"Greetings Everyone in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"
Today is my birthday and I thank God that He has most graciously given me another year of life upon this, His planet. But on July 11th I will celebrate a more important birthday. On that day it will mark my Spiritual Rebirth as a child of the King. As the song goes "Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before."
Today's Blog Title: "Joseph a Slave in Egypt"
Today's Blog Title: Genesis 39:1-23
Today's Key Verse: Genesis 39:9 "There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?'
This Chapter opens with a repeat of Genesis 37:36 to resume the story of Joseph that had stopped with the story of Judah and Tamar in Chapter 38. From Chapters 39 through through the rest of Genesis we will read how God provided for, protected and used Joseph for His glory and purpose.
The key words in this Chapter will we "The Lord was with Joseph". God protected, cared for and blessed Joseph. Joseph was a slave but he occupied a very high place as a slave, by living and working in his master's house. Potiphar saw that Joseph was successful because the "Lord was with him". The righteous living of Joseph may have had an effect on Potiphar's spiritual condition. Do we as Christians today live our lives in a way that others see Christ in us?
In Matthew 25:21, Jesus said, "......Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things." In serving Potiphar, Joseph exhibited this principle. In Genesis 12:2,3 you may recall that God commanded Abraham and his descendants to be a blessing to everyone, and now, we see Joseph in a foreign land because of the anger of his brothers, bringing blessings to an Egyptian household. The true blessing was that Potiphar knew it came from GOD. "Wow"
The Bible seldom mentions a persons physical traits, but here in verse 6 we are told that Joseph, "was handsome in form and appearance". Potiphar's wife then begins to flirt with Joseph. We see that Joseph showed the highest standard of godly behavior. The empowering presence of God in the life of Joseph, helped him to resist temptation. Joseph not only stood up for his ethical beliefs, but he showed this woman who probably believed in may god's, about the righteousness of the only True and Living God.
The wife of Potiphar while no one was around, tried to get Joseph to lie with her and when he refused, she grabbed at his clothes and wound up holding his garment as Joseph fled. Her charge of attempted rape was a serious then as it is today. The anger of Potiphar in verse 19 is understandable and expected. We now see that instead of killing Joseph, Potiphar sends him to prison (which he is in charge of). Could it be that Joseph had so impressed Potiphar, that he could not fully believe the story of his wife, so he just sent him to prison? It doesn't say, but I wonder what his wife thought about the fact that her husband didn't kill Joseph for this "supposed attempted rape by a slave" and just sent him to prison. So now Joseph is in prison for something that he had refused to do.
Here even in prison, we see that our Loving and Caring God was with Joseph, and He faithfully kept His promises, by staying with Joseph. As this Chapter closes we read that because of God's blessings, everything that he did prospered.
Today's Closing Question and Comment: "How do you feel about getting in trouble for doing right?" The contrast between Judah (39:16-17) and Joseph is powerful. Both were tempted sexually. Judah sought illicit sex, while Joseph refused the repeated efforts of Potiphar's wife to seduce him. Joseph reminds us, that we can never say that our sex drive made us sin. Sexual sin is not just between two consenting adults, it is a disobedience to God. The choice is ours, to play the part of Judah or Joseph. As for me, I want to be like Joseph and continue to receive God's blessings in my life.
Who am I that You are mindful of me, that You hear me when I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me, how You love me it's exciting
I am a friend of God, I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God, He calls me friend
God Almighty, Lord of Glory, You have called me friend.
Heavenly Father, How thankful we are, that we have help from You in times of great temptation in our life's. Help us Lord, to to remember that our foe Satan, is a roaring lion, who is out to devour us because of our faith in you. Thank you Lord, for the promise that when we are in Your hands, NOTHING can pluck us from You.
Amen
Have a God Filled and Spirit Led Day. Go in Peace and Serve the Lord with Gladness. Love God More Today and always remember, that when you have a spiritual defeat that yells, "I Can't", God whispers to you, "BUT I CAN".
Yours in Christ
Cindi
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