Daily Devotions

Gen 48:11-19And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly ; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
In our reading this morning Joseph is bringing his children to his father to receive a blessing. In doing so Joseph placed the older son before the right hand of Jacob so he could receive the greater blessing, and the younger son before the left had. As Jacob reaches out to bless the boys he crosses his hands and his right hand would then be laced on the younger boy. Joseph tried to correct him but then Jacob says in Gen 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Jacob knew what he was doing for God was guiding his hands. Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly ; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have hands guided by God today? Hands guided by God in all that we do. That is ours if we want it my friend. We have the Word of God to be our guide, the Spirit of God within to direct us, a prayer to make these channels of God’s guidance clear. The problem today is that few want to spend any time in the Word of God and as little time in prayer as possible. The first thing most people do when they awake in the morning is turn on the TV. The last thing they see and hear before the go off to sleep comes from the TV. Why would we rather spend time hearing from a box in the corner of the room than from God? Why would we rather listen to lies than to God?
We can have hands guided by God but we must take the steps necessary to realize that in our lives. Spend time in the Word, spend time in prayer and then see of the Spirit of God does not begin to guide our hands day by day.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 10:32 am and is filed under Daily Devotions. You can skip to the end and leave a response.