Thought for September 1

 History:

• 1803:First tract society in North America established--Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
• 1807: Aaron Burr acquitted of plotting to set up an empire
• 1836: Two missionary wives, Eliza Spalding and Narcissa Whitman are first white women to cross North America
• 1859: First Pullman sleeping car put into service
• 1898: First forestry school in America opens at Biltmore Estate
• 1914: Last passenger pigeon dies--Martha
• 1918: Battle of Megiddo--there will be another
• 1938: Mussolini cancels rights of Italian Jews
• 1939: Hitler orders killing of mentally ill
• 1941: Jews in Germany required to wear yellow Star of David
• 1954: Bear Bryant opens camp in Junction TX--The Junction Boys
• 1954: "Rear Window" released
• 1957: Billy Graham concludes NYC crusade attended by 2 million
• 1972: Bobby Fischer wins world title defeating Boris Spassky
• 1975: Last episode of Gunsmoke
• 1995: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens
• 2006: Roger Goodell becomes NFL Commissioner
• 2007: Appalachian State beats Michigan at the Big House
• 2021: Texas law banning abortions after 6-weeks becomes effective
• Born: Johann Pachelbel [Canon in D], Mark Hopkins [Central Pacific Railroad], Edgar Rice Burroughs [Tarzan], Johnny Mack Brown, Melvin Laird, Boxcar Willie, Conway Twitty, Alan Dershowitz [attorney, OJ Simpson], Lily Tomlin, Barry Gibb, Dr. Phil, Phil Fulmer, Gloria Estefan, Kenny Mayne, Tim Hardaway, Zendaya
• Died: Jacques Cartier, Louis XIV, William Clark [Lewis & Clark], Ethel Waters, Bart Giamatti [Baseball commissioner], Cary Middlecoff, Hal David [lyricist], Dean Jones, Lewis Jones [Power in the Blood]

Thought:

Thinking about Joseph and his sons this morning. When you named your children, what were your thoughts? A family name, a junior, a name that had special meaning to you.  Jan was a school teacher and probably suffered from the same name issues as other teachers--the memory of a bad student. So when we were blessed with children, we avoided some of those "bad" students and their names. When Mark was born, we had selected that name because it was short [no nick names, no contractions] and since he had a long last name we thought that worked best. And it was Biblical so that worked. When Maria was born, we struggled through the names of girls. Again we wanted something relatively short, something that would go with Mark. Then Jan recalled a student in her 5th grade class named Maria--nice, bright, polite, pretty--all the things you hope for in a daughter. So Maria it is. And it's Biblical. [A dozen years later, I am interviewing a potential associate for our law firm. Jan and I take him to dinner with his wife--and who shows up, the Maria that Jan taught in 5th grade from whom we got the name "Maria." And both Maria's are women of God. What a blessing.]

Well, back to Joseph and his naming his sons in Genesis 41:50-52. Check out how Joseph chose these names:

• Manasseh--"making me forget." The blessings of God had made Joseph forget all of his troubles and those that cause them. God's blessings made the troubles of the pit, the sale into slavery, the punishment for rejecting the advances of Potiphar's wife, imprisonment, all seem unimportant. Isn't God good to us. When we focus on His blessings and His provision, all of the problems are really not worth mentioning. We find in Jesus everything we need. Paul would say, forgetting what lies behind, I press on toward the goal. He would count all things rubbish compared to knowing Jesus. Thank you Lord for showering us with so many blessings that we forget and forgive. For notice that in his forgetting, Joseph also forgot the wrongs done to him by His family. So when they show up in Egypt to buy food, His response is "It was God who sent me here to preserve you." You intended it for evil but God intended it for good. What a perspective! The ability to see God's hand move, His purpose be accomplished, no matter what that meant for me. Thank God today that His blessings overflow and help us forget our troubles and those that trouble us.
• Ephraim--God made me fruitful in affliction. WOW! Can't we all say that? Even in my illness or injury. Even in my troubles, God made me fruitful--the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, patience. And in times of afflictions, I can give my best testimony of God's faithfulness and provision. Reminds me of 2 Corinthians 9 where the Macedonians Christians gave generously beyond their ability out of their affliction and poverty. 

What if God was giving me a new name today--would it be God blessed me so much I forgot and forgave. Or maybe God blessed me with much fruit even in my affliction. Or God saved me, redeemed me, loved me. What would your name be?

Blessings

Larry