Genesis 42:1-25 Years after selling Joseph into slavery, his brothers show up in Egypt looking for food and completely unaware that Joseph is there and the second most powerful man in the entire country! When they see Joseph, they think it is only an Egyptian official and they don't recognize him.  But he recognizes them.  He sets up a test for them to determine whether or not he will forgive them. When we read about all of the family problems of the people in the book of Genesis it's a reminder that not much has changed in this world.  Sin still causes all kinds of problems, even in families.  But it's also a reminder that Jesus chose to come from a line of people whose families were a mess; Jesus came to be the Savior for all people, even those with families that are a mess.

Genesis 41:37-57 Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, made a slave, and thrown in prison.  But now we find Joseph raised up as second in command in all of Egypt! This is a reminder for us that after we endure long periods of suffering, God will, at the right time, give us blessings beyond what we can imagine. So in the midst of difficult circumstances we can always look to the Lord in faith and know that because of Jesus, in the end, all will be well.

Genesis 41:1-36 While in prison Joseph was able to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh's cup-bearer, which led to Joseph later being called to interpret the dream of Pharaoh. Again, this was all part of God's plan. A famine was coming and because God worked through Joseph, Egypt was able to prepare for the coming famine.  All of this was part of God's plan, as we will continue to see as the readings continue.

Genesis 39 When you do the right thing you're supposed to be rewarded, right?  But in this world of sin there are times when doing the right thing will lead to you being persecuted. Joseph refused to act inappropriately with Potiphar's wife and as a result he ended up in prison.  But even as things seemed to be getting worse and worse for Joseph, God had a greater plan in mind.

Genesis 37:12-26 The brothers of Joseph hated Joseph. It was bad enough that he was the favorite of his father and was clearly favored by him, but then he started having dreams in which it was clear that his brothers were serving him. So when they had the chance to get rid of Joseph, they took it. At first they were going to kill him, but then they decided they could make some money off of him instead; so they sold Joseph into slavery. Things looked very bad for Joseph, yet God had a much bigger plan in mind.

Genesis 37:1-11 Joseph  was Jacob's favorite son and everyone knew it. His brothers hated him for it. Then Joseph started to have dreams indicating that his brothers would serve him, they became more and more resentful towards him. The jealousy of the brothers would later lead to even greater sins. Do you have jealousy in your heart? If so, take it to the Lord and ask Him to give you a clean heart.

Genesis 33 Jacob has feared this moment for years.  How would Esau treat him? Would he try to kill him?  Would he still be enraged? But Esau didn't try to kill him or act in anger, instead he ran to meet his brother, hugged him, and wept.  After all of the years apart Esau had chosen to forgive rather than hold on to the anger. Because of the forgiveness, the two brothers were reconciled and for the first time in their lives the had a genuinely good relationship with each other. It can be hard to forgive, but knowing that we've been forgiven much more by God than we could ever forgive another person helps us to forgive. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. What does this mean?  We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us...