JOSEPH WEEK 2

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.