Blessing Judah

Well, I'm finally on! This is not nearly as difficult as I expected.
BASIC INFO: Wife, mother, grandmother. I work part-time, watch my grandkids, and am involved in a couple of ministries.
A GREAT EXPERIENCE LAST YR: My youngest son got married to a wonderful
young lady.
A DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE: Watching my oldest son and family struggle through his job-loss.
SOMETHING SILLY: Participating in this blog. As the oldest of the group, I
suffer from being technologically challenged.
SOMETHING UNUSUAL: I have had back surgery and have titanium rods and pins connected to my spine.
SALVATION EXPERIENCE: I trusted Jesus as my Savior on Sept 20, 1971 at a
Billy Graham Crusade in Irving. In January 1980 as my life came tumbling down, I trusted Jesus as my LORD. God has richly blessed my family.

I am so intrigued by Jacob's blessing of his son Judah in Genesis 49. After reading the glimpses of Judah's life intermingled throughout the account of
Joseph, I cannot help but wonder why God would so richly bless Judah. He made so many bad decisions. Judah is the brother who suggested selling
Joseph to traders. He then joined his brothers in lying to Jacob, his father,
leading Jacob to believe Joseph to be dead. Judah later becomes a prodigal
son and squanders his life with a canaanite wife and he evens impregnates his
daughter-in-law. Why would God choose to bless such a scoundrel?

Judah makes many good decisions, and since God looks at the heart, I
believe these good decisions give us our answer. 1) By suggesting to sell Joseph,
Judah actually saves Joseph's life. 2)At the end of Judah's prodigal season, he
comes to his senses and acknowledges his irresponsibility and sin against Tamar. 3) On a return trip to Egypt with his brothers, Judah takes personal responsibility for Benjamin. 4) And finally, Judah is willing to give up his family, his future, and his freedom to secure Benjamin's freedom and likely his father's life. Each of these decisions prove that Judah has developed the leadership qualities proclaimed in Jacob's blessing of Judah.

Despite Judah's indiscretions and his birth as Jacob's 4th son, he is granted the
position of firstborn leadership and chosen to carry the line of King David and of the Messiah our Savior. Judah's blessing reminds me that God always works
to accomplish what He has planned. I believe Joseph says it best, "Don't be
afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but
God intended it all for good." (Gen. 50:20)

How do we apply what we learn from Judah's life? First of all, have you ever made a bad decision only to find yourself running from God, continuing to make
poor decisions, even sinful ones? When we resist acknowledging our poor choices, sins, and fears, like Judah, we end up making a mess of our lives. How
blessed we are when we choose to run TO God rather than FROM Him.
Somewhere along the way, Judah made a life-changing decision to surrender to
God's way of living his life. Have you made such a decision? It's easy to believe
in Jesus as Savior, but is He your LORD? Like Judah, have you surrendered
your family, your future, and your freedom over to the LORDSHIP of Jesus?
There are tremendous blessings in surrender! Finally, will you trust God to work ALL your difficult circumstances for good? If you do, He will proclaim His
blessings of more than enough hope, joy, and peace into your life.