John 14:26 – “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” KJV
I tremble when I hear some people talk about the Holy Spirit. I hear Him referred to as it or spoken of as some ethereal apparition rather than a real person and member of the Godhead. Likewise, I heard people talk about our Lord Jesus Christ as though He were not a present reality and the Son of God. I hear Him being called God, but His directives and commandments are treated shockingly cavalierly.
Some live and speak as though the Son of God was a mere ideal and treat much of the Bible as though it were myth, not truth. In the words of patriarchs of the faith who have been promoted to the other side, “To follow a merely human savior is to follow no savior at all.”
If the work of Christ on the Cross is mere theory, we will never recognize or realize the power of the Resurrection and the need for the Comforter to Come into our daily lives. Someone said, “If Mary’s son was not the Son of God, then in a real sense, no other man is.” That would mean that we are hopeless as well as helpless. But we are not because He is, and He Lives!
Church creeds are valuable only to the degree those doctrines impact our lives and make a difference in our lives. If we used that as a test for doctrine, then I would contend that in far too many churches and lives, the Bible has no practical value. It is not obeyed, believed, and embraced as life or death. In that, the Holy Spirit is ignored, and we miss the value of the Promise of Jesus that when the Holy Spirit of Truth would come, He would guide us into all truth. He has come; why do so many walk in defeat and darkness?
That which is essential to us enjoys emphasis by us. If we do not see the value of the Holy Spirit, we will not emphasize Him or seek His Presence, Person, and Power. Too many Christians know about the Holy Spirit, but too few know Him. It has been said that a man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a person can stay spiritually dead while knowing all the historical facts about Christianity. Knowledge and experience are not the same. Knowledge should lead us to the experience of God’s Person.
It is through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that we truly become one with God experientially. He can penetrate our minds and help us bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We must never view Him as anything but God because He is God. Some tend to treat Him like He is God’s messenger but fail to grasp the truth that He is God! The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit never work separately. They are God!
My prayer is, “Lord, fill me to overflowing; saturate Me with the Spirit of God.” I love the chorus or song, “Come Holy Spirit.”
May the Lord God Almighty bring you His complete victory and give you a total transformation and transform you into another man or woman!
Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come. The Almighty.”
Man’s finite mind cannot fully comprehend God’s infiniteness! The limitlessness of God is a truth that most people attempt to embrace in theory, but its reality is absent from their manner of life. What I mean by that is that we often declare that we believe God is Infinite, but we live as though He were not. We conduct ourselves belying our declaration that He is everything at once without being diminished in His person or power. Sometimes we live as though God might not see us.
The reality of God seeing everything is both comforting and frightening, so when it comes to the frightening part, the mind of mortal man tends to diminish the infinitude of God. We tend to redefine the word infinite; rather than limitless, we make it mean much or a great deal rather than without bounds.
God is not bound by time or space; there is no time in Him. A.W. Tozer said, “In God, time does not pass. It remains eternally the same.” We find that concept incredibly difficult to grasp because we are time-sensitive creatures.
Our perspective of life is measured in time. We have deadlines and schedules, so we get in a hurry from time to time. Not God! He never hurries, and that is why we sometimes become frustrated with His timing in answering our prayers. I heard years ago, “God is never late, and He is never early.” I have no desire to debate the declaration because sometimes, in our minds, He is late.
In the view of God’s limitlessness, we can approach the reality that everything that flows out from Him is also limitless. His mercy is limitless. His love knows no bounds. His grace is timeless and unending. His power knows no limitations. Let me state several things before someone to adopts a wrong view of God.
God does not have the things we ascribe to Him, such as power. He does not have; He is! He is Love; He is Light, He is Power! He is who and what He is! He is eternally the same. Also, although His grace, love, and mercy are boundless, He is Just, Holy, and Righteous. Therefore, He will and does judge sin.
We can never separate God’s Justice from His Mercy, for He is Holy; therefore, as the Psalmist asked in Psalm 24, “Who can ascend into the hill or the presence of God and stand before Him?” The answer is “the one with clean hands and a pure heart.” God’s Grace enables us to become Holy as He is and dwell in His presence.
Let me also address the Presence of God. Many today are praying for God to send His presence into our world. I, too, want to live in the Presence of the Almighty and destroy the works of the devil. I suggest that you consider the fact of the infiniteness of God and the reality that He is everywhere and that His presence is ALWAYS here. The problem is not that God has not sent His presence to us; we have not entered His presence and realized its personal manifestation in our lives.
I suggest we stop praying for God to turn up or show up as some suggest and realize that He Is Here! We need to enter into Him and His presence. We need not only to pray that His Kingdom comes, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, but to determine that we will reside in no other condition and position than in His realized presence. He wants to be fully expressed and realized in our daily lives. My heart’s cry is more of you, Lord, more of you!
God bless you as you enjoy this wonderful day in Him!
2 Peter 2:18-22 – “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” NKJV
Peter was addressing false teachers and heresy but made some fascinating analogies in this portion of scripture that I want to look at briefly. We have all known or known of preachers and teachers whose lives do not match their preaching and teaching. Some of them are charlatans who live in the prison of their lust for money, power, position, lasciviousness, and the like. They come promising the hearer liberty but are bound by corruption so that they can offer nothing spiritually that is liberating. They offer empty words because their hearts do not support their words.
He addressed the sad situation where one escapes the world’s pollution through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then becomes entangled in those pollutions again. He powerfully expresses that it would have been better for that person to have Never Known the way of Righteousness than to have experienced it and turned back.
His picture is that of the natural inclination of a sick dog or a cleaned-up pig returning to the mire. I know that some will totally disagree with me doctrinally on this. Still, Peter tells us that we have an individual or individuals who have escaped the world’s pollution through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
They moved out of darkness into light. He then addressed the issue of that individual or individuals turning their backs on what they have received and returning to the way of the world and compares it to a dog’s nature or a pig’s nature. A pig cannot help being a pig but a person who comes to know Jesus has a “new nature” through the Blood of Jesus and does not have to return to the mire.
Just because temptation comes does not mean you are obligated to yield to it. You are no longer a pig, so get it out of your head that you are somehow obligated to wallow in the mire just because you are human. That would diminish the power of the Cross, and that is unacceptable to me. If the Blood of Jesus can wash away my sin, then the Grace of God can keep me walking in the way! Of course, we may all and probably will stumble at times, but that does not mean we return to the mire and allow the “old nature” to gain control. No, we immediately repent and allow the Spirit of God to help us learn from our mistakes and mature.
I have known people who would keep succumbing to the same temptation and come to me in tears. I had one person tell me once, “I can’t help it. It’s the way God made me.” That did not sit well with me, and I am sure it did not work with God because once we receive the knowledge of the Lord and are born into the family of God, we are New Creations, so that is not how God made us.
It is our responsibility to resist, and in resisting, the Bible tells us that the devil will flee! Bullies only bully people who offer no resistance. So, a pig is a pig, but you are not a pig. You are a child of the King and have been washed clean. If you stumble, you have an advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ! You may experience that failure but do not have to take up permanent residence there. God’s Grace is Greater than all our Sin!
May the Lord be with you as you go through your day!
Psalm 1:1-6 –“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” NKJV
I love the Psalms and especially this first one. It applies in all seasons and situations and expresses the heart of our Heavenly Father in such a powerful way. There is a contrast between the Blessed person and the Cursed person or Unblessed. There is the identification that we can follow two paths in life and the benefits or pitfalls of those choices.
THE BLESSED MAN:
He chooses the Lord and His Way over the wisdom of the world or the morals of an unregenerate society. This person is not scornful but takes delight in the law of the Lord; in God’s Word, he invests himself as much as humanly possible. In so doing, he finds that his life becomes like a tree planted by the refreshing streams that provide the nurture and nourishment needed to grow, thrive, and produce fruit. The drought does not affect it because it receives the life-giving flow of water from the river. This person is prosperous in ALL that they do.That is a position and condition that each of us should ardently desire.
THE UNGODLY:
Then we see the contrast in the state of the ungodly. They are unstable like the chaff of the wheat that the wind blows wherever it may. The ungodly are unable to withstand the judgment or ability to stand in their own defense in a trial because they are guilty, unrepentant, and Unforgiven. They have no place or position in the congregation of the righteous or in the blessings that flow to the one who follows the Lord with a whole heart.
We are reminded that God is fully aware of our state and condition. The righteous will walk in victory, grace, peace, power, and success, but the wicked or the ungodly will perish. Oh, I readily acknowledge that God sends the rain on the just and unjust alike and that many go through life with seemingly little negative as a result of their chosen lifestyles, but I know that One Day we will give account, and on that day, my heart cries to hear – “Well done! Come on in!” The ungodly will hear, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you.”
We all have choices in life, and when we set our hearts to follow God, the Holy Spirit will come to our side and walk with us through life’s pathways. It may not be easy, but it will lead to Eternal Life! So which road is yours?
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 – “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, 9 not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” NKJV
Let me say at the outset – that I am in favor of helping the genuinely needy! However, let me continue to say that the “Entitlement Mentality” exhibited by much of the world, particularly America today, runs utterly contrary to the teachings of scripture, as evidenced in this passage.
Church discipline is almost non-existent today because we have little fundamental concept of the Kingdom and the governing ministries and functions that God has established in the Church.
The apostle is emphatic that the church withdraws fellowship from every “brother” – –(a professing believer) who walks disorderly and contrary to how the apostles and Christ had taught them. He stresses that to emphasize the importance of industry rather than idleness and laziness, he and his companions labored rather than depended on the offerings of the Church for their sustenance.
They did so as examples. Would to God that men and women of God in leadership today would take this to heart on a deeper level than is frequently exhibited, for it is a shame for a man or woman of God to become an example of Entitlement rather than Industry.
Paul, speaking to the church where all welfare or Christian charity came from, addressed this issue, and declared what our government and many in the church seem to miss – There is always work that can be done! He was speaking about that issue and said plainly that if anyone would not work, they should not be given food. Busybodies, talebearers, and idleness should not be favored but should experience the sting of being outside the camp to bring them to their senses and even to repentance so that they can be restored.
So that no one would miss his true message, he followed that instruction with a charge in verses 13-15. That passage identifies that the motivation is always to be charitable, willing to help and do good but maintain discipline not for punitive purposes but for restoration purposes.
I am convinced that if the church could somehow come to the place where it accepted the Apostles Doctrine and followed the guidelines of Scripture in this and other areas, we would see the government booted out of the welfare business in a significant measure and more and more people would be following the directive of Scripture and enjoying the fruit of their labors in the Lord.
When we shift our dependence upon man from God, we become subservient to man and thereby shut off many of the blessings of the Lord. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS shall be added to you” is more than a nice catchy phrase. It is a principle of life.
Churches, pastors, and believers, let us consider getting in order so that we can have the fullness of God’s provision, protection, power, and potential.
May the Lord bless you as you go through your day!
PS – It is my prayer that the Lord would provide me and the local church with sufficiency so that we can help those genuinely in need. I am in no way insensitive to genuine need. The operative words in Paul’s declaration were “would not” not “could not.”
Matthew 20:1-16 –“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 “When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 “Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing. 6 “And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ 7 “They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 “When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. 10 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered and said to one of them, ‘ Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 ‘Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 ‘Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last shall be first, and the first last.” NASB
I posted something recently about fairness, which seems to be a buzzword in political circles these days. Also, there is the idea of redistributing wealth, making the playing field level, and everyone equal. This whole postulation misses something important from a biblical perspective that touches every aspect of life. I want to address that here briefly.
This is an illustration by the Lord regarding the first being last and the last being first and its connection to a powerful truth. The truth is that Salvation is never earned based on performance, work, actions, deeds, etc. We have seen the flames of class warfare being fanned to inferno heights over the past few years, and it is growing dangerous. We have seen an entitlement mentality develop and grow, depriving society of the drive and desire to achieve and excel. It is a prescription for mediocrity in every area of life and foreign to the Bible and its teachings.
Consider this biblical account in a nutshell.
Some were hired for an agreed wage in the early morning hours. At different times during the day, others were hired. The only commitment was that the employer would do what was right for them. Some were hired at the last hour with no specific amount of money designated.
The money belonged to the owner of the vineyard. It was his option to hire the workers and his privilege to pay them whatever he deemed right and equitable. Everyone had agreed to the conditions and the pay at each stage of the process, so nobody had a complaint to lodge, although we see that they did.
Those who worked all day were paid the same as those who worked only one hour. It exposed envy, jealousy, and a focus on my rights. It is a visualization of how people fail to understand the value of making a commitment and that a business owner has the right to determine the pay rate.
Jesus’ larger message was that although someone might come to Him for salvation at the last stages of their life, they would receive Eternal Life the same as someone who had come to him in their youth. Did that make Him unjust and unfair? NO!
If I know the conditions, the pay agreement, the working conditions, and I contract to do the job, what I am paid is what I should expect. If the owner does something different for others, that is not my concern. If I focus on that, it will cause – envy, jealousy, greed, bitterness, and division between me and those I believe were treated better than I and toward the owner of the enterprise.
If I translate that to Salvation, then I would adopt the idea that because I came to Christ early in my life, I should somehow receive more Eternal Life and more Grace than someone who came to Him in the late stages of their life rather than rejoicing that they also came to Him. If my boss is generous, who is to say he will not, in time, be generous toward me for my faithfulness and loyalty? But, even if he is not, I agreed to do a job for a wage and a time frame. I have no complaints. He could give away every penny he has; it is not my right to complain. That is totally between God and the owner.
If you believe you deserve something that someone else has, for which you have not labored, you have crossed into jealousy and envy, which is a sin. It is covetousness, envy, and jealousy! If you believe that someone who has had success through their efforts or the family into which they were born should be punished and they should be forced to share that with you, you have crossed into envy and jealousy, and that is sin.
Truthfully, your anger is not so much at them as it is at God because you are expressing that you believe He has not treated you fairly, which is a dangerous place to live. No wonder Paul said, “I know how to abound and how to be abased and have learned to be content in whatever state I find myself.” He knew that God was not only His Source but would Never forsake Him!
Life is not measured by what I possess, how much money I have in the bank, or the recognition I receive publicly. It is in my relationship with Him. I desire to learn to live free of all envy and in complete contentment with His provision at the time of His provision Knowing that He is my Source and Will Never forsake me or fail me.
I rejoice in what I have in Him and in every opportunity, He brings before me. If your opportunity is seemingly more lucrative, I rejoice with you. If it is less, I weep with you, but I trust God to guide my footsteps into the pathway that I should travel and know that at the end of the day, I can Rejoice in His Goodness and Provision.
John 8:31-36 – “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” NKJV
You can be in chains and not be a slave or be without bonds and be enslaved. Chains do not determine Freedom; the heart and mind do! Unfortunately, nothing we do will eradicate human bondage, and men will enslave other men against their wills in the natural. I can only imagine the physical, mental, and even spiritual torture that being captive brings. My heart breaks for anyone who has endured that condition, either as a prisoner of war, a human slave against their will, a hostage, or anything similar.
I know two men who though captives were never enslaved in their hearts and minds. One was a Japanese prisoner during WWII who escaped. The other was held in Hanoi by the Vietnamese and endured years of horrific torture and abuse. Both professed that their faith in God and belief in the Word of God kept them Free though in chains. They were and are examples of True Freedom!
True Freedom is only through Jesus’s shed blood and God’s Grace. If we receive the forgiveness of sin and are born again, we experience True Freedom. A thusly free person can be imprisoned, chained, and otherwise enslaved physically, but they will NEVER be a Slave in their heart or mind because the Son has set them free!
Today, we celebrate our Independence in America, yet multiplied thousands are still enslaved in some form. Enslavement of the mind is worse than being enslaved in the flesh because if a person’s mind is captive, the attitude and actions will reflect that condition.
Breaking free and living life to the full is virtually impossible because the mind is in chains to wrong thinking, victimization, and false premises. But if we receive the Freedom that Jesus came and brought, we can not be enslaved. Remember, if God is for us, who can be against us? As a friend always says, what difference does it make who is against us if God is for us?
John 8:31-33, 34-37 – “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 ” The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” NASB
On July 3rd, the day before we in America, celebrate Independence Day, reflect on Liberty and its meaning. We are cognizant of oppression and express gratitude to all who served and sacrificed to bring or preserve Freedom and Liberty.
It is a day of reflection, introspection, honor, thanksgiving, and remembering, or it should be. It is both a joyous and solemn day. It is a time for festivities and deep personal and national introspection. It is a time to thank God for our freedom naturally and focus on real freedom.
Here in this passage, our Lord identifies True Freedom. It comes from and can only come from God. It has nothing to do with whether you live under oppression or are in chains. It has to do with the heart, the mind, the soul, and the spirit. Jesus said “IF,” and that is an undeniable qualifier. “IF you continue in My word, THEN you are disciples of Mine; AND you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
The IF, THEN, and AND of the Gospels. So many times, we encounter truth in Scripture and fail to read it all and apply it rightly to our lives. Commitment is involved with a continuation on the path of righteousness, and as a result, we are recognized as Disciples of Jesus. As a result, we taste and experience True Freedom! Without Him, there is no real Freedom because if we are living in sin, we are the slaves of sin and outside the family of God.
Jesus identified that “if the Son makes you free, you will be FREE INDEED.” The words “Free at Last” could be rightly applied to this passage and the condition of our hearts once we have accepted the Gift of Salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ through our repentance. The Cross is a most beautiful picture of Freedom because it was there that Jesus paid the price for our Freedom. There, He bought us back from the devil’s dominion and opened the door for us to be transferred into the Kingdom of God – FREE AT LAST!
I hope that you know Real Freedom today, and as you go through this day, you go through it with a consciousness of the Liberty and Freedom that only comes through Jesus Christ.
Blessings abundantly as you celebrate our Freedom today!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” NASB
In Paul’s teaching his son in the faith, Timothy, he gives us a most eloquent and powerful explanation and revelation regarding the value and power of God’s Word. These two short verses have a treasury of knowledge stored up. In this passage, there is a virtual “gold mine” wherein we can extract powerful life truths that better enable us to walk this Christian walk on planet Earth.
He begins by asserting that ALL Scripture is Inspired by God. Although it was written by men, it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that it was penned. It has life and power that can penetrate even the hardest heart and gives guidance for life like no other piece of writing found among men.
He declares that this inspired scripture is profitable and then lists some of the many things for which it is to be used:
Teaching.
Reproof.
Correction.
Training in Righteousness.
He revealed that the end of this is that the man or woman of God may be “adequate” or, as the KJV says, “perfect.” The Greek is “artios,” which signifies an integer or whole number in mathematics to which nothing needs to be added to make it complete.
The idea is completion, which he clearly identifies in saying, “equipped for every good work.” The Inspired Word of God teaches, reproves, corrects, and trains us so that we are complete and capable of doing that which God assigns us in this life. It is quick and powerful and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is a light to our pathway and a lamp to our feet, as Psalm 119:105 reveals.
If we do not spend time in the Word of God, we rob ourselves of light, equipment, training, correction, and guidance that would enable us to walk more complete in Him and make this journey much more profitable and palatable. Do not rob yourself of one of the most valuable resources you have in life – God’s Inspired Word!
Therefore, as you begin your day today, why not take a few minutes of your time and drink the nectar of spiritual truth available in the fountain of God’s Inspired Word?
Genesis 37:27-28 – “Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus, they brought Joseph into Egypt.” NASB
The story of Joseph is one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible for me. It is an account of a young man who had heard the story of his great-grandfather Abraham from his father and grandfather from the time he could remember. He was educated, and the truth of the Abrahamic Covenant had been planted in his heart daily. It took root and produced the fruit of righteousness and faith, as evidenced by what transpired in his life.
In Genesis 37, we find his brothers selling him to the Ishmaelites, who sold him to Potiphar, an Egyptian officer, the captain of the bodyguard of Pharaoh. But in Psalm 105:18-19 we find these words regarding Joseph – “They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; 19 Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him.” NASB
If you trace the route likely taken by the caravan, it would have passed within eyesight of Jacob’s camp. Joseph had been trussed up like an animal, placed in a cage, and hung on the side of a camel. It was more than just being chained. It affected him to his inner person, and had he not handled it, in God, he would have died a bitter old man in Egypt, but he did not.
His troubles did not end in Potiphar’s house. There he was falsely accused of attempted rape. I believe that it is likely that Potiphar believed Joseph was innocent. Why? Because Egyptian law required the offender to be killed, but instead of killing Joseph, he imprisoned him. Potiphar had to save face and do something, but he did not exercise the demand of the law, which tells me that he believed Joseph.
Joseph was promoted in prison because of God’s hand upon him; had he been a bitter man, this would never have happened. Each trial only made him better rather than bitter.
God tested him, and when the right time came, he was promoted to 2nd in the most powerful nation of the existing world of his day. God worked all things together for his good. None of them were good in themselves individually, but when they worked together, they produced a mighty, godly, powerful leader that would preserve the seed nation of the Messiah.
In life, things either make us “bitter or better,” and the choice is ours. We can elect to become bitter and angry, filled with resentment and seek revenge or allow the desire and drive to retaliate to rise, or we can become “better” and “godly.” God is there for us but allows us to make the choice. Everything in life is an opportunity to either become embittered or rise to new heights in God and become more Christ-like. It is our choice!
May God help you become better, not bitter, in life! Blessings as you go through your day!
Roy's Covenant Corner 