Notes of Faith November 20, 2025
Never Lose Sight
By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
Hebrews 11:22
Since the early nineteenth century, archaeology in Egypt has produced tens of thousands of mummified bodies which date back thousands of years. Due to their abundance, many mummies were used experimentally in medical research and in other experiments. But there is one high-ranking Egyptian official whose mummified body has not been and never will be discovered in Egypt—Joseph.
Before Joseph died at age 110 in Egypt, he made his brothers promise to take his bones back to Canaan when God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. According to the Egyptian custom for when officials died, Joseph was embalmed and placed in a coffin (Genesis 50:24-26). But when the Exodus came, Moses took Joseph’s bones to Canaan where they were buried at Shechem (Exodus 13:18-19; Joshua 24:32). Joseph never lost sight of the promises God made to his forefathers to establish His people in the Promised Land of Canaan.
Regardless of the chaos in our present world, never lose sight of God’s promises and your eternal destination.
God, in his glory and his presence, forms the destiny of the Christian.
Sinclair Ferguson
Life is indeed short. I don’t want to say too short but there is far too much sin in my life that will not go away until I am with the Lord. Therefore, although this life is good and filled with a multitude of God’s blessings, leaving sin behind sounds so much better. I love life and the length that God has given me thus far. I may go on for years to come. My prayer is to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ throughout my years and to proclaim the truth of God until I am taken to be with Him. May we follow our true heart’s desire…to be like Jesus…to imitate His character, thoughts, words and deeds. One day we will be made like Him who knew no sin, for sin will have an end but we will live eternally with God!
This psalm is one of my favorites. Who knows you better than the One who gave you life and watches over you both day and night?
Ps 139
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,"
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You…
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
We are headed for the eternal Promised Land!
Pastor Dale