Gen 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (NKJV)

Joseph went through numerous set-backs in his life, all of them huge hurdles to overcome.

1)    His brothers turned against him, 2) He was kidnapped and thrown into a pit, 3) He was stripped naked, marched into a foreign nation and sold as a slave in a market, 4) He was falsely accused of raping a woman, 5) He was falsely locked up in chains in a prison for years.

Just one of the above trials is enough to collapse most people, yet Joseph came successfully through every one of them and came out on top as the second most powerful man in the world at the right hand of Pharaoh the king of the Egyptian kingdom.

 Let’s look at 3 reasons for Joseph’s success:

 1)He Saw God: Joseph had a relationship with God, hence when conflict arose, he refused to look at his circumstances and instead chose to focus on God as the answer.

 Heb 12:2 Looking away from all that will distract to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith.  (AMP)

When we go through the pressure and problems of life, if we will steadfastly focus on Jesus, it releases Him to work in our situations and turn them around.

 2) He Held Onto The Purpose of God: Joseph knew through visions and dreams of the Holy Spirit that God had a purpose and work for him to complete. As he held onto what God had promised, God used his problems as stepping-stones to success, not stumbling-stones to defeat.

 God used Joseph’s problems to take him from the prison to the throne.

 Are you going through a pressure time in your life. As you hold onto God’s purpose for you, He will use your trials as a catalyst to move you into the place of His purpose and you will see success rather than defeat.

 3) He Refused To Become Bitter: When Joseph’s brothers saw that Joseph was still alive, they prostrated themselves before his face, begging for his forgiveness.

 Joseph replied, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. [(Gen 50:20) NKJV)]

 Joseph knew that God was using his difficulties to bring good out of them. This enabled him to remain in a place of forgiveness towards his brothers and keep his spirit free from bitterness.

 Paul the Apostle picked up on Joseph’s response to his brothers when he says in Rom 8:28 —And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV) 

 Instead of seeing a man or woman against you, instead of seeing hopelessness in your problems — see God using them to work good into your life as a means of building the kingdom of God.

 Viewing problems from this perspective will enable you and I to keep our spirit pure and free from bitterness and resentment.

 Meditation Point: No matter how big the trial – I will focus on Jesus and He will bring me through to a place of blessing and success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gen 42:3 So Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. (NKJV)

When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy corn for food, although Joseph recognised his brothers, they did not recognise him!

 This is a type (prophetic picture) of The Lord Jesus Christ. When He came the first time for the Jewish people, they not only didn’t recognise Him, they crucified Him.

 Jn 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. (NKJV)

 It was the second time the brothers went down to Egypt that they recognised Him. Not because ‘they‘ recognised Him, but because He revealed Himself to them.

 When Jesus comes again the second time, the Jewish people will recognise Him as their Messiah, not because ‘they‘ will recognise Him, but because He, will reveal Himself to them!

 On the third day after the death of Jesus! two of His disciples were walking along the road to the town of Emmaus discussing the events of Jesus death. They were distressed at what had taken place. Suddenly Jesus drew near and walked beside them

 Lk 24:16 Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognise who he was. (MSG)

 It was only when He revealed Himself to them did they recognise Him.

 When you and I realised our need of Christ to be our Saviour, Christ revealed Himself to us and we invited Him to come into our lives.

 Now we know Christ as Saviour, He no longer needs reveal Himself to us.

 BUT — When we go through the difficulties, pressures and testings of life, we can allow the pain of those things to cause us to lose sight of Him.

 He is there with us in the midst of our problems but He becomes obscured by the pain so that we don’t recognise Him!

 Why is Jesus obscured by our pain? It’s because pain forces our mind to think of nothing else except what is happening to us. The pain crowds out all other thoughts, hence we crowd out Jesus too!

 Is this you today. Are you in emotional, physical or spiritual pain. Have you crowded Jesus out of your life.

 Be encouraged! Jesus says to you and I today: I will never leave you, never abandon you (Heb 13:5 NET).

 All we need do is recognise Him in the midst of our pain, and invite Him in to help us, and He will.

 Isa 43:1-3 Now, this is what the Lord says, the one who created you: “Don’t be afraid, for I will protect you. I call you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your deliverer. (NET)

 There are times when Jesus delivers us from the testings of life, but that is the exception not the rule.

 The rule is that Jesus wants to deliver us in the testings! He wants us to come to know Him in the midst of what we are going through.

 It’s here that intimacy, relationship and maturity take place between Saviour and saved.

 Meditation Point: Prayer – “Holy Spirit, remind me in the pain to turn to Jesus and look to Him to deliver me, not from, but in the tests of life.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gen 39:5  From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. (NLT)

 Joseph was still a teenager (17 years old) when he was sold as a slave in Egypt into the house of Potiphar the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.

 Joseph had nothing, no family, no money, no nation to call his own. He was stripped and manacled as a slave. Yet from the beginning, God’s blessing was on his life, God’s grace, favour and wisdom were with him.

 Everything he touched prospered and was successful. So much so that Potiphar could see that God was with Joseph and he made him the steward over all his household.

 Stewards in those days had authority over all things in the house of their master. They ruled over the many servants, oversaw the budgets for food and household needs and handled all the finances.

 FOR JOSEPH’S SAKE:

 The scripture above says that God blessed Potiphar for ‘Joseph’s sake‘.

 Gen 39:5 The Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake.

 Joseph is the greatest type of Jesus in the Bible, and we see that when Jesus came, He brought the grace, favour and wisdom of God with Him.

 Lk 2:40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (NKJV)

 Jn 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

 When Jesus commenced His ministry He said that God would bless and favour the disciples for His sake:

 Mk 10:29,30 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life. (NET)

 When Jesus died on the cross, He reconciled the world to God. The word reconciled means to restore to God’s favour. God was restoring the world to God’s favour for Jesus’s sake!

 2 Cor 5:19 For God was in Christ, reconciling (restoring to favour) the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. (NLT)

 Obviously, for the world to experience God’s favour and grace of salvation, they have to receive The Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.

 GOD BLESSES AND FAVOURS THE WORLD FOR OUR SAKE!

Just as God favoured and blessed the world through Joseph and Jesus, so God wants that same favour and blessing to flow through us onto the world; and God will do it for ‘our sake‘.

 Reconciliation not only restores us to God’s divine favour, it also gives us access to that favour.

 Hence, in our family, jobs, businesses, Church life and role in society, God’s wisdom and favour upon us will bring blessing and success to flow into those areas!

 Obviously, if we are slipshod, work shy and sloppy, God’s blessing will slip through our hands and be wasted. But if we apply a spirit of excellence to everything we do, we will see those areas become favoured and successful.

 God will do all these things for ‘our sake‘.

So let’s take the promises of God, apply them to our lives and cultivate a spirit of expectancy for God’s wisdom and favour to flow through us; and when it does, the world will see that that blessing and success come from God.

 Say to yourself often, “God will bless ………(THE PERSONS NAME)…………., for my sake!

 Meditation Point: God wants to bless the world through us with His favour, and His favour is The Lord Jesus Christ. He is ‘the favour of God‘. When the world sees that favour, they will be drawn to Christ in salvation!

 As He is, so are we in this world (1 Jn 4:17)

 

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