Author: judyinthesky91

Daily Word

Genesis 49

judyinthesky91

Read Genesis 49 – Prophecy  and blessings – Jacob called his sons together with a prophetic benediction for each one that we will see confirmed with time.  It is a sober time. 

Reuben, Jacob’s first born, lost his standing when he had sexual relations with his father’s concubine,  Bilhah.  He is called as stable as water.  

Simeon and Levi, next in line, also lost their standing over their cruelty and wrath in Shechem.

Beloved, there is godly and ungodly anger.  Theirs was ungodly because it was rooted in bitterness and wrath… It was motivated by self righteousness.  God’s Word says in Ephesians 4:26, “In your anger do not sin.”  And in Ephesians 4:31 we are told to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger.

And now,  Judah, from whom King David and later, Jesus, would come.   He is pronounced the one whom his brothers will praise.  Jacob says,  “Judah is a lion’s whelp. ” Later, Jesus is described as a lion from the tribe of Judah. (Revelation 5:5) 

Jacob’s words over his sons will be confirmed in the land divisions (covered in Joshua), and in Jesus’s life and ministry… It is remarkable and a stretch above me to put it all together.

Beloved, soak in as much as you can and ask God to give you wisdom and insight as you go. 🙏 

Daily Word

Genesis 48

judyinthesky91

Read Genesis 48 – The gift of time is such a precious gift. 

Not long after the oath in Chapter 47, Joseph received word that his father was failing.  He brought his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him to visit, and Jacob sat up, gathering his strength for the visit :1-2.  The first thing Jacob does is repeat God’s words, exactly as they were spoken to him, and exactly as they were spoken over Isaac and Abraham. 

Then Jacob claims Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons, stating that any sons of Joseph born after them would be Joseph’s, but that Ephraim and Manasseh will receive blessing and inheritance from Jacob.  I couldn’t find an explanation for this, there are a few theories, but I am comfortable saving this for story time in heaven.  Beloved, what do you think? 

A curious thing happens when Jacob is about to bless the boys (Though they were more like young men at this point).  He crosses his arms as he reaches for them, so that the blessing of his right hand went to Ephraim and not Manasseh.  Joseph was displeased and tried to correct the situation as Manasseh was first born, but Jacob assured him this was correct.  Both boys were blessed, but Ephraim would be even greater than his older brother. 

Jacob is elderly, weak, and has poor vision, but his heart and mind are certain.  And he has the gift of time… time to pass blessings along and get his affairs in order.  What a wonderful gift that is.  Beloved, if you were in Jacob’s shoes, what would you like your loved ones to know?  Why wait?

Daily Word

Genesis 47

judyinthesky91

Read Genesis 47 – I’ve been hung up on this chapter for a few days. There’s something about Jacob’s use of the word sojourn (found in the ESV, 47:4,9) that is giving me pause…. I’m sojourning on the word sojourn.

When I became a flight attendant decades ago, I thought it was like a sojourn, a temporary career/ life, and now? Jacob brought the nation of Israel to Egypt in similar fashion. They would be in their temporary residence of Egypt for about 400 years. What was necessary to save them eventually became something they were slaves to (Oops, I’m supposed to say ‘spoiler alert’ when I give away the ending like that).

Am I paying attention, and beloved, are you? What is our Egypt?

But, enough with my tangent.

Starting in verse :14 we see how Joseph’s wise preparation set Egypt up for absolute authority over the people as they surrendered everything for food. Joseph imposed a reasonable tax of 1/5th of all they acquired.

Then, at the age of 147, Jacob had Joseph swear an oath that he would carry him back to the place where his fathers were buried for his own final resting place.

What a tremendous chapter. What a big shift for Israel’s survival.

Daily Word

Genesis 46

judyinthesky91

Read Genesis 46 – And they’re off to Egypt! 

Jacob packs up the family and sets out for Egypt, stopping first in Beersheba to offer sacrifices to the Lord.  During the night the Lord spoke to him, confirming “I am God, the God of your father.  Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make your family into a great nation.  I will go with you down to Egypt, and I will bring you back again.  You will die in Egypt, but Joseph will be with you to close your eyes.” :1-4  What a sweet assurance from the LORD!

Beloved, acting in God’s will is so important.  Pray over your decisions; seek the Lord in all you do. 

The bible gives a record of all the son’s traveling with Jacob, and it is 66… plus Joseph and his two sons who are already there, and Jacob himself, bringing the total to 70. 

When they got close, Jacob sent Judah ahead to meet Joseph and get directions.  Joseph prepared his chariot and traveled to Goshen to meet his father.  Their reunion is just beautiful, full of hugs and tears, Jacob says he can now die in peace… Jacob has essentially been in grief since he sent Joseph to check on his brothers and he never returned, in 37:14.

Goshen is in Egypt on the border of the Promised Land.  Joseph instructs his family to greet Pharaoh saying they are his servants and shepherds, :34.  This is strategic because the Egyptians despise shepherds and would not want them near, thus guarding the integrity of the Hebrew lifestyle.

Beloved, take peace in the fact that God is in control, and God is good. No matter how things may look on earth, we have a Heavenly Father who goes before us.

Daily Word

Genesis 45

judyinthesky91

Read Genesis 45 – Redemptive purpose changes everything! 

“But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place.  It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives…” :5a.  Beloved, imagine the freedom of taking every wrong done to you and seeing it through the lens of God’s redemptive purpose!  Joseph did not pretend the bad things didn’t happen, but he chose to trust God throughout it! 

He is so happy to see his brothers.  He tells them there will be five more years of famine, and invites them to go get their father and move everyone to Egypt because he has prepared for this, :9-11.  Joseph was weeping with joy, as he hugged and kissed Benjamin and all of his brothers, :14-15. 

News reached the palace of Pharaoh and God’s Word says, “Pharaoh and his officials were all delighted to hear this,” :16b  This says such beautiful things about Joseph’s relationships with Pharaoh and the officials of Egypt.  Clearly, no one resented Joseph, a hebrew, a slave and a foreigner, for his position over Egypt.  I heard it said once, “There is no prejudice in excellence.”  Joseph was excellent in every situation and it is a contagious excellence that lifts up all who are around him. 

Pharaoh and Joseph supply his brothers well for the move and when the brothers get home to Jacob he is stunned and cannot believe it.  They repeated everything Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons Joseph had sent to carry him, Jacob believed and was elated :26-28. 

Beloved, we can apply this lesson to our testimony about Jesus.  We can tell people about Jesus, and they can see His hand of blessing over our lives.  We can live with hope, joy and excellence because of our Savior and His redemptive purpose over us.

Journal Journey's

Africa – 2017, Day 4

judyinthesky91

Day 4

We rejoined Joseph and went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to learn about and enjoy the orphaned elephants that they provide safe haven for until they can be released back into the wild. 

We exited a few hours later with our hearts warmed by all that we saw and learned, and next went to the Giraffe Centre.  

It was another amazing experience – we were given pellets to hand feed these graceful giants.  Long black tongues carefully reached for the inch long pieces of food one at a time.  As we got braver (Cody first) we placed the pellet in our lips and received giraffe kisses!  It was such a delight.

Cody, our researcher, then discovered Nairobi Mamba Village, a crocodile park nearby so we went and learned about them, turtles and ostrich’s as well – and yes, a few of us blew kisses to them too. 

Attempting to kiss a turtle proved to be a memorable experience for me.  He looked deep into my eyes, stretched out his curios neck… and shot a stream of urine all down by blouse!  Turtles were my least favorite of the day.

We had a quiet dinner at the hotel that night.  It took such a long time to cook!  Aisha offered to help in the kitchen… perhaps our western standards were getting a reality check.   It proved worth the wait for the parmesan risotto and multitude of vegetables – each prepared in excellence of spice and flavor.

Early to bed, early to rise.  Tanzania was waiting for us.

Journal Journey's

Africa – 2017, Day 3

judyinthesky91

Day 3

Our Emirates crew received their gifts oddly at first.  It is not a common practice for them to be thanked.  It was my turn to give and I literally had to place it in the boarding flight attendant’s hands while he seemed bewildered.  

I was glad to have included a note:

Dear Crew,  

We are traveling in celebration of a 30th, a 50th and a 60th birthday!  Our ultimate destination is the beautiful and adventurous land of Africa and we are so grateful that you, our airline family, are part of our story.

Please enjoy this little sweet along the way and a tip for your van driver later.  Thank you for welcoming us.

Warm regards from your Airline Family, Aisha, Eileen, Diane, Cody and Judy

As word spread throughout the flight, most of the 19 member crew stopped by to wish us happy birthday.  They dressed the us in their elegant uniform hat – a traditional stewardess cap from days gone by – red, trimmed in gold and adorned with a long cream scarf which they draped beautifully on each of us for the photo.  They brought decadent desserts and again we were delighted that such a simple gift would spark such fun!

Customs in Kenya was dirty and confusing.  My officer overcharged for my visa, then wanted to correct the error by using the difference from Diane, then changing the receipt.  There was a messy pile of forms on his desk and his demeanor reminded me of myself when I am especially hormonal, irritated and over-caffeinated.

Receipt in hand, we finally exited to find our checked luggage and had just done so when the officer came back to demand the first receipt even though I had already given it to him.  He was flustered and frustrated with me.  Finally he accepted that I did not have it and let me go.  A customs difficulty in a country so foreign was intimidating, and now the line to exit was tremendous – but we did not complain.

Our driver, Joseph, met us outside with a joyful smile that immediately atoned for the complications.  We squeezed into his small mini-van with luggage piled to the ceiling and made our slow egress thru traffic that made the 405 at rush hour look easy.

And now we are all caught up and checked in to the faded glory of the Nairobi Safari Park Hotel.  It feel like our trip is about to begin – Africa at last!!!

I showered under lukewarm water that I was cautions not to swallow, refreshed and met everyone back in the lobby.  Our destination was the Safari African Lodge for a dinner show and dancing.  

The resort was spectacular with lush gardens and walkways.  Dinner was an exotic grill featuring the ordinary chicken and beef to the more exotic crocodile and camel.  We toasted with big glasses of the local beer, Tusker, and waited for the show to begin.

It was an extraordinary display of song and dance, enhanced with colorful and ever changing costume.  I found myself holding my breath in awe throughout.

When the show ended all the lights went out and a chorus line of singers surrounded our table to sing a rhythmic happy birthday song.  We were enchanted and felt very honored.  The remainder of the night was spent dancing, laughing and taking pictures.  It was a grand celebration.

Journal Journey's

Africa – 2017 Days 1-2

judyinthesky91

On September 11th, 2017, we boarded Emirates for Dubai – our airline custom is to bring gifts for the crew – something little to say thank you for letting us join you.  Our crew was so taken by this simple token that they spoiled us like mad for the entire 16 hours!  They gifted us with gift bags and desserts from business class – they took Polaroid photos of us and made us birthday cards.  We landed weary, but pampered in Dubai on the evening of September 12.

We checked into our hotel – a luxurious 3 room suite at Chelsea Towers… marveling at our view of Dubai’s tallest building – Burj Khalifa.  Actually, at present it is the tallest building in the entire world!  

We met our driver downstairs and began our city tour.  The opulence of Dubai is hard to put into words – everywhere we looked was pristine and spectacular.  It was the cleanest city we had ever seen – not a speck of litter or graffiti to be found.

Her skyscrapers were intricate and different like snowflakes.  They did not seem to compete with one another, but each added to the blanket of wealth and earthly image of security – and the irony that this city was built on sand was not lost on me.

At one am we dropped into a café for Middle Eastern food – hummus – eggplant – pitas and grilled meats.  Once there Aisha realized she had forgotten her purse at our last stop.  She and our driver went back in search of it.

Upon return she reported a man had discovered it and was standing guard until the police could arrive to bring it to safety.  We were astounded by the notion that someone would take such great pains for the security of a stranger’s purse.

Our driver continued with our travel weary bodies – showing us his Dubai and all her glory until we pleaded for rest!  Back at Chelsea Towers, we melted into our beds for a few hours rest before returning to the airport and pressing on for Kenya, Africa at last –

Journal Journey's

Journal Journey’s

judyinthesky91

Africa 2017

Introduction

Today is the 14th of September 2017 and I am in Kenya, Africa.  I am on day 4 of these incredible travels to mark my 50th birthday – still 5 weeks away, but why not close out my 40’s well?

I feel like I am off to a late start – it’s been such a whirlwind of travel, but at last a peaceful moment here at the Nairobi Safari Park Hotel.  

My hotel reminds me of my travels to Magadan, Russia, in my early flying days during the 90’s.  She is well worn in places, but the opulence of her history shines through the weariness.

I was surprised to learn that she opened in 1985.  I thought she was centuries old, but 1985 – how perfect, right?  It was the year I graduated high school, and here we are meeting again.

But I am ahead of myself – Day 4 is no place to begin a tale… let me back up.

My colleague, Aisha, has been telling me about her homeland for years – always concluding with, “You should go.”

“One day, one day,” I would respond.

This is a decade birthday – a perfect time to reflect and plan.  It’s so easy to let the years come and go without thought, but decade birthdays are thinking years.    

So, I jumped at the notion that ‘one day’ would be the marker for 50.  I was going to Africa!

Two of my work friends were of like mind and had been planning the trip to mark their 30th and 60th birthdays – Cody, and Diane.  Our dear friend Eileen also recognized the need – the desire – the calling to be changed by travel and enlisted as well.  We committed to Aisha and began making plans.

Daily Word

Genesis 44

judyinthesky91

Read Genesis 44 – Changed hearts, changed lives.

Joseph puts his brothers to the test once more. He instructs his house manager to fill each man’s bag with grain, and the money they came with, and place his silver cup in the youngest man’s bag. After they left, the manager was to chase after them with accusations of stealing from Joseph.

Judah offered that the man with the cup would die and the rest of them would be slaves, :9. The manager countered that only the man with the cup would be his slave; the rest were to go free, :10. But when the cup was found in Benjamin’s belongings, all the brothers returned to Joseph.

As the matter was being discussed, God’s Word says, “Then Judah stepped forward,” :18 What a changed life Judah displays. If you recall in Chapter 37, it was Judah who proposed selling Joseph to the slave traders. Then in Chapter 38, Judah was the one who wronged Tamar by banishing her to her father’s house and not arranging that she marry his son, Shelah. And it was Judah who fathered twins through Tamar… but now, Judah is offering his own life in protection of his father and baby brother. Judah explains that his fathers life is bound up in Benjamin, :30, and he does so with love not jealousy. Judah is a changed man.

Beloved, who you were does not determine who you are. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1 With Jesus, you are set free from your old self and given new life. Delight in it and make the very most of it! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17