And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through im. Colossians 3: 15-17, NRSV.  Gracious God, As we rose from our beds and looked out of our windows at the beauty of nature;...

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worst - stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will more want to be, and end up being. . ." Matthew 6: 19-21, MSG. Heavenly Father, today as we come into Your presence, we ask that You will make Your Word plain to us. This we ask in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen. For the past few days we...

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3: 20, 21, NKJV. Holy Father, Here we are again, waiting to hear a Word from You. Please speak to our hearts in heavenly tones, and help us to understand that we are citizens of heaven, by Your grace. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. It is good for...

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3: 12-14, NIV. Dear God, today as we come into Your presence, we ask that Your Holy Spirit will draw near to us, and teach us to love as You love. Also teach us how to verbally express our love. In the name of Jesus we...

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. Genesis 50: 20, NASB.  Our Father, we wait on You to make our dreams come true. Grant that as we study, we will realize that one of these days, it will all make sense, if not here and now, in the light of eternity! In the name of Jesus we humbly pray. Amen. Joseph is witnessing the fulfillment of his dream. Our study for the past three days have been leading up to this moment. We read...

 When some Midianite traders passed by, they (his brothers) drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. . . . Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold  him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard. Genesis 37: 28, 36, NRSV.   Holy God, we are amazed at Your powerful control over the lives of Your children. Help us to rest in the assurance that we are safe in Your keeping. Please reveal this to us as we study Your...

But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life." Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him" -that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves" that he wore; and they put him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Genesis 37: 21- 24, NRSV.  Today...

Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more . . . He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers . . . When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him:  "What's with all this dreaming?" . . .  They (his brothers) spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, "Here comes that dreamer. Let's kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns . ....

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10: 10, NIV. (Emphasis provided). Dear God, please speak to our hearts today. Teach us how to speak hope to others ,as well as to ourselves. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Whenever we think about the importance of the things we say, our first concern is to be careful not to offend. So we remain silent. I believe that we do not give sufficient thought to the benefits to be reaped by the positive things that we say. Another thought...

Terah took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis 11: 31, 32, NRSV, emphasis provided). Gracious God, we come to You once again for direction. It is so easy for us to lose our way, if we are not guided by Your Holy Spirit. So please stay close...