Joseph the Slave (Gen. 39:1-6)
Intro
1. Me – Things I Desire
The difference between what I want and what God wants causes my disappointment. My pride is hurt because of that. We say things like, “God I’ve done so much for You, how could You do this to me?” Those are the thoughts that normal people have, and their walk of faith doesn’t work out. Our walk of faith does not work out the way we want it to. How does it work out? According to whose desire? God’s. Yes, it works out according to what God desires, and God desired Joseph to be a slave. Would you accept being a slave? No one would accept that. That’s why our walk of faith is problematic. It’s really not a problem, it’s actually an answer,
Genesis 3:5
My standards, my pride. We need to listen to God but our pride gets hurt. Our self-esteem and pride are unnecessary. Instead, we should ask, “Why did God allow this?” and receive an answer. Ask, “Why did God allow me to be a slave?” and receive God’s answer. If you think, “What kind of person am I that I should be a slave?” You’ll feel so offended and if you live your walk of faith like that, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a believer, you’ll lose hold of reality. Many people suffer in pain because of illness, then, are you going to ask, “Why is this happening to me”? Don’t always raise yourself up like that. Ask, “Why did God allow me to have this illness or disease,” and receive that answer.
It’s possible God may place you into an illness to get rid of “me.” How do I know? I don’t just know this from studying the Bible; I actually lived this myself. I have extremely strong pride, but as much as you have, you’ll be destroyed and collapsed in a very painful way. That “me” was from Gen. 3:5, Satan lied and said, “You can be like God,” in other words, your pride which becomes a firm standard. Whatever you’ve experienced, you think is the truth. When Joseph becomes a slave, he can’t understand, being sent as a slave is actually an answer, but there’s no way he could understand that.
Do you understand? Why are my parents like this, and not the way I want them to be? “When I look at TV shows, movies, or read books, there are so many great parents.” Are any remnants wondering that? That’s just something you made up for yourself; in other words, you’re being your own god. God has allowed you to be made through your parents, then it’s not about having the parents that I desire, but the parents God allowed. Can you acknowledge that? You must be able to acknowledge that fact for you to receive God’s answers. You must be able to see, “I needed to be born to these parents so I could be created to find God, so God allowed me to be born in this family.” Then, what is God’s plan here? There are good parents and bad parents, but why is it that God allowed me to be born here in this family? You need to ask that question to God. That is someone who believes in God. If you believe in Jesus, then you do believe, but then what happens after?
The Israelites that had the exodus from Egypt had salvation but they held onto their own stubborn standards. They continued to hold onto the idea of how good they lived back in Egypt. We need to destroy those standards so that the Word of God becomes our standard, and we need to believe that God is the Lord and Master of my life. If I have nothing to eat all day, I have to trust in God, and God gives them just enough food for one day, and so, God is allowing the saved people of God to destroy their own standards and raise up the new standards from If you’re not able to see God’s plan, then you’re bound to reject If anything, now that I believe in Jesus, my finances are worse. But when the spiritual things are restored, you’ll be thankful for the daily manna.
Do you understand? How do you know this is an answer? Just ask God, As evidence God resurrected and is with you right now, when you ask a question, He will answer, but let go of your own thoughts. Remnants when you ask God a question, you look for the answer that you want fulfilled, but where do our standards come from? The law of sin and death. These are all the standards formed inside of me prior to salvation when I was under the law of sin and death.
My Standard = Sin/Death
You’ve been set free but you keep wanting to go back. You must acknowledge this. The result of what you’re holding onto is sin and curses, the result is death. If you really knew this, you would let go of your own standards.
Spirit/Life
If you’re a slave, and you have your own standard, you will be oppressed by the law of sin and death. You need to let go of your own things and within Christ, ask God, then the Holy Spirit will give you the answer through the Word of God that saves. This is our walk of faith, it’s not just about chanting, “Jesus is the Christ,” and while those words are true, even though you have Jesus Christ inside of you, you live with the standards and thoughts. You’re spiritually set free, but your standards are from the law of sin and death.
You need to quickly change that within Christ. You must receive the answer through the word of God by the working of the Holy Spirit within. That is what it means to continuously enjoy the gospel, and that’s also the reason why we must keep praying. Why do you have to keep praying within Jesus Christ? Joseph realized this and concluded. There are problems with friends, parents, people at church, there’s many things you don’t like, aren’t there? What happens if everything happens the way I want? The result is going to be curses and death. If you knew this, you wouldn’t raise up your own standards. I like something? That will take me towards the law of sin and death as well. I’m not just talking about bad things. Even if it’s something good, I’m the one who likes it, but instead, you need to look at the answer God is giving to you within Christ. If you do well and succeed, if you get good grades, those aren’t necessarily good things, but I just like them. You need to actually look for God’s answer.
Joseph had success as governor, and if you think, “Oh, God answered my prayers,” that’s a huge problem. Your standard is that you’re happy when God gives you what you want. Whether you’re a slave or governor, your standard is God, and receive His answer in all things.
This is not something someone can teach you. God must work personally with the Holy Spirit. “Why am I so resentful?” If you don’t know, your resentment will continue to pile up. You will be resentful as things do not work out the way you want. The problem, are things going the way you want or not, or is it that you are your own standard? The real problem is the standard of Gen. 3 within me. They should be rotted away but instead they bring so many problems. On the other hand, you like what people say, people compliment you, and there’s no choice. If they stop complimenting you, what will happen? We can’t live like that. See the answers from God.
Joseph had become a slave, and his parents are to blame. “If my dad didn’t get married 4 times, I would not be a slave. The reason my older brothers sold me into slavery is because they all have a different mom from me,” that’s how Satan deceives you. He’d be stuck in his thoughts, “Why did my mom die so young? When he comes to realize this, it’s an answer. God allowed diseases. “Why does this happen to me? I believe in God,” no matter how much you ask, it’s useless.
What does God want to do through this? Acknowledge this first and receive answers after. Most people are afflicted or affected by other people, but with this, if you give the answer, everyone will be saved. Those who believe this is an answer will work. Even if the culture doesn’t fit with me, the problem is our faith, this is not how we’ve learned. If I like something, I get obsessed.
Why do so many young adults kill themselves post-COVID? 2x to 3x suicide rate. Many young adults don’t go into the office, many lost their jobs. In America, even if you lose your job, you get unemployment benefits for six months. Maybe they don’t have the ability to go back to work. Your age, this is not talking about people in their 40s, but their 20s and 30s. They can still make something of their lives but they don’t want to, why do you think that is?
There’s a channel that leaves them no choice but to commit suicide, they’ve seen a world that doesn’t work out the way they want. Little kids haven’t experienced the world, but they’ve lived through COVID and their hopes and dreams are destroyed. While younger, it’s easy to live with fake hope. The kids in their 20s and 30s feel like their lives are over, so that’s how they commit suicide.
Egypt
God said He has a time schedule and work to do, and will use you in your position. God’s work is to save lives, and that’s why God gave Joseph the title of governor. God sent Joseph to Egypt to do this work, so he looks like this on. You shouldn’t underestimate yourself, because that’s also Gen. 3. God must be your answer and resolution. God is with me but I must go in with God. It’s not just about God being there one-directionally but God is with you in all things. Go quickly into the Lord and find God’s plan. That is prayer. Don’t pray like nonbelievers, but right now, adults have the wrong walk of faith. We cannot discover God’s plan with our brain. God reveals it when we pray. Prayer has to be easy for this to take place.