arrow to previous dayarrow to next day
Welcome back, Friend.

Daily Devotion for August 17, 2017


<i>Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream</i>, by Reginald Arthur, 1894.
Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream, by Reginald Arthur, 1894.

Prayers

Scripture

175 people in our community are currently praying with you.

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.

Amen.

Simple Gifts is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848 by a hardscrabble Maine farmer, Joseph Brackett. The Shakers would use it as a dance song as well as a hymn.




For a New Day

Lord, the newness of this day
Calls me to an untried way;
Let me gladly take the road,
Give me strength to bear my load.
Thou my guide and helper be —
I will travel through with Thee.

Amen.

Prayer for Deliverance

Dear Lord, grant me, I beseech you, your divine helping grace. Endow me with patience and strength to endure my tribulations with complete submission to your will. You know my misery and suffering. I flee to you, my only hope and refuge, for relief and comfort, trusting to your infinite love and compassion; that in due time, you will deliver me from all the trials of this life and turn my distress into comfort. I rejoice in your mercy. I exalt and praise your holy name, oh Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: now and forever.

Amen.

Meditation

[Submission in faith as a help to enduring tribulation.]


Benediction

Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted me as a living member of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have blessed me with the grace of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made for me and for all people. Send me now into the world in peace, and grant me strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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.



endless knot

When to Pray

“Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.”

~ Corrie Ten Boom


Blue Latin Cross

Genesis 42:1-8 (ESV)

Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt [1]

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”

So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them.

“Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.


Notes on the Scripture

If you can recall what we read in Genesis 37, the main reason Joseph got into so much trouble with his brothers, and was sold to slave traders, was the haughty-sounding dreams he kept having. For example:

     “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” (Genesis 37:6-7)

N

ow the dream has finally come to pass, after 13 or 14 years! The drought, which has extended from the headwaters of the Nile all the way through the Middle East, has forced the tribes of Canaan to come to Egypt, the only place in reach that has stored food. In fact, the dream now seems to have an extra level of meaning, for Joseph appeared in it as a sheaf of grain which stood upright while those of the others bowed down; his dream foretold that he would not only rule, but also be the supply of life-giving food.

One might wonder that the ten brothers might not recognize their own brother, but it is not merely age that has changed Joseph. He is dressed as an Egyptian noble, very different in appearance from a shepherd of Canaan; and plus, the brothers can hardly stare at him, since they are kneeling with their faces in the floor!

We must remember, although Joseph has saved Egypt from starvation, he has also saved his family from starvation. “God works in mysterious ways,” it is often said, and none more mysterious than this. By plotting to murder him, and giving him in chains to a slave caravan, his brothers have played their part in God’s plan to ensure the prosperity of Abraham’s seed.



Joseph and his Coat of Many Colors
Joseph and his Coat of Many Colors

Daily Inspiration

“Wings Like Eagles”

Current Memory Verse     Remember the Bible

Print Today’s Devotion





Today in Daily Prayer

Memory Verse

John 14:6: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.



About Daily Prayer



Follow us on Facebook
Join the Daily Prayer Group.


If you are new to Daily Prayer, welcome. This page provides a non-denominational, Bible-based devotion every day, including prayers, Scripture, Bible study, music, and art, designed to be usable for worship and the deepening of faith by any person who confesses Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

We hope you will take a look around at some of the features. Registration and membership-dependant features have been disabled, temporarily, while we add new security features. You should be able to use our Daily Bible Quiz, but Match-a-Verse , and Memorize Favorite Bible Verses won’t be back for a while.

We do not email anything, except replies to emails from readers.

“The mind of God is greater than all the minds of men, so let all men leave the gospel just as God has delivered it unto us.” ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon





Comments


Register for the Forum  Post a Comment


Our Community Around the World: Visitors July 1, 2009 - October 1, 2023


US  83,559,217
PH  6,517,455
CA  6,022,764
UK  3,900,469
AU  751,102
MY  103,677
ZA  102,555
NZ  98,931
SG  96,313
NG  81,473
IN  79,221
AE  66,880
SA  62,278
TT  59,321
KE  69,561
BB  54,010
JM  50,484
FJ  44,356
KY  41,644
CN  36,375
DE  30,516
HK  29,772
KR  26,339
GH  21,404
DM  21,025
IT  20,763
FR  20,313
TZ  16,068
BM  16,045
BS  15,664
MW  12,524
ID  12,141
LC  11,836
ZW  11,422
GU  11,319
PK  10,699
CZ  7,448
CO  7,411
UG  7,223
HN  6,991
VC  6,314
QA  6,208
MX  5,089
KW  4,226
BR  4,124
NL  3,956
TH  3,888
BZ  3,647
BW  3,456
OM  3,451
BG  3,450
BO  3,120
EG  4,782
CH  6,919
NA  2,422
ES  2,419
AW  2,335
PR  12,563
LK  3,282
IE  2,964
IL  2,551
GY  2,539
ET  2,312
TW  2,310
CM  2,242
BE  2,038
DK  6,333
LB  1,682
ZM  1,503