Month: February 2022

Ask God to bring us to the right place at the right time for our lives – finding our true destiny will be most rewarding.

⁵⁶ When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. ⁵⁷ And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere. Genesis 41

The WHOLE WORLD CAME to buy grain! People in desperate need will go to great lengths to have their needs met. Is it possible that God will give His people things so greatly needed or desired that the WHOLE WORLD will be drawn to us for the End Time Harvest? In Joseph’s time God used the need for food to draw people to Egypt, including Joseph’s brothers. God used hunger to draw Israel to His Plans for them in Egypt – THE NATURAL LED THEM TO THE SUPERNATURAL. The world will be drawn to the Church to meet with the Lord.

Ruth is another great Biblical character whose whole life changed dramatically around the harvest time. Ruth went out to glean the leftovers so Naomi and she would have food to eat in Bethlehem. She was led to work in the fields of Boaz, who protected her and saw her work was well rewarded.

¹² May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’

¹³ ‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,’ she said. ‘You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant – though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.’ Ruth 2

Ruth and Joseph, were both foreigners in low positions, but because she looked after her Mother-in-Law, Ruth earned respect and reward. Joseph and Ruth’s future destinies depended on them being in the right place, at the right time and with pure attitudes. Their integrity spoke for them, something we may not here about today, but it’s important before the Lord.

God used the natural to draw people onto His paths, but in this day He may also use the supernatural, signs and wonders, to bring untold multitudes into the Kingdom.

Ask God today to bring us to the right place so that His Destiny for our lives may unfold. Ask that any hindrances in our hearts to His will would be removed.

Hold on your harvest is coming. Galatians 6:9

We saw yesterday that Joseph finally entered another season on his life’s journey, at the age of thirty, (Jesus ministry also began at thirty) he entered Pharaoh’s service and became ruler of Egypt. His life changed dramatically and he no longer thought of the days of imprisonment, in one moment God swept away all the injustices. The land produced abundantly just as Joseph had said in his interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams and Joseph himself had two sons born to Asenath, during this time of plenty. The boys’ names reflected Joseph’s own life and God’s dealings with him;

⁵⁰ Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. ⁵¹ Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, ‘It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.’ ⁵² The second son he named Ephraim and said, ‘It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.’ Genesis 41

Physical and spiritual children always carry something of their parents in life. These two boys were to be counted with Jacob’s own sons and to become two of the major tribes of Israel, though their backgrounds to that time were completely different. God is able and willing to graft in everyone He pleases, God wants and will have children to share eternity with Him. Praise God for His goodness to us.

⁴⁸ Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that HE STOPPED KEEPING RECORDS BECAUSE IT WAS BEYOND MEASURE. Genesis 41

The grain harvest in Egypt was beyond counting because God had blessed the land. Today people are talking of the billion soul harvest and the enemy is doing all he can to prevent that great harvest from  ever happening, but that harvest will be gathered.

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude THAT NO ONE COULD COUNT, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

Is God waiting for us to reach a certain level of maturity before He begins His Plan for the next phase of our lives?

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and TRAVELLED THROUGHOUT EGYPT. Genesis 41

The first thing we’re told about Joseph was that he had Freedom. He’d been CONFINED IN PRISON (perhaps some of us feel like that) and now Joseph travelled throughout the land of Egypt. (We’re told this in two consecutive verses) He was no longer a prisoner, but now a governor and he needed maturity and strength of character to stand in that office.

⁴⁴ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.’ ⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, TO BE HIS WIFE. AND JOSEPH WENT THROUGHOUT THE LAND OF EGYPT. Genesis 41

Joseph was no longer to be shut up alone with the Lord, now he had the freedom to travel the whole nation (many people have been deprived recently of the freedom to travel and meet with others, so there’s more understanding today of Joseph’s situation).

Both Isaac and Jacob had followed their parents instructions and taken wives from the land of Mesopotamia, which Abraham left at God’s command. It was important that they didn’t take wives from among the Canaanites, so there was nothing of that land in their genetic history. Esau didn’t obey his parents and took wives from among the people of Canaan; the easy/expedient way can be totally against God’s will!

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Genesis 26

But God treated Joseph differently, he couldn’t leave Egypt to get a wife. His wife was to come from the people of the land where God had taken him and she was the daughter of a pagan priest!

There are two Rabbinic traditions regarding the history of Joseph’s wife, the first was that she was a godly convert to Judaism, like Zipporah and Ruth. Their sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were therefore raised as Jewish boys and accepted by Jacob as his own children. ‘The Rabbis learn from Joseph’s marriage to Asenath that a favorable attitude is to be exhibited to converts, who are to be drawn closer.’ Asenath: Midrash and Aggadah by Tamar Kadari

Joseph’s life was directed by God and his wife was chosen for him. His sons were known as Jacob’s sons and became the fathers of two of the twelve tribes of Israel. The difference to following the leading of God, rather than slavishly following traditions laid down by previous generations. I believe the coming generation today, the bride church, will be different to any before them, certainly not bound by men’s traditions. Just as Elijah 1 Kings 17:21 and later Elisha 2 Kings 4:34 stretched themselves and breathed life into two boys, so should we breathe that same life into the young of our day. No matter how different they may seem to be.

God bless and keep you today.

 

 

 

⁹ And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6

We said yesterday that Joseph wanted to get his freedom from prison but that he never allowed his heart to become bitter. He never gave way to bitterness, which would have soured his whole character and perhaps thwarted God’s powerful plan for his life.

The other thing Joseph had to endure in prison was the waiting, ‘Doing Time’, like Marking Time, must be tedious for everyone in that situation. But, many people on the outside can be faced with similar circumstances in their lives.

40 SOME TIME LATER, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Genesis 40

41 WHEN TWO FULL YEARS HAD PASSED, Pharaoh had a dream: Genesis 41

The connection between Joseph and Pharaoh’s two high ranking servants had been made in prison, but there was still to be a lengthy Wait before God released Pharaoh’s dreams about the coming famine.

²³ The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. Genesis 40

Even after Joseph had correctly interpreted the two men’s dreams, two more years passed before Pharaoh was finally  told about Joseph.

In his earlier life God had spoken to Joseph himself through his dreams and the younger Joseph had freely shared the dreams with his parents and brothers. God probably  permitted that, so his brothers would want to be rid of him and advance God’s plan for Joseph and the whole family.

Joseph had to submit to God’s unseen hand, he had no alternative, no way to escape the direction his life had taken. He had to learn to wait in prison until God’s time had fully come for his release. I have said in other blogs that Jesus began His earthly ministry at thirty years of age and Joseph entered Pharaoh’s service at the same age.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Genesis 41

Joseph (and the Lord Himself) apparently had to reach a certain stage of maturity in life before they could stand in God’s calling on their lives. We may think we’re ready to step into God’s call for us, but He alone knows when we’re really able to carry the responsibility that it entails. We too must finish the maturing process so we can carry our calling.

WAITING IS TESTING AND GOD ALONE CONTROLS THE DURATION OF THE TEST.

²⁷ ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’ Numbers 6

 

 

 

But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹ THE LORD WAS WITH HIM; HE SHOWED HIM KINDNESS AND GRANTED HIM FAVOUR Genesis 39

God can still bless us and be with us in the most difficult of circumstances – His Grace is always there for His loved ones!

Joseph had been forcibly removed from his family and sold by his own brothers as a slave into Egypt. Things had taken a turn for the better in his master Potiphar’s house.

² The LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH  SO THAT HE PROSPERED, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ When his master saw that the Lord was with him (even unbelievers saw God’s hand with Joseph) and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, ⁴ Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. Genesis 39

But Joseph’s life took another turn when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him and he ended up in prison. But it wasn’t just any prison;

²⁰ Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place WHERE THE KING’S PRISONERS WERE CONFINED.

God had a perfect plan for Joseph, but Joseph only saw injustices in his life, one after another. He’d shown respect for his master by not giving way to his wife’s demands and his own master had thrown him in prison.

So Joseph was now in the dungeon, but God’s Hand was still with him, even there and He continued to bless Joseph. There is no record of Joseph becoming bitter at the path his life had taken. He wasn’t happy with his situation, but he continued to serve faithfully even in the prison and God’s Grace enabled him.

STAY SWEET IN YOUR SOUL Russ!  Roy Walden Senior, to his son.

Our circumstances may not be what we’d wanted or hoped for, but in the midst of difficulties God will give us His Grace as we continue to yield ourselves to His Plans. It’s important to keep our hearts right before God and trust in His loving care for us, no matter what our situations. God held Joseph up in his difficulties because He had a powerful redemptive plan for him and His family. He has a perfect plan for for each of us and if we’ll walk it out with Him, He’ll give Grace and blessings in the midst.

GOD RESCUES US IN OUR DIFFICULTIES, NOT FROM OUR DIFFICULTIES!

²⁷ ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’ Numbers 6

 

Has your life taken an unexpected turn? Perhaps God has begun something new on your behalf, even if events appear difficult and uncertain.

We saw yesterday that God told Jacob to return to Bethel, but Jacob told his people to get rid of all their idols before they set out. Are their things we need to let go of before we can walk out the next phase of God’s calling on our lives?

Both Jacob and Joseph’s lives took unexpected and unplanned turns that set them apart from their families for many years. Both left with little or nothing, Jacob carried his staff and Joseph left his coat behind (May speak of his old identity). They were walking on God’s paths and life wasn’t easy for them, but God was with them every step.

Genesis 36 gives the account of Esau, Jacob’s elder brother who despised his birthright. Esau also prospered and he and Jacob had to separate because the land couldn’t support them both;

⁷ Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir. Genesis 36

God blessed Esau with material goods and the chapter goes on to say that his descendants included Kings  Genesis 36:31, however there’s no mention of God in their lives.

Walking out God’s path and calling on our lives may not be easy but the very challenges we face may be an indication of His care and guidance.

We may already have started on the path but the obstacles are greater and there’s no sign of the blessings we’d hoped for.

¹⁰ Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin… Zechariah 4:10

God is more patient than we are and can raise us up in a moment when He knows He can trust us, proven character.

Don’t give up, God’s Call on your life may still lie ahead. Jacob spent twenty years out of Canaan before God told him to return. Joseph also had to wait at least twenty years to see his brothers again, but in that time God had prepared him to rule Egypt. The times of trial and preparation may be hard to endure, our flesh never dies quietly.

We should, however, be thankful that Almighty God sees fit to work with us here and prepare us for eternity with him.

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The Lord bless and keep you today.

35 Then God said to Jacob, ‘Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.’ Genesis 35

God told Jacob to go back to the place where He’d first revealed Himself to him. Jacob’s first real encounter with God only happened when he left his father’s house and began his journey to his mother’s family. Sometimes God wants ‘All our props and supports removed’ before He can deal with us His way.

² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes’. Genesis 35

God spoke again with Jacob and the first thing he did then was to order those accompanying him to cleanse the camp. There’s no record that God told Jacob to do this, but as head of the family he felt led to tell all of them to ‘clean up the camp’. Two other examples of people in the Bible who sought God earnestly before stepping out in obedience occurred during the exile.

²¹ There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we MIGHT HUMBLE OURSELVES before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘THE GRACIOUS HAND OF OUR GOD IS ON EVERYONE WHO LOOKS TO HIM, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.’ Ezra 8

¹⁶ ‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’ Esther 4

Humbling ourselves before God and removing conscious sin brings His help to us in times of need – some of us may need to hear this today.

The result for Jacob and his company was exactly what he wanted, God’s protection, as a foreigner in Canaan.

⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. ⁵ Then they set out, and THE TERROR OF GOD FELL ON ALL THE TOWNS AROUND THEM SO THAT NO ONE PURSUED THEM he terror of God. Genesis 35

We have to keep stepping forward with the Lord, there’s no other choice for believers. As we step out His ‘Gracious Hand is upon us’, but we can’t take any ‘foreign gods or idols’ with us. Jacob told his people to get rid of them and they all obeyed, so God came and protected them as they stepped out.

²⁷ ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’ Numbers 6

34 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ² When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. Genesis 34

Shechem was the favourite son V19, of the ruler of the land.  Was he spoilt and used to having his own way? We don’t know, but he SAW AND TOOK Dinah, who was out alone visiting. Job made a statement in the midst of his trials, he’d learnt the lesson to be careful what he let his eyes rest upon;

31 ‘I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.
² For what is our lot from God above,
    our heritage from the Almighty on high?
³ Is it not ruin for the wicked,
    disaster for those who do wrong?
⁴ Does he not see my ways
    and count my every step? Job 31

³ His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ And Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get me this girl as my wife.’ Genesis 34

Shechem didn’t regard any conventions or safeguards of the society, he just ‘Saw and Took’ and dishonoured a young woman. Worse was to come, his father Hamor, ruler of the people was drawn into the situation to petition Jacob and his sons to let Dinah become Shechem’s wife. The ruler became involved, so the people were included as well, a major escalation.

Hamor was petitioning on behalf of his son, as Jesus regularly does on our behalf before the Father. (The Holy Spirit is also known as our advocate) The difference was that Jesus has paid for our offence with His own blood, but Hamor had not. It’s interesting that he tried to offer some of the land to Jacob’s family, but God had already promised the patriarchs the whole land. The enemy is very good at offering us shortcuts to the very things God has promised.

¹³ Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. ¹⁴ They said to them, ‘We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. … ¹⁷ But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.’

All the male Shechemites agreed to be circumcised and while they were still recovering, Simeon and Levi went in and slew them all. They took revenge by their own hands, instead of waiting for the Lord.

²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:20

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.’ Genesis 34

Jacob knew that he was a foreigner and a minority in Canaan and that his sons shedding blood had potentially put them in danger. Many times the Lord rescues us from our own mistakes and we’re not even aware of it. All this came from one man seeing something he wanted and taking it by force, many lives were affected by his sin.

God bless and keep you today.

Don’t let life’s struggles rob you of God’s blessings.

⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. Deuteronomy 28:6

The account of Jacob’s life fulfils the blessing of Deuteronomy 28, he was blessed by God leaving his father’s land, dream of ‘Jacob’s ladder’, with a promise from God Genesis 28:15. Twenty years later he wrestled with a man all night at the Ford of Jabbok and prevailed.

²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. … ²⁸ Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because YOU HAVE STRUGGLED WITH GOD AND MEN AND HAVE OVERCOME.’ Genesis 32

Jacob and his family alone, were God’s people on earth and God did bless them, but Jacob had struggled under Laban and now he’d wrestled until daybreak and overcame. I believe Derek Prince said that ‘Bible promises’ are only for over-comers!

So Jacob had to meet his brother Esau (a type of the Carnal man, placed no value on spiritual blessings) with a painful hip, his wives and young children and all his flocks and herds. Esau was arriving with 400 men and Jacob hadn’t spoken to him since he’d taken his father’s blessing – no wonder he was afraid. Jacob met his brother in absolute weakness, though he still organised his family with Rachel and Joseph in last place, but God protected Jacob and kept him and everything he had.

God doesn’t bless us so others can then take the blessings from us. We may be surrounded by problems, but He will keep us in our struggles.

⁹ But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12

The mighty apostle Paul, knew what it was to be weak before God and yet trust Him.

A scripture that has encouraged me recently is one of David’s psalms;

¹¹ I know that you are pleased with me,
    for my enemy does not triumph over me. Psalm 41

Don’t be discouraged if you have blessings spoken over you and immediately face struggles, God hasn’t abandoned you, whatever your situation. Hold on and He’ll help you through your struggles.

²⁷ ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’