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Welcome to my blog: I intend to share heartfelt writing about anything that comes to mind. |
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Take UP Your Cross Blog Prompt: Prayer prompt:
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Week 4 1 Genesis 37:12-20 - Brothers plot to slay him 2 Genesis 37:21-28 - Brothers sell him into slavery 3 Genesis 37:29-35 - Father thinks he is dead 4 Genesis 37:36 and 39:1-6 - Potipher's house 5 Genesis 39:7-20 - Potipher's wife 6 Genesis 39:21-23 - Joseph goes to prison Daily Study Plan - Week Four Day one: Scripture - Genesis 37:12-20 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? https://www.gotquestions.org/Shechem-in-the-Bible.html https://www.gotquestions.org/Dothan-in-the-Bible.html Joseph's brothers hated him so much that they plotted to kill him. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Hate leads to violence. Prayer - Say a prayer. Day two: Scripture - Genesis 37:21-28 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? https://www.gotquestions.org/Egypt-in-the-Bible.html https://www.gotquestions.org/septuagint.html https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4714.htm https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/genes... https://learn.openchristian.education/blog/sangwa/joseph-and-Jesus-costs https://apologeticspress.org/ishmaelites-or-midianites-748/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilead#Etymology https://www.gotquestions.org/land-of-Gilead.html Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Prayer - Say a prayer. Day three: Scripture - Genesis 37:29-35 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? It mentions all his daughters in verse 35. Either Jacob had other daughters besides Dinah (Kalisch, Gerlach, 'Speaker's Commentary'), or these included his daughters-in-law, the word being employed as in Ruth 1:11, 12 (Willet, Bush, Murphy), or the term is used freely without being designed to indicate whether he had one or more girls Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? The brothers' deception leads to prolonged grief for Jacob, illustrating how sin can have far-reaching and unintended consequences. Prayer - Say a prayer. Day four: Scripture - Genesis 37:36 and 39:1-6 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? https://www.gotquestions.org/Joseph-Potiphar.html https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_house_of_potiphar.htm https://www.learnreligions.com/who-was-potiphar-in-the-bible-363356 The Lord was with Joseph. The Lord made everything he did prosper. The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake. Joseph was a good person and well favored. Potipher trusted Joseph to the extent that he put him in charge of everything he had and Potipher was a wealthy man. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? God blesses his own even if that means blessing those over them. Prayer - Say a prayer. Day five: Scripture - Genesis 39:7-20 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? Joseph refused to give into the pressure of Potipher's wife to lie with her. One day, he fled from her leaving his garment behind. As a result, she lied to Potipher about him. Potipher was naturally angry at this, and had Joseph put in the King's prison. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Just because we refuse to do wrong does not mean that the world will not falsely accuse us. Even these instances are able to be used for good in our lives by God. Prayer - Say a prayer. Day six: Scripture - Genesis 39:21-23 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? The Lord was still with Joseph in prison. The Lord showed him mercy. The Lord gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison put him above all of the prisoners. The Lord was in everything he did. The Lord made everything he did to prosper. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? The Lord is able to bless us even in the most difficult of situations. Prayer - Say a prayer. |
Are you in the need for prayer? Let us know here and we will pray for you.
Take UP Your Cross Apparently, I got distracted and forgot to send the prompt again. ![]() While getting distracted by squirrels, I ran upon this planet The Sun SmilesOn Small Valley.
Read/review and write about this item in your blog today.
https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-study-finds-relying-on-ai-kills-your-critical-thin... "Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University found that the more humans lean on AI tools to complete their tasks, the less critical thinking they do, making it more difficult to call upon the skills when they are needed." I've included the article as well if you want to read more. How concerned are you that more and more of our younger peers have become dependent on AI? Do you use AI yourself? I think relying 100% on AI is not wise at all. I think we need to make sure that we maintain our own skills while utilizing technology. Technology might be able to think for us, but it cannot feel for us. We must not lose our own intelligence when relying on the artificial kind. Prompt: "The human heart has hidden treasures. In secret kept, in silence sealed. The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures. Whose charms were broken if revealed." Charlotte Bronte Write about this quote in your Blog entry today. I like to think we keep things hidden in our hear and that is why it's in our chest. Some things are better kept hidden than revealed. And others are wonderful, cherished memories to be recalled when needed. ![]() ![]() |
Are you in the need for prayer? Let us know here and we will pray for you.
Take UP Your Cross Blog Prompt: Do you have a favorite parable from the Bible? Write about parables in your blog entry today. Prayer prompt: Ask God to remind you that you are forgiven and that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus I heard about an animal chase in church and decided to float on over to planet Bianca to check it out.
Read, review, and write about this in your blog entry today. Have you had an animal experience in church?
Use this as your title: Blessed Is Prompt: What does it mean to put your heart into something? Write about this in your Blog entry today. ![]() ![]() |
Are you in the need for prayer? Let us know here and we will pray for you.
Take UP Your Cross Blog Prompt: What are your views about abortion? I believe abortion takes a human life. There are other lesser evils such as adoption. Unfortunately, there are many shades of gray and everything isn't black and white. Abortion can fall into those gray areas when it comes to a woman having been raped or the mother has other small children, and the pregnancy is threatening to take her life. There are those who believe any abortion is a sacrifice to Satan. Yikes! Either way, I believe 2 wrongs don't make a right. If you willingly have unprotected intercourse, you know what the possible consequences are. Why should an innocent life of anything, including a fetus if you don't believe it's a human being, it is alive when it is conceived, be lost because you made a choice to take a calculated risk? Just my thoughts and opinion. I realize that there are those who do not agree with my reasoning, but this is honestly how I personally feel about the topic of abortion. Prayer prompt: Pray for those who are trying to make a decision about abortion. While cruising the galaxy in a test drive of a new space craft, I ran across this item on planet Elby Wordsmith.
Read/review this item and write about the topic of depression today.
Use these words in your entry: wings, glide, ascend, plummet, sky, fly, and hide. Prompt: "Difficult and meaningful will always bring more satisfaction than easy and meaningless." Maxime Legacé Do you agree with this quote? How about the combination of easy and meaningful? ![]() ![]() |
Week 3 Joseph Bible Study Summary Benjamin was born approximately when Joseph was around 7. He was born in Ephrath in which later became Bethlehem where Jesus was born (v.19). Ephrath means fruitful. Bethlehem means house of bread. This is also where Rachel was buried. Benoni - son of my sorrow/affliction Rachael named her son this as she was drawing her last breath Benjamin- son of my right hand Jacob changed his name to this. I wonder what affect Rueben, son of Leah, going into lay with Bilhah, Rachel's maid and Jacob's concubine, had on the entire family. (especially when Jacob found out about it) How would it affect young Joseph? What is done in secret often has a way of becoming publicly known. In yet, another family crisis, Isaac died. Jacob and Esau both buried him as they had reconciled. Rebekkah had already died at this point. According to the book of Jubilees, not part of the biblical cannon, Rebekkah had died after Jacob had returned home. I am not sure if Joseph had been able to meet his paternal grandmother or experienced her death or not after his birth. Hebron can be traced back to Abraham and in ancient Hebrew it translates to Friend. Abraham was known as the friend of God. Hebron is where Isaac lived at the time of his death. Jacob dwelt in the land of Canaan with his family, where his father was a stranger. Canaan in its sematic root means to be low, humble, subjugated. Canaan basically means "land of the captured people". Since Abraham was called out of Canaan, I find this ironic. "Abraham was called out of captivity." Let that sink in for a moment. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan) Subjugated means to bring under control and governance as a subject: conquer: to make submissive: subdue. Joseph was a bit of a tattle tale. Joseph had brought an evil report of his brothers to his father after he had been with them in a field feeding the sheep. Jacob very obviously had his favorites and didn't try to hide it. He favored Joseph far above his other sons and as a result, the other sons hated Joseph. They hated Joseph so much that they couldn't bear to even speak peacefully to him. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors because he loved him so much. It isn't wise to show favoritism. It only breeds resentment. On the other hand, was Joseph the kind of kid that rubbed their father's favoritism in his brother's faces as kids often do? Did he manipulate his family because of this? I would imagine that Joseph's brothers thought Joseph thought of himself better than them because he was favored. They may have thought him dreaming a dream that they would bow down to him confirmed he thought he was better than them. It made them hate him even more. https://whatbiblesaying.com/what-is-a-sheaf-in-the-bible/ This is an interesting article about the significance of sheeves in the Bible. Joseph dreamed another dream about his family bowing down to him. When he told this 2nd dream to his family, his father rebuked him but observed what he said. His brothers envied him. Apparently, his mother was still alive when he dreamed this dream because Jacob mentioned her when he rebuked him. But there were 11 stars, was one of the stars representing Benjamin who hadn't been born yet? I wonder if they chalked it up to a young boys imagination. He may have liked to flaunt the fact that he was favored with his brothers especially when he was young to get his way maybe as children often do. He was spoiled and he knew it. This also may be why this family didn't receive the dreams very well. We all know that Joseph had the gift of interpreting dreams. However, did he tell his dreams and what he perceived they meant to his family? Or was there a common understanding in the society at the time of certain meanings of dream elements? It is almost like the meaning is assumed in this story the way it is presented. |
Take UP Your Cross I don't know what is happening with me as of late, but apparently, I did it again. I wrote out the email with the prompt and somehow it didn't get sent again. But I am pretty sure I remember writing the email. ![]() -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1969 – The last issue of the “Saturday Evening Post” was published. It was revived in 1971 as a quarterly publication and eventually six times a year. What was your favorite publication as a child/teen. Newspaper comics, perhaps, or a magazine, etc? Does it still exist? What was the draw for you? I had a thing for the Highlights magazine for kids. I loved it because I loved the hidden object game it had in every issue. I have no idea if it is still around or not. I think it might be, but it has been quite a while since I have heard of it or seen an issue of it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prompt: Everyday starts a new adventure in your life. Write about this in your Blog entry today. Each new day is a new opportunity to start anew. It's an adventure because you never know what will happen until it does even if you follow the same routine everyday for years. ![]() ![]() |
Daily Study Plan - Week Three Day one: Scripture - Genesis 35:16-21 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? Benoni - son of my sorrow/affliction Rachael named her son this as she was drawing her last breath Benjamin- son of my right hand Jacob changed his name to this. Benjamin was born approximately when Joseph was around 7. He was born in Ephrath in which later became Bethlehem where Jesus was born (v.19). Ephrath means fruitful. This is also where Rachel was buried. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Prayer - Say a prayer. Day two: Scripture - Genesis 35:22-26 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? I wonder what affect Rueben, son of Leah, going into lay with Bilhah, Rachel's maid and Jacob's concubine, had on the entire family. (especially when Jacob found out about it) How would it affect young Joseph? Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? What is done in secret often has a way of becoming publicly known. Prayer - Say a prayer. Day three: Scripture - Genesis 35:27-29 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? Yet, another family crisis. Isaac died. Jacob and Esau both buried him as they had reconciled. Rebekkah had already died at this point. According to the book of Jubilees, not part of the biblical cannon, Rebekkah had died after Jacob had returned home. I am not sure if Joseph had been able to meet his paternal grandmother or experienced her death or not after his birth. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Prayer - Say a prayer. Day four: Scripture - Genesis 37:1-4 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? Joseph was a bit of a tattle tale. Jacob very obviously had his favorites and didn't try to hide it. He favored Joseph far above his other sons and as a result, the other sons hated Joseph. They hated Joseph so much that they couldn't bear to even speak peacefully to him. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors because he loved him so much. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? It isn't wise to show favoritism. It only breeds resentment. Prayer - Say a prayer. Day five: Scripture - Genesis 37:5-8 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? I would imagine that Joseph's brothers thought Joseph thought of himself better than them because he was favored. They thought him dreaming a dream that they would bow down to him confirmed he thought he was better than them. It made them hate him even more. https://whatbiblesaying.com/what-is-a-sheaf-in-the-bible/ This is an interesting article about the significance of sheeves in the Bible. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Prayer - Say a prayer. Day six: Scripture - Genesis 37:9-11 Observations - What observations did you make while reading this passage? Are there any word definitions you needed to look up? Are there any words, phrases, verses, themes, etc... that stand out to you? Joseph dreamed another dream about his family bowing down to him. When he told this 2nd dream to his family, his father rebuked him but observed what he said. His brothers envied him. Apparently, his mother was still alive when he dreamed this dream because Jacob mentioned her when he rebuked him. But there were 11 stars, was one of the stars representing Benjamin who hadn't been born yet? I wonder if they chalked it up to a young boys imagination. He may have liked to flaunt the fact that he was favored with his brothers especially when he was young to get his way maybe as children often do. He was spoiled and he knew it. This also may be why this family didn't receive the dreams very well. Application - How does this apply to my life? What can I learn from this? What virtues, principles, or ideas are represented here? Prayer - Say a prayer. |
Take UP Your Cross Blog Prompt: Describe a moment when you felt lost and turned to God for guidance. What did you learn from that experience? I am in one of those moments now in my life for unspoken reasons. However, a moment of my past when I felt lost is when I had lost my job, had no transportation to and from work, and had found a new job but still had bills to pay. I started walking to work and just praying about it because I didn't want to walk home late at night. God provided a friend to give me a ride home from the new job I had just started. God provided every need. He always comes through one way or another. Prayer prompt: Pray that the Gospel would continue to spread, grow and change people’s lives. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Today is Pay A Compliment Day. Who deserves one and why. If I put my mind to it, I can think of a lot of reasons to compliment a lot of people. However, for the sake of time, I will choose just one. There are many compliments I could give to people here on WDC by itself. However, I think my compliment to write about for the day is to my roommate for allowing me to vent a bit on her earlier today. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prompt: "Celebrate every step you accomplish, even the baby steps because what's truly important is to continue moving towards your dreams." Write about this in your Blog entry today. Yes, it is important to celebrate even the little accomplishments. It helps keep our focus on the positive. Just taking out the trash is a small step to keeping the house clean, but even that small mundane task still counts. ![]() ![]() |
Take UP Your Cross Blog Prompt: What is your favorite thing about God's character? It is hard to pick just one thing that is a favorite about God's character. I have to pick his love though because everything else flows from his love. Prayer prompt: Pray for children to be protected from the dark side of social media and the internet. Dear God, Protect our children from the dark side of social media and the internet. Put the proper filters in place to keep them from it. In Christ's name, Amen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Use these words in your entry: panic, don't, ultimate, galaxy, universe, restaurant, and sea food. Don't panic. Even the ultimate galaxy in the universe probably has a sea food restaurant. Ha-ha. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prompt: "China tea, the scent of hyacinths, wood fires and bowls of violets-that is my mental picture of an agreeable February afternoon." Constance Spry Write about this quote in your Blog entry today. Hmmm! I can't say that is my ideal February afternoon. However, it does sound nice. It's an interesting thought though. |