Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and Genesis 41:38-45.

Joseph is a supreme example of what God can do to a heart disposed to serve even one’s enemies. He was free of rancor and of being a victim, either of his brothers’ betrayal, or of Egyptian injustice. He slept each night in peace, and so God was able to use his dreams as a way of freeing him to find favor with Pharaoh.

Will you allow yourself to be the answer to Pharaoh’s question in 41:38? “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” If the Patriarch Joseph has the Spirit of God, how much more do you who have received the promise, the regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit! Once again, open your heart. Renounce resentment and hostility to any who have declared themselves to be your enemies. For you, there need be no enemies of your naming, for God is with you in Jesus.

Genesis 41:1–52
This is the first of three parts of the Torah Portion,
Mikketz (At the End) 
The entire portion is
Genesis 41:1—44:17

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: In me, the Spirit of God v. 38

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Pastor Nick read the “Firestarter” and Genesis 43:16-34.

You may feel impatient, as you anxiously wait for the recognition of Joseph by his brothers. Yet the mounting tension only serves to make the coming disclosure all the more poignant—all in the Lord’s own time. Each step of the story purifies Joseph’s brothers of the evil they did to him. The coming reconciliation of the brothers will be all the more complete.

Do you become impatient when some issue needs resolution in your own life? Perhaps the Lord is dealing with you as he did with Joseph’s brothers, purifying your mind and heart so that you will more fully recognize your Jesus who has been with you all along, yet you did not know it. What is in the way of the deeper recognition that is delayed?

Genesis 43:16—44:17

This is the first of three parts of the Torah Portion Mikketz (At the End) 
Conservative and Reform Jewish congregations read only this part this year,
as also in this Bible plan.
Here is the entire portion in all three parts.

Genesis 41:1—44:17

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Clearing the way for loving

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

Listen to Pastor Nick read the Firestarter and the Gospel.

Zechariah must have benefited from the months of his muted mouth, consequence of doubt and distrust of Gabriel’s message. Unable to communicate, he enters into that inmost sacred space where God does a precious work, just as God was doing in the dark, silent wombs of Elizabeth and Mary.

Thus, Zechariah was ready to let prayer be the first expression of his loosened tongue. What flows forth would be repeated daily for centuries as the Church’s Morning Prayer after the silence of the night.

Hold your tongue often during these darkening days of Advent. Believe that God is at work in your inmost, just as God was molding the major personalities of the first Advent. The more you wait and relish the silence, the greater will be the fire of prayer that starts within, expressing itself without through your loosened tongue.

Luke 1:57–80

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Giving light to those in dark v. 79

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the seasons of Advent to Epiphany this year we read Luke 1 2; Matthew 1 7.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.