by Pastor Mark Gierus
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But Joseph said, ‘Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace’ (Genesis 44:17).
Read Genesis 44:1–17
Joseph’s brothers have now bought grain for a second time and are returning to the land of Canaan to provide for their families. They have safely taken Benjamin with them and have also been given back their other brother, Simeon, who was left with Joseph after the first visit to Egypt for grain. They were on the way home, all accounted for, but Joseph had put a plan in place.
Joseph had instructed the steward of his house: ‘Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack. Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.’
Soon after the brothers had left, Joseph sent his steward after them, accusing them of stealing, including the silver cup of Joseph. The brothers are bewildered, and the silver cup is found in Benjamin’s sack. The brothers are now to be slaves of Joseph, but he says that only the one found with the cup must stay, and the rest must return to their father in peace.
Joseph lives by faith – faith in God – and knows what he will do. He is not planning to punish his brothers for what they had done, but rather in faith to be a servant of the living God who will show his glory and purpose to them all as the story unfolds.
When you have been wrongly accused, fix your eyes on God in faith, and you will see the promises in his word that he is with you always and will never leave nor forsake you. Wait on him, trusting that he always has a plan to bless you and shape you for his purpose and, in the end, to show you and those around you that he is a loving and forgiving God who cares.
O God, when I find myself wrongly accused, help me to turn to you. Please help me to call on your name and trust you. You will always do more for me than I can imagine because you love me. You defend me because I am yours. You have called me by name, and you will keep me safe. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in Redland Bay, Alberton and Woongoolba in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 8, 11 and 21, and he enjoys hiking with them, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets as a family and going on road trips. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Pastor Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
‘We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.’ ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them (Genesis 43:22,23).
Read Genesis 43:16–34
As we continue our Joseph story, we find the brothers back in Egypt with their sacks of silver returned to them, along with more silver to buy grain. We are told that when Joseph sees his brother Benjamin with his other brothers, he asks his servants to prepare a feast. This instils fear in the brothers’ hearts, thinking the worst, perhaps out of the guilt that remains from the sale of Joseph as a slave years before.
The brothers quickly set about explaining what happened on their last trip. They stopped on the way back from Egypt and found the silver they had brought to buy grain was somehow back in their sacks. Joseph had arranged this, and the brothers were afraid. They said they didn’t know who put the silver in their sacks.
Joseph’s steward brings some comfort with encouraging words, but perhaps they remain unconvinced. ‘Peace be to you, for God, your God, has given you hidden treasure in your sacks, and your silver had been received for payment before.’ The servant brings out Simeon, the brother who had stayed in Egypt held by Joseph.
It is God who provided this. How much comfort do we take when we know it is our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is God who provides for us always in our time of need. Our God has the best timing for all things in his care. Our God loves us and always wants to build us up, encouraging us daily in his word. God cares and will never let you down; he loves you.
Heavenly Father, amid our uncertainty, you provide all we need. You love us and want the best for us always. May I go out each day knowing you give me more than I need so I can share what I have with others around me. Help me to share your love with others day by day. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in Redland Bay, Alberton and Woongoolba in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 8, 11 and 21, and he enjoys hiking with them, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets as a family and going on road trips. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Pastor Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved (Genesis 43:13,14).
Read Genesis 43:1–15
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done that’? Then, those around you say the same thing, ‘You really shouldn’t have done that’. Suddenly, a decision of the past comes back not only to haunt you but to hinder you significantly as well.
We pick up the events today with Joseph’s brothers, who have returned from Egypt after buying grain for their families. On the return journey, Rueben tells his brothers, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy Joseph? But you wouldn’t listen’.
The brothers brought grain back from Egypt but had to leave a brother in prison in Egypt and were told by Joseph – who they did not recognise – that if they didn’t bring back the youngest brother Benjamin, they would not see Joseph again nor have access to him or any further grain.
They are in a dilemma. Their decision to sell Joseph is coming back to make things more difficult. Not only have they had to leave a brother in Egypt, but now they must bring along their youngest brother, Benjamin, as they return for more grain.
In your own life, have you found yourself in situations where your own decisions from the past are now impacting the present? Have you had those times like the brothers where there doesn’t seem to be a way out of the situation?
But in all situations, remember that God works for the good of those who love him. Trusting in God in all things, like Jacob, the outcome is in God’s hands. Praying that God Almighty may give you mercy at the pointy end of that which you are facing, but also that his mercy, grace and love are with you in all things, day by day.
Lord, we often get things wrong. Remind us always that you are God, and you know all things. You sent Jesus, your only Son, to suffer and die for sin in my place so that I might have life and life to the fullest. Make my paths straight in the decisions that bring me to places where there seems to be no way out. Hold me close to you always, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in Redland Bay, Alberton and Woongoolba in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 8, 11 and 21, and he enjoys hiking with them, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets as a family and going on road trips. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Pastor Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you just keep looking at each other?’ (Genesis 42:1).
Read Genesis 42:1–23
You may have heard before that a ship is hard to steer if it is not moving. Well, it is the same with us. Sometimes in life, we can find ourselves not really moving. We get bogged down in so many things that we end up coming to a standstill. Then, we can find ourselves complaining to God that he does nothing to help us. Other times, we might feel like we are doing a lot, yet we are not moving – just looking at each other.
All this seems logical at first, just as in our own lives. Jacob learns there is grain in Egypt, so he sends his 10 sons, keeping Benjamin at home with him. Yet, God is working in this simple instruction for survival to buy grain to eat in their time of need. Not just to provide for them but to unite the brothers again and bring peace and reconciliation. The brothers had sold Joseph years before into slavery, and now they would meet Joseph, not recognising him as he was now the governor of the land. But God’s plan was about bringing peace, uniting Joseph’s family again and displaying his glory, power and love.
We might think that some of our logical decisions (like going and buying some food) do not have much to do with God. But, sometimes, the people you meet along the way are put there by God to shape you for his purpose. When you trust that God is always at work in your life, you start to move, and God guides and steers you for his work. God cares about and loves you. When you feel unsure about what to do, just start the journey with God, and he will make your path straight. When you look back, you will see the plans he had for you.
Dear God, we sometimes feel like we are just not going anywhere. Please help us take the first steps of the way you have shown us in all things. Let us walk by faith in you, trusting that you have plans for us for your good purpose. Show us day by day through your holy word that you are with us always and will never leave us. Let us give thanks always, especially when we see how things work out in our lives, those things that you planned before we even took our first breath. Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in Redland Bay, Alberton and Woongoolba in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 8, 11 and 21, and he enjoys hiking with them, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets as a family and going on road trips. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Pastor Mark Gierus
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on’ (Mark 12:43,44).
Read Mark 12:38–44
What immediately springs to your mind when you think about giving it all? Do you think about giving 100 per cent of your energy or effort towards something for your work or when you play sport? Perhaps you might be thinking that is the way to live life. Yet do you believe giving it all is about giving up yourself in service of others?
How often have you heard people say if I had more time, I would volunteer in the community to help others? Maybe you hear people say, ‘If I had a million dollars, I would be able to give more money to help others?
Jesus was born to give it all. He gave it all for us on the cross at Calvary. He suffered and died for the sins of the whole world – for you and me – so that we might be forgiven, saved and given eternal life in his name. We are set free, so we can give it all for Jesus as we live each day in service of each other.
When we think of the widow, do we assume it is her fault she is poor and, in contrast, think the rich are good people who have it together? The widow in the reading today didn’t give out of what she had to spare; instead, she gave it all. Others in the crowd put in what they had left over from their wealth.
It is a wonderful gift to each of us that Jesus gave it all so that in our selfishness, in the times we only offer a little of what God has first given us and, in our sin, we can come to him and seek forgiveness and a clean heart to give all for our Lord by giving all to others.
Dear Jesus, forgive us when we fail to give our all to others out of what you have first given us. Help us grow each day in you so we can serve with hearts of love and generosity to bless those around us. Help us never overlook the humble work of others who serve in your name, giving thanks for the gifts they bring to build up those in need. In your name, we pray, Amen.
Pastor Mark Gierus currently serves as a Lutheran pastor in Redland Bay, Alberton and Woongoolba in Queensland. He has three beautiful girls aged 8, 11 and 21, and he enjoys hiking with them, going to the beach, singing and jamming, looking after their pets as a family and going on road trips. Mark prays that God will continue to bless you as you grow in him and come to know him more and more through his life-giving eternal word.
by Carolyn Ehrlich
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being (Psalm 146:2b).
Read Psalm 146
We began this week with the call to love God with all our heart, strength and soul. Today, the psalmist tells us to sing our praises to God with all our being, loving God with all we have and praising him with the entirety of ourselves.
I cannot sing. I wish I could, but I am completely tone-deaf. I feel absolutely blessed when I hear a church full of people belting out praise to God. It is the most uplifting, wonderful experience. And it allows me to sing that little bit louder because everyone else’s singing drowns out my tone-deafness. How my soul rises within me when I praise my Lord and God!
I was recently blessed to attend the worship services at our Convention of General Synod. One of the things that impacted me the most was hearing the gentle voice of a pastor singing a psalm and the entire congregation singing back. We did not have loud music, although we had musicians. We did not need theatrical lights when we sang. Our souls praised the Lord, and it was stirring. It engaged all my senses. It engaged my whole being.
Melodious, harmonious singing is not the only way to sing our praises to the Lord. How do you sing praises to God while you are on this earth? Thank God loudly and often. Feel your soul resonate with the Spirit of God when you acknowledge and praise him. Take some quiet time today and praise God. Thank, worship and praise him.
My Father, I praise and adore you with all my soul. I will praise you until death. I will sing your praises as I come before you. As long as you give me breath, I will praise you. My life and all things come from you. You created everything. My help comes from you, and you give me all I have. Thank you. Amen.
Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the disability and rehabilitation fields. Today, Carolyn keeps busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.
by Carolyn Ehrlich
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
And his brothers listened to him (Genesis 37:27b).
Read Genesis 37:23–36
In today’s reading, we read about Joseph’s brothers scheming and taking action to get rid of him. On the face of it, Joseph appears to be an annoying little brother, basking in his father’s favour with no real understanding or knowledge about what has been happening to his brothers.
Maybe this resonates to some degree with you. Perhaps it does not. Either way, in today’s reading, we hear how Joseph’s brothers decided to take things into their own hands. I can almost hear them hatching a plan to deal with this annoying younger brother. Hatching a plan included talking, throwing around ideas (although Rueben did not really go along with the ideas), seeing opportunities and making plans on the fly (so to speak). It required people to talk and listen, and it required action. Speak, listen, act.
This cycle of speaking, listening and acting is an interesting thing to me. We listen to people, and we expect them to listen to us. Listening and speaking are also inextricably linked with discerning – at least, it rightly ought to be. Proverbs 18:21 says: ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit’. This tells me that I need to be careful about what I speak and how I listen.
Further, it tells me that I need to be discerning. As a listener, I wonder what prompts us to listen to one person’s advice and ignore another’s. Who do we gather around and listen to? Do we check what they have to say? How do we assess what is reasonable and what is not? Have you ever thought about who or what you listen to every day? Do you ever consider how much you listen to God each day?
If you are a leader in your family, with your peers, or in your church community, who is listening to you? And is what you are saying worth listening to? So today, ask God to shine his light into your words and the words you listen to. Ask him to show you how to discern what his will is.
My Heavenly Father, you are all-knowing, and your plans are perfect. Reach into my heart today and show me what you want me to speak, hear and discern. Teach me your truth, for your word is truth. Amen.
Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the disability and rehabilitation fields. Today, Carolyn keeps busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.
by Carolyn Ehrlich
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
They hated him and could not speak peacefully to him (Genesis 37:4b).
Read Genesis 37:3–22
Sin festers. In today’s reading, we see how being less favoured than someone else by a person in authority led to jealousy and revenge. To put this another way: Joseph’s brothers were not blessed in the same way as Joseph. Intertwined in this story is another story of intergenerational deception, blessing and birthright. Jacob had taken Esau’s birthright by deceiving Isaac, and now Jacob favoured Joseph over his older brothers. Whether it is our biological family or church family, families are messy. People are blessed with different skills, talents and attributes. We get along with some people better than others. People take offence. Sometimes, we look at what others appear to be receiving and dislike or even hate them.
As I ponder today’s reading, I am struck by the way sin festers and the consequences of allowing it to happen. When sin was allowed to fester, Joseph’s brothers conspired against him, planning to kill him but ultimately selling him into slavery. I am also reminded of another Scripture that tells us how our desires lure us. James 1:14,15 says:
But each person is tempted when they are lured and enticed by their own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Sin and evil take root, bitterness and hatred grow, and death ensues. But it starts with desire. A desire for something to be different than it is, to be acknowledged, understood and appreciated differently than we are.
Is there a different path to travel? Well, Scripture has an answer for that, too. In 2 Peter 1:5–7, we read:
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
Today, ponder whether you are being lured and enticed by your own desire. Is there someone (or a group of people) you believe are more blessed than you? How are you reacting to that? Are you in a situation in which intergenerational biological or church-family matters discolour or stain your worldview? Is sin festering in your life? If it is, take heart. God has a plan, and his plan is good. He has given you the gift of faith. Make every effort to supplement that gift.
Father God, thank you for your gift of faith. Today and every day, help me to make every effort to supplement your gift to me with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, mutual affection and, ultimately, love. Amen.
Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the disability and rehabilitation fields. Today, Carolyn keeps busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.
by Carolyn Ehrlich
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept (Genesis 33:4).
Read Genesis 32:22 – 33:17
Today, I want to look at the big picture of reconciliation that has reached its pinnacle in verse four. Jacob stole Esau’s birth right and then ran away. He found a beautiful woman to marry but was tricked and had to wait another seven years to marry the one he most loved. God blessed him in exile but then told him to return to his homeland. And now he had to face his older brother and his past. Jacob needed to come face to face with things he had done in his youth. Jacob was different now but did not know if Esau would accept him. Jacob was fearful. He sent gifts to Esau, trying to show that he was sorry. He also had to wrestle with God.
Reflecting on my understanding of reconciliation and forgiveness, I have often believed it is something I just do and then get on with my life as before. But this is not what this story is telling us.
Let’s look at what Jacob actually did. He didn’t face the person he had wronged for a long time – he ran away, avoided the situation and got on with a life separate from his brother. But eventually, Jacob had to return to the scene of his crime (so to speak). On that journey to reconciliation, he listened to God. He responded when the angel of God appeared to him – he said: ‘Here I am.’ Even though he ran from his brother, he did not run from God when called. Is God calling you to reconciliation right now? Jacob was afraid at more than one point on this journey. He was frightened about leaving Laban and returning to Esau.
Are you on a journey to reconciliation? If you are, and you are frightened, know that Jacob was too, and God is with you. Then Jacob had to wrestle with a determined but unrecognised stranger. Are you wrestling with a stranger? Could that stranger be God? If you are, you may come away changed, but ask for God’s blessing anyway.
Then Jacob came to the point where he was entering Esau’s territory. He was stepping into Esau’s lands and way of doing things. Jacob was going into that place where the initial hurt/damage/injury/insult had occurred. To that place where he had done wrong. Is this where you are? Jacob sent gifts to Esau. He was testing how Esau would react. He was uncertain. You might be in that uncertain place. Pray. God has a plan, and his plan is good – always.
So, is this what reconciliation looks like? Seeking forgiveness if you are the one who has done wrong? Wrestling with God. Foreshadowing that you are on your way. Praying fervently. A journey that, at the end of the day, must be walked alone (verse 14).
Lord God, thank you for being with me always. Thank you for being a God of reconciliation. Please be with me on my journey of reconciliation today and always. Please show me where you are and what you want me to do. And Father, please bless me on this day. In Jesus’ precious name, I pray. Amen.