The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:1-2).

What a strange statement, “The Lord was with Joseph.” Wouldn’t you expect that if the Lord was so much “with Joseph” that nothing bad like being sold to wicked people and being kidnapped from his country would ever have happened to him? If the Lord was “with Joseph,” why didn’t He stop his brothers from throwing him into a pit (Genesis 37:24)? Why didn’t He stop the sale of Joseph to these Ishmaelite merchants (37:28)? We often do not understand the ways of the Lord. Though the brothers meant it to be harmful and wicked to Joseph, God was actually providing free transportation to the next prime minister of Egypt. I must be careful not to misinterpret the working of the Lord just because I don’t understand what He is trying to do.

For today: Be careful today not to wrongly judge the working of the Lord. Give Him time, and trust in His goodness always.

It is an unpleasant thing to think about, but a very important matter indeed. Increasingly it would seem that people are less and less interested in spiritual things. Our great God is simply not important to many, many people, and they are determined to live their lives any way they wish.

God-haters are more and more out-in-the open in their hostility to spiritual things.
More Christian are the target of persecution than any other group of religions.
The work of God in our own beloved land is being resisted, rejected and ridiculed.
Outright lies are being proclaimed that state, “There are many roads to Heaven. Follow your heart.”

In a tender, gracious way I want to clearly remind you and proclaim without apology that I believe the Word of God 100% from cover to cover. There are only two eternal places. Heaven, beautiful Heaven, our Father’s Home and where the Lord Jesus welcomes the gathering of His people, is for those who personally have believed the gospel and received Christ.

The only other place is the Lake of Fire. It is just as real as Heaven. It is just as eternal as Heaven. But it is 100% opposite of Heaven.

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).

“And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

If you aren’t sure of where you will spend eternity, or if you have a friend that is not sure, please, please, please go to my website www.michaelpeck.org and click the banner “Heaven.” If you are a Christ-follower, aren’t you grateful to know that your eternity is settled? Doesn’t it make you want others to know as well?

I am going to share three wonderful verses from three wonderful Psalms. These have blessed my life for decades and decades. I don’t know if I can fully explain it, but here goes. It just seems like the older I grow, the more wonderful these verses have come to be to me.

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).

“I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust” (Psalm 91:2).

“And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee” (Psalm 9:10).

Are we promised that life would be easy? No!
Are we promised that somehow we will never have sorrow? No!
Are we promised a life of no disappointments? No!
Are we promised a life where everything goes just the way we planned it? I’m smiling as I write NO!
But…
We are promised that our awesome God possesses a greatness that is unsearchable; He is the refuge and fortress to His children and not only worthy of our trust, but One Who never ever will forsake us.

I just have to stop everything for a moment! Consider with me our great God. I think that wonderful hymn “How Great Thou Art” is going to echo through my mind today.

As the Lord’s people, we must be careful never to allow the circumstances in life to overwhelm us and distract us from the wonderful blessing of seeing ourselves as Christ-followers. We belong to the absolutely awesome and astoundingly majestic One Who loves us with everlasting love. He is perfect in every detail of His being. Even when He took upon Himself a complete human nature and became man, He was perfect.

“And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers” (Luke 2:46-47).

What a sight before us! The Lord Jesus as a twelve-year-old boy discussing God’s truth with the very learned doctors of the Law! Seated with the religious leaders was no typical young boy. This was none other than 100% God and 100% man existing in what is called “the Hypostatic Union.” He was the God-Man! No wonder that those who were listening to Him were quite amazed.

I hope you will have the same amazement and wonder at this precious Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? He is truly amazing.

I really do want this in my personal life: I never want to lose my sense of awe and admiration for the Lord Jesus. How about you?

Do I have a wonderful verse for us today in my Daily Prescription!

“Cause me to hear Thy lovingkiness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee” (Psalm 143:8).

Recently I was driving behind a car, traveling along at a safe distance, thankfully. Without any warning, without any directional lights indicating the driver’s intention, he suddenly slammed on his brakes and turned into a driveway on the right-hand side of the road. I mean, slammed on his brakes! If I had been tailgating, as some dear folks in Ohio seem to like to do, I would have been in his trunk suddenly veering into that driveway as well!

I sound like a grumpy old man, don’t I? Complaining because some drivers tailgate and others have not discovered what that little lever on the left side of the steering wheel actually does! I really am smiling as I write this. How thankful I am that our God does give us direction for living in His Word. He causes us to know the way we should take. Though it might not be on the journey we planned, God’s way is always the best because it is always in His lovingkindness.

This doesn’t necessarily make the way easy.
This doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the Lord will operate according to my plans and schedule.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that I will understand everything He is doing at the time.

But this does mean that at the start of everyday I can be assured of His “lovingkindness” which is the word hesed (KHEH-sed) which speaks of His loyal love, mercy, and goodness.

That’s just what I needed today! How about you?