For I gave you good instruction: Do not forsake my Torah. Do not enter the path of the wrong, And do not walk in the way of evil-doers.
Mishlĕ (Proverbs) 4:2, 14 TS2009
"How would it impact your life if you set out to write your own personal copy of The Torah?" -Pastor G. Stephen Simons
A great question to reflect on this week.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8116....4028145?pwd=dFA2a1lI
We are not to embrace evil traditions, but we are instructed to hate what is evil.
SUCCESS IN SPITE OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES – PART 2
Joseph Teaches Us to Fulfil Our Responsibilities:
He was dependable, reliable and he always gave his best no matter what. As a result, he was always recognized as a leader wherever he went and was promoted to a leadership position. This first happened to him as a slave: [Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he did not have a worry in the world] -- Genesis 39:6. Potiphar had no worries with Joseph in charge. Can our bosses say that about us? The Bible says Potiphar prospered because of Joseph. Does our bosses prosper because of us? Then he got thrown into jail: [Before long, the jailer put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The chief jailer had no more worries after that, because Joseph took care of everything] -- Genesis 39:22-23, Joseph was incredible! You cannot keep a good man down! He gets thrown into prison and the next thing you know he is assistant warden! The cream rises to the top! If life gave him a lemon, he made lemonade. Joseph’s attitude was, [I do not know why these things are happening to me, but I do know how I am supposed to act. I do not know why these circumstances have been caused in my life, but I do know who the Adonai of my life is. Whenever anybody turned any responsibility over to Joseph, there were no concerns, he was completely reliable. Do we do our best with our jobs, even when we hate it? Joseph is in prison on false charges and he is rising to the top. Eventually Joseph got promoted: [Pharaoh said: who could do it better than Joseph? For he is a man who is obviously filled with the Spirit of YHVH.] -- Genesis 41:38. The quality of our work reveals the quality of our spiritual lives. Ruach HaKodesh was obvious in Joseph's life. Is that true in our life? There is a direct correlation between shoddy workmanship and a poor testimony. When we call ourselves believers, and we do not do quality work, that is an insult to YHVH's reputation. It does not insult His Character because nobody can touch YHVH's Character, but we can damage His reputation. Pharaoh said: [Look at Joseph! It is obvious he is filled with the Spirit. Look at what great work he does.] Believers, we ought to be the best we can be at work no matter what we do. We are not called to be better than other people but we are called to be the best we can be. We are not called to be the best Torah and Gospel witnesses in the world, but we are called to be the best witnesses can possibly be. The reason why, in spite of circumstances, Joseph succeeded and ended up second in command in all of Egypt, is because wherever he was, no matter where he was serving, he gave it his best! It did not matter who his boss was! The issue is not who our bosses are. The issue is what kind of believers we are. He fulfilled his responsibility. Law of Success: [The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much; and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.] -- Luke 16:10. Sometimes people will say: [when I make it big then I am going to be faithful!] But what are we doing about the day-by-day responsibilities right now? Are we being faithful in the little things? [When I get out of debt I am going to start tithing.] Who are we kidding? [When everything gets settled down, I will start reading my Bible.] If we are not faithful with little responsibility, Elohiym is not going to give us great responsibility. If we are not faithful with a little amount of money, Elohiym is not going to bless you with a great amount of money. We need to fulfil our responsibilities and whatever we are doing, do the best we can.
Joseph Teaches Us to Maintain Our Integrity:
Joseph was a man of absolute moral purity. He was so spotless they had to make up stuff about him. I pray that we will live in such a way that people have to make up stuff in order to accuse and attack us. [She kept putting pressure on him day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible.] -- Genesis 39:10. Can you imagine the internal battle going on in Joseph’s mind? [I'm a slave against my will in a foreign country. Life has not gone as I have planned it. I have lost my dream; I might as well lose my morals too! Who cares? What has YHVH done for me?] Besides, if he befriended the boss's wife, he might even get more promotion. But he would not give in! What gives with this kind of man who maintains his standard of purity and moral integrity even when his world is falling apart? What motivated a guy like that? Joseph refused. [Look, he told her, my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. No one here has more authority than I do! He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I ever do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against YHVH.] -- Genesis 39:8-9. What motivated Joseph’s purity? His loyalty to others and his love for YHVH! He said: [My master has put me in charge of all this. How could I do it to him?] Whenever you lower your integrity, you hurt other people.
Joseph Teaches Us to Trust YHVH’s Sovereignty:
When Joseph was a young man YHVH planted a dream in his mind that all of his brothers would bow down to him, that he would be a great leader. But for 30 years Joseph's life went downhill and during that entire 30 years, YHVH never explained to him what was going on. He had every reason to doubt YHVH's Love. He had every reason to be bitter: [Why me, YHVH? You gave me a dream that I would be a great leader as a young man and now I end up a slave, falsely accused of rape and in prison in a foreign country.] Things are not going well. But years later it all became clear. The Bible tells us that Joseph was eventually promoted to be second in command under Pharaoh. He interpreted Pharaoh's dream: He said: [We are going to have seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine.] Pharaoh asked: [What should we do?] Joseph said: [We ought to start a national savings system where for seven years we save all the extra crops and put them in storage so that when the seven years of famine come Egypt will have plenty to eat.] Pharaoh answered: [You are in charge! You do it!] And he did it. The Bible says that YHVH blessed Joseph so much that when the seven years of famine came, not only did Egypt have more than enough food that they had stored up in advance, but it said all the other nations came to Egypt to buy food, among them the Israelites. So many years later, Joseph's own brothers come to Egypt to buy food from a man not knowing that he was their brother they tried to murder and then sell into slavery. What would you do in that face-to-face encounter? He is second in command. He could blow them away! He could order their execution immediately, but he did not. [YHVH has sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation. Yes, it was YHVH who sent me here, not you!] -- Genesis 45:7-8.
Two Important Lessons:
1 -- Pain often has a hidden purpose.
2 -- YHVH often redirects our lives through a failure, a mistake, a disappointment, a broken dream.
Joseph said: [YHVH sent me ahead of you.] Notice his reaction to his brothers who tried to murder him. [As far as I am concerned, YHVH turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people.] -- Genesis 50:20. Many of us have been harmed by other people; a former spouse, a parent, a brother or sister, a teacher, a boss or a former girlfriend/boyfriend. They meant to harm you, but YHVH can use it for good. One of the most popular words around today is the word [victim.] We are all victimized now, but in Moshiach, we do not have to stay a victim. We can be victorious! Those people may mean it for bad but YHVH means it for good. The good news is that YHVH can turn it around. YHVH can use the worst things we have experienced in life for good to develop us into the people who He wants us to be. It is not so much what happens to us, but what happens through us. It is not so much our circumstances; it is our characters that makes us great. Let us always pray that we will have the same kind of character as Joseph and have success in spite of our circumstances.
SUCCESS IN SPITE OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES – PART 1
Two of the great laws of life we must eventually learn are: 1 -- things do not always go as planned; 2 -- many circumstances we have in life are uncontrollable, businesses go bankrupt, employees get fired, students get passed over for scholarships, business plans fail, friends move away and athletes lose games. Life just does not always go the way we want it to go. Many things in life are beyond our control. For instance, you did not choose who your parents would be, you did not choose your race, you did not choose your gender and you did not choose when and where you would be born or the circumstances surrounding your birth. These are the cards that you are dealt with in life. How you play them is your choice. We all know people who have overcome great adversity to make their life count. We are in a series called [Making Your Life Count] so, let us talk about succeeding in spite of our circumstances. Let us take a look at Joseph who really made his life count. He went from being a slave in prison to the second highest ranking position in the nation of Egypt, which was the most powerful country in the world at that time. He went from the pit to the palace and he was a success story. He showed that what counts in life are not your circumstances but your character. There are two facts we learn from Joseph’s life that I believe will help us to drive this truth home and apply it to our lives, allowing us to be a success in YHVH’s eyes.
Fact 1: Sometimes Life Can Be awful:
The last 14 chapters of Genesis tell the story of Joseph. This story has it all; revenge, deceit, lust, seduction, attempted murder, violence, an accusation of rape and life in prison. It would make a great TV mini series. For the first thirty years of Joseph’s life, nothing went right.
Joseph Was Rejected At Home:
He was the second to last of eleven children. There was a lot of rivalry, competition and bitterness. [His brothers hated Joseph because of their father's partiality. They couldn't say a kind word to him.] -- Genesis 37:4. One day they plotted against him: [Let's not kill him… Let's just throw him alive into this pit here. That way he will die without our having to touch him.] -- Genesis 37:21-22. Now that is real brotherly love! What great guys! Some slave merchants happened by and offered to buy Joseph. [What can we gain by killing our brother? That would just give us a guilty conscience. Let's sell Joseph to those Ishmaelite traders. Let's not be responsible for his death; after all, he is our brother!] -- Genesis 37:26-27. He was taken to Egypt and sold to a man named Potiphar and became his slave. Overnight he went from pampered son to slave. Now that is rejection by your family! Some of you think you have been rejected; Joseph knew rejection!
Joseph Was Seduced and Slandered At Work:
Joseph started working for Potiphar and he was very successful. He was put in charge of everything in the home. But Potiphar's wife had eyes for Joseph, she tried to seduce him and the Bible says… [About this time, Potiphar's wife began to desire him and invited him to sleep with her. But Joseph refused… She kept putting pressure on him day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible.] -- Genesis 39:7-8a, 10. Sexual harassment in the work place is about 4000 years old. It works both ways: men to women and women to men. Joseph refused and holds onto his moral values. At one point in a fit of passion, Potiphar’s wife grabbed him by the robe and he slithered out of it, he lost his coat but he kept his character. But she framed him: When Potiphar came home she told him: [That Hebrew slave you have had around here tried to rape me.] -- Genesis 39:17. Joseph just could not win!
Joseph Was Forgotten by Friends:
Joseph was thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit, he was falsely accused. Things are going from bad to worse. He got into prison and there he was forgotten by his friends. He had befriended two of Pharaoh's staff members and helped them out by interpreting their dreams and said: [By the way, if you ever get out of this dump, remember me.] He had helped them out. But once one of them got out, he promptly forgot Joseph. [Please have some pity on me when you are back in his favour. Mention me to Pharaoh, and ask him to let me out of here… Pharaoh's cup-bearer however, promptly forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought. -- Genesis 40:14, 23. Sometimes jealous people will try to hurt you and immoral people will try to tempt you and ambitious people will try to use you, but you can still succeed if you have Adonai in your life. [Adonai was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.] -- Genesis 39:23. This leads us to our second Fact.
Fact 2: We can Rise Above Our Circumstances:
Three times in Genesis it says: [Adonai was with Joseph.] 1 + YHVH = a majority; YHVH was with Joseph because of his character. Joseph understood better than anyone that he could rise above his circumstances. Throughout his entire ordeal he had an unwavering faith in YHVH. But how did he do it? How did he rise above his circumstances? What was it about him that made him a success? If we pay close attention to Joseph, we will learn what we should do when circumstances seem to work against us and our dreams.
Adam was created to be a gardener. Dirt is part of who we are in our core, and people will tend to be happier and healthier if they get their hands dirty now and then.
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