The word for the day is, “God is with me.”  In the two darkest moments in Joseph’s life– sold into slavery and thrown into prison– the very first words the Lord records in Genesis 39 immediately after these dark, wicked events are, “I was with Joseph.” Wow.  The beauty of those two repeating statements.  In our darkest hour, the Lord is right there.  We are never alone. Never abandoned.  Never forgotten.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Ps 46:1).

May we draw strength from His very real presence.  He is not just some cosmic force in the heavens.  He is right here, right now, in me.   Emmanuel, God with us.

To all who say that the God of the Old Testament is only holy and terrifying but the God of the New Testament is only kind and benevolent, read this:  Israel provokes the Lord to anger over and over and over again, but here we see an astonishing patience and forgiveness.  

Psalm 78:36-39 ESV ³⁶But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. ³⁷Their heart was not steadfast toward him;  they were not faithful to his covenant. ³⁸Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. ³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,a wind that passes and comes not again.

Shout to the Lord praises for His overwhelming mercy to us through His Son, for we are just like Israel and He remains full of astonishing compassion!