TUESDAY, JULY 3
Scripture: Genesis 45:4-7

Genesis 45:4-7 says, “And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come near to me.’ So they came near. Then he said: ‘I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.’” Joseph’s dream finally became a reality. It took close to two decades of preparation and I suspect the brothers were fearful once they found out who he really was. The key is verse 5, “…do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” There is One redeemer of evil – only One. And you and I represent Him. The way some evil is redeemed is through the judgment of the perpetrators. We see that, even in the New Testament. We see it with Ananias and Sapphira, with Herod and with Elymas. Some evil is redeemed through mercy, forgiveness and restoration, as with Zacchaeus, tax collectors, and the Samaritan woman. The thing we learn about God is that walking with Him is relational. There is not one specific formula for redeeming evil, there is only relationship. Out of that relationship will come the direction of the Holy Spirit in what God wants to do. Preparation for a season of creative miracles is not learning a formula. It is being secure in our relationship with the Creator so that we represent Him in each moment and bring forth what is needed, whether it is mercy and forgiveness or the full judgment of God’s armory. He can create an earthquake that swallows our adversaries like He did with Korah, Dathan and Abiram, or He can forgive the people who are stoning Him as He did with Stephen. He can send an angel and put Herod in the grave at our prayers, or He can send an earthquake and open up the jail as He did for Paul. Creative miracles do not follow a formula. They are creative. They are spontaneous. They come from the interaction of believers with their God. Preparing for creative miracles is believing that the God you and I serve is going to do them for us, here and now.