WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: God keeps no record of our sins (Isaiah 43:25). We are reconciled to God through what Jesus has done on the cross. Praise him for the forgiveness and friendship you now know because of his amazing sacrifice.

Dream fulfilled
Once again, the brothers take Joseph by surprise. The first 17 years of his life suddenly come crashing into his Egyptian life in the form of ten all-too-familiar faces.

It could be about twenty years since he last saw them, and yet he recognises them. He must also realise that this is the fulfilment of his first dream (37:6,7). Thinking quickly, he initiates a series of difficult tests.

Testing time
It would be easy to assume that Joseph had, after all, been storing up resentment and hatred towards his brothers for many years and now wants revenge, or maybe he wants to hear them grovel and profusely apologise before he forgives them.

However, the tests that Joseph puts them through are to find out crucial information. If he is to trust them and reveal who he is, Joseph has to know whether they are genuinely repentant for what they did to him. If not, then true reconciliation might not be possible. Joseph’s answer starts to appear in verse 21. The brothers seem to be changed men.

Respond: No one is beyond change. God’s redemptive love and forgiveness is free to all who ask. Who do you know who might need to know this? Pray for them now.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-10-15