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Merry & Bright: Rediscover the Peace of Advent

Overcoming Overwhelm: Untangling the Clutter in Your Life

A Love Worth Sharing | Advent Sunday Devotional Series

Prayer 101

Christ: The Treasure of Our Hearts

Moving Toward Each Other in the Middle of a Divisive World

Hebrews

5 Spiritual Practices for Healing and Transformation

Center of It All

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 <div class="p">1Now the famine was still severe in the land. 2So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, &#8220;Go back and buy us a little more food.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3But Judah said to him, &#8220;The man warned us solemnly, &#8216;You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.&#8217; 4If you will send our brother along with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5But if you will not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, &#8216;You will not see my face again unless your brother is with you.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Israel asked, &#8220;Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7They replied, &#8220;The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. &#8216;Is your father still living?&#8217; he asked us. &#8216;Do you have another brother?&#8217; We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, &#8216;Bring your brother down here&#8217;?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8Then Judah said to Israel his father, &#8220;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. 9I 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. 10As it is, if we had not delayed, we could have gone and returned twice.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Then their father Israel said to them, &#8220;If it must be, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift&#8212;a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12Take double the amount of silver with you, for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13Take your brother also and go back to the man at once. 14And may God Almighty#43:14 Hebrew El-Shaddai grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15So the men took the gifts and double the amount of silver, and Benjamin also. They hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph. 16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, &#8220;Take these men to my house, slaughter an animal and prepare a meal; they are to eat with me at noon.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17The man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph&#8217;s house. 18Now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house. They thought, &#8220;We were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time. He wants to attack us and overpower us and seize us as slaves and take our donkeys.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19So they went up to Joseph&#8217;s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 20&#8220;We beg your pardon, our lord,&#8221; they said, &#8220;we came down here the first time to buy food. 21But at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver&#8212;the exact weight&#8212;in the mouth of his sack. So we have brought it back with us. 22We have also brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don&#8217;t know who put our silver in our sacks.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;It&#8217;s all right,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks; I received your silver.&#8221; Then he brought Simeon out to them.</div><div class="p"> 24The steward took the men into Joseph&#8217;s house, gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys. 25They prepared their gifts for Joseph&#8217;s arrival at noon, because they had heard that they were to eat there.</div><div class="p"> 26When Joseph came home, they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house, and they bowed down before him to the ground. 27He asked them how they were, and then he said, &#8220;How is your aged father you told me about? Is he still living?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28They replied, &#8220;Your servant our father is still alive and well.&#8221; And they bowed down, prostrating themselves before him.</div><div class="p"> 29As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother&#8217;s son, he asked, &#8220;Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?&#8221; And he said, &#8220;God be gracious to you, my son.&#8221; 30Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep. He went into his private room and wept there.</div><div class="p"> 31After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, &#8220;Serve the food.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians. 33The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. 34When portions were served to them from Joseph&#8217;s table, Benjamin&#8217;s portion was five times as much as anyone else&#8217;s. So they feasted and drank freely with him.</div>
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 <div class="p">1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God&#8217;s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God&#8212;this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God&#8217;s will is&#8212;his good, pleasing and perfect will.</div><div class="s1">Humble Service in the Body of Christ</div><div class="p"> 3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your#12:6 Or the faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,#12:8 Or to provide for others do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.</div>
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