[Membersandfriends] Monday, October 18, 2004

Sun Oct 17 22:01:28 PDT 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Monday, October 18, 2004

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Making a Difference

By making available any of The Upper Room's all-ages family of magazines to nursing homes, hospitals, or your church, you'll help others grow in faith. Under this group order arrangement, you can give 10 or more copies of each issue for 50% off the cover prices.  To learn more about these "Standing Orders," visit:
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REMEMBER TO FORGET
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Genesis 50:16-21 (NRSV)

So they approached Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this instruction before he died, 'Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.' Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, "We are here as your slaves." But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones." In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

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Paul wrote, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)
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I f anyone had hurts to remember, it was Joseph.  He was flung into a pit, sold by his own brothers, slandered by a lascivious woman, and cast into prison.  But he did not dwell on the past.  When Joseph became politically powerful in Egypt and a son was born to him, he named the child Manasseh, which means, "God has [caused] me [to] forget" (Gen. 41:51, NRSV).

It is a boon that the sharp edges come off our memories with the passing of time.  The loneliness, the grieving heart, the bewildered shock -- all these God enables us to forget.  That is a blessing because one of the worst things we can do is nurse injuries, remember old insults, and plan revenge.

As we pray, God can help us to forget what we need to forget and to leave behind the hurts, insults, and injuries of the past.  Joseph shows us that this is possible.

Prayer:  O God, empower us to forget the pain of old hurts and to forgive those who hurt us.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Forgetting the hurts of the past frees us to live fully in the present.

-- Donald O. Clendaniel, Sr. (Delaware, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those bitter about the past

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RELATED READING ...

PRAYER, STRESS, AND OUR INNER WOUNDS invites you to "open the door to God's love" as you ask for God's mercy and strength in getting you through the hard times.  God's grace moves through this book allowing you to confront your own needs and pains.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=12543

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The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright (c) 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.