Family

2/25/2008 8:54 PM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Faith

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Genesis 50:24-25

            Message of the verses:  “24  Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob."  25  Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.’”

            “By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones (Heb. 11:22 NKJV).”

            Dr. Wiersbe has this to say when describing faith:  “Faith isn’t a shallow emotion that we work up by ourselves, or an optimistic ‘hope-so’ attitude of Faith in faith.’  True faith is grounded on the infallible Word of God, and because God said it, we believe it and act upon it.”

            The question is where did Joseph’s faith come from, or how did Joseph’s faith grow stronger given the circumstances he was living under and the things he went through early on in his life?  I believe that since Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son that Jacob took a lot of time with him to teach him all of the things that Abraham had taught his father Isaac.  Joseph’s dreams that God had given to him, and the fact that they all came true was another thing that increased Joseph’s faith, so that when he was about to die he instructed the sons of Jacob to bury him in the land of Canaan, which they did and they buried him in the land given to one of his sons.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In the description that Dr. Wiersbe gave on faith, where he states that faith is based upon the Word of God is the key to me, however there have been times when I have not based my faith on the Word of God, and maybe even against the Word of God and I have paid dearly for these mistakes.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to always base my faith on the Word of God.

Memory verses for the week:  Philippians 1:9-11

9. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,
10. so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;
11. having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.