Genesis 49:23-24
With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,//
In the face of bitterness, anger, and discontent, I can only remain firm if I rely on the hand of God on my life.

2 Thessalonians 3:1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly.//
Prayer is what speeds the gospel. 

Genesis 47:19-21
Why should we perish before your eyes —we and our land as well? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh. Give us seed so that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.” So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other.//
The debtor is truly slave to the lender.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father…encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.//
Great prayer. I need my heart encouraged and His strength to live and speak properly.

Genesis 46:34
you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians. ”//
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd? Not only was He born in humble circumstances, but even His title as “shepherd” was thought to be a subpar vocation.

2 Thessalonians 2:16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement. //
Wow. God’s grace provides us with eternal encouragement. 

Genesis 45:4-5
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.//
When I understand and communicate how God has turned evil into good, I can easily forgive others and enable them to forgive themselves.

Genesis 44:33-34
“Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father.”//
True love requires sacrifice.

Genesis 43:8-10
Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy along with me and we will go at once, so that we and you and our children may live and not die. I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.”//
Sometimes, it takes people a long time to decide to do the right thing.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord.//
How grateful I am for fellow believers!