Eternally Blessed

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

ETERNALLY BLESSED

Gen 49:22-26

22 "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.  23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. 24 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, 25 because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb. 26 Your father's blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

NIV

From what we understand, it has been about seventeen years since Jacob and his family came to Egypt and he has watched his son Joseph as the second in command of all Egypt. He has been made aware of the hard times Joseph had at the hands of his brothers, and how he flourished, fell, and grew in this land. Although it might seem there is language related to the Messiah, Joseph was never part of the line of Jesus, as He came through the line of Judah. Jacob seemed to refer to God as the reason Joseph became so successful. It was because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. Jacob went on to say it was because of your father’s God, who helped him. What we need to glean from this blessing that was given to Joseph is this is our blessing given to us from our Heavenly Father. Even though the language of Jacob was not supposed to refer to Jesus, we cannot but see the Rock of Ages, the Stone the builders rejected, the Corner Stone, and the Rock of Israel as the reason we are blessed so much. First, we are blessed to have all our sins forgiven by the Almighty from the heavens above. We know the key to our Father forgiving our sins is Jesus, but at the same time, it is our Father who sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins. The other key is that when our Father forgives, He will never bring our sins up to us again. It is if he forgets them, although, we think God can't forget. This should be a great example for us when we think someone has offended us. We may never forget that trespass against us, but we forgive and hence we never ever, never, not even once, remind that person of their offense against us. The second reason we are blessed by our Father is that He continues to watch over us and that Jesus will one day come for us to take us to be with him. We have been given eternal life through faith in Jesus. Thirdly, He has blessed us with a bounty in this life. It may or may not be in the material sense, but it will be in the spiritual sense. He has filled us with His Spirit, who leads us into all truth, and His word is a lamp onto our feet. He shows us the way to live, to walk, even where we live and worship. He places a call upon our lives so that we fulfill His plan and His purpose in our lives. We sing that song; My life is in you Lord, My Strength is in you, Lord My Hope is in you, Lord, In you, it’s in You. I will praise You with all of my life, I will praise You with all of my Strength. With all of my life, with all of my strength, All of my hope is in you. We are eternally blessed.