Forgiveness is the most difficult requirement of the Christian faith. Joseph had been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and abandoned in Egypt. Through a series of events orchestrated by God, he became the Prime Minister of Egypt. When a famine ravished the land the same brothers who had betrayed him over a decade before, came to purchase food from him. He had matured enough that he recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.


Joseph spoke harshly to them through an interpreter, so as not to betray the fact that he knew Hebrew fluently. Then he turned up the heat on them, accusing them of being spies, and threatened to imprison them. Joseph played a cat and mouse game with them, now that he had the upper hand.


Now he had the opportunity to ask some questions and find out who was responsible for his trip to Egypt. Perhaps these questions had been gnawing at him for years. He put them in some tense and delicate situations to make them squirm. Under those circumstances, they spilled the whole story in Genesis 42:21-23. Joseph questioned them closely then arranged for his little brother, whom he had never met, to be held in Egypt. Joseph discovered that his brothers had suffered for years living in guilt, since they had mistreated him those many years before. They berated themselves for being so callous to Joseph. Apparently they had relived that incident many times and replayed his distress in their minds until their tortured memories exhausted them.


He discovered that Reubin had actually tried to rescue Joseph from the pit. Joseph heard the entire account from his brothers, perhaps for the first time. Simeon was singled out to remain in prison, while his brothers went home. When the brothers returned, Judah offered to give himself to protect his little brother. What a change in their attitude! They had learned to have love for each other. God wants us to love each other as well.


What will it take for you and I to learn to love our brothers and sisters in Christ? If we don’t love them enough to forgive them, then we will suffer the same kind of tortured mind as Joseph’s brothers. As a matter of fact, God has linked our ability to accomplish the Great Commission with our willingness to love each other (John 13:34-35).


Jesus even said that the priority over worship and offerings is reconciliation with our fellow believers. (Matt.5:24) So what are we waiting for? Life is too short too spend it in bitterness toward our fellow Christians. God can use even those things that have hurt us for our good! (Rom.8:28) Forgive and let God heal your hurts.

- Dr. Darryl -

How quickly paradise disappeared!

When God began His creative work, He did it all in seven short days. Then there was an apparently brief time when the first couple enjoyed the presence of God face-to-face. I say ‘apparently’ because there is little mention of anything happening at that time. The biblical account moves directly from Adam rejoicing over the creation of Eve at the end of chapter two, to the temptation and consequent fall of man in chapter three.

The only indication that there may have been more happening in the interim is found after the couple sins and God searches for them. The Bible says "He walked with them in the cool of the day." That appears to have been a daily occurrence. Can you imagine actually walking with God every day in the cool of the day --in paradise? God still calls to us to walk with Him. The problem is “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) We have to agree with God’s terms in order to walk with Him. Those terms include salvation by grace, through faith, unto good works. (Ephesians 2:8) Only as we walk with Him, on His terms, can we experience the presence of God.
But when someone is given everything early in life, too often it spoils them. Perhaps you have seen children who have been given every opportunity in life and they squander everything they have. So, it still happens today. Adam and Eve were given everything, but they must have felt that it wasn’t enough. That one thing that they could not have (the forbidden fruit) was the one thing that they had to have.

Their daily routine of walking with God was interrupted by sin . . . . Does that sound familiar to you? It should because sin interrupts our fellowship with God on a regular basis. How much like our ancient ancestors we are! How quickly our daily 'walk with God' is cancelled by our propensity to sin! It is the story of every human being on the face of the planet.

I must admit that too often my daily walk with God has been upended by sin. Well, I might as well own it . . . my sin. I hate to admit it, but I cannot blame my lack of fellowship with God on Adam and Eve. It is MY sin that keeps me from having fellowship with God. How difficult it is for us to admit that sin, our own sin, is the culprit and how quick we are to blame someone else for our failures!
"He walked with them in the cool of the day." That sounds so inviting. Please excuse me for a moment. I think I'll go for a walk.
Someone is calling me . . . .


- Dr. Darryl -

There is a snake in the grass of human history. He is hidden from the eyes of man. For the most part, the less he is noticed, the better he likes it. His job description requires that he lie in wait for an opportunity “to kill, to steal, and to destroy.” (John 10:10) Operating behind the scenes allows him to make trouble with people, especially in the church.


The conundrum is that in his pride he desires to take the place of God and be worshipped, which brings him out of hiding and into the spotlight. Occasionally we get a glimpse of that in the Scriptures. (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:17, Mtt.4:9)


Because he is hideous, he must disguise himself. So he disguises himself as an angel of light in order to deceive mankind. The result is that there are numerous cults, perversions, and false religions. His evil nature cannot hide for long, however, and when he over reaches, as he always does, God deals with him. Sooner or later, perhaps too late, people realize that they have been deceived by his schemes. But by then it may be eternally too late! If a person does not realize their sin and repent before they die, they will be condemned forever.


God is so different from that. He offers love, forgiveness of sins, and acceptance into His kingdom. He has done everything possible to save us from sin, and the eternal consequences of sin, by paying the ultimate price. Jesus came to this earth from heaven, became the ultimate God/Man, and died the most horrific death to pay for our sins. Then Jesus rose from the grave, victorious over sin, death, and the grave. He is the only way of salvation. He did all that so that you may have the choice to be saved, or not to be saved. Won’t you trust this loving God today?

- Dr. Darryl -

God called Abram to leave his home and go to a new land that he would be given. One of the first things he did was to build an altar to the Lord. We can learn a lesson here about worshipping God by building our own altar to the Lord. We don’t have to build a physical structure as much as we need to establish a spiritual practice of worship. Our altar can be a familiar place where we meet God each day. In my case it is my prayer chair.

It didn’t take long for Abram, the father of the faithful, to wander away from the land God had given him. He went to the land of Egypt because of a drought. The land of Egypt is analogous to turning away from the faith. It is tantamount to living in sin. Even the heroes of the faith sinned and so will each of us. How like Abram we are!

While in Egypt, Abram lied and instructed his wife to lie in order to protect himself. Fear can cause believers to be irrational and make poor decisions. These are sometimes called indiscretions, but usually should be called sin. In fear, Abram anticipated what might happen and he was afraid. He selfishly came up with a deception that he supposed would keep him safe. But he failed to consider the consequences of his plan and the unintended results which landed his wife in such a predicament. Too often we are afraid of what could happen as well.

He told his wife to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister. He reasoned the she was beautiful he was afraid they would kill him because of her great beauty. One sin often leads to many others.

He apparently didn’t consider the unintended consequences of such a lie and his wife found herself in Pharaoh’s wedding chapel! Abram received much livestock in return for her and that increased his wealth, but how could he have let it proceed so far? God’s warning kept Pharaoh from serious sin and punishment from God. God intervened and kept Pharaoh from violating Abram’s wife. The Lord punished Pharaoh’s household by inflicting a disease on them. We’re not told exactly how he pieced the puzzle together, but Pharaoh sent Sara home.

Have you realized that when God’s people sin, other people suffer as well? In this case Pharaoh’s, not only did Abram and his wife suffer, but Pharaoh’s household suffered because of Abram’s indiscretion. Similar things can happen with us as well. Abram has that indiscretion from his past recorded in the Word of God forever! Funny how a small indiscretion can follow you for the rest of your life; but God can use even our indiscretions to encourage others. When we realize that even the greatest believers sinned, we know that there is forgiveness for us as well. Be encouraged. God can save us from our sin, but we may have to live with the consequences for a long time to come.

- Dr. Darryl -

I have started reading the Bible again and it is always an adventure. The only quiet time at my house is early in the mornings, before my children wake up, so that is my time. It struck me once again that the Bible begins with the assumption that we know there is a God.

Someone has said that God is not so much introduced in the Bible as He explodes onto the first page and sentence of the Bible; “In the beginning God.” Moses didn't begin with an apology. He didn't defend the existence of God. He didn't try to prove the existence of God. He began with the only One Who was in existence before anything else. Moses had been in God’s presence and that is enough to convince you of His reality.

At some point in eternity, He decided to be creative. He took a big handful of nothing and created everything, including time, space, and matter. He’s like that. He can do anything. He can do the impossible. (Matthew 19:26) Theologians call it ‘ex nihilo’ which means, 'out of nothing.' The only way we can create anything is to reshape or refashion something that already exists. We cannot bring something from nothing. If someone paints a picture, we may say, "What a wonderful creation!" But, it isn't really a creation. The artist has taken something that already exists and reshaped or reformed it.

One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God.  So they picked one scientist to go and tell God that they were done with Him.
The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you.  We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."

God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this?" Let's say we have a man-making contest." To which the scientist replied, "Okay, great!" But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.
God looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!"

Only God can create something from nothing.  He is the Creator. When Israel faced danger or an enemy they thought about the greatness of God. An example of that is Psalm 136. Read especially verses 1-9. When you face dangers or unsettling situations, focus on God. Make Him very big in your thinking. He created all things. He can handle your problems. He is the transcendent God, the One Who is above and beyond anything and everything we know or understand.


- Dr. Darryl -