Be Like Joseph
I. God has a Plan for your Life.
A. You are sure to encounter adversity and testing--Gen. 37:28—When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.
Gen. 40—Joseph interprets the baker and cupbearer’s dreams and still is forgotten to languish in prison two more years.
1 Pe.1:3-9—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
v Don’t worry what others think—We live in an age of tolerance but worldly tolerance means acceptance of sin whereas Godly tolerance means we are to love the sinner. God never asks us to tolerate sin and we should never worry about what others think when we are living righteously. [Determining God’s will for San Diego move Isa. 43:4-6 ]
v Ask God what He wants you to learn through it. (Moving to Newberg & job loss)
v Don’t take matters into your own hand or seek revenge--Rom. 12:17-19—“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes. 18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Was Joseph clean in the way he treated his brothers?
v When circumstances or people turn against you don’t leave room for bitterness--Gen. 42:14,15—Then Joseph said to them, "I have spoken: 'You are spies!' 15 This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.” Joseph showed signs of struggling through what his brothers did but he didn’t let it best him. Joseph could have stayed bitter, instead he got better because he knew his God was biggest. [Using Tiedeman Home for Transition Housing]
v People may criticize or judge you for suffering as an indictment from God (as Job’s friends did).
B. You are sure to encounter temptations--Gen. 39:6-21—Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After some time his master's wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, "Sleep with me." 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. 9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"
10 Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her. 11 Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants was there. 12 She grabbed him by his garment and said, "Sleep with me!" But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she realized that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, 14 she called the household servants. "Look," she said to them, "my husband brought a Hebrew man to us to make fun of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. 15When he heard me screaming for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside." 16 She put Joseph's garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: "The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to me to make fun of me, 18 but when I screamed for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside." 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him—"These are the things your slave did to me"—he was furious 20 and had him thrown into prison, where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.
v Ask God to help you be faithful and to resist, ask for His deliverance. Psa.31:15—“The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors.”
v Resist the temptation and run when it is obviously evil.
v Understand the nature of the temptation (i.e. it may not be sinful but rather self-full)
II. God’s Plan may not be fully Understood
A. Ask Him what it is--Acts 22:10—"Then I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' "And the Lord told me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that is assigned for you to do.'
Psa. 31:3,5—For You are my rock and my fortress; You lead and guide me because of Your name . . . Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.
Psa. 32:8—I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with My eye on you, I will give counsel.
v Ask God to help you be faithful in the little things
B. Trust that He will lead you through it—Psa.34:19 [Bryan’s tumor]
v Often God takes us where we wouldn’t choose to go to fulfill what we wouldn’t see to do.
III. God’s Plan brings Reward when we Follow His Will--Gen. 45:4-8—Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please, come near me," and they came near. "I am Joseph, your brother," he said, "the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now don't be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Gen. 50:19,20—But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
Psa. 31:19—How great is Your goodness that You have stored up for those who fear You, and accomplished in the sight of everyone for those who take refuge in You.
A. Don’t be consumed with your own plan [Twice I tried to leave the military and both times God blocked the door; once I tried to move overseas and God said “no”]
The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not of our nature . . . The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God . . . The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest
B. Do your best wherever God puts you—[The Long Eternal Line and my travel schedule]
If God can use you in the prison, He can use you in the palace!
IV. Application:
Play Church Planter’s Video: http://theresurgence.com/church_planter_video
Lord Help Me Be Like Joseph:
1. What has God called me to do and to be? Am I living so as to be in accord with God’s plan? If not, what changes need to be made?
2. Are there any plans of mine that may be interfering with God’s plans for me? If so, what are they and what do I need to do to be in alignment with the Lord’s will?
3. With respect to God’s plan for my life, I need prayer ______________________________ . ..
- Genesis 37:5-11—Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf." 8 "Are you really going to reign over us?" his brothers asked him. "Are you really going to rule us?" So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. "Look," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me." 10 He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him. "What kind of dream is this that you have had?" he said. "Are your mother and brothers and I going to bow down to the ground before you?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter [in mind].
- Psa. 33:11—The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.
A. You are sure to encounter adversity and testing--Gen. 37:28—When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.
Gen. 40—Joseph interprets the baker and cupbearer’s dreams and still is forgotten to languish in prison two more years.
1 Pe.1:3-9—Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
v Don’t worry what others think—We live in an age of tolerance but worldly tolerance means acceptance of sin whereas Godly tolerance means we are to love the sinner. God never asks us to tolerate sin and we should never worry about what others think when we are living righteously. [Determining God’s will for San Diego move Isa. 43:4-6 ]
v Ask God what He wants you to learn through it. (Moving to Newberg & job loss)
v Don’t take matters into your own hand or seek revenge--Rom. 12:17-19—“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes. 18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Was Joseph clean in the way he treated his brothers?
v When circumstances or people turn against you don’t leave room for bitterness--Gen. 42:14,15—Then Joseph said to them, "I have spoken: 'You are spies!' 15 This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.” Joseph showed signs of struggling through what his brothers did but he didn’t let it best him. Joseph could have stayed bitter, instead he got better because he knew his God was biggest. [Using Tiedeman Home for Transition Housing]
v People may criticize or judge you for suffering as an indictment from God (as Job’s friends did).
B. You are sure to encounter temptations--Gen. 39:6-21—Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After some time his master's wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, "Sleep with me." 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. 9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"
10 Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her. 11 Now one day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants was there. 12 She grabbed him by his garment and said, "Sleep with me!" But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she realized that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, 14 she called the household servants. "Look," she said to them, "my husband brought a Hebrew man to us to make fun of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. 15When he heard me screaming for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside." 16 She put Joseph's garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: "The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to me to make fun of me, 18 but when I screamed for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside." 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him—"These are the things your slave did to me"—he was furious 20 and had him thrown into prison, where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison. 21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him.
v Ask God to help you be faithful and to resist, ask for His deliverance. Psa.31:15—“The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors.”
v Resist the temptation and run when it is obviously evil.
v Understand the nature of the temptation (i.e. it may not be sinful but rather self-full)
II. God’s Plan may not be fully Understood
A. Ask Him what it is--Acts 22:10—"Then I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' "And the Lord told me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that is assigned for you to do.'
Psa. 31:3,5—For You are my rock and my fortress; You lead and guide me because of Your name . . . Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You redeem me, LORD, God of truth.
Psa. 32:8—I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with My eye on you, I will give counsel.
v Ask God to help you be faithful in the little things
B. Trust that He will lead you through it—Psa.34:19 [Bryan’s tumor]
v Often God takes us where we wouldn’t choose to go to fulfill what we wouldn’t see to do.
III. God’s Plan brings Reward when we Follow His Will--Gen. 45:4-8—Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please, come near me," and they came near. "I am Joseph, your brother," he said, "the one you sold into Egypt. 5 And now don't be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Gen. 50:19,20—But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
Psa. 31:19—How great is Your goodness that You have stored up for those who fear You, and accomplished in the sight of everyone for those who take refuge in You.
A. Don’t be consumed with your own plan [Twice I tried to leave the military and both times God blocked the door; once I tried to move overseas and God said “no”]
The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not of our nature . . . The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God . . . The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest
B. Do your best wherever God puts you—[The Long Eternal Line and my travel schedule]
If God can use you in the prison, He can use you in the palace!
IV. Application:
Play Church Planter’s Video: http://theresurgence.com/church_planter_video
Lord Help Me Be Like Joseph:
1. What has God called me to do and to be? Am I living so as to be in accord with God’s plan? If not, what changes need to be made?
2. Are there any plans of mine that may be interfering with God’s plans for me? If so, what are they and what do I need to do to be in alignment with the Lord’s will?
3. With respect to God’s plan for my life, I need prayer ______________________________ . ..
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