Even when he seems to learn a lesson, he has a difficult time getting his sons to follow suit.

So, how is what you’ve been doing working for you? Do you keep getting the same results you’ve always gotten because you’re too stubborn to make the necessary changes? I ask myself this all the time. I am continuously re-evaluating my circumstances and the results I create to see how I’m doing (especially when things aren’t going well). I confess I’m a slow learner, but I do make the changes….eventually.

What’s not working for you? How could you change it? What if changing it right now would instantly give you better results? What have you got to lose?

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

You can join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day.

If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can Get the FREE worksheet for this program here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us!

Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit.

This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

Get the FREE worksheet for this program here.

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is meaningful change for the better requires a sacrifice.

My primary take-away from each of the passages was this:

• Genesis 31-32  –  Meaningful, intensive encounters with God can leave us physically or psychologically wounded, because change for the better requires a sacrifice. 
• Matthew 16 – Even when we have repeatedly experienced the grace, mercy, and provision of God, it is easy to forget and fall back into worrying. Make an effort to remember. 
• Psalms 16 – I am under God’s protection when I stay close to him; and when I’m close I can hear his voice and receive his instruction. 
• Proverbs 16 – If I am walking the path God has set for me and living in his wisdom, I will always know which way to go. When I am unsure, if I ask for guidance I will receive it. 

There are a lot of things I could write about Jacob wrestling with the angel, but the only one that is important is this: one cannot have an up close and personal encounter with God and be unchanged afterward. If it didn’t change you for the better, and if it didn’t cost you something, it wasn’t God.

Every major endeavor of my life has provided me with unintended consequences and lessons I had no idea I would be learning. When you takes big risks and set lofty goals you are likely to run into trouble you couldn’t conceive of until after you’ve been there and back. There’s a reason that most people settle for average, comfortable, normal, and easy. It might be exciting to dream of big adventures, but the truth is that big adventures can be dangerous.

Walking with God is a big adventure. Sometimes our reach exceeds our grasp. We may say we want to know God better, but how many of us really know what that means beyond the words we are saying? I didn’t, and I’ve had my hip put out of joint (so to speak) just like Jacob did as a result.

There’s a wonderful scene in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where the Pevensey children are having dinner with the Beavers. Mr. Beaver is going on and on about Aslan and how wonderful he is while the children, in response, feel all warm and fuzzy inside at the mention of Aslan’s name. At one point one of the children (Susan or Lucy) asks, “Is he quite safe?” to which Mr. Beaver replies, “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”

God is not safe. But he’s good. You might dislocate your hip, your life, or your preconceived notions if you spend a lot of time in his presence and stick close enough to him. But you’ll have had an encounter with the living God and you’ll be changed in ways you couldn’t have previously imagined. Whatever injury he leaves you with will serve as an Ebenezer to that encounter and the lessons you learned from it.

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

You can join us in our private Facebook group that I set up specifically for sharing what we take-away from the readings each day.

If you haven’t gotten the FREE “Read the Bible in a Year” worksheet yet, you can Get the FREE worksheet for this program here. It is not necessary for you to start on January 1st–you can start from the beginning on whatever date you get the worksheet. Join us!

Learn more about why I read the Bible all the way through every year, and feel free to share with anyone you think could benefit.

This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.