Joseph’s life is an Old Testament demonstration of Romans 8:28. His confidence was not displayed in his ability to understand the circumstances but in the God of all circumstances. Joseph experienced it all, the incredible heights of position and power and the lowest of lows being accused and found guilty of false accusations. He led a life of testing and triumph, suffering and glory. He grew up as a sheep tender and was the 11th of 12 sons. Our culture tells us that we are the product of our heredity and environment; however, today we will learn how to live honorably before God regardless and the power to rise above whatever labels has been branded on us.
Be A Truth Person. v2
You might be thinking well no wonder his brothers don’t like him. The guy is a ‘tattle-tale’ However, he was a truth revealer and he had enough guts to call sin sin. He had a healthy sense of right and wrong and brought light to a situation for the good of the family business. The point is that light exposes darkness and to be honest darkness can’t stand light, its uncomfortable around it and really just wants to make it disappear.
Matthew 5:14-16
How often have you been the one ‘uninvited’ because of the person that you are and the character that you reveal. God notices when you take a stand for righteousness and He will honor you for it.
Love Out the Best In Others v3,4
God’s love is not the love of Jacob. He doesn’t play favorites, in fact we see that he wants nothing to do with partiality when it comes to the place and seat of honor in the church in James2. Now, having said that, He will honor those who honor Him. The fact is that Joseph lived a life of integrity and his father recognized it and while we may question the way he rewarded it, it was the brother’s choice to resent it instead of taking the high road to encourage Joseph. Let’s face it though, it is a humbling thing to celebrate the progress and advancement of others when you yourself feel left behind.
Contextualize it by thinking of someone younger than you, less experience on the job and they get the promotion and what is your first thought? What about me. You either get bitter or get better and the brothers let a root of bitterness grow in them.
Hold On Tight to Your Dreams v5-10
Joseph dreams of authority, submission and obedience on the part of others and it doesn’t go over too well with his brothers as you might imagine. No one really tries to understand him except his father who keeps the matter in mind. I believe there is great sensitivity needed in knowing who is ready to receive what we might share about what God is doing in our life. It is often parents and close family members who are the most resistant to the changes and God given visions in our life. There will always be those who will work to suppress the work of God in your life and you must hold on tightly to the dreams and visions that God has given you. Do not deny His clear leading and be careful with whom you share it. Not everyone is ready to receive, not everyone is going to encourage…your job is to pray for incredible discernment.
Well Joseph’s honest sharing intensified their anger and animosity towards him.
The way up in God’s economy is first down. v12
The next part of the journey for Joseph is to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He has a pretty good idea that he is being sent into a hostile situation and yet he steps out in obedience. He is willing to go to his brothers to ‘check up on them’ I don’t know about you, but I might have said, you know dad, this didn’t go over too well the last time, maybe you want to check it out for yourself…’ But he doesn’t and he willingly goes and his life begins to take a most dramatic turn. They see him coming and they begin to mock him and plan a cruel death
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Living a life on loan means self sacrifice. Ashok had it right last week when he shared it is in effect taking out a blank sheet of paper signing the bottom and saying to God, you fill in the blank!
Filling in the blank for Joseph meant being confronted, stripped and humiliated. It meant going through rejection, pain, anguish and torture.
When we are faced with trials, how do we respond. Do we ask the question, ‘why me?’ or do we say, ‘why not me’. Do we see that God is trying to mold us and shape us? For Joseph, any dreams of self ambition, self-exaltation died that day in the hopeless pit of despair.
Jesus taught us that the way up is down, the way to greatness is to first learn to serve others. Joseph went through the breaking process that to some degree we all go through it and learn that the path to true greatness is through humility and servanthood.
Matthew 18:4;23:11
Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold for 20 pieces of silver. There was so little value placed on his life and it parallels the same betrayal that Jesus faced at the hands of Judas for 30 pieces of silver.
Do you think Joseph must have been wondering at this point in his life? Does godliness really pay off? Does it really pay to be a person of truth? I have been a cast off from my brothers….will God cast me off as well?
Acts 7:9 Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles…
The difficult realization was that in order to be used by God, Joseph was going to have to die to selfish desire. He was going to have to go through the fire.
The question we have to ask ourselves is this:
What do I need to die to in order for God to fully use me for His purposes? What will it take to break me? Do I take the glory or do I give the glory?
What takes priority in my life?
God overruled the sin of Joseph’s brothers and would accomplish exactly what He purposed and planned.
It is impossible to bring good out of evil, but good can come in spite of evil.
Here is what is evident from his life.
Joseph was a man of integrity, he never lost sight of his dreams and he trusted God regardless.
As the book, ‘Living a Life On Loan’ shares…
Just like Joseph’s life, our lives are a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly and they are all put in the can of our life. Some things we choose to put in like our education, relationships and activities and other things get shoved in there, some of which is good and also the junk like being thrown into a pit and sold into slavery. All of it, the trash and the treasure play a part in shaping our life, defining who we are and become the making of our story.
There are basically two camps of thought on this. One camp says, my life is good, there are definitely things that I don’t like, but overall you still control your destiny. The other camp says I wish I had someone else’s life, I’m angry, I’m stuck, it isn’t fair and I want a different life.
I don’t want to discount anything that anyone has gone through, many of them tragic that have marked and scarred you, but know this that you are more than your past, more than the stuff that have been shoved into your can and God wants to do a work in you.
Are you ready to sign your blank letter to Him?
Ephesians 2:8-10
Romans 8:28-30
You can have a new identity, you can start making different choices. God, our God is in the business of reusing, renewing and restoring what was stolen. There are some thinking patterns that you need to toss and there are things you can recycle.
It starts with living by the whole truth as opposed to the half truths that we have come to live with.
For example…I know I shouldn’t get so angry, but it is the only way to get things done around here. I know I shouldn’t go out with this person because they bring me down, but I don’t want to be alone.
The whole truth is that God wants to be your anchoring point, your compass for living.
The Takeaway
Sign off with God to be a person of integrity, to never lose sight of your dreams and trust God regardless that your story will be used for His glory.
Thirty-three year old truck driver Larry Walters accomplished his dream of flying even if his aircraft was unconventional. Larry had spent a good deal of time dreaming of flying but never had the opportunity until July 2, 1982. It was that afternoon when he and several of his buddies got together. They took an aluminum chair complete with green and white vinyl straps and attached 30 weather balloons to it. Apparently Larry strapped himself on to the chair and took pb and jelly sandwiches with him along with a six pack of beer, a CB radio to report to his friends and a BB gun to shoot the balloons down to control his flight.
Instead of leisurely floating through the air in his California neighbourhood, Larry’s chair when cut loose from its tethers shot more than two miles into the air. He went right through the approach corridor to the Long Beach Airport. Larry started firing his BB gun as fast as he could. When he landed, the emergency workers asked him if he would do it again. He replied, not in a million years. When asked why, he shared “You can’t just sit there, can you?’
We need more people with that kind of attitude. The realization is that I do have a life and more importantly I have a story, experiences, relationships that can be used of God to impact others. No matter how many wrong turns, mess ups or foul ups, none of it is wasted with God. We have the opportunity to bring good in spite of evil and that is what a noble person does. We need to pray that God would give us the opportunity to choose well.
If someone was to give you $525,600 what would you do with it? Would you pay off some debts? Would you build a new home? Would you give money to the church or missions? There are a lot of ways that you could spend that money?
Now you might think that I am going to bring up the landswap, but I’m not. The fact is that every year we have 525,600 minutes. What are you doing with them? What investments are you making? At the end of the day, our life is simply piling up those moments. There are definitely some big moments along the way and the more ordinary for sure. However, they all add up and the little things become a big deal.
My mom has about 70 laying hens. I have asked her mom why do you keep doing it, it is a lot of work to look after these hens, but they do produce. Everyday there are eggs and they are taken to the missions store in Fergus to be sold. The money received for the eggs there has gone often to support missions work in Haiti, to support a pastor, to build wells…A small decision keeps adding up and making a huge difference.
The place to begin our moments of truth, to love the best out in each other, to hold on to dreams starts in the home, starts with our spouses and our children.
We have been saved from something for something.
God gives us leaders to prepare us for good works Ephesians 4:11,12
God gives us the Bible to equip us for good works 2 Timothy 3:16,17
God gives us spiritual gifts to enable us to do good works 1 Peter 4:10
God gives us other Christians to spur us on toward good works. Hebrews 10:24
Rick Rusaw
Jesus did anything that advanced the will of God in the lives of others.
Discover your sweet spot. Find out what makes you passionate and the way God has designed you and then discover your purpose, let Him lead you to the good works He has prepared in advance for you to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Questions For Discussion and Small Groups.
What are the things you sometimes try to fit into the God-shaped vacuum of your life?
Have you ever had an experience in which your passions intersected with God’s purposes and you felt truly alive? What was it like?
What are your passions and skills?
Do you prefer working with people or working with your hands? Why?
As you look around your community, where do you think Jesus would go? What would He do?
How can you use your passions, skills and talents to give hands and feet to what Jesus would do?
Questions By Eric Swanson
Be A Truth Person. v2
You might be thinking well no wonder his brothers don’t like him. The guy is a ‘tattle-tale’ However, he was a truth revealer and he had enough guts to call sin sin. He had a healthy sense of right and wrong and brought light to a situation for the good of the family business. The point is that light exposes darkness and to be honest darkness can’t stand light, its uncomfortable around it and really just wants to make it disappear.
Matthew 5:14-16
How often have you been the one ‘uninvited’ because of the person that you are and the character that you reveal. God notices when you take a stand for righteousness and He will honor you for it.
Love Out the Best In Others v3,4
God’s love is not the love of Jacob. He doesn’t play favorites, in fact we see that he wants nothing to do with partiality when it comes to the place and seat of honor in the church in James2. Now, having said that, He will honor those who honor Him. The fact is that Joseph lived a life of integrity and his father recognized it and while we may question the way he rewarded it, it was the brother’s choice to resent it instead of taking the high road to encourage Joseph. Let’s face it though, it is a humbling thing to celebrate the progress and advancement of others when you yourself feel left behind.
Contextualize it by thinking of someone younger than you, less experience on the job and they get the promotion and what is your first thought? What about me. You either get bitter or get better and the brothers let a root of bitterness grow in them.
Hold On Tight to Your Dreams v5-10
Joseph dreams of authority, submission and obedience on the part of others and it doesn’t go over too well with his brothers as you might imagine. No one really tries to understand him except his father who keeps the matter in mind. I believe there is great sensitivity needed in knowing who is ready to receive what we might share about what God is doing in our life. It is often parents and close family members who are the most resistant to the changes and God given visions in our life. There will always be those who will work to suppress the work of God in your life and you must hold on tightly to the dreams and visions that God has given you. Do not deny His clear leading and be careful with whom you share it. Not everyone is ready to receive, not everyone is going to encourage…your job is to pray for incredible discernment.
Well Joseph’s honest sharing intensified their anger and animosity towards him.
The way up in God’s economy is first down. v12
The next part of the journey for Joseph is to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. He has a pretty good idea that he is being sent into a hostile situation and yet he steps out in obedience. He is willing to go to his brothers to ‘check up on them’ I don’t know about you, but I might have said, you know dad, this didn’t go over too well the last time, maybe you want to check it out for yourself…’ But he doesn’t and he willingly goes and his life begins to take a most dramatic turn. They see him coming and they begin to mock him and plan a cruel death
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Living a life on loan means self sacrifice. Ashok had it right last week when he shared it is in effect taking out a blank sheet of paper signing the bottom and saying to God, you fill in the blank!
Filling in the blank for Joseph meant being confronted, stripped and humiliated. It meant going through rejection, pain, anguish and torture.
When we are faced with trials, how do we respond. Do we ask the question, ‘why me?’ or do we say, ‘why not me’. Do we see that God is trying to mold us and shape us? For Joseph, any dreams of self ambition, self-exaltation died that day in the hopeless pit of despair.
Jesus taught us that the way up is down, the way to greatness is to first learn to serve others. Joseph went through the breaking process that to some degree we all go through it and learn that the path to true greatness is through humility and servanthood.
Matthew 18:4;23:11
Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold for 20 pieces of silver. There was so little value placed on his life and it parallels the same betrayal that Jesus faced at the hands of Judas for 30 pieces of silver.
Do you think Joseph must have been wondering at this point in his life? Does godliness really pay off? Does it really pay to be a person of truth? I have been a cast off from my brothers….will God cast me off as well?
Acts 7:9 Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles…
The difficult realization was that in order to be used by God, Joseph was going to have to die to selfish desire. He was going to have to go through the fire.
The question we have to ask ourselves is this:
What do I need to die to in order for God to fully use me for His purposes? What will it take to break me? Do I take the glory or do I give the glory?
What takes priority in my life?
God overruled the sin of Joseph’s brothers and would accomplish exactly what He purposed and planned.
It is impossible to bring good out of evil, but good can come in spite of evil.
Here is what is evident from his life.
Joseph was a man of integrity, he never lost sight of his dreams and he trusted God regardless.
As the book, ‘Living a Life On Loan’ shares…
Just like Joseph’s life, our lives are a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly and they are all put in the can of our life. Some things we choose to put in like our education, relationships and activities and other things get shoved in there, some of which is good and also the junk like being thrown into a pit and sold into slavery. All of it, the trash and the treasure play a part in shaping our life, defining who we are and become the making of our story.
There are basically two camps of thought on this. One camp says, my life is good, there are definitely things that I don’t like, but overall you still control your destiny. The other camp says I wish I had someone else’s life, I’m angry, I’m stuck, it isn’t fair and I want a different life.
I don’t want to discount anything that anyone has gone through, many of them tragic that have marked and scarred you, but know this that you are more than your past, more than the stuff that have been shoved into your can and God wants to do a work in you.
Are you ready to sign your blank letter to Him?
Ephesians 2:8-10
Romans 8:28-30
You can have a new identity, you can start making different choices. God, our God is in the business of reusing, renewing and restoring what was stolen. There are some thinking patterns that you need to toss and there are things you can recycle.
It starts with living by the whole truth as opposed to the half truths that we have come to live with.
For example…I know I shouldn’t get so angry, but it is the only way to get things done around here. I know I shouldn’t go out with this person because they bring me down, but I don’t want to be alone.
The whole truth is that God wants to be your anchoring point, your compass for living.
The Takeaway
Sign off with God to be a person of integrity, to never lose sight of your dreams and trust God regardless that your story will be used for His glory.
Thirty-three year old truck driver Larry Walters accomplished his dream of flying even if his aircraft was unconventional. Larry had spent a good deal of time dreaming of flying but never had the opportunity until July 2, 1982. It was that afternoon when he and several of his buddies got together. They took an aluminum chair complete with green and white vinyl straps and attached 30 weather balloons to it. Apparently Larry strapped himself on to the chair and took pb and jelly sandwiches with him along with a six pack of beer, a CB radio to report to his friends and a BB gun to shoot the balloons down to control his flight.
Instead of leisurely floating through the air in his California neighbourhood, Larry’s chair when cut loose from its tethers shot more than two miles into the air. He went right through the approach corridor to the Long Beach Airport. Larry started firing his BB gun as fast as he could. When he landed, the emergency workers asked him if he would do it again. He replied, not in a million years. When asked why, he shared “You can’t just sit there, can you?’
We need more people with that kind of attitude. The realization is that I do have a life and more importantly I have a story, experiences, relationships that can be used of God to impact others. No matter how many wrong turns, mess ups or foul ups, none of it is wasted with God. We have the opportunity to bring good in spite of evil and that is what a noble person does. We need to pray that God would give us the opportunity to choose well.
If someone was to give you $525,600 what would you do with it? Would you pay off some debts? Would you build a new home? Would you give money to the church or missions? There are a lot of ways that you could spend that money?
Now you might think that I am going to bring up the landswap, but I’m not. The fact is that every year we have 525,600 minutes. What are you doing with them? What investments are you making? At the end of the day, our life is simply piling up those moments. There are definitely some big moments along the way and the more ordinary for sure. However, they all add up and the little things become a big deal.
My mom has about 70 laying hens. I have asked her mom why do you keep doing it, it is a lot of work to look after these hens, but they do produce. Everyday there are eggs and they are taken to the missions store in Fergus to be sold. The money received for the eggs there has gone often to support missions work in Haiti, to support a pastor, to build wells…A small decision keeps adding up and making a huge difference.
The place to begin our moments of truth, to love the best out in each other, to hold on to dreams starts in the home, starts with our spouses and our children.
We have been saved from something for something.
God gives us leaders to prepare us for good works Ephesians 4:11,12
God gives us the Bible to equip us for good works 2 Timothy 3:16,17
God gives us spiritual gifts to enable us to do good works 1 Peter 4:10
God gives us other Christians to spur us on toward good works. Hebrews 10:24
Rick Rusaw
Jesus did anything that advanced the will of God in the lives of others.
Discover your sweet spot. Find out what makes you passionate and the way God has designed you and then discover your purpose, let Him lead you to the good works He has prepared in advance for you to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Questions For Discussion and Small Groups.
What are the things you sometimes try to fit into the God-shaped vacuum of your life?
Have you ever had an experience in which your passions intersected with God’s purposes and you felt truly alive? What was it like?
What are your passions and skills?
Do you prefer working with people or working with your hands? Why?
As you look around your community, where do you think Jesus would go? What would He do?
How can you use your passions, skills and talents to give hands and feet to what Jesus would do?
Questions By Eric Swanson
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