Joseph was quick to set Pharaoh straight of exactly where his explanation of Pharaoh’s dream would come from. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Blessed is that man who has done with chance, who never speaks of luck, but believes that from the least to the greatest, all things are ordained of the Lord.” II Corinthians 3:5 also makes this clear, “Our competence comes from God.” Therefore, it’s only by God’s sovereign control alone that Joseph could give a reliable interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream…for Joseph knew his ability & power to do so came solely from God and not himself.
Month: September 2023
II Peter 3:3-4 ” First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this Coming He promised?’ “
Even back in the Old Testament people were questioning & doubting the promises of God. An old Proverb of Ezekiel’s time went something like this – “The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing?” It revealed the lack of faith in God’s people…not that the visions were failing but that the people only accepted prophecies that they wanted to hear and rejected the rest. (Ezekiel 12:22) Jesus addressed this Coming of the Kingdom in Luke 17:20-37, presenting it as both a reality that was present and as a reality that was yet to be fully revealed…a Kingdom currently present, but yet to be fully manifested. But here in II Peter as well as in Jude 18 we are warned of the mockers that don’t believe God’s promise of the Second Coming of Christ will ever happen…and so emboldened that God’s Divine punishment is just a hoax, they allow unethical & immoral desires to take over their lives.
Numbers 25:1-3 ” While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshipping the Baal of Peor.”
When the world can’t eliminate the witness of God’s people through direct conflict, it often tries to neutralize their powerful witness by absorbing them into the world view. The pagan god Baal allegedly gave the rain and revived vegetation each Spring…which as farmers themselves, the Israeli men would have found beneficial to have ties to. Adherents of Baal worship were taught to act out magical rituals in order to insure earth’s fertility…again, something the Israeli men would have desired. Finally, the worship of Baal included sexual orgies, homosexuality, and even child sacrifice…all being enticing and seductive lures in which to cause Israel to fall into sin…committing both physical & spiritual adultery.
I Thessalonians 4:11-12 ” Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
If you profess Jesus as your Lord & Savior, everyday the world is watching you. Not that you’re going to be committing some blatant & ghastly sin, but how you conduct yourself in your day-to-day mundane tasks. Are you living a quiet, respectable, and unpretentious life? And at work are you humble and industrious, doing what is decent and right? For when you aspire to follow Jesus…you follow His lead in the way you should act and behave…and in doing so, you adorn the Gospel Message in a beautiful and positive way.
Proverbs 29:6 ” An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad.”
We are broken people, living in a very broken world, and so it’s not hard to see how self-destructive our human nature is and just how easy it is to make trouble for ourselves. We are constantly bombarded & enticed by sin…and it’s so very easy to succumb to unethical & immoral activity without much thought for the consequences. But sin of any kind will always have the same unhappy results as it lures, traps & entangles our very being.
Acts 14:21-22 ” They preached the Good News in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God,’ they said.”
Even as Jesus called those who would follow Him, He never sugarcoated the hardships they would have to endure for the sake of the Gospel. He was very upfront that they would be persecuted. And so likewise, His Apostles bluntly prepared new Believers to expect suffering along the path that led to glory. But Jesus also promised peace…”In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) And so today, we too can remain faithful when we are being crushed by the weight of distress & affliction…knowing His peace & comfort is real.
Psalm 29:11 “The Lord blesses His people with peace…”
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, ” A sense of perfect peace with God is the grandest thing in all the world with which to travel through life.” For to know Christ is to truly know peace. It’s serenity in place of being scared, of remaining calm in the midst of calamity, and feeling tranquil rather than succumbing to turmoil. Jesus reassured us of this in John 14:27 when He said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.” And even if intellectually we can’t fully comprehend it all, we can nonetheless be at peace in the midst. (Philippians 4:7) That’s because this perfect peace is the manifestation of true reconciliation with God…purchased by Christ’s death…and is the supreme remedy for all fears.
Ezekiel 22:30 ” I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap…”
When an attacking army breached a wall around a city in Ezekiel’s day, the most dangerous assignment was to repair the gapping hole as quickly as possible. Those brave soldiers could easily end up both restoring the wall & battling the enemy at the same time. When we use the term “standing in the gap” for someone, it’s more of interceding on their behalf in prayer…of standing in the breach of illness, suffering, or pain and thus making their “wall” whole again. In Psalm 16:23, it tells us that Moses stood in the gap on behalf of Israel. But ultimately, there is only One Mediator, One Intercessor that stands in the great chasm between God and humanity…and His Name is Jesus Christ. (I Timothy 2:5)
Colossians 4:12 ” Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the Will of God, mature and fully assured.”
Paul had never actually visited the Church in Colosse. It had instead been evangelized & founded by one of his friends and c0-workers, Epaphras, who had brought the Gospel Message to his hometown. But when Epaphras had visited Paul in prison to give a report, the Roman guards had seized & arrested him also. But this didn’t stop Epaphras from endeavoring in prayer on behalf of his fellow Believers…interceding, encouraging & imploring them to preserve, to be truly obedient & fully devoted to fighting against any obstacle that would impede God’s Kingdom, against any forces of darkness, and against false teaching & temptation….all the while standing in the gap for his beloved Church.
Isaiah 49:5 ” And now the Lord says – He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant…”
Just as the Lord Jesus Christ was a servant to His Heavenly Father, we too become servants when we accept Jesus as our Savior…we are turned into servants of God’s own purpose. That’s because we’ve been created to glorify God and to have an ongoing intimate relationship & joyful fellowship as we serve Him. God’s great plan & purpose for all mankind can be summed up for us in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Think about it, before we were ever born, our purpose in life was set into place by our loving Creator, Ruler, and Redeemer.
Safetypinlove 