God Begins to Move in Joseph's Life (Gen. 41:1-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01-02-2008

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God Begins to Move

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                         Reference: Genesis 41:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.  2  And lo, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the marsh grass.  3  Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.  4  The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.  5  He fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good.  6  Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.  7  The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.  8  Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.”

 

            The events of Pharaoh’s dreams too place two years after the dreams of the cupbearer and the chief baker, and Joseph was 30 years old when he interrupted the dreams of Pharaoh, so Joseph was in the hard times of his life, the times when God was building character for thirteen years, which I am sure seemed like a longer time than that for him.

            God begins his work to take Joseph out of the prison with a dream that he gave to Pharaoh, two dreams to be exact, and God did not allow the magicians to be able to interrupt these dreams because it was in God’s plan to allow Joseph to interrupt these dreams and then bring him to the throne.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that no where in the book of Genesis is the sovereignty of God seen more than in chapter forty-one, as these were not just events that happened out of chance, but were set in motion by God.  

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been relating the events that happened in the life of Joseph with some of the things that have been happening in the life of my family that is Sandy and me.  I would hope and pray that this would be the year when the Lord beings to work in our lives like he worked in Joseph at this time of the story that I am at, at this time.  No, we have not been in prison or made slaves in our lives as was with Joseph, but there have been some things in our lives that have happened to us that were wrong just as in the life of Joseph.  I believe that God does have a plan for us and that there will come a day when God will restore to our lives what has been taken away from us, but in the mean time I hope we will be found faithful to the cause of Christ. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to learn from the situation that I find myself in and to continue to trust in the Lord to work it out for my good and for His glory.

Trust in the Lord (Gen. 40:14-15; 23)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01-01-2008

 

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  Trust in the Lord

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                               Reference:  Genesis 40:14-15;23

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 “Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.

15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon." 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

 

            I can certainly understand why Joseph would have said something to the cupbearer to help him get out of the prison that he was in, for after all Joseph did not deserve to be in the place that he was in and he would realize that when he told his brothers some time later that they had meant it for harm, yet God had a purpose in all of the things that happened to Joseph, and that purpose was to save a people.

 

            I think that Joseph did the normal thing that most anyone would do when he gave this request to the cupbearer. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Since April of 2003 I too have, at times, put my trust in people to get me out of the undeserved circumstances that I have found myself in, and yet I believe that most of this time I have trusted in the Lord to show me the purpose for this trouble that I find myself in.  It will be five years in March that I had taken away from me what is really mine, (although I know that all that I have is the Lord’s), yet God had allowed me to earn these monies and we had relied on them for our retirement, and I suppose that I was relying on them much more than I was relying on the Lord, which could be one of the reasons they were taken away from me. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.  How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God.”  (Psalm 146:3, 5.

Joseph Intercepts Two Dreams (Gen. 40:1-12; 16-22)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-31-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Joseph Intercepts Dreams

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Genesis 40:1-12; 16-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.  2 Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.  3 So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.  4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.

5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.  6 When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected.  7 He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, "Why are your faces so sad today?"  8 Then they said to him, "We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it." Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please."  9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; 10 and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes.  11 “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand."  12  Then Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; 13 within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.

“16 When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, "I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head;

17 and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."  18  Then Joseph answered and said, "This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19  within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you."

20 Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.  21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; 22 but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.”

 

This story if very familiar with me as I have read it on many different occasions, but the reason for the interruption of the chapter is to show that Joseph showed some unbelief, which I had not noticed before, but that is for another day.

 

It is known that between the time that Joseph had left his land until the time that he arose to the position of second in the land was thirteen years, but it is not known how long that he was with Potiphar or how long he was in prison.

 

This account also shows the kindness of Joseph for noticing that the faces of these two prisoners had changed, and there must be something wrong with them.

 

As I study the life of Joseph it is pretty easy to understand how God was moving him from place to place in order to make him ready for his new position, which would greatly bless both Joseph and his entire family.  However the account goes so fast that at times it is hard to realize that Joseph lived out this thirteen years as both a slave and then a prisoner each and every day of those thirteen years were surely difficult for him, but the events of those days were teaching Joseph character and also preparing him for his new job.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the life of Joseph and compare it with the life that I am living I see some similar things that are happening and so it is my hope that as I study the life of Joseph more in-depth that the Lord will use it to give me the grace that I need in order to see me through this time in my life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to give me the grace I need each day to live my life for the cause of Christ.  

Learning to wait upon the Lord (Gen. 39:21-23)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-30-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  Learning to wait upon the Lord

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Genesis 39:21-23

 

            Message of the verses:  “21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. 23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.”

 

            God was steadily moving Joseph to the throne, which would fulfill the dreams that He had given him earlier in his life, but now Joseph would have to continue to wait upon the Lord, to trust the Lord and to learn character and patience while he was waiting. As mentioned in and earlier SD there is no mention of sin in the life of Joseph so I believe that Joseph handled this delay as something from the Lord, even though I am sure at times there was depression in his life over what he was going through.

 

            Again I see that God was with him so that Joseph became the head guy in the prison that he was in.  I’m sure that Joseph was in one of the best prisons in the land of Egypt, and this probably had something to do with Potiphar.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Even though as of yet I have not been in a prison or sold as a slave, I can relate with what Joseph went through while in Egypt.  I would hope that I would conduct myself in the same way that Joseph did so that God will use this time to continue to build my character and continue to teach me patience and contentment while waiting on the Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to continue to trust in the Lord to trust in His promises to get me through these storms that He has sent me into.

Joseph Overcomces Great Temptation (Gen. 39:7-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-29-2007

 

My Worship Time                              Focus: Joseph Overcomes Great Temptation

 

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Genesis 39:7-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “7 It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."  8  But he refused and said to his master’s wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.  9  "There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?"  10  As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.  11  Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.  12  She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.

13 “When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.  15  "When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside."  16  So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.  17  Then she spoke to him with these words, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; 18  and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside."

19 “Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, "This is what your slave did to me," his anger burned.  20 So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail.”

 

As I have read this account of Joseph on different times, it comes to my mind that this is one of the most remarkable things that he ever accomplished in his life, for his was a young man at this time and to resist a temptation like this is a great accomplishment and something that brought honor and glory to the Lord.  I also think of the upbringing that he must have had to learn that this was not the right thing to do in sleeping with another man’s wife.  I believe that Jacob must have spent some quality time with Joseph.

 

The Bible speaks much about this kind of sin and how dangerous it can be to those who participate in these types of sins.  One only needs to think of the story of David’s son and the trouble he got into by sleeping with his half sister, for it eventually caused him his life, and did great harm to the one he had raped.  The love or better yet lust quickly turned into hatred as it did in this case too.

 

I realize that God was in control of this situation and He used Joseph’s time in jail to get him to the throne by interrupting the dreams of Pharaohs’ men and eventually the dream of Pharaoh, but I wonder why it was that Potiphar did not do something more harmful to Joseph, unless he did believe Joseph, but because of his home life he had to have Joseph put in jail.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is possible that with the help of the Lord to defeat the types of temptations that Joseph faced.  I can also see that God had a plan for Joseph, as He has for my life also.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to aid me in fighting the temptations that I face each day.   

God was With Joseph in a Special Way (Gen. 39:1-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-28-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The Lord was with Joseph

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 39:1-6

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. 5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. 6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”

 

            The Lord was with Joseph is a theme in these next chapters, for God surely blessed Joseph in the bad times and also in the good times. 

 

            When you look at the life of Joseph from the book of Genesis there are hills and valleys in it, yet Joseph was always faithful to the Lord, and God blessed Joseph in all that he did.  Joseph went down to Egypt as a boy, but quickly grew into a man, and remembered what his father had taught him about the Lord, and I’m sure all about the covenant blessings which started with Abraham, went on through Isaac and then to Jacob.  God had Joseph in Egypt for a very important reason, and that was to save the family of Israel, and make them into a great nation.

 

            It was because God blessed Joseph that he quickly became a blessing to Potiphar and his whole household.  Potiphar noticed that everything Joseph did was blessed by the Lord so he gave him charge over his entire household.  I’m sure that when Potiphar went to work that he bragged about how Joseph was such a great servant.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Joseph was faithful to the Lord even though things did not work out the way he may have planned that they work out, and even though things are not working out for me and my family they way I would like them to I still need to faithful to the Lord in all that I do, just like Joseph. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Be faithful to the Lord in all that I do.

Man's History, God's Grace (Matthew chapter 38)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-27-2020

 

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  History & Grace

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 38 (All)

 

            Message of the verses:  As I read through this 38^th chapter of Genes I suppose that at times I wondered why it is there, for it seems to interrupt the story of Joseph, but in fact it probably goes along the same time line as when Joseph was in Egypt.  There are a couple of quotes from Dr. Wiersbe’s book that I want to include here later.

 

            This is just a thought of mine, but it could be possible that after the incident with Joseph that Judah became upset and just left home, however this was a dangerous thing for him to do because after all it was through his blood line that the messiah would come through. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”  Genesis 49:10

 

            I want also to write about Judah’s two sons that the Scripture says were killed by God for being wicked.  The son was wicked, but there is no mention of what he did, while the second son would not produce a son for his brother, and thus was killed.

 

            The story of Judah and Tamar seems to be interesting because she was a very shrewd woman to get what she wanted from Judah; because Judah would not give her his third son for fear he would be killed too.  Judah went through the process of morning for two sons and though many times when reading the Scriptures one does not relate to the pain that these men and women have gone through, they were not supernatural people who did not have the same feelings that people of today have.

 

            God’s grace is seen throughout the history of the Old Testament.  “The story of the patriarchs in Genesis reminds us of the grace of God and His sovereignty in human life.  The men and women who played a part in this important drama weren’t perfect, and some of them were deliberately disobedient; and yet the Lord used them to accomplish His purposes.  This doesn’t mean that God approved of their sins, because their sins were ultimately revealed and judged.  But it does mean that God can take the weak things of this world and accomplish His purposes.”  1Cor. 1:26-31  “26  For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God.

30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

 

            One more quote, “God put a wall between the Jews and the Gentiles, not because the Jews were better than other nations, but because they were different, set apart for His divine purposes.  Once the Savior had come and died for the sins of the world, God made it clear that there is ‘not difference’ (Acts 10; Rom. 2:22-23; 10-12).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There is a song that I enjoy listening to called “God’s Grace Still Amazes Me,”  and as I look at this chapter and the events of it, it makes me think of that song, for without the grace of God, that is Him giving me what I do not deserve or can ever earn, I would still be a lost sinner on my way to hell.  God’s grace is greater than all of my sin, yet that does not make me want to sin, in fact the opposite is true. 

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to remember how amazing God’s grace is to me each and every day of my life here on this earth.