Week 1, Day 1

 _{“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(2 Peter 1:5-8)}

I invite you on a journey - a nine week journey through the life of Joseph and the mysterious ways God unveils His love for the world through this incredible story. Joseph endures many hardships, twists, and turns. This is far from the story you or I would write to demonstrate the glory of God. Truly, His thoughts and ways are not like our own (Isaiah 55:8).

But before we jump into the life of Joseph, let’s take a week and prepare our hearts and minds. We want to be transformed by His wisdom and to gain better perspective about His ways and our own lives. The devotions you will encounter this week will deal with some really powerful spiritual habits:

• Daily time with God 
• Prayer
• Waiting on the Lord
• Sharing the journey of faith with others

So don’t rush this devotional. Walk through it slowly and carefully, asking the Lord to change your heart each week.

Here’s how to get the most from this study:

1. Starting Week Two, Day One of each week will include a short introduction to the weekly focus and a scripture reading that we ask you to meditate on all week.

2. The other four devotions for that week will dive deeper into the scriptures or principles introduced in the reading. They will also offer questions for you to reflect on throughout the day.

3. Finally, we will compile the questions from each devotion that week onto a single page and encourage you to revisit them with a small group.

I am praying for you as you participate in this study with us. The life of Joseph has so much to teach us. Let’s take this first week to turn down the volume on some of the noises around us so we can get everything God wants for us.

Let’s get ready!