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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer for the Morning

May all I do today begin with you, O Lord. Plant dreams and hopes within my soul and revive my tired spirit: be with me today. Be at my side and walk with me; be my support, that your hand may be seen in every action I take, that your goodness may be in every word I speak, and that your spirit may inhabit my every thought. Make my thoughts, my work, and my very life blessings for your kingdom. In Christ's name I pray,

Prayer for All People

O  God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, I humbly pray to you for all sorts and conditions of humanity; that it might please you to make your Word known to them and bring your saving health to all nations. In particular I pray for the entirety of your church, in all of its many forms; that it may be guided and governed by your Holy Spirit, and that all who profess your name and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth. May all of us live in the unity of spirit our faith in Christ provides to us, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.

Finally, I commend to your fatherly goodness all those who are ill or in distress, in their mind, body, or circumstances. May it please you to comfort and relieve them in accordance with their needs, giving them patience during their suffering, and a fortunate outcome to all of their problems. And this I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, who was always pleased to relieve the suffering of those he encountered.

Dedication

As I travel through the rest of my day, may the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I may abound in hope.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Isaac Blessing Jacob by Gioacchino Assereto, 1640

Perseverance

Genesis 45:9-20 (ESV)

Joseph Promises to Provide for His Family

Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’

And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”

Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

Notes on the Scripture

In earlier times, the "Land of Goshen" was a well-known phrase. At least 30 states in the U.S. have incorporated towns named Goshen, not to mention numerous villages and townships, counties, etc. These were named, of course, in a time when the Bible was more widely read and better known; it is unlikely that one person in ten, today, would have any idea what the word Goshen referred to.

It does live on in the expletive "gosh", which is itself less heard than in past times. It is thought to sound unsophisticated today and you would only hear it in a movie or t.v. show said by a hick or rube, or perhaps by a child. In fact Granny, on the old t.v. show Beverly Hillbillies, would actually say "Land of Goshen!" on occasion. But language has gotten coarser, or at least, coarse language is more widely accepted in public than it once was.

Goshen lies in the eastern part of the Nile River Delta, the part of Egypt closest to Canaan; it is the first fertile land you would reach if you traveled west from the Suez Canal. The only mention of it, or the Hebrew settlement of eastern Egypt, is in the Bible. It is indeed good land and suitable for the pastoral lifestyle of the Hebrews, as the grass is abundant.

The Egyptians looked down on tribes who herded livestock for their livelihood; the Pharaoh's power lay in the great grain harvest of the Nile, and so, naturally, manorial farming was considered the highest form of basic economy. Joseph was not known as a herder; his service had been to the organization and storage of the grain crop. But the low-class lifestyle of his family and tribe will cause trouble, as we shall soon see.

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