But I Will Not
Month: June 2025
A Morning Prayer by Malcolm Boyd
It’s morning, Jesus. It’s morning, and here’s that light and sound all over again.
I’ve got to move fast . . . get into the bathroom, wash up, grab a bite to eat and run some more.
I just don’t feel like it, Lord. What I really want to do is get back into bed, pull up the covers, and sleep. All I seem to want today is the big sleep, and here I’ve got to run all over again.
Where am I running? You know these things I can’t understand. It’s not that I need to have you tell me. What counts most is just that somebody knows, and it’s you. That helps a lot.
So I’ll follow along okay? But lead, Lord. Now I’ve got to run. Are you running with me, Jesus?
Joseph: The Slave Becomes the One Who Saves
by Mike Bennett
Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. They sold him as a slave! Then a woman lied about him, and he was put in jail! But God turned everything around.
Joseph’s older brothers could tell that their father loved Joseph most. Jacob even gave his young son a special coat.
When Joseph saw his brothers doing bad things, he told his father. He also told his family about dreams he had. The dreams seemed to say his family would bow down to him!
All of these things made his brothers mad at Joseph. They were jealous and became more and more angry.
Angry brothers
Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers. They saw him coming and talked about killing him! But Reuben told them to throw Joseph in a pit instead.
When a group of traders went by, Judah said, “Let us sell him.” The traders gave the brothers money for Joseph, and he became a slave.
But the brothers didn’t tell their father the truth. They tricked him. They put blood on Joseph’s special coat, so Jacob thought Joseph was dead!
Meanwhile, the traders took Joseph to Egypt where he served Potiphar.
In spite of all he went through, Joseph worked hard. He obeyed God, and he pleased Potiphar. God blessed Joseph’s work, and He blessed Potiphar because of Joseph.
Potiphar knew he could trust Joseph, and he put him in charge of everything he owned.
Angry woman
But then Potiphar’s wife tried to get Joseph to break God’s law. Day after day she tempted him. But Joseph refused.
One day she was alone with Joseph and tried to tempt him again. This time she grabbed his clothes, and he ran. She became very angry. She still had some of Joseph’s clothes she had pulled off of him. So she lied to her husband. She said that Joseph had tried to hurt her.
Potiphar was very angry and put Joseph in prison.
Making the best of it
Joseph must have been discouraged. He was being punished for something he didn’t do.
But still Joseph worked hard and obeyed God. And God gave him favor with the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison knew he could trust Joseph, and he put him in charge of all the prisoners.
One day the king put his butler and his baker into the prison. Joseph took care of them. And one night the butler and the baker both had dreams. They were sad because they didn’t know what the dreams meant.
Joseph told them that God could show them what the dreams meant. And God showed Joseph the meanings of the butler’s and baker’s dreams. The baker would be killed. But the butler would get his job back.
Joseph asked the butler to tell the king about Joseph to get him out of the prison.
But the butler forgot Joseph. So Joseph was in the prison two more years.
The king’s dreams
Then the king of Egypt had two dreams. He was troubled, but he couldn’t find anyone who could tell him what his dreams meant.
Then the butler remembered Joseph. He told the king that Joseph could tell the meaning of dreams.
The king sent for Joseph. He told Joseph he had heard that Joseph could interpret dreams.
But Joseph said it was God who would give the king the meaning. He then explained that both of the king’s dreams were about seven good years and seven bad years. During the first seven years, Egypt would have more than enough food. During the seven bad years, very little food would grow.
Saving Egypt and his family
Joseph suggested to the king that he should find a wise man to prepare for the bad years. They should store up food during the good years. Then they would be saved from hunger during the bad years.
The king decided this was a good idea. He chose Joseph to be the man in charge of preparing. Joseph went from being a prisoner to being second in charge in one day!
Again, God blessed everything Joseph did. Egypt saved enough food for themselves, and more to sell to people from other countries.
When the bad years came, Joseph’s father sent Joseph’s brothers to buy food in Egypt. When they saw Joseph, they didn’t know it was their brother. But he knew who they were.
Joseph asked them about their father. He also wanted to know about his younger brother, Benjamin. He wanted to see his brother so much, he told his brothers not to come back unless they brought Benjamin.
But Jacob didn’t want to lose his youngest son. He thought Joseph was dead, and he didn’t want to risk losing Benjamin.
Finally, all the food was gone, and Jacob reluctantly allowed Benjamin to go to Egypt. The brothers bowed down before Joseph. They still did not know who he was. But when he decided to keep Benjamin from leaving Egypt, the brothers begged him to let Benjamin go. They worried that their father would not be able to take the loss of his youngest son.
Joseph couldn’t pretend any longer. He told his brothers, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.”
They were afraid. But instead of punishing his brothers, he comforted them. He told them that he realized that God had worked this all out. “God sent me before you to preserve life.”
He told his brothers to hurry and bring his father and the whole family down to Egypt. Then they would have food for the rest of the bad years.
Jacob was shocked to hear that Joseph was still alive! He was so happy to see Joseph again.
This story unfolded over many years, but it turned out for the best because Joseph faithfully obeyed God. God blessed the whole family through Joseph. The one who was a slave became the one God used to save them.
Questions
Here are some questions to think about or talk about as a family:
- Was Joseph wise to tell his brothers about his dreams?
- Why were Joseph’s brothers jealous and angry?
- What should Joseph’s brothers have done?
- Why did God allow Joseph to suffer?
- Why did God bless Joseph?
Fun Facts About The Bible
Chapters and verses were added in the 1200s CE
The original books of the Bible were not divided into chapters and verses. These came about a thousand years after the last book of the Bible had been written. This makes it much easier to tell other people what parts of the Bible you’re referencing!
I Am Not Doing This for Your Sake
It was my observation the message in the first part of Ezekiel 36 is a broad scale explanation of why God has hammered the friends and neighbors of the Hebrews. They understand what is going on and some are still defiant, others are perplexed. In their discouragement, they know of their unworthiness, and they are unsure of their future. They know their resistance was strong and unabated. God feels their uneasiness and chooses to introduce them to their distant future.
In this chapter we find a powerful promise of a new covenant. They are not specifically told it is a new covenant, but the messianic promise is clear. God has a new plan. He does it all, we are the recipients of a new life. He delivers a promise that we would be prepared, reformed by his grace and mercy, to walk with him. In the end he makes it clear that this message is page two of their life.
There is more, God makes it clear there is life with Him after exile; there is a path out of their dilemma, there is a way to extract themselves from spiritual infidelity. At first, they did not see the solution but it explains why they were in Babylon. The subliminal message feels like ‘absence makes the heart grow fond once again’. The separation from the thing they have known all their life was soon felt and that which they had taken for granted, now absent, was missed and then lamented.
I think the exile is also intended as an introduction to the full impact of the new covenant of grace, the full power of grace is magnified by the harshness of the exile as an antithesis to walking with God. You might recall the messianic hints in Ezekiel 34. In that chapter we explored a promise of the coming shepherd, and all the implications of that shepherd. Now, in this chapter, we expand on that message, we talk about the promises of the Holy Spirit, and the richness of the soon-to-be new covenant. We get a glimpse of his gracious influence, methods of operation, sanctification model, and the process for justification.
Yet, he also knows that some may still resist. They will remember their ways and not believe that God can and will forgive them. In that mindset, they truly lament, then he offers honesty and hope…
Ezekiel 36: 24-32 says — For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct! [NIV]
In our worst day, defiant of his grace, we will always find self-love at the core of our sin. What causes us to repent? It’s simple, I suspect repenting occurs when we cannot but wince when we notice the absurdness of our action that set us at odds with God. But before we can get to that point there will be a self-quarrel to accept the facts and then reconcile to the need to repent. It is constant, this wincing thing, because our mistakes and transgressions are non-stop. How then shall we live?
We find solace in the Goodness of God. His goodness overcomes our badness and leads us into the proper state of mind to repent. We resist kicking and yelling right up to the point where we relent and repent (or we do not repent and consequences happen). It is a repetitive cycle. Our God loves us through it all. He smiles as we struggle, because he knows the outcome and humors us as we work through the details. Who could love us more than God does. Anyone? I suspect not. Our wife and children take a close second in that race, but he is king of the hill. I choose Jesus.
Now To Him Who Is
Ephesians 3:20 – Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
The Breath Of God
It has been my observation, to understand God is to understand the three persons who comprise God. Getting your head wrapped around the difference between God the Father and Jesus is one thing. But many struggle to grasp who the Holy Spirit is in a way they could explain clearly to someone else. Yet, scripture tells us that knowing the Holy Spirit is the path to God’s wisdom. Understanding the Holy Spirit is vital to your walk with God.
The Bible describes the Spirit as the “breath” of God. John 20:22 says – and he [Jesus] breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit [NIV]. When you start walking with the one true living God, the Holy Spirit transforms you to become more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit has a will (1 Corinthians 12:11). The Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). His direction is consistent with God’s plan. Paul says — Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17)
1 Corinthians 2:9-12 says –What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love Him — these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us [NIV].
Clearly, Paul is encouraging us to explore the deeper relationship with God. But not just an awareness, rather he us telling us that we are to peer deep into the connection between us and the Holy Spirit, we are to give profound attention to his nudge, for he becomes a window to the wisdom and majesty of the one true living God. Where do we learn? At the feet of the one true living God. How do we learn? We learn through the conduit provided by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says – Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies [NIV]. Ephesians 4:30 says – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption [NIV]. John 14:16 says – And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever [NIV]. Romans 5:5 says – and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us [NIV]. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says – Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? [NIV]
The Holy Spirit hovers over believers in Christ and dwells within them at the same time. He is painfully aware of the massive cost (the death of Jesus) to establish this line of communication between us. He has access to and knows the Father’s thoughts – he is permitted to communicate many of those thoughts to us.
What is the impact? When you pray or read the Bible, you may very well sense God speaking to you through scripture; after all, that is one of key roles of the Holy Spirit in our life. God’s plan for us exists, we learn that plan from the Holy Spirit when we are meditating on Scripture. As our advocate (in addition to Jesus), he brings our hopes and dreams to the feet of God the Father. The Holy Spirit works in your life, teaching and giving opportunities for service. In that service, we learn to honor God’s notions and his way. The more you let this sink in, the easier it will be to give the Holy Spirit the proper place of authority He deserves in your life. Furthermore, his plan for your life will become noticeably clear.
Faith, Hope and Love – here are three elements we can grasp that honor God and honor the temple he has given us. Love is the cornerstone, the under girth of faith and hope. Faith and hope are fueled by the nudge and teaching about love from the Holy Spirit. The more we learn about trusting God (faith) and embracing the larger picture of everlasting life (hope), the more effective God’s love is in our life. How do we know this? These things are not tangible, you cannot touch love as a stand-alone object. These things appear through our actions. You cannot touch them, but you can see the impact of faith, hope, and love in your life and others around you.
Why does this matter? When these things are fueled by the Holy Spirit, active in our life, growing us and nurturing us, we are able to reflect these attributes using the Gold Standard for these attributes – we model our behavior in accordance with the one true living God. He displays these attributes; we are created in his image; we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to demonstrate these attributes. Selah!
The Holy Spirit is an equal among and a true member of the Trinity. Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit interact and exist in a binding community, co-equal, co-eternal, and one in essence with one another. Genesis 1:1-2 says — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters [NIV]. Mark 1:9-12 says – At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. A voice came from heaven: ‘You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased’ [NIV].
Acts 15:8 says — God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us [NIV]. 2 Corinthians 13:14 says — May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all [NIV]. Acts 2:33 says – God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, He (Jesus) has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out [upon us] what you now see and hear [NIV].
Can we resist the influence of the Holy Spirit that envelopes us and fills us up to the brim? Can we avoid the message that comes straight from the thoughts of God? Can we run from God’s truth? I suspect not. Read his word, pray, listen to Him, grow in faith, walk with God!
I choose Jesus.
How does it happen? Why does it happen? What is the outcome?
What is the trinity all about? Why does it matter?
How do you touch the fruit of the Spirit? Can you? Can you see the effect of the fruit of the Spirit?
Now that you have a better idea of how the Holy Spirit operates, what changes do you need to make to work with the Spirit of God rather than skirting God’s wisdom and guidance related to you by the Holy Spirit?
Shalom Talk 