94 - Joseph used corn for currency

Joseph bought all the land in Egypt with Corn.

Their home and land became less valuable ~ corn became the currency Joseph used to buy them.

My Book: Innocent ~ 28 years old ~ Forgotten in Prison.

Corn kept getting more valuable.

CH-8 p. 50 ~ First: Joseph sold corn to them for money.

Second: Joseph sold corn to them for livestock.

p. 51 ~ Third: Joseph sold corn to them for their land.

The value of corn kept going up. All the Egyptians sold him their fields because the famine was so severe. All their silver and gold was gone. Corn was Joseph's currency. Joseph paid them with corn. The purchase price of land was measured in bushels of corn. All the land became Pharaoh's. It was purchased with corn. The only land he didn't buy was that belonging to the priests, for they were assigned food from Pharaoh and didn't need to sell.

Fourth: Joseph sold corn to them in return for their labor as slaves to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh made a wise decision when in one day he brought Joseph out of prison and made him second ruler in Egypt. One night Joseph went to bed in prison ~ the next night he went to bed in the palace. Stay faithful my friend. God knows the number of hairs on your head.

Think about this from an investment standpoint. What is there that is now comparatively cheap, but is a needed thing in life. If suddenly there would become a shortage of it ~ or priced too high for the working man ~ then this commodity would become valuable. Suppose you bought a case of canned corn and waited. Soon you may be able ~ with a can of corn or a bag of rice ~ to buy a gallon of gasoline. The gasoline station owner may need your corn ~ or rice ~ because he can not sell his $8.00 a gallon gasoline. OR ~ you could use your extra food to help your grown family and their children. OR ~ You may need it yourself and eat corn cheaper.

I have no idea what lies ahead. Every man must think and pray for himself. Wealth belongs to the man who sees it. Joseph had a backup generator. That was God ~ who turned on the lights ~ when things got dim. Become a Joseph to your family and your world. Stay faithful to God. When your time is right God will bring you out.

There are six letters in the English alphabet that explains what I am trying to say. They are ~ s-u-b-m-i-t. James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Submit ~ Allow it to be ~ Stay at the altar until you pray through your feelings. ~ Suffer it to be so. Give it all over to God. Submitting makes you right in the eyes of God. Matt 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.

There will always be people who need your witness. When you are upset you create an uneasy feeling. When you are submissive you are no threat. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil ~ draw nigh to God ~ and He will direct your path. Wait ~ wait I say ~ on the LORD.

93 - Demands necessary to do God's Word

And you shall know the Truth...

The plan in a seed puts demands on the soil. God's Word puts a demand on us. We put a demand on change. If you can count from one to seven you can do it. God's Word is a formula to be followed faithfully for success.

Seed time and Harvest

The natural flow of life requires a continual learning process. Constant change forces this on us. I would rather be a creation of God with the demands of change ~ than a rock lying in a field going nowhere. Change is easier to accept if you have a plan to follow. You see the value of change. We need a plan for our life. When you discover ~ a new thing God is asking of you ~ the first thing to do is write it down. Then form a plan that will help you achieve His goal for you. Your plan will need a deadline. Your plan will show you where you are in the flow of things and the next demand on you to succeed. Put a demand on yourself for change. The Builder uses a plan.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1. Darkness Demands Light. God has something He wants to shine out to you. Pray this prayer: "God what is it you are asking of me?" When you do this you are putting a demand on the darkness and God will give you light. In the beginning God brought the light out of darkness when He said, "Let there be light" and there was light. Put a demand on your darkness with the Word of God. Darkness demands Light. Now we have light.

2. Light Demands Focus. When the light turns on you must focus on what is being revealed. Study it. Separate it. Focus on it. This is your answer from God. Divide the unnecessary things from the necessary things. Put a demand on your focus with light. Light demands Focus. Here is a truth. I must see it clearly. Now we have focus

3. Focus Demands Preparation. The thing that you see ~ and are now going to do ~ requires you to prepare the natural things necessary to accomplish it. Ask, Seek, Knock. God has authorized the work so the cost will come out of His Treasure House. The earth belongs to God. Don't break focus. Put a demand on your preparation with focus. Focus demands Preparation. Now we have preparation.

4. Preparation Demands Order. Order is a condition of the mind. It is a discipline. It keeps things straight. It lets things go together. It prevents hang-ups. It helps everything to fall in place. It eliminates confusion. Order is the Law of the Universe. Put a demand on your order with preparation. Preparation demands Order. Now we have Order.

5. Order Demands Respect. A place for everything and everything in place is wisdom. It creates respect for everything, no questions asked. Everything has its place and nothing else belongs there. Now that's respect. Put a demand on your respect with order. Order demands Respect. Now we have Respect.

6. Respect Demands Obedience. The hands do what the mind sees. They are obedient with respect to where things belong. The work is done in orderly fashion. When something is out of place it can be seen easily and changed without discomfort. If it doesn't belong there it is easy to put it where it does belong. Put a demand on your obedience with respect. Respect demands Obedience. Now we have Obedience.

7. Obedience Demands Reward. When everything is in its place there is a sense of accomplishment. The words "Well done" are in our mind. Rest is welcomed. The mind relaxes and rehearses the journey. Motivational memories are stored for recall at a later date. We lay back. We worship God. Put a demand on your reward with obedience. Obedience demands Reward. God is faithful. Now we have Reward.

Summary ~ Light demands focus ~ which demands preparation ~ which demands order ~ which demands respect ~ which demands obedience ~ which demands reward ~ and God is faithful. He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6.

92 - Understanding Wisdom

Hello Wisdom ~ Welcome into my heart.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Wisdom is the main thing. With God's Word the end is determined. Wisdom is a parachute you use to bail out before the airplane crashes. Agreeing with God is wisdom. You need to understand that.

Wisdom is the Principal Thing

The greatest need of mankind is an understanding of wisdom. Wisdom has its source in God. God made all things using wisdom in every thing. He wants us to understand His wisdom. God's wisdom is seen in common sense and insight. His word was spoken in this fashion. Look at this. Psalms 119:104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. (Wisdom is the guard who stands at the gate and fights for you to preserve the peace in your heart.) 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

God's word is forever settled in heaven. It is wise to treat it as such. Buy the truth and sell it not. Esau was not wise in selling his birthright for a bite of food. He profaned his God given portion. Proverbs 16:16 How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

1. Wisdom is a trait of using knowledge and experience with common sense and insight.
2. Wisdom is an ability to apply ~ knowledge ~ experience ~ understanding ~ and common sense ~ with insight.
3. Wisdom is the quality of having a sound mind and being prudent and sensible.

Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Use wisdom in all you understand. USE IT. Wait on the LORD. Ask yourself ~ where is the wisdom in what I am doing? The Bigger Question ~ What am I doing? Agreeing with God in all things is wisdom. He has the final say in everything we do. His Word He will do and we will have to bow to it.

Understanding wisdom is wisdom itself. If you have wisdom and do not know how to use it you have only thoughts on paper. You have a Bible you do not understand. You have a Jesus you cannot reach ~ and He cannot reach you. You are out of reach.

Wisdom puts eyes in your toes. His word is a lamp to your feet, a light on your path. We stumble over things we do not see. Luke 11:36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. You can see where you are walking. Another person doesn't need to tell you ~ pick um up.

There is wisdom in training a child in the way he should go. It will save you heartaches. The other side of that is a disobedient child who refuses instructions. Be sure his sins will find him out. Your duty then is to pray and watch. The prodigal finally came home. He needed to be forgiven and welcomed back home. If you have a lost loved one watch ~ pray in earnest ~ plan for a celebration.

There is nothing like the wisdom of knowing that you know. The wisdom in the Bible gives you this knowledge. God's Word is forever settled in heaven. It will not return unto Him Void. Good common sense tells you it will do its purpose. When I was in the Air Force I came back from a flight ~ tossed my unused parachute on the rigger's counter ~ He said: What's the matter Sergeant, didn't it work?

91 - My Home - Reasserting My Commitment

fA home is a place where the Bible is the truth and the truth is forever.

It is a place where the Lord adds His blessing to His Word. It is a place where God is everywhere present and nowhere absent. It is a place where only faith pleases God. Without faith this is impossible. It is a place where Satan is not welcome and God dwells in freedom.

My home is a dwelling, a place containing my family. It is a household we all belong to and respect.

The father told the prodigal ~ You are forgiven ~ You still belong here ~ Welcome back home.

1. In my home I teach that God is constant.
2. The Bible is His Word of Truth.
3. His Truth is everlasting and endures forever.
4. The grace of God is in abundance.
5. Repentance is the key to Grace.
6. Love is the rule.

In my home I teach that Grace comes by faith and without faith it is impossible to please God. It is impossible for Grace to exist without the works of Grace. Without the works of Grace ~ Faith is dead being alone. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Grace is the reward of Faith. Thus faith becomes the beginning work of Grace. In other words you must have faith to receive the Grace of God. It is impossible otherwise and you are still guilty.

God's Grace is ~ not holding us accountable. The Grace of God is that He lets us repent without holding us accountable for the crime. A good example is Paul on the road to Damascus. The Grace of God allowed Paul to repent. Paul knew his crime. The God that he loved was revealed to him as the Jesus that he hated. That was a shocker. The educated Paul was now feeling stupid. That is a long way down for an educated man. Paul later said God called him by His Grace i.e. ~ did not hold him accountable but gave him a space to repent.

Revelation 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. A sinner has a space to repent then the door is closed. With each person it is different. God will do what He said He would do for that sinner. God took on Himself the sins of the world so He could forgive the sinner. He is just in doing this because He has already paid for our sins. God takes pleasure when a sinner repents. He did not die in vain.

The long suffering of God waits. He holds back His wrath which is sure to come. There is a space to repent. Go tell it on the mountain. God is waiting in the waiting room. The longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah. We enter His waiting room to surrender. The price is too great for us to pay. We cannot meet sins demand. Only God can do it. And He does.

In Luke 24:45-47 Jesus gave us a plan to follow. Peter preached it in Acts 2:38. Paul preached it everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:17.The Grace of God allows us to repent without being held accountable for our crime. That is awesome. The guilty is no longer guilty when he repents. That is unheard of in any court of the land. There is no judge that can rule by love. He must apply the law equally to all criminals. Carrying a gun is an automatic jail time when caught. It is the law. The judge has no choice. He can know the man and love the man but he has no choice. The law demands a penalty.

The Old Testament Law was locked in that way. The soul that sins it shall die. Then God came in the flesh and changed all of that. He died for every sin committed in the world from the beginning of sin. It is retroactive. God paid the price for sin and now has the freedom to forgive us of our sin. God is just in doing this because He set the price for sin (a sinless man had to die) then ~ He paid the price for sin. He did it by becoming God Manifest in the Flesh and died on the cross in our place. Now a man can approach God without fear ~ knowing how much God loves him. There is no fear in love. God ~ so loved the world ~ that He took the fear out of repentance and made it easy for all men everywhere to repent. Somewhere a church is waiting to celebrate a sinner repenting.

Stay Focused. God honors the Blood He Shed. He transforms it into our conscience. My conscience says ~ I am not guilty ~ The price is paid. WOW. No wonder we celebrate when a sinner repents.