Hello again! Goods news - I am back from my busy weekend with the wedding and have done nothing but record and edit these videos today. So we will back to our regular programming of getting these notifications in the AM instead of the PM. Sorry for these past two days but I appreciate your patience with my schedule. :) Share me with me in the comments below what you're favorite part of this set of scripture is - I would love to discuss it with you!
Scriptures to Read
Audio Bible
For the next week, I'm going to do this a little differently where I just read it from my Bible as I assume if you are listening to the audio bible you likely are doing something else and not actively watching the video. By simply recording myself reading it for you I am able to do 6-7 of these videos in a day rather than 1-2 at most. If you prefer the other method please don't hesitate to say something and I will go back to the other editing style.
Questions to Consider
What does this scripture teach us about God?
What does this scripture teach us about humanity?
What does this scripture teach us about creation?
What does it teach us about the relationship between the 3?
My thoughts - God is still quiet throughout this. The famine is now beginning to ravage the countryside and people are selling all that they can to get enough food to survive, but God does not intervene. This makes me uncomfortable, but also is a reminder that I cannot scapegoat God whenever something bad happens. Also, the people of God, the priests, are not suffering. They are getting an allotment of food and land still from the Pharoah himself. This reminds me of the prosperity teachers with their BMW's and personal jets living in million-dollar homes while their congregants barely make rent. It's backward and makes me upset. Finally, Joseph's family does not seem to be taxed the same way the rest of the people are and they are living in what the text makes out to be a nicer area of Egypt than most. I know the Bible says Joseph is a great leader, but he just seems like a crooked politician to me. As for creation, the land when abused no longer produces fruitful soil that provides enough nutrients for a healthy crop to come. So as people of God, we must be more conscious of our responsibility to God's earth, our commitment to universal social welfare when tragedy comes where all are protected and not just the elite or "those you know".
Prayer
Blessed Savior, thank you for the gift of this day. For a successful day of work, for the meals I have enjoyed and the ones that I still will enjoy tonight. Thank you for the gift of my family. Ase our scriptures have shown today - food is a privilege and we should be more intentional about how much we eat and how much we waste and scripture has also shown it's our responsibility to care for our family even when they do us wrong. As tough as that can be God. I want to be a person who walks in your merits so help me to get better day by day. In these things, I pray. AMEN.
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Devotional prepared by Nicholas Gliha, associate pastor at the Chagrin Falls UMC on September 28th 2020.