Welcome to Living in the Light. Our eyes are on heaven. Our eyes are on Jesus. This is not what it's all about. It's not about getting as much material goods as we can and as many friends and have as many vacations as we can and experiences.
It's not about having wonderful happiness. People are always talking about pursuing happiness. Life is not about happiness, it's about following Jesus, and it's tough and it's hard, but He can give us joy that lasts. And thank you for joining us for Living in the Light, the Bible teaching ministry of Anne Graham Lotts. Today, her daughter, Rachel Ruth Wright Lotts, will continue with her message, Living for God in a Wicked World.
She takes us back to Genesis chapter 48.
Now that's where Jacob meets his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob tells Joseph he wants to give them both a blessing, a blessing that will forgive the pains of the past, a blessing for prosperity for the future.
So let's learn more why this supernatural blessing started by Jacob continues with the Jewish people to this very day. Here now is Rachel Ruth with more. In Genesis chapter 48, verses five through eleven. This is where Jacob tells Joseph: Now then, your two sons who were born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
Any children born to you after them will be yours. In the territory they inherit, they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. As I was returning from Padden to my sorrow, Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephraath.
So I buried her there beside the road to Ephra. What I got from this was Jacob, what his thought was, he's thinking about Ephraim and Manasseh, you know, Joseph, beloved Joseph, and these are Joseph's two sons. His grandkids, and they're basically like princes in Egypt. I mean, they would have been wealthy. We know they're probably handsome because Joseph was.
They had everything going for them. They were probably in their late teens, early 20s, and they had it all. They were it in Egypt.
So, your treasure is something that's lasting and it's also loving. And this is such a precious part. In verse 8, it says, When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, Who are these? They are the sons God has given me here, Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, Bring them to me so I may bless them.
Now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age and he could hardly see.
So Joseph brought his sons close to him and his father kissed them and embraced them. And so right here, I just, if you can just picture this scene. Jacob's laying there and he's in pain and he's dying. And he was like, Ephraim of Manasseh here, bring him to me. Bring him.
Come here, boys. Come here. And it actually talks about this next part. He sat them in his lap and it was a blessing he was going to do over them. But he kissed them.
You know, he's just like, you know, kissing them, holding their faces. And, oh, you're such a handsome boy, and love having you in here. And just loved him. He embraced him. He hugged him.
And they needed that hug and that reassurance from their grandfather. There is something about just loving on these young people. Give them a hug. Let them know they're seen. You know, put your hands on their face and your grandkids, your children, and just tell them how much you love them and just be loving and affectionate.
My grandfather, Daddy Bill, was so affectionate. And I remember I was up at his house and And my husband had come up, it was Christmas time, then we were just dating. And my grandfather called me over and he was like, Come here, darling. He always called me darling. He's like, Come here, darling.
And he sat me in his lap. And I'm almost six feet tall. And I sat down on his lap, you know, and he just put his arms around me and he's like, Let me see your hand. And I was like, What, Daddy Bill? And he's like, Let me, he's like, Where's the ring?
I was like, Daddy, Bill, I'm not engaged. You know, and then that night I got engaged, so he kind of let the cat out of the bag. But I knew I was loved and Daddy Bill would hold our hand when we take walks. When he was able to take a walk, we would walk up and down the mountain and he was so affectionate. And my mom and my grandmother, they always kiss us on both cheeks.
They said it's, you know, European and Teta loved everything, you know, royal in England. And they would always kiss on both cheeks. And there's just something about that affection, you know, that love. And hug your kids, hug your grandkids, and let them know how loved they are. And Belle, you know, my oldest, I had had my kids in this Christian school, great elementary school, and then it just kind of went downhill after that.
The kids, the girls were so mean in middle school, and all of us know about that. We've all been there, you know. And these girls were so mean to my girls. And my girls loved the Lord. They were vocal about that.
They'd speak up in class. They were obedient, just little sweethearts. And these girls were not good to them. And so it got harder and harder for Belle. And it was eighth grade, and it was meet the teacher night.
And she was like, I don't want to go. I was like, I'm on, Belle. Let's just go and meet the teachers. And so we go, you know, room by room, meeting them. And then we walked into the eighth grade Bible teacher class.
The teacher's name was Mr. Johns, and when we walked in, he was like, Belle, I get to teach Belle. And he was like, I was waiting to retire so that I could teach Belle because my husband years ago had started the football program at that school. And he knew my husband and loved him and was excited to have at least one of the kids. And Belle, when he said that, Belle was just like, I mean, she just, it just melted her.
She was just so glad that a teacher wanted her, that a teacher wanted to love on her. And that whole year, Mr. Johns was so great with the class. And every time the kids would come in, he'd say, How are you doing? And they're having a rough day, he'd say, just put your head down on the table.
And so if Mr. Johns said, did you all get your homework done? They were like, yes, sir, Mr. Johns. And they all had it done.
If he said, you know, I need you all to line up at the door, yes, sir, Mr. Johns. And because they knew they were loved by this teacher, they would do anything for him. And that teacher that year got diagnosed with cancer. He had to go through chemo, and his doctor said, We don't want you going to the school, you'll catch something.
And he said, No, he goes, I'm going to keep going until I die because I want to teach these kids how to die well. And he showed up at class and had a cane and would sit there. He ended up dying that year. And all the kids went to his funeral and cried. And some of these kids still tweet about him every year.
I guess it's called X now, but every year on the anniversary of his death because he made such an impact on them. And that's what we can be as teachers, as parents, as grandparents. We just love on them, and these kids are dying to be loved on. And when we see these kids out there that you know they might not look like us, and maybe they have different colored hair, and who are we to point fingers at these kids and be like, Look at them, oh, this generation is a pit. They have lost it.
We can't be like that. We've got to love on them. When we see them at the grocery store, just smile at them, you know, or say, Hi, how are you doing today? Or if we're at the store, at the mall, or we see them on the street, you know, I never want to give them a look. Kids can read us, they look at your face and they know what you're thinking, you know, and you want to look at them genuinely with love, the love of Jesus on your face, so that they're just like, wait, she looks so kind, and I wonder why I'm so used to rejection and so used to the mean faces and the looks.
And we need to embrace this young generation.
So don't walk away from this and be the same. And I'm not saying y'all may already be doing this, but when you walk away, right when you leave this place, if you go to lunch, if you go somewhere, look, have eyes to see who can you be a light to, who can you love on, who can you share the love of Jesus with. They're desperate to hear it. And look at what God's done to open this generation's eyes with what's just taking place. And all these kids coming to Christ and going to church and flooding these arenas and getting baptized.
And my cousin's son. I don't know what that makes him, but anyhow, he's a cousin. And he's this is you. We need to be praying for UNC. I mean, what in the world?
He's at UNC, he's a soccer player at UNC. And he started this thing called Run with Christ. And so he just gets these guys around and they just start running around campus. And they stop when they see a group, a group of people, they stop when they see somebody sitting on a bench. And they just share the gospel.
And people are coming to Christ and they'll baptize them in the fountains. And I mean, it is so deep. Yeah, and it's spread to other campuses. They're doing Run with Christ at other campuses.
So just have eyes to see. Don't be afraid to love on this generation and show them the love of Jesus. And then, lastly, It involves our treasurer because it's life-changing. And so Jacob, he looks at these boys, he looks at Joseph, who he loves, and you know he wishes he had had more time. He just still grieved the years that he missed out on, all those years when Joseph was imprisoned.
And now to have them back, but only to die would be devastating. In this moment, Jacob knew what was the most important thing, and he wanted to bless them. And so he spoke a blessing over Joseph, he spoke a blessing over the boys. And there is a supernatural Gift that we can give to anybody. You can bless anybody with your words.
And so. You can bless them with your words or you can curse them with your words, you know. And a lot of times, if you or if your kids, if someone had spoken curses over you, you know, been mean to you, and I had teachers say all kinds of things. Oh, I just struggled through school and they were not the nicest. And so, those are kind of like curses spoken over you.
And did you know if you have somebody speak a blessing over you, that erases those curses, it knocks them out, you know. And so, we can just speak blessing. And so, Jacob says, In verse 15, it says, Then he blessed Joseph and said, May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has delivered me from all harm, may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth. And He blessed him again.
It says down in verse 20, I'm skipping over stuff because we don't have time, but in verse 20, it says, In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing. May God bless you, like Ephraim and Manasseh. And that is an actual Jewish blessing that is still done to this day. I think Jewish fathers say it on Friday nights, if I remember right, I read a book about it. And it's the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh.
I do it over my girls. I'll put my hand on their head and I'll say, I bless you with the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh. And their names mean Ephraim means doubly fruitful and Manasseh means forgetting. And so to say the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh is to forget the pains of the past and be prosperous and blessed in the future. And that is a supernatural blessing that Jacob started there and that the Jewish people still do to this day and that we can do for our kids.
But it doesn't just have to be that blessing. It can be you just speaking blessing. Look at the strengths in your kids or your grandkids or your neighbors' kids or whoever kids, your nieces, nephews. Whoever it is, look for the strengths in their lives and then just talk about them. It's as easy as that.
I could do it all day. I mean, Belle, she is also the most compassionate person you'll ever meet. She'd take the shirt off her back to give it to you. And she is so kind, so thoughtful, never thinks of herself, will do anything for anybody. She's got that gift of mercy, and she's fun, she laughs a lot, she's a great conversationalist.
And I tell Belle that all the time. And I think the more you tell somebody like that, the more they're like, oh, and they start to believe it, you know, and they want to be more compassionate and more kind. And then my middle daughter, Sophia, she is smart as she can be. I don't know where she got it from, but she is smart as she can be. And she's in law school right now.
And she's got the gift of discipleship. And so when she was at Baylor, she led three different Bible studies. She discipled girls all the time, led them to Christ, and helped them through some struggles. And she's quiet, but God's given her that gift and she uses it and is going to use her brains to be a lawyer that loves the Lord and upholds his word. My youngest daughter, Regan, can talk the ears off a mule.
I mean, she is so funny. She is so funny, so confident. She may be president one day. She is so bold and courageous. And some of her teachers in high school were like, oh, you know, and she'd raise her hand because she knew she was just going to tell them what God's word says.
And it's just so strong. And I tell the girls these things, as simple as that. You can talk about your kids all day because you know them and look for their strengths. Don't point out their weaknesses. Don't point out what they do wrong.
You know, you're always saying that. Oh, those are curses and they land on them and it brings them down. Just speak blessing over your kids. Look for their strength and then just talk about them. And that's those blessings.
You can even write them down. You know, how much do we love? Nobody really writes letters as much anymore. And maybe you could just write out some of all the wonderful things you see about your kids or your grandkids or your nieces or nephews or wherever and send it to them so they have it and they can look at it and reread it and reread it. and speak blessing.
What's coming out of your mouth? What are the words that you say to your own kids? What are the words that you say to people around you? And we need to be speaking words of blessing, not words of life, I mean, words of death. And they need to be those words of life.
And we all fall for it. We all end up saying something we shouldn't have and regret it, and it's important to go back and apologize. You know, just say, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lashed out. I shouldn't have said that. I was actually hungry or I was tired or, you know, and just be honest and authentic.
We've got to be authentic. My dad was always like, no fakes or phonings, you know? Be the real deal and be authentic. And we're not perfect people. Jesus is perfect.
Don't look at everybody else, for example, and all Christians just ruin it for me. You know, they're all been, we've all been wounded by people, but we need to look at Jesus. He's the perfect Son of God. He's the example that we follow. And yes, everybody else will fail us, but let's all just try to do our best to walk with God and to set that example for not just the young generation, but for all the people around us.
And be a Noah. You know, be somebody that's obedient no matter what he's asked you to do, no matter what age you are. You follow the Lord in everything he's asked you to do in the wicked world that we live in because time is short. And so what is it he's asked you to do? Be a Joseph in the midst of your suffering when.
You have struggled and you're in pain, and maybe you've just want to throw in the towel and you're hurting, and you're tired of it. And maybe you've been encouraged to just keep going. God's got a plan, just like He did in Joseph's life. His life changed from one minute to the next, and your life can too. And we don't have long.
We don't have long. You know, this was the end of Jacob's life. But this basically could be the end for all of us because if Jesus is coming back as soon as we think, you know, and so what can we do while the time is left? And Jacob, after this, He called his sons together, and that was chapter 49. And at the end of chapter 49, he tells them.
Don't leave me in Egypt. When I die, you take my body back to Canaan. You take my body back to that old dusty field in Canaan where Abraham is buried, that cave Abraham's buried, Isaac's buried. I want to be there. I want to be buried with my fathers because his eyes were on the promised land.
He didn't let Egypt entice him. He probably would have had a pyramid built for him, you know, because he was the father of this important man, Joseph, and he didn't care about all that. All he had his eyes on was the promised land. And that's where our focus needs to be in these last days. Our eyes are on heaven.
Our eyes are on Jesus. This is not what it's all about. It's not about getting as much material goods as we can and as many friends and have as many vacations as we can and experiences. It's not about having wonderful happiness. People are always talking about pursuing happiness.
Life is not about happiness. It's about following Jesus, and it's tough and it's hard, but he can give us joy that lasts in the middle of it. But our eyes need to remember and be focused on the promised land, on Jesus, on eternal things, on heaven. This is not our home. We're just passing through, and we want to make an impact while we're here.
And Jacob knew what that would mean: that when he died, it was going to be a big deal for them to take him all the way back and bury him there. But he also knew what it was gonna do for his sons. They were gonna remember, oh, when they walked back and they smelled what it smelled like and they saw the landscape and They remembered the promises of God as they went, and He wanted them: don't forget, don't forget. Don't forget the promised land. Don't forget the promises of God.
Don't forget the promises of God and who He is when you go back to Egypt. Don't fall for all the stuff of Egypt. That's not our home. The promised land is. He died and years later, it was Joseph's turn to die.
And Joseph told his brothers, he said, when I die, when you go back to the promised land, don't leave my bones here. You take my bones to the promised land. I want to be buried there. Joseph, who had been basically rejected, he had bad memories there and in Canaan. And he had had this incredible life in Egypt.
He was so important, so wealthy. You know they did have a pyramid for him. You know they had parades for him and did all this stuff when he died. And he did not care about that. He said, my heart is in the promised land.
My heart is in the promises of God. And take me back there. And would you believe? 400 years after his death, when the Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt, and then Moses, you know, goes before Pharaoh, and then after all the plagues, and that last one hits, and Pharaoh says, All right, take them and go. And Moses goes running through the streets.
Can you imagine? He's like, Go, go, go, it's time to go. And they had to leave the bread without yeast in it and grab their things and they had to run out of Egypt. In the middle of all that, it says, Moses went and got the bones of Joseph. And so, did he break open that tomb and get those bones out, throw them in a bag, and they head out and they cross over?
They cross over the Red Sea into the promised land. 40 years they're wandering all over the promised land and all the stuff that happened with the Israelites. And then Joshua leads them into the promised land. I mean, they were in the desert. And then Joshua leads them into the promised land and they defeat all the giants and they have to go through all these battles.
And all the book of Joshua goes, you read all through the book of Joshua, at the end of the book of Joshua, it says, Joshua. Got the bones of Joseph and buried him in the exact place that Jacob had promised was his plot of land in Israel. And so they kept their eyes on the promised land. We have got to keep our eyes on heaven. This is not our resting place, no matter how wonderful it gets for you.
If you've got everything you could ever want here on earth, which none of us probably do, but anyhow. Don't attach yourselves to things on this earth, not to your job, not to your finances, not to your spouse, your family, all that. The most important thing is Jesus. The most important thing is we're going home to heaven one day, and all this will be over. And there, all of our pain, all of our suffering, all of our tears, everything will be wiped away.
And it's a perfect place and it's prepared for you. And God's already, you know, has your mansion in heaven, and there is one for you. I mean, is that not amazing to think about? And it's a working city. We're going to have jobs in heaven and we're all going to be together.
It's an amazing place.
So, why would we spend time thinking about this earth and building up our kingdom on earth? Our kingdom is in heaven with Jesus. And so, keep your eyes focused. Don't get distracted by the things of the world. And reach this young generation.
Point them to Jesus. Point them to the things that are eternal. And reach them with your love, with your kindness, with your speaking, your blessing over them. with your time. And so we have got to reach them with everything that's in our hearts and be a light to this next generation and be warrior women for him.
And so, if you would, just bow your heads. And as the band comes up, I just want to pray now. Ah. Over all this time that we've had together. And Lord, you've taught us so many things.
Just about through the pictures of these testimonies of Noah's life and how he was so obedient at 500 to. To change his occupation and obey you for another 120 years, building that ark, Lord. And so, Father, forgive us when we've been impatient. Forgive us when we wanna throw in the towel, Lord, and just help us to carry on in the race, to be strong to the finish, Lord, and be obedient like Noah. Lord, would you help us to be like Joseph?
In the midst of our suffering, Lord, that we don't focus on ourselves, we don't focus on our circumstances, we don't focus on our suffering, but we put our focus on you, that bubble compartmentalization, Lord, where we just look at you, we keep our eyes on you, Father, no matter what hits us in life, and showcase your glory to others by the way that we handle our suffering because you have a purpose, you have a plan in everything we're going through, and then, Lord. Please, would you break our hearts for these young people coming up? Lord, would you help us to show them your love, Lord, through our facial expressions, through our actions, through our words, Lord, the way we live out our lives, Lord, help us to stop being fakes and phonies and genuinely live for you in our homes and out in public, wherever we are, Lord, that we would share the love of Jesus and not hold back, Father, not hold back from sharing the gospel, not being ashamed to say your name, Jesus, Lord, and share what you did on the cross and reach these people because we know as we open our mouths, you've already been preparing the hearts of the people we talk to. And so, Lord, give us the courage to open our mouths and share the gospel, Lord. Share our testimonies.
And Father, I pray that you would give us ideas, give us opportunities, give us those moments where we can share our testimonies with these young people around us, Lord. Help us to love on On all these young people, Lord, on all the ones that are around us, and be a blessing, Lord. And lastly, just help our words to be a blessing to others. Father, just help us to speak words of life and forgive us for the things that we say sometimes, Lord, in anger and frustration and complaining and all. All that stuff that doesn't bring you glory, Lord, and help us to check our mouth, to stop saying things that aren't glorifying to you, Lord, and to speak blessing over the people that are around us and open our eyes for this next generation so that we can be a blessing and a light to them.
And so, Father, I just pray for everybody in here with all the different things that we've talked about, all the different things that you've been speaking to our hearts about, Lord. I just pray that you would penetrate it into our hearts, Lord, that as we've heard this, maybe there's something that stuck out to you in what we've talked about, Lord, and if there's something. That is working in your heart right now as you listen. I would just challenge you to surrender it to the Lord and give it over to Him. And if it's something that you want to just stand up, if you want to stand up in complete surrender to the Lord with whatever it is He's put on your heart, whether it's obeying Him, whether it's glorifying Him in suffering, whether it's reaching this next generation.
Just stand up in that complete surrender, and even if you're already walking with the Lord, it's okay just to give Him glory and just say, I'm going to be a warrior woman, and I'm going to stand for you and live for you in all that you do, all that you say, until the end in this wicked world. We want to be a light for you, Father.
So we just commit this time to you in Jesus' name. Living in the Light is a weekly study in God's Word with teacher and author Ann Graham Lotz. Learn to listen to His voice. Then start making the choice to keep on going and believing and trusting who God is. Go to angrahamlots.org.
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