QUIZ
First week:
Abraham’s wife was Sarah -
their only child was – Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah and had two sons - Essau
and Jacob.
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel
and he had 4 wives, 12 sons who’s names are the 12 tribes of Israel.
Jacob’s favourite wife was Rachael
- to which Joseph born.
Second week:
1. What were the 3 significant
points from the first part of the Joseph story?
a. Joseph had strong personal
convictions
b. Joseph was a dreamer
c. He had to stand up to the
dream killers
2. What is another term to
describe a personal conviction?
a. A Core Value or a strongly
held belief
3. What is the Hebrew word for Dream
or Revelation or Vision ?
a. Chazown
4. Who were the “dream killers”
in Joseph’s life?
a. His brothers / his family
5. How did last week’s story
finish for Joseph?
SLIDE: 31Then
they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32They
took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it
to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33He
recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has
devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34Then
Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35All his
sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,”
he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his
father wept for him.
36Meanwhile,
the Midianites sold Joseph in
Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Genesis 39 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
39 The Ishmaelite’s took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar,
the king’s[a] official
in charge of the palace guard. 2-3 So Joseph lived in the home
of Potiphar, his Egyptian owner.
Soon Potiphar realized that the Lord was helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he
did. 4 Potiphar
liked Joseph and made him his personal assistant, putting him in charge of his
house and all of his property. 5 Because of Joseph, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s
family and fields.
Clip of Joseph (Start 32:09
sec - End 36:59 sec)
Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and Potiphar’s wife soon
noticed him. She asked him to make love to her, 8 but he refused and said,
“My master isn’t worried about anything in his house, because he has placed me
in charge of everything he owns. 9 No one in my master’s house is more important
than I am. The only thing he hasn’t given me is you, and that’s because you are
his wife. I won’t sin against God by doing such a terrible thing as this.” 10 She kept begging Joseph day
after day, but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her.
11 One day,
Joseph went to Potiphar’s house to do his work, and none of the other servants
were there. 12 Potiphar’s
wife grabbed hold of his coat and said, “Make love to me!” Joseph ran out of
the house, leaving her hanging onto his coat.
13 When this
happened, 14 she
called in her servants and said, “Look! This Hebrew has come just to make fools
of us. He tried to rape me, but I screamed for help. 15 And when he heard me
scream, he ran out of the house, leaving his coat with me.”
16 Potiphar’s
wife kept Joseph’s coat until her husband came home. 17 Then she said, “That Hebrew
slave of yours tried to rape me! 18 But when I screamed for help, he left his coat
and ran out of the house.”
19 Potiphar
became very angry 20 and threw
Joseph in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept.
While Joseph was in prison, 21 the Lord helped him and was good to
him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that 22 he put him in charge of the
other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail. 23 The jailer did not worry
about anything, because the Lord was
with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.
Let’s remember who Joseph is at his core. The 3
characteristics we saw last week:
1. He has
strong core values.
2. He dreams
and has a vision or goal for his life.
3. He has to
defend himself against “dream killers”.
We can see
where Joseph’s strong personal convictions have got him into big trouble again!
He would not and could not go against what he believed to be an acceptable
standard for him to behave in.
Just like how he could not be loyal to his naughty brothers
so he bought bad reports of them back to his Father… he could not sleep with Potiphar’s
wife. His conscience would not allow it.
Not only
would his conscious not allow him to do it, but he had a dream and a future
serving Potiphar. He honored Potiphar and respected him and the feeling was
mutual.
Joseph could envision serving Potiphar for a long, long time.
He could see himself in the future still being a good friend and servant to
Potiphar and his house.
His strong
core values would not let this flirtatious woman to come between him and his
vision for his future. He had his eyes set on the prize and unfortunately for
that woman, it was not her.
The prize Josephs eyes were on was the success and
accomplishment in the future. The prize was the reward of having his master
trust and respect him at the end of his life.
Joseph
valued being true to himself and others very much – over and above what a
moment of pleasure with a woman who threw herself at him would mean.
No wonder she liked him. He sounds gallant and gentlemanly
and very attractive with an attitude like that… don’t you think?
The thing
is that Joseph could see her for what she really was… a “dream killer”. He knew that if he succumbed to her demands,
it would only be at his own detriment in the long run. His dream would suffer
and die if he was to allow her to seduce him.
CHAZOWN Let us
think about this for a moment… Do you want Chazown?
Do you want
a God sized Dream – Revelation – Vision for your future?
We want to be a people like Joseph. When we wake up I want us
to wake up with Chazown. With purpose, direction and with peace and
satisfaction knowing that we am doing what God wants us to do.
We want to discover our Chazown – because it will help us
live our lives intentionally. Everyone ends up somewhere and we want to end up
somewhere on purpose. What are the things that put a block on discovering your
Chazown?
Just like Joseph maybe:
·
You been treated unfairly
·
People you loved turned their back on you
·
You feel like you betray yourself and your own
personal convictions
·
You feel like you just get back on your feet when
another crisis breaks out against you
·
Or … maybe you a slave to something a bad habit you
can’t seem to overcome
Joseph had Chazown but, do we agree that Joseph had really bad
odds when it came to succeeding in where he was serving. It seemed like it
never worked out for him…
·
I mean because he stuck by
his high morals and convictions – he was hated on.
·
Because he had a vision and
a goal he was working toward – he was mocked.
·
Because he had a dream - he
had to endure even his loved ones trying to foil his success – due to their own
feelings of insignificance and insecurity.
It seems that if Joseph didn’t have such high standards or strong
allegiance to accomplishing his vision or dream that life may have been a little
easier for him.
Or would it?
·
What would have happened if a young Joseph compromised on his
convictions?
·
What would have been the
long term effect on his life if he had have forced himself to do the things he
didn’t believe in or want to do?
·
What would have happened if Joseph taught himself to lie and to be
deceitful?
·
What would have happened if
Joseph allowed fear to overcome a dream he knew was from God?
·
What would have become of Josephs life if he compromised his
morals, allowed fear to dominate his thoughts and became bitter and resentful
toward all the people who had wronged him?
I know that things would have turned out very
different in his future.
·
He would have slept with that woman.
·
He would not have been able
to have the confidence in knowing he was an honest man.
·
He would not have been able to have such a determination to
delay gratification and work hard toward a future that he could not even
grasp in his hand yet.
This is what it comes down to… and I see it is a
significant problem in our society today. Being able to delay gratification and
to know how to wait patiently for the thing you most hope for.
Listen to what Paul say’s when he is encouraging
the believers:
12Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take
hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers and sisters, I
do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal
to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Do you see
Paul telling you about your CHAZOWN?
Can you hear him say, “Listen, we haven’t grabbed it in our
hand yet, but it’s there to work towards.”? There is a plan and a purpose for
you!
Let me show
you how to paraphrase it for yourselves so you can apply it to your life:
Listen, ______!
You are not there yet, but don’t give up! Jesus Christ grabbed you by the
scruff and bought you out of the dark hole you dug yourself in. Because of His
love and grace, you have found a reason to live. Don’t dwell on the past
mistakes you have made. Forgive yourself and push forward into the awesome
future He has planned for you!
Make a
promise to yourself _____ that you will put 100% effort in to this life He has
given you… work toward the future as if you will win the lotto if you succeed!
You have a heavenly calling… much higher that you ever thought possible. Work
hard to glorify God, concentrate on what He
tells you to do. Be true to Him and obedient to His commands and enjoy your
life in Christ.
Just like Joseph, you
have an advantage over other people! Let’s read:
We are not of the world 1 Cor 2:12-14
12What we have received is
not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may
understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak,
not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,
explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14The person without the
Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but
considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are
discerned only through the Spirit.
We can understand the
Word, we can understand Spiritual things that worldly people cannot. Our
software has had an update that only some of humanity has been privy…we are
being taught spiritual realities by the Spirit of God. We are privileged!
So now that we have the software update and can grow in understanding the
language of God, what do we do with our original language that we learned and
understood before we knew God?
The language the world taught us since we were born. The world which teaches
us things contrary to God. The world that tempts us and entices us to listen to
what it says. Our native tongue.
1
John 3 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
3 Think how
much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children,
as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ[a] is,
they don’t know who we are. (TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES) 2 My dear
friends, we are already God’s children, though what we will be hasn’t yet been
seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we
will see him as he truly is. 3 This hope makes us keep
ourselves holy, just as Christ[b] is
holy.
Can you see another Chazown
there… “This hope makes us keep ourselves holy…” That sounds like a plan and a
purpose you could latch onto right there!
On Not Loving the
World 1 John 2:15-17
15Do not love the world
or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is
not in them. 16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its
desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Listen
to this beautiful song:
“Turn your eye’s upon Jesus”
This scripture points out the things of the world that tempt
us to compromise our Godly convictions… the things of this world that throw a
wet blanket on our Godly dreams… the things of this world that are the “Holy
Spirit” convictions and “Godly Dream” killers.
It is the LUST of the flesh, the LUST of the eyes, the PRIDE
of life… that are our soul’s enemy. They are what causes people to compromise
on their convictions and rationalize the reason they choose to sin.
These things are the opposite of what God wants for us – in
other words they are the world’s demands on us. They appeal to our flesh …and
their ultimate goal is to destroy the dream and vison God has for your life.
Do you know what I see at the start of each of these new
“episodes” in Joseph’s life?
Take a look
right at the start of Chapter 39, when he came into Potiphar’s house:
Soon Potiphar realized that the Lord was
helping Joseph to be successful in whatever he did.
Then at the end of the chapter when the major change happened in
Josephs life … going from Potiphar’s house to the prison:
While Joseph was in prison, 21 the Lord helped him and was good to
him.
So we could all go, “Ohhhh well that’s the
difference between me a Joseph!” The Lord was with Joseph and made everything
great!” It was the Lord’s fault that Joseph had it easy… The Lord blessed him
and made him succeed.
But take a look at this:
Deuteronomy
31:6English Standard Version (ESV)
6 Be strong
and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with
you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Hebrews
13:5English Standard Version (ESV)
5 Keep your
life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for
he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So from those scriptures we can see that God promises to never
leave you or turn his back on you. God cannot lie. It just isn’t possible.
Ok so you may say, those promises are only for those who are super
holy. Super clean from sin and who maybe work in a church… nope. The promise is
for anyone who is a Child of God:
John
1:10-13
10He was in
the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. 12Yet to all
who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God— 13children
born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but
born of God.
All it takes to come into inheriting the promises of God is to
become His child… and how do we become His son or daughter?
Ephesians
2:8-9Contemporary English Version (CEV)
8 You were
saved by faith in God, who
treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not
anything you have done on your own. 9 It isn’t something you have earned, so there is
nothing you can brag about.
By faith.
It is by faith we have the honour of becoming His children and
therefore inheriting the ability to overcome the world – and all of its dream
killers. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
·
Because we are His
children, we have a Spirit who is greater in us that the spirit that is of or
in the world.
·
Because we are his children
we are already victorious – because Christ overcome and defeated the hold the
devil had over us once and for all on the Cross.
Colossians
2:13-15
13When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive
with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the charge of our legal
indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away,
nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
A stronghold is kind of like a “Conviction” or a “Core Value” that is a
lie from the enemy.
Listen be encouraged
– just like Joseph - You are His child. Jesus has overcome the power the enemy had
over you on the cross.
You do have a God sized plan for your life. You are special and loved
unconditionally. God loves you too much to leave you in any kind of darkness.
He wants you to be free.
Something I heard
recently, God will not answer your prayers to make yourself a better slave. God
wants to heal you and bless you so much that will bring you completely out of
slavery.
This is what he did for the Israelites. He delivered them from slavery…
then it took 40 years (if not longer) to retrain their brains (and pull down
enemy strongholds) to learn that they were now not slaves anymore.
That is where we are all at. Jesus has delivered us out of slavery, it
just takes a little more time for this new life to establish itself in the
physical.
And it is all
dependent on you. It is dependent on how much work you are willing to do on
yourself.
·
How much work
are you willing to do when it comes to identifying the lies the enemy has
slipped into your mind?
·
How much work
you are willing to do in tearing down those strongholds?
·
How much work
are you going to do to establish your convictions to match up to what the Bible
says is good and true?
·
How much work
are you willing to do to grow the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life?
This is what gave Joseph the advantage over other slaves… he was not a slave
in his mind.
He knew the TRUTH. He
committed himself to God and did his best to show God in his life. He was a
good steward of God’s glory.
He was free in his mind to be who God called him to be – in spite of
harsh opposition.
This is the kind of
attitude we must have when it comes to us developing this life in Christ and
becoming more and more.
Is 50:7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps
me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I
know I will not be put to shame.
