Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pp.55, 56

• 1. Highlight the paragraph that starts, “Through Moses the Lord had said. . .”
• 2. Highlight the paragraph that starts, “The spirit of hatred and revenge originated. . . .”

Genesis 37 (Contemporary English Version)

“Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac had lived, and this is the story of his family.

“When Jacob's son Joseph was seventeen years old, he took care of the sheep with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. But he was always telling his father all sorts of bad things about his brothers. Jacob loved Joseph more than he did any of his other sons, because Joseph was born after Jacob was very old. Jacob had given Joseph a fancy coat to show that he was his favorite son, and so Joseph's brothers hated him and would not be friendly to him. One day, Joseph told his brothers what he had dreamed, and they hated him even more. Joseph said, "Let me tell you about my dream. We were out in the field, tying up bundles of wheat. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to it."

“His brothers asked, ‘Do you really think you are going to be king and rule over us?’ Now they hated Joseph more than ever because of what he had said about his dream.

“Joseph later had another dream, and he told his brothers, ‘Listen to what else I dreamed. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.’

“When he told his father about this dream, his father became angry and said, ‘What's that supposed to mean? Are your mother and I and your brothers all going to come and bow down in front of you?’ Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept wondering about the dream.

“One day when Joseph's brothers had taken the sheep to a pasture near Shechem, his father Jacob said to him, ‘I want you to go to your brothers. They are with the sheep near Shechem.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Joseph answered.

“His father said, ‘Go and find out how your brothers and the sheep are doing. Then come back and let me know.’ So he sent him from Hebron Valley.

“Joseph was near Shechem and wandering through the fields, when a man asked, ‘What are you looking for?

“Joseph answered, ‘I'm looking for my brothers who are watching the sheep. Can you tell me where they are?’

“‘They're not here anymore,’ the man replied. ‘I overheard them say they were going to Dothan.’

“Joseph left and found his brothers in Dothan. But before he got there, they saw him coming and made plans to kill him. They said to one another, ‘Look, here comes the hero of those dreams! Let's kill him and throw him into a pit and say that some wild animal ate him. Then we'll see what happens to those dreams.’

“Reuben heard this and tried to protect Joseph from them. ‘Let's not kill him,’ he said. ‘Don't murder him or even harm him. Just throw him into a dry well out here in the desert.’ Reuben planned to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.

“When Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his fancy coat and threw him into a dry well. As Joseph's brothers sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with all kinds of spices that they were taking to Egypt. So Judah said, ‘What will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his body? Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not harm him. After all, he is our brother.’ And the others agreed.

“When the Midianite merchants came by, Joseph's brothers took him out of the well, and for twenty pieces of silver they sold him to the Ishmaelites  who took him to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the well and did not find Joseph there, he tore his clothes in sorrow. Then he went back to his brothers and said, ‘The boy is gone! What am I going to do?’

“Joseph's brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph's fancy coat in its blood. After this, they took the coat to their father and said, ‘We found this! Look at it carefully and see if it belongs to your son.’

“Jacob knew it was Joseph's coat and said, ‘It's my son's coat! Joseph has been torn to pieces and eaten by some wild animal.’

“Jacob mourned for Joseph a long time, and to show his sorrow he tore his clothes and wore sackcloth. All of Jacob's children came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I will go to my grave, mourning for my son.’ So Jacob kept on grieving. Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold Joseph in Egypt to a man named Potiphar, who was the king's  official in charge of the palace guard.”

DYING TO BELONG

Dawn-Marie Wesley was a typical Canadian teenager. She went to school and hung out with a bunch of friends. But, as sometimes happens with a group of friends, things went wrong when another girl heard secondhand that Dawn-Marie was spreading rumors about her.

In November 2000, Dawn-Marie’s life became miserable. Her former friends ganged up on her. She became a target for school bullies. Other girls even threatened to kill her. Even the few friends who didn’t join in the harassment did nothing to stop it.

Finally, Dawn-Marie couldn’t take it any longer. On November 10, she went home and hanged herself in her room. A younger family member found the body. Dawn-Marie left behind a suicide note in which she said she was killing herself because three girls at school were out to get her. She named the girls, and one was later charged with criminal harassment.

“If I try to get help, it will get worse,” Dawn-Marie wrote. “They are always looking for a new person to beat up, and they are the toughest girls.”

Belonging to a group of friends is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Being on the outside of a group is one of the most painful and miserable. Of the many teenagers who decide to end their lives every year, many, like Dawn-Marie, do so because they are bullied, picked on, or left out of a group of friends.

The girl who was convicted of doing the most to bully Dawn-Marie wasn’t sentenced to serve time in a juvenile prison. Because both she and some of Dawn-Marie’s family were aboriginal, they participated in a traditional First Nations’ sentencing circle, which decided she should serve an 18-month parole with community service. At the circle, the girl gave Dawn-Marie’s family a letter expressing how sorry she was for what she had done. “Now I watch what I say,” she wrote. “It will have a lasting impact on me for the rest of my life.”

While you may never feel as desperate as Dawn-Marie did, you have probably felt lonely at times. Maybe you’ve found it hard to fit in with a group—or maybe you’ve been the one excluding someone else. How deep is our need for friendship and acceptance? For most of us, it goes straight to the heart.

When you have finished “Today’s Reading” and the section entitled: “Dying to Belong,” please answer the following questions.

1. 1. What caused Joseph’s brothers to take away his coat of many colors, throw him in a pit, and then sell him to slavery?
2. What could have caused the girls at Dawn-Marie’s school to bully her?
3. According to the lesson and your reading for today, what may be the cause of people behaving as these people did?
4. How did Joseph react to the way his brothers treated him?
5. How did Dawn-Marie react?
6. What do you think made a difference in the way each person reacted?
7. If you should ever find yourself in a similar situation, what could you do?

Psalm 109:3-5 (New International Version)

“With words of hatred they surround me;
“they attack me without cause.
“In return for my friendship they accuse me,
“but I am a man of prayer.
“They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.

“The Bible plainly teaches that there can be no harmony between the people of God and the world. ‘Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you’ (1 John 3:13). Our Saviour says,”‘Ye know that it hated Me before it hated you” John 15:18. . . . Satan works through the ungodly, under cover of a pretended friendship, to allure God's people into sin that he may separate them from Him; and when their defense is removed, then he will lead his agents to turn against them and seek to accomplish their destruction.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 559).

Joshua 1:5-6 (New International Version)

“‘No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

"‘Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.’ ”

HERE’S WHAT I THINK

This week’s illustration is about a girl who killed herself because her former friends were making her life miserable. The need to have friends who accept and include you is pretty important for teens. How important is it to you? How far would you go—or have you gone—to be accepted by a group? Where do you draw the line? Are there some things you’d never do, even to be accepted by your friends?

Log on to www.guidemagazine.org/rtf  to post your responses. Be up-front and honest. Say what you think. The lines below are provided as an alternative to posting. You may also wish to record your thoughts and share them with your class later.

Great Friendships in the Bible

Find the hidden words within the grid of letters. The words may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, and forward or backward. The names should be familiar to you. They are all stories you probably have heard over and over. After you have discovered all 18 names, put the names in groups according to who they were friends with. You may use the lines below.

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V

“Samson in his peril had the same source of strength as had Joseph. He could choose the right or the wrong as he pleased. But instead of taking hold of the strength of God, he permitted the wild passions of his nature to have full sway. The reasoning powers were perverted, the morals corrupted. God had called Samson to a position of great responsibility, honor, and usefulness; but he must first learn to govern by first learning to obey the laws of God. Joseph was a free moral agent. Good and evil were before him. He could choose the path of purity, holiness, and honor, or the path of immorality and degradation. He chose the right way, and God approved. Samson, under similar temptations, which he had brought upon himself, gave loose rein to passion. The path which he entered upon he found to end in shame, disaster, and death. What a contrast to the history of Joseph!” (Ellen G. White, The Signs of the Times, October 13, 1881).

Judges 14 (King James Version)

“And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

“And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

“Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

“But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

“Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him.

And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

“And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

“And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion.

“And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.

“So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

“And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him.

“And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

“But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.

“And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

“And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so?

“And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?

“And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

“And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? and he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

“And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father's house.

But Samson's wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend.”

SO WHAT?

Sure, everyone wants to belong. It’s great to have friends that you feel comfortable with. But what do you do if you don’t have that. Maybe you’ve just moved to town or changed schools, and you’re finding it hard to get to know people. Maybe your interests, your tastes, or your values make you a little different from most people you know, and it’s hared to find a group that’s “just right” to hang out with.

A lot of times we’re tempted to change ourselves in order to fit in with friends. Sometimes change can be a good thing. For example, you can learn to be more tactful, more thoughtful, more outgoing, all of which will help you get along better with people. You might even take up a new sport or hobby just to make new friends. But what about changing your values? Drinking or smoking because your friends do? Cutting down and criticizing less-popular kids so you can stay part of the popular crowd?

Having friends is great. But not if you have to take apart who you really are and become someone else in order to impress them. Jesus experienced what it is like to be loved by some, but hated by others. He is always a safe friend to go to for help.

1. Did Samson try to be different to fit it?
2. Did he change himself completely?
3. What did he do to fit in?
4. What do you think were Samson’s mistakes? Explain.
5. Do you have to change completely to lower your standards?
6. Does it matter if you just lower your standards a tiny bit so that you can fit in with everyone else? Explain.

Match the phrase with the text.

1. “You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone. . . .” ________
2. “”Friends come and friends go. . . .” _________
3. “We should keep on encouraging. . . .” _________
4. “Friends love through all kinds of weather. . . .”_________
5. “So speak encouraging words to one another.”________
6. “Friends sharpen the minds of each other.” ________

1. Proverbs 27:17 (CEV)
2. Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10 (CEV)
3. Proverbs 18:24 (The Message)
4. Proverbs 17:17 (The Message)
5. Hebrews 18:24 (CEV)
6. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (The Message)

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pp.57-59.

1. Highlight the paragraph that starts, “The love of God is. . .”
2. Highlight the paragraph that starts, “If we have in any manner. . .”

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME?

We all need friends, but friends come and go. The one friend who will always stick with you is Jesus. His love is unchanging and unconditional.

The best friends to have are friends who will encourage and support you in your walk with Jesus—because they’re walking with Him, too! But what if there aren’t many kids your age at church? Or you just don’t get along well with them? OR your “Christian” friends are actually more cliquish and gossipy than your non-Christian friends? (Hey, it happens!)

Pray about it. Talk to your parents, our Sabbath school teacher, any adult who knows you and cares. Yes, you can be friends with a wide variety of different kinds of people—in fact, it’s good for you! But to grow as a Christian, you need to reach out to a friend at church you haven’t gotten to know that well. Maybe you can broaden your horizons and include friends who share your beliefs even if they’re a little “different” from you in other ways. God has people for you—people who’ll pray for you and build you up instead of tearing you down as a Christian. Ask Him to help you find them.

1. Do you know some Bible texts that tell you Jesus is your friend? How do you know that Jesus loves you? Look in the Bible and write down all the texts that remind you Jesus love you.

Steps to Christ, pp. 11-15

1. Highlight the paragraph that begins, “It was to redeem us that Jesus. . . .”
2. Highlight the paragraph that begins, “Such love is without. . . .”
3. Underline the sentence that starts, “The more we study the divine character in the light of the cross. . . .”

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Think of a friend who has been helpful and encouraging to you. Take a few minutes to write that friend a letter, thanking him or her for the help and encouragement. Tell your friend you are praying for him or her. Practice here what you will say in the letter.