1 Kings 8:10–11(KJV 1900) — 10And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lordhad filled the house of the Lord.

I think it would do us all very well to remember the reason why we have a Church, or why there ever was a Church in the beginning, or in the first place.  Simply put, it is because God is God, which presupposes the obvious truth that our God is Alive! Of course that is no epiphany for all of us who are born again, we KNOW He is alive, but the point to be made here this morning is, do we sometimes take His Presence for granted?  When we come to Church to worship, is His Presence so desired by our hearts and minds that everything else in our lives is drowned out for that time of worship?? In our Scripture reading above, the day the Temple was to be dedicated, the priests were reminded....I think God wanted them to have an experience to always remind them of the sanctity and serious nature of their jobs as priests....It was a day for Gods glory to be seen and felt.....there would be other days when God would not manifest Himself in this fashion, but for this day, His Glory would be felt.....I'm so thankful that His glory is still abundant in this world....no we won't see it reading the papers or watching the television set....We know it when we spend time alone in His Presence with a thankful heart and mind, while reading our Bibles and praying, while looking for opportunities to serve Him....Our God is Alive my friends! And He wants to make us alive as well.....for eternity....I pray the Lord bless your day and that you will allow His Presence to fill your heart and mind with good things! 

God bless you! 

​Pastor Scott 

Genesis 37:1–8(KJV 1900) — 1And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

In Genesis Chapters 37-50 we have the storyline of Jacob and his sons intertwined with other OT history.....the story is such that I often say that you can really prove the Bible is true just by reading it....you know if people were going to make up stories, it would read much differently! 

The Bible mentions that Josephs brothers envied him, hated him, couldn't speak peaceably to him....poor Jacob was so green he couldn't see this foaming up around him so that perhaps he might have changed his manner of conversations with his brothers....but what we see within all these passages is solid confirmation of Gods Sovereign plan taking place in spite of bad motives and intentions by others....you know the story....his brothers sold him into slavery....he gets thrown in jail....tells Pharaoh his dreams....Pharaoh makes him the #2 person in position of power in the entire empire of Egypt! And God used their terrible motives and turned them into a positive as Joseph held grain back in storage for the upcoming drought and famine and was able to give it to his brethren....now the lesson for us is that the brothers anger and jealousy cost them a lot....a lot of years of anxiety and depression and worry.....I'm sure they also had extremely guilty consciences from having to lie to their Father Jacob all those years as well....so they wasted many years of their lives in that sense....but God still yet used the situation for His Divine Purpose....a touching scripture at the end of Genesis, when Jacob had died, and the brothers thought for sure Joseph would kill them all....they cried and repented and here is what Joseph said: 

Genesis 50:19–21(KJV 1900) — 19And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

What a great lesson for us today as we go through our day to day life! 

May God bless your day today and always! 

​Pastor Scott