“Down ‘in the valley’ of life, without the perspective that the gospel brings, our attitude toward suffering runs back and forth along that spectrum [from optimism to pessimism]. It’s either/or. Either life is going good and therefore God is good or life is bad and therefore God is bad or he’s not there.”- Timothy Keller […]
“The prophetically gifted Joseph . . . knew that God had made him twice as fruitful as he’d ever imagined. When we bless people to be like Ephraim, we’re saying, ‘May God make you twice as fruitful as you could ever be by your own power.’ “- Alan Wright The name of the second [Joseph] […]
“The Ephraim and Manasseh blessing, like all blessing, isn’t about reciting the words as much as it is about giving people new lenses so they see themselves as God sees them. . . . This blessing will become your spiritual lens to help you see yourself in Christ: totally accepted, free of shame, fashioned for […]
“God doesn’t want you to strive in search of blessing. He wants you to thrive in the power of His blessing.”- Alan Wright “[Jacob] blessed them that day and said, ‘In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.”- Genesis 48:20 […]