Bible Reading
Gen 39
Devotional Thoughts
I enjoy the story of Joseph. It’s just such a great picture of walking by faith. It shows first of all that just because you are walking with God doesn’t mean that everything is going to go perfectly and you are not going to face troubles. But it also shows how those troubles will be producing in you an “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Cor 4:17)
Psalm 105:16-19 actually speaks to this very thing in Joseph’s life. God sent Joseph ahead of his family. It wasn’t his brothers, selling him into slavery! It was God’s plan that Joseph would be sold as a slave. Ps 105:17 “He had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested Joseph.” God was at work, to prepare the way for Israel to be saved from the famine, but also to produce in Joseph an eternal weight of glory. In every situation, Joseph’s faith grew! In Potiphar’s house (Gen 39:2-6), God blessed him because of his faith. Even in prison, after being set up by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph’s faith remained steadfast, and God blessed him because of his faith. (Gen 39:21-23) Then before Pharoah himself, Joseph demonstrated incredible faith in God. (Gen 41:16)
1 Peter 1:6 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that parishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Somehow, even in pre-Holy Spirit days, Joseph understood this. We see the testing of Joseph’s faith and we see the result. Pharoah worshipped God. Israel and his family worshipped God. God was glorified because Joseph stood strong in faith!
Declarations:
- God wants to build and grow my faith. His tool to do that is trouble, challenges and difficulty. I choose to look at circumstances through eyes of faith, and trust that my loving heavenly Father knows what He is doing.
- I choose to live with integrity and Christ likeness even if the circumstances are not fair, or are not what I want.
- I believe that every circumstance is an opportunity for my faith to be proven to be genuine and to refine it and make it stronger. I am confident in the process. I choose to look for the greater reward of giving praise, glory and honor to Jesus, rather than the temporary comfort and ease of trouble free living today. (1 Peter 1:6)
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