Matthew 8:1-13 Acts 11:1-18 Psalms 18:25-50 Genesis 41

Matthew 8:1-13
Mat 8:1 Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears.
Mat 8:2 Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body."
Mat 8:3 Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone.
Mat 8:4 Jesus said, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."
Mat 8:5 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said,
Mat 8:6 "Master, my servant is sick. He can't walk. He's in terrible pain."
Mat 8:7 Jesus said, "I'll come and heal him."
Mat 8:8 "Oh, no," said the captain. "I don't want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine.
Mat 8:9 I'm a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Mat 8:10 Taken aback, Jesus said, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works.
Mat 8:11 This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions--streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God's kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Mat 8:12 Then those who grew up 'in the faith' but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened."
Mat 8:13 Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, "Go. What you believed could happen has happened." At that moment his servant became well.

Acts 1:1-13
Act 11:1 The news traveled fast and in no time the leaders and friends back in Jerusalem heard about it--heard that the non-Jewish "outsiders" were now "in."
Act 11:2 When Peter got back to Jerusalem, some of his old associates, concerned about circumcision, called him on the carpet:
Act 11:3 "What do you think you're doing rubbing shoulders with that crowd, eating what is prohibited and ruining our good name?"
Act 11:4 So Peter, starting from the beginning, laid it out for them step-by-step:
Act 11:5 "Recently I was in the town of Joppa praying. I fell into a trance and saw a vision: Something like a huge blanket, lowered by ropes at its four corners, came down out of heaven and settled on the ground in front of me.
Act 11:6 Milling around on the blanket were farm animals, wild animals, reptiles, birds--you name it, it was there. Fascinated, I took it all in.
Act 11:7 "Then I heard a voice: 'Go to it, Peter--kill and eat.'
Act 11:8 I said, 'Oh, no, Master. I've never so much as tasted food that wasn't kosher.'
Act 11:9 The voice spoke again: 'If God says it's okay, it's okay.'
Act 11:10 This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the sky.
Act 11:11 "Just then three men showed up at the house where I was staying, sent from Caesarea to get me.
Act 11:12 The Spirit told me to go with them, no questions asked. So I went with them, I and six friends, to the man who had sent for me.
Act 11:13 He told us how he had seen an angel right in his own house, real as his next-door neighbor, saying, 'Send to Joppa and get Simon, the one they call Peter.

Psalms 18:25-50
Psa 18:25 The good people taste your goodness, The whole people taste your health,
Psa 18:26 The true people taste your truth, The bad ones can't figure you out.
Psa 18:27 You take the side of the down-and-out, But the stuck-up you take down a peg.
Psa 18:28 Suddenly, GOD, you floodlight my life; I'm blazing with glory, God's glory!
Psa 18:29 I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the highest fences.
Psa 18:30 What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every GOD-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it.
Psa 18:31 Is there any god like GOD? Are we not at bedrock?
Psa 18:32 Is not this the God who armed me, then aimed me in the right direction?
Psa 18:33 Now I run like a deer; I'm king of the mountain.
Psa 18:34 He shows me how to fight; I can bend a bronze bow!
Psa 18:35 You protect me with salvation-armor; you hold me up with a firm hand, caress me with your gentle ways.
Psa 18:36 You cleared the ground under me so my footing was firm.
Psa 18:37 When I chased my enemies I caught them; I didn't let go till they were dead men.
Psa 18:38 I nailed them; they were down for good; then I walked all over them.
Psa 18:39 You armed me well for this fight, you smashed the upstarts.
Psa 18:40 You made my enemies turn tail, and I wiped out the haters.
Psa 18:41 They cried "uncle" but Uncle didn't come; They yelled for GOD and got no for an answer.
Psa 18:42 I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind. I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.
Psa 18:43 You rescued me from a squabbling people; you made me a leader of nations. People I'd never heard of served me;
Psa 18:44 the moment they got wind of me they listened. The foreign devils gave up;
Psa 18:45 they came on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.
Psa 18:46 Live, GOD! Blessings from my Rock, my free and freeing God, towering!
Psa 18:47 This God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back.
Psa 18:48 He rescued me from enemy anger, he pulled me from the grip of upstarts, He saved me from the bullies.
Psa 18:49 That's why I'm thanking you, GOD, all over the world. That's why I'm singing songs that rhyme your name.
Psa 18:50 God's king takes the trophy; God's chosen is beloved. I mean David and all his children-- always.

Genesis 41
Gen 41:1 Two years passed and Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile River.
Gen 41:2 Seven cows came up out of the Nile, all shimmering with health, and grazed on the marsh grass.
Gen 41:3 Then seven other cows, all skin and bones, came up out of the river after them and stood by them on the bank of the Nile.
Gen 41:4 The skinny cows ate the seven healthy cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
Gen 41:5 He went back to sleep and dreamed a second time: Seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, grew out of a single stalk.
Gen 41:6 Then seven more ears grew up, but these were thin and dried out by the east wind.
Gen 41:7 The thin ears swallowed up the full, healthy ears. Then Pharaoh woke up--another dream.
Gen 41:8 When morning came, he was upset. He sent for all the magicians and sages of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but they couldn't interpret them to him.
Gen 41:9 The head cupbearer then spoke up and said to Pharaoh, "I just now remembered something--I'm sorry, I should have told you this long ago.
Gen 41:10 Once when Pharaoh got angry with his servants, he locked me and the head baker in the house of the captain of the guard.
Gen 41:11 We both had dreams on the same night, each dream with its own meaning.
Gen 41:12 It so happened that there was a young Hebrew slave there with us; he belonged to the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us, each dream separately.
Gen 41:13 Things turned out just as he interpreted. I was returned to my position and the head baker was impaled."
Gen 41:14 Pharaoh at once sent for Joseph. They brought him on the run from the jail cell. He cut his hair, put on clean clothes, and came to Pharaoh.
Gen 41:15 "I dreamed a dream," Pharaoh told Joseph. "Nobody can interpret it. But I've heard that just by hearing a dream you can interpret it."
Gen 41:16 Joseph answered, "Not I, but God. God will set Pharaoh's mind at ease."
Gen 41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile.
Gen 41:18 Seven cows, shimmering with health, came up out of the river and grazed on the marsh grass.
Gen 41:19 On their heels seven more cows, all skin and bones, came up. I've never seen uglier cows anywhere in Egypt.
Gen 41:20 Then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate up the first seven healthy cows.
Gen 41:21 But you couldn't tell by looking--after eating them up they were just as skinny and ugly as before. Then I woke up.
Gen 41:22 "In my second dream I saw seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, growing out of a single stalk,
Gen 41:23 and right behind them, seven other ears, shriveled, thin, and dried out by the east wind.
Gen 41:24 And the thin ears swallowed up the full ears. I've told all this to the magicians but they can't figure it out."
Gen 41:25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's two dreams both mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh what he is going to do.
Gen 41:26 The seven healthy cows are seven years and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years--they're the same dream.
Gen 41:27 The seven sick and ugly cows that followed them up are seven years and the seven scrawny ears of grain dried out by the east wind are the same--seven years of famine.
Gen 41:28 "The meaning is what I said earlier: God is letting Pharaoh in on what he is going to do.
Gen 41:29 Seven years of plenty are on their way throughout Egypt.
Gen 41:30 But on their heels will come seven years of famine, leaving no trace of the Egyptian plenty. As the country is emptied by famine,
Gen 41:31 there won't be even a scrap left of the previous plenty--the famine will be total.
Gen 41:32 The fact that Pharaoh dreamed the same dream twice emphasizes God's determination to do this and do it soon.
Gen 41:33 "So: Pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country.
Gen 41:34 Then Pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of Egypt to organize it during the years of plenty.
Gen 41:35 Their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under Pharaoh's authority, storing it in the towns for food.
Gen 41:36 This grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on Egypt. This way the country won't be devastated by the famine."
Gen 41:37 This seemed like a good idea to Pharaoh and his officials.
Gen 41:38 Then Pharaoh said to his officials, "Isn't this the man we need? Are we going to find anyone else who has God's spirit in him like this?"
Gen 41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "You're the man for us. God has given you the inside story--no one is as qualified as you in experience and wisdom.
Gen 41:40 From now on, you're in charge of my affairs; all my people will report to you. Only as king will I be over you."
Gen 41:41 So Pharaoh commissioned Joseph: "I'm putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt."
Gen 41:42 Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his finger and slipped it on Joseph's hand. He outfitted him in robes of the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
Gen 41:43 He put the second-in-command chariot at his disposal, and as he rode people shouted "Bravo!" Joseph was in charge of the entire country of Egypt.
Gen 41:44 Pharaoh told Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but no one in Egypt will make a single move without your stamp of approval."
Gen 41:45 Then Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah (God Speaks and He Lives). He also gave him an Egyptian wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On (Heliopolis). And Joseph took up his duties over the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:46 Joseph was thirty years old when he went to work for Pharaoh the king of Egypt. As soon as Joseph left Pharaoh's presence, he began his work in Egypt.
Gen 41:47 During the next seven years of plenty the land produced bumper crops.
Gen 41:48 Joseph gathered up the food of the seven good years in Egypt and stored the food in cities. In each city he stockpiled surplus from the surrounding fields.
Gen 41:49 Joseph collected so much grain--it was like the sand of the ocean!--that he finally quit keeping track.
Gen 41:50 Joseph had two sons born to him before the years of famine came. Asenath, daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, was their mother.
Gen 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh (Forget), saying, "God made me forget all my hardships and my parental home."
Gen 41:52 He named his second son Ephraim (Double Prosperity), saying, "God has prospered me in the land of my sorrow."
Gen 41:53 Then Egypt's seven good years came to an end
Gen 41:54 and the seven years of famine arrived, just as Joseph had said. All countries experienced famine; Egypt was the only country that had bread.
Gen 41:55 When the famine spread throughout Egypt, the people called out in distress to Pharaoh, calling for bread. He told the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you."
Gen 41:56 As the famine got worse all over the country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold emergency supplies to the Egyptians. The famine was very bad.
Gen 41:57 Soon the whole world was coming to buy supplies from Joseph. The famine was bad all over.