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Find Us Faithful

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Genesis 50

G. Campbell Morgan once said that a believer’s work in the world is not finished when they put him in the ground. Think about that for a minute.

Joseph was a faithful and productive servant of God during his 110 years on this earth, and continued to be used by God for the next 400 years after his death. He was probably embalmed and placed in a sarcophagus since he was an Egyptian ruler. But the Israelites held onto the remains even after they were forced into slavery.

What did that coffin represent to the generations after Joseph? Salvation!

Joseph’s last words to his family was when – not if – God comes to your aid and takes you back to Canaan, take my bones with you and bury me there. Joseph’s remains were a constant reminder of God’s promises to Israel, and the hope of His salvation.

Years ago Steve Green wrote a song entitled “Find Us Faithful.” It is my prayer. The chorus says:

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.
May the fire of our devotion light their way.
May the footprints that we leave lead them to believe,
And the lives we live inspire them to obey.
Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful.

Google the lyrics, or better yet go to You Tube and hear Steve Green sing it. It will make you stop and think.

What is it you want the memory of you to inspire? When your children think of you after you’re gone, what do you hope comes to mind? Your money will be spent, your belongings will be discarded. But your influence will live on.

Understanding that truth, there might be some changes you (and I) might want to make while we still have a chance. The footprints we leave will lead somewhere. Do you care where? Will they lead our loved ones to God, or away from Him?

May all who come behind us find us faithful.

When I Die

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Genesis 47:28-48:22

I suppose the older you get the more you think about dying. In truth, our bodies begin to fail, reminding us that we won’t live forever. So we tend to sit more and have more time to consider what’s ahead. We write our wills to assure our children are cared for when we’re gone. Jacob did that.

Jacob didn’t write down his wishes and have it notarized. His word was as binding as any contract as he spelled out what he intended for each of his and Joseph’s sons. Warren Wiersbe in his study on the Psalms entitled Be Authentic (David C Cook publisher) points out that Jacob went a step further than merely planning ahead for his children. He even planned his own funeral.

Jacob did not want to give the wrong impression by being buried like an Egyptian in Egypt. Even though he most likely would have had an impressive send-off, Jacob did not want anyone to question where his heart was. He insisted on being buried with his family like a believer in Holy God. Make no mistake, Jacob was saying he rejected the gods of Egypt, and wanted that to be a plain message even after he died.

I’ve told my family I really don’t care if they have a public funeral service for me or not. I won’t be there, so whatever they need is fine with me. But if there is a service at all, I do want it to glorify God. I want the Gospel clearly and powerfully proclaimed. I want hymns sung – especially “And Can It Be” (all the verses) and the song “Find Us Faithful.” I want my send-off to be less about me and more about the God I love, the God I serve, the God who loved me and loves everyone who would attend my funeral enough to die for us. I want it made known that with my final act, I invite them to give their lives to Jesus so that my funeral will not be, “Good-bye,” but “See you later.”

Maybe I should write this down.

Protecting Sin

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Genesis 44

Joseph’s brothers had changed. Twenty years earlier they didn’t give one thought to their father when they walked away from Joseph in that pit, then sat down to dinner. Now, they couldn’t walk away from Benjamin for fear of what losing him would do to their father. Judah was the spokesman, but all the brothers tore their clothes at the thought of their father’s reaction should Benjamin be forced to stay in Egypt.

But sorrow and regret are not the same as repentance. They had lived with the guilt of their sin for twenty years. They’d gotten pretty good at carrying that load while living life. They needed to repent.

And so do we. We, too, can become comfortable carrying around the guilt of a sin we’re protecting. We tell ourselves we deserve to be happy, or that we’re not hurting anyone, or that no one knows. We might have to lie to protect the sin, but even that gets easier with practice.

We can go to church, maybe even serve God with a smile on our face. And we can put the matter out of our minds as we live life, just like Joseph’s brothers.

We can feel guilty. We can tell God we’re sorry. But until we submit that sin to God and walk away from it, we have not repented. And true reconciliation is dependent on repentance.

God prompted Joseph to test his brother. It wasn’t just for Joseph’s sake. His brothers needed to know for themselves how deep the change in them ran in their own hearts.

Are you protecting a sin in your life? Don’t just be sorry. Don’t just get used to carrying the guilt. Repent. Submit to God and walk away from that sin. The reconciliation we’re going to read about in the next few chapters of Genesis could not have happened without repentance.

And reconciliation between you and God can’t happen without repentance, either.

Guilt is Not Just A Feeling

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Genesis 43

In his book Be Authentic (David C. Cook Publisher), Warren Wiersbe points out that the brothers were relieved when they were invited to a banquet at Joseph’s house instead of being thrown into prison for the confusion over the silver the last time they were in Egypt. But, as Wiersbe says, “it’s one thing to be relieved and quite something else to be forgiven and reconciled.” The brothers had not confessed their sin from twenty years earlier, and they were not reconciled with Joseph.

Recently I heard of a newly retired man who shared that there were certain pieces of equipment he had used on the job that he wanted to keep for himself. The thing was, he was required to turn in everything on his last day. So, he went to the warehouse where the company kept old equipment that would eventually be sold or trashed, and found pieces of equipment like the ones he wanted. On his last day, he turned in the equipment he’d stolen from the warehouse, and took home the things he had used for years on his job. He rationalized that the company wasn’t using those things and they would eventually get rid of them anyway. He said that he didn’t feel guilty about what he’d done.

I thought of that as I read about the brothers in Genesis 43. They thought they were in trouble, and felt relieved, safe, maybe even thankful that they weren’t going to jail. But how they felt didn’t change the fact that they were unrepentant sinners.

The man I told you about might not feel guilty. But he is. Feelings aside.

How easily we all are to rationalize our own sin. We might tell ourselves it’s no big deal, no one is getting hurt, or everybody does it. We most likely convince ourselves we deserve whatever it is we’re doing because it makes us happy. And we can harden our hearts and not feel guilty.

Dear ones, every sin is serious. Every sin is a slap in the fact to God. Every sin comes with a death sentence – no matter how good you feel about yourself.

But God Can

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Genesis 41:1-45

“I am not able to.” That’s not easy for anyone to admit. Especially if you are standing in front a king who has authority over your life and death as in the case of Joseph. Pharaoh had just asked him to do something and Joseph said, “I can’t.”

But Joseph had a realistic view of his abilities, and God’s greater ability. “I can’t, Pharaoh. But God can!”

It’s not wrong or weak to admit you’re facing something beyond your ability to handle. We are human. We all have our weaknesses. Yet sometimes there are things that are truly beyond our ability to handle on our own. So what do you do in that case?

Do you repeat a mantra? “I am capable,” I am worthy,” “I am strong,” I am powerful?” You might take a deep breath and try to do the impossible.

But it’s impossible.

The truth is there are just some things that are really beyond our capabilities. There are things we cannot do no matter how hard we try.

I think that’s why there is so much anxiety and depression in our world today. It’s an epidemic even among our children, which is so sad because the acceptable answer for many is to medicate. What are we doing?

Shame on us for making our children believe a lie. We are telling them we are giving them self-confidence, when in reality we are taking away their lifeline. We are telling them they can do anything they set their minds to. But in reality that is giving them false hope.

Even in the secular world we need help. We need each other. Yet we are telling our children to need is to be weak. That’s awful!

There is a greater problem, because we are also teaching children they don’t need God. They are to believe God is a crutch for weak people. Shame on us.

I know in my heart that the answer to most anxiety and depression is submission. It’s admitting that we aren’t “all that.” I think saying “I can’t” is often the most powerful words you can say… especially when it’s followed by, “But God can.”

Have you ever played tug-of-war? You pull with every ounce of strength, and keep pulling. Muscles ache. Breathing becomes difficult. You have laser focus.

But when you let go you can actually feel the tension leave your aching muscles. You can breathe. It’s a tangible relief.

That’s what submitting to God is like. It is so freeing to finally admit that you are weak, that you need God’s help. That’s the way it’s supposed to be! That’s the way we were created. That’s what God WANTS to be in our lives. If you are His child through the blood of Jesus, then when you are weak He is strong!!

Say it. Repeat it. Believe it. Count on it.

“I cannot. But God can.”

Hold Your Horses

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Genesis 39:1-6

If you wonder why God would allow Joseph to go through the hardships he faced, wonder no more. Warren Wiersbe in his study, Be Authentic suggests that if Joseph had been allowed to remain at home, the favored and pampered son, hated by his brothers he would not have been fit to fulfill the responsibilities of leading a nation. Joseph had to learn humility, service, hard work, and faith before God could use him in such a significant way.

Think about it. Even Jesus, after being baptized, took forty days in the wilderness before jumping into ministry. Paul didn’t get up from the dirty road to Damascus and start preaching. In fact, it seems he spent time in Arabia being taught by Jesus Himself (Galatians 1), then three years being an apprentice preaching in Damascus before he went to Jerusalem.

Remember John Mark? As a young man he failed completely in ministry alongside Paul and Barnabas. Years later, Mark became an important help to Paul. But he had to mature first.

I think churches make a mistake when they take a new believer and put him or her in positions of authority before they’ve had time to mature in their new-found faith. Sure, they are on fire for the Lord and it’s tempting to think that’s just what the Church needs. But the Church does NOT need ministry based on feelings. In fact, I would suggest that harms the Church more than it helps.

When Jesus gave us His last command, He told us to go and make disciples. He didn’t tell us to go and make converts. Making disciples takes time and effort. But without it a new believer stays an infant.

You don’t put a newborn baby behind the wheel of a car. Why? The same applies to putting a new believer in front of a classroom, or on the elder board, or making him pastor of your church. A baby doesn’t have what it takes to drive the car, and a new Christian doesn’t have what it takes to drive the ministry.

It took years of hardship, forced labor, tough lessons and a growing faith for Joseph to be ready to be used by God. Let’s, as mature Christians, have discernment enough to do the same for the new believer.

They may be excited about their salvation, all in, totally committed to Jesus. But sometimes you gotta say: Hold your horses! There are no shortcuts to maturity. The thing about growing in faith and knowledge of our Lord is that it doesn’t put out the flame, it feeds it. If you are afraid this excited young Christian will lose that excitement if you take time to nurture him, you either are not trusting God, or you don’t really trust the truth of their salvation.

If you are a new Christian, welcome to the family. Let me encourage you to find a mature Christian to come along side you, to hold you accountable, to teach you, mentor you, challenge and encourage you as you learn what being a Christian is all about.

If you are a seasoned Christian, be that person to a new believer. Seek them out. Spend time praying with and for them. Read the Bible with them. Ask and answer questions. Watch them grow.

Then watch them be used by God at just the right time. One day that “Hold your horses” will be “Giddy-up!”

They Deserved It

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Genesis 34-35

Rather than repenting of their sinful act of revenge, Simeon and Levi justified the murder of hundreds of men with, “They deserved it.”

It’s tempting to think the same when we hear that guy at work who took credit for your idea is getting a divorce, or when that reckless driver who lives down the street gets in a car accident, or when that childhood bully who made seventh grade miserable for you gets cancer. These days there are some who think people deserve to have their cars blown up, or an assassin’s bullet aimed at a man’s head simply because they have different opinions than their’s. Wanting revenge isn’t a new phenomenon. But it gets a lot of press these days.

Remember when your mom used to tell you, “Two wrongs don’t make a right?” She wasn’t wrong! That scale never levels out. The question still remains: who made you judge and jury?

Bad things happen in this life. There are bad people in the world. There are crimes that should be punished according to Scripture and the law of the land. But there is only one ultimate Judge. And you are not He!

God will judge every individual with righteousness according to His character. Some people will deserve His wrath and the punishment for their unrepented sins. Others, like me and I hope you, will face the judge wearing His own righteousness and hear Him declare that our sin debt is paid in full.

Life is too short to plan to get even with someone, or to even waste time hoping something bad happens to someone who you think has wronged you. It’s not your job to try to balance a scale that cannot be balanced. It’s not your job to dole out punishment to someone who has hurt you.

Honestly, I think the best way to handle the hurt you feel or the wrong that has been done against you, according to Scripture, is submit to God. Take a step back from the situation. Breathe. Pray. And trust God who does all things well. My experience is that when I turn it over to the Lord, I am free. A burden is lifted. Thoughts of revenge are replaced by peace. And whether or not that person gets what I think he or she deserves doesn’t matter any more.

Whew!

In fact, my prayers become, “Lord, Don’t give her what I think she deserves. I pray that Jesus will get what He deserves, and that is her heart.”

In the end, it’s not about what we think anyone deserves. It’s about what God deserves for dying on the cross for our sins… and the sins of the people we are struggling with. He will get what He deserves in the end. And that’s the way it should be.

The Ripples

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Genesis 16

Every sin comes with a consequence or two or more. We might think only the “big” sins are serious, but that’s not true. Yes, we are absolutely still dealing with Abraham’s big sin of sleeping with Hagar. It’s been war between Jews and Arabs since the moment Isaac was born. But that sin didn’t happen in a vacuum.

It started with the sin of self, of pride, of Sarah’s desire to appear “blessed” in the eyes of others by having a baby. It began with the sin of doubting God was going to accomplish what He’d promised.

It’s like throwing a pebble into a lake. That tiny rock can produce ripples that grow bigger and bigger, and wider and wider, and reach farther and farther. Once those ripples are set in motion, you will find you are unable to stop them.

Sarah’s sin began with a thought. Just a thought in her head that no one heard but her, and no one would be hurt by what she simply thought. It was private. But Sarah allowed that thought to fester, to grow into feelings that she eventually took to Abraham. Once she threw that pebble into the water, the ripples were unleashed.

Those ripples touched Abraham who then threw his own rock into the water, unleashing his own ripples that continue to reach out thousands of years later.

The truth I’m wrestling with today is the seriousness of the first sin: the thought, the glance, the anger. It’s the moment I pick up the pebble. Am I going to toss it into the water? Or am I going to hand it over to God and ask Him to take care of it? Am I going to repent, turn from that sin, or am I going to hold onto it, maybe feed it until it grows from a pebble into a boulder before tossing it into the water, then watch the ripples reach out and touch my life and everyone’s life around me?

My prayer is that at the moment I (and you) pick up the pebble of a sinful thought or feeling, we will pray, ask God to forgive us, and let it end there.

And I pray that if any of us are feeling the ripples of sins we’ve committed in the past, we will ask God to forgive us and intervene. He might not stop the ripples. But He can and will work for the good of we who love Him. We know that what Satan intends for evil God can use for our good and His glory.

I also pray that God will give us the desire to turn every pebble over to Him before we ever throw it into the water. I pray that we will recognize the seriousness of every sin and deal with it before we have to live with ripples of regret.

What Is Biblical Faith?

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Genesis 12:1-3

I’m starting the second of Warren Wiersbe’s “BE” study series in Genesis. After completing the first book, BE BASIC, I’m looking forward to continuing studying God’s Word and considering Wiersbe’s opinions on these chapters. (Be Obedient; David C. Cook Publishers; Colorado Springs, CO; 2010). As always, I will let the Bible be the final authority.

If I am to evaluate my own faith journey, I need to look at what the Bible says about faith. Paul tells us:

So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. (Romans 10:17)

Biblical faith isn’t based on how we feel. True faith comes from hearing and believing the Word of God. We in 2025 can hear God’s words as we read the Bible. We hear God’s word over the airwaves and in our churches. We hear God’s words in the testimonies of other believers. Placing our faith in God must be based on the words of God.

Abraham, an idolator, heard God’s audible words. He didn’t blow them off as a crazy dream or indigestion. Abraham believed the words he heard, and believed the One speaking was true. The proof of his faith is in the fact he obeyed the words he heard from God.

Abraham didn’t say, “God, if you bless me, I’ll believe and obey.” Wiersbe rightly says, “We are not saved by making promises to God; we are saved by believing God’s promises to us.” (Be Obedient, p 22)

You may have heard tales of salvation experiences go something like this:

“I was desperate so I prayed, ‘God, I promise if you (such and such) I’ll believe in you.'”

or “God, if you do (such and such) I’ll stop sinning and follow you.”

One popular Bible teacher has a similar salvation story. She claims that on a desperate and lonely night she prayed that God could take her sons, He could have her social life, if only He would just give her peace. She goes on to say that is when she received the “Prince of Peace.”

Friends, these are not examples of Biblical faith. You don’t bargain with God for your salvation.

None of the disciples put a condition on their faith. Jesus said, “Follow me.” They heard His words, and followed. It was Jesus they believed.

Wiersbe says “Abraham was saved by faith, lived by faith, and his obedience was the evidence of his faith.” (p22). But Abraham’s faith was built on the words He heard God speak to him. It wasn’t a shot in the dark. It wasn’t give and take. God’s words were foundational to Abraham’s faith.

And to mine.

I want to repeat what Wiersbe said on page 22:

“We are not saved by making promises to God; we are saved by believing God’s promises to us.”

So for the next few weeks I will be looking at God’s promises as I consider my faith journey. Wiersbe’s subtitle for this book is “Exhibiting Real Faith in the Real World.” My prayer is that God will speak clearly as I read His word, will challenge my faith, and equip me to exhibit real faith every day, in every situation. And may God be glorified.

A Sure Foundation

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Genesis 1-11; Matthew 7:21-27

I finished Warren Wiersbe’s BE BASIC study today. (Be Basic; David C Cook Publisher; 2010). The first eleven chapters of Genesis are foundational to the Christian faith.

What do I believe about Creation, the sanctity of life, sin, the consequences for sin? What do I believe about God? Were Adam and Eve real people who lived in a real garden, walked with God, and spoke to a serpent? Did the flood really cover the whole earth? Did the different nationalities and languages start at Babel? And was Abraham a real man chosen by God to be the instrument by which we can know God and be saved from the consequences of our sin?

The answer to these questions are foundational to our faith. If we don’t believe what we read in Genesis, we make God out to be a liar. Who wants to put their faith in a liar?

You might say you believe in God while rejecting the God-breathed creation account. You might teach Sunday School or sing in the choir, yet doubt the flood really happened. You might say you have faith in God, but unless your faith is built on the God of Genesis 1-11, you might stand before Him one day and hear the words, “I never knew you.”

I would challenge you to read Genesis 1-11 and take an inventory of what you really believe about it. To build your faith on the absolute truth of these chapters is to build your faith on the Rock of the one true God. To believe anything else is a faith built on sand, and it won’t stand at the final judgment.

I agree with Wiersbe. It might be time to get back to basics.