“You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own. I will take care of you there, for there are still five years of famine ahead of us. Otherwise you, your household, and all your animals will starve.” Genesis 44:10,11 (NLT)
Read: Genesis 44:1-45:28, Matthew 14:13-36, Psalm 18:37-50, Proverbs 4:11-13
Relate: The people of Israel (Jacob) were saved because Joseph’s brothers were jealous and spiteful. It defies logic, but it is true. If Joseph’s brothers had not sold Joseph into slavery, he never would have found himself in the position to save the very family that betrayed him. The ones who were willing to kill him are the ones he saved.
It was the betrayal that made the saving possible, but it was love that made the choice to save. It is the motif of the savior.
Scripture amazes me. More accurately, God amazes me, and scripture reveals him to me. Joseph’s real life plays out to paint a picture of a savior to come-one who would be betrayed and rejected by the very people he came to save. Yet, he, like Joseph, would still save them. The betrayal would place him exactly where he needed to be to make the salvation possible- the cross, and love would keep him there until the job was done.
React: We live in a culture that tells us to take care of ourselves first, and to only love others when it is convenient. This fosters in us a deep sense that perhaps, if we are too broken, or if we mess up too big, we will not be loved. However, our God has been telling us from the beginning of time there is nothing that can keep him from loving us. There is no distance he would not go, and no pain he would not suffer for us. His love has always been for all of us, even the betrayers, the jealous, and the spiteful.
It defies logic, but it is true. God will never stop loving you.
Respond:
Dear God, I cannot thank you enough for the ways you remind me again and again that your love is for me, regardless of my actions or what I deserve. I am in awe of your love. I pray you will help my life be a response to and a reflection of this love. Teach me to forgive the unforgivable and show true love to the unloveable. Live in me and through me I pray. Amen.
THE RIVER WALK 
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There will always be someone willing to hurt you, put you down, gossip about you, belittle your accomplishments and judge your soul. It is a fact that we all must face. However, if you realize that God is a best friend who stands beside you when others cast stones you will never be afraid, never feel worthless and never feel alone.
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It is an unusual message in our culture, that you should do good to those who hurt you! We tend to say “My, how the worm has turned!” when we have the upper hand over someone who hurt us, or perhaps we just satisfy ourselves with “getting back” at him/her/them. But this is definitely NOT how Jesus lived, nor is it consistent with His commands for how His believers to live. Joseph is a remarkable example of living and showing God’s love even before the Commandments and the law were given to the people. We have Scripture — how much more accountable are we to live as Jesus commanded rather than as culture dictates!