Skip to main content

Josephs 'FORGETFULNESS and FRUITFULNESS'

Joseph had a hard time then finally his time of blessing came. He came to power, saw seven years of abundant crops and stored away plenty of food for the famine years. He was in a position to rule and save lives.

In the seven years of amazing harvest Joseph had personal blessing of two sons born (Genesis 41. 47-52)
The first he named 'Manasseh' saying "God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my fathers family" (Genesis 41.51).
(Manasseh- causing to forget, footnote, NLT).
He embraced FORGETFULNESS.

There are blessings given to us to help us forget about our painful past. He cares about the effect the memory of a painful past has on us and wants to help us forget the past with FRESH JOY in the present!

Ephraim his second son was named by reason of "God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief"(Genesis 41.52). Make no mistake, despite things getting better and the assurance of God's plan and purpose he still refered to Egypt as a place of grief.
(Ephraim- fruitful, footnote, NLT).

Fruitfulness can come as Gods grace while we are in a 'land of grief' or situation of grief.  Coming 'into fruitfulness' can also imply there was a dry or lacking season before!  God cares about the effect 'lack' has on us. He wants to make us fruitful with blessing!

Joseph embraced BOTH FORGETFULNESS AND FRUITFULNESS. As he was blessed by God with his sons he saw these two graces.

Embrace and appreciate both the forgetfulness and fruitfulness through the new blessings God has coming to you this season!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflections on the book of Ruth: Naomi's bitterness and blessing

“...the Lords hand has gone out against me” Ruth 1 v 13  So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.  When they arrived in Bethlehem the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’ Don’t call me Naomi, she told them.  Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.  I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.  Why call me Naomi?  The Lord has afflicted me; the almighty has brought misfortune upon me” Ruth 1 v 19-21 Sometimes I think about seeing old friends and I think their expectations would be disappointed.  I may think of my youth, when first saved, and think how cheery and free I was- working, capable, social.  But one thing I read about Naomi’s possible musings in an article was whether she remembered the peace with God she used to enjoy in her youth…and that added to her sorrow. I feel a great deal of stress- and not a lot of peace- I look fo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lavish grace

(No, I didn't either bake or ice this cake! My daughter's birthday cake- with the image of her favorite cat!) His grace is lavish.  It is described as having been ‘lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding’ (Ephesians 1.8).  He knows what he’s doing.  Have you ever baked a cake that didn’t quite turn out as you hoped?  Cracks or craters.  Hollows.  Dryness.  Crumbling.  Over-browned.  Sunken in the middle. That is us.  We are flawed and inadequate. God applies his grace lavishly to us, as we may spread delicious buttery frosting extra-thickly over a not-so perfect cake.  The icing fills the craters and crevices and cracks, balances the dry and crumbly texture, covers over the over-cooked unsightly brown surface… Next time you are obsessing over your mistakes and weaknesses and foot-in-the-mouth moments, as I frequently do, remember Gods lavish grace, which covers over and accounts for all the things he kn...
Post a Comment
Read more

The enemy without mercy

While God has good intentions, to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a hope and a future (Jer 29 v 11-13)", satan seeks to devour us alive, to consume us- to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10 v 10).  To get a picture of this we just need to look at any merciless venture in the world- such as child sex trafficking- such as 'ethnic cleansing', to understand that our enemy is without mercy.  He hates us and delights in our sufferings and losses.  The detestable things on earth give him pleasure.  There is no compassion in him for a child, the elderly, the hopeless and downtrodden person.  If he can crush you, he will just want to crush you more.  Your destruction is his delight. Too many of us have a cartoon image of the devil- poking us teasingly with a plastic Halloween prodder- or a cute character on our shoulder doing a to and fro debate with us, as a cherub sits on our other shoulder. Instead, we should look to the cold blooded kille...
Post a Comment
Read more