There is a Presence about Him

This week we are looking at a man who had a presence about him.  He had the Midas Touch.  Wherever he went he was blessed, and so was his employer.  He was one of the sons of Jacob.  But his brothers did not like him very much.  He was considered the favored son Jacob.  Many can remember from our Sunday School years the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors.  His favored coat was given to him by his father.  We find his story in the book of Genesis starting at chapter 37 and continuing through out the rest of Genesis.

At 17 years of age Joseph had some dreams.  In his dream his brothers were bowing down before him, first as sheaves of wheat and then as stars.  Now, many of us have dreams.  Some we tell others, and some we do not.  One of the mistakes Joseph probably made was telling his brothers he had some dreams and in the dreams they bowed down to him.  Joseph’s brothers did not like him in the first place because he was favored by his father, now they hated him even more because of the dreams.

One day Joseph’s father asked him to go and check out his brothers in the field as they were tending the flocks. The brothers saw him coming and came up with a plan to kill him. Reuben, the oldest brother, convinced them to throw him in an empty cistern instead. While in this pit, his brothers saw some merchants coming down the road, and they came up with another plan. They would sell him as a slave to the merchants and tell their father he was killed by a wild animal. They put some blood on his robe and returned to their father with the news.

The merchants took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Joseph goes from favored son, to the pit, to a slave in Potiphar’s house. But something happened. We are told in Gen. 39:2 “The LORD was with Joseph.” And not only was the LORD with Joseph, we are told he prospered. And not only did he prosper, but so did Potiphar’s household. What a difference God’s presence made in Joseph and in Potiphar’s house! Joseph was put in charge of the whole household because of the presence of God in Joseph’s life. Now all was going well until one day Potiphar’s wife saw how good looking Joseph was. She begged him three times to come to bed with her. He refused and ran away. She accused him of coming on to her, and Joseph ended up in jail. Wait a minute. Joseph feared God, he did what was right, why is he now in jail?! We are told in Psalm 128 that we will be blessed and prosper if we fear the LORD and walk in his ways. What’s up with Joseph? But once again we find Joseph being faithful in jail. We read in Gen. 40:21 “the LORD was with him” even in jail. The warden of the jail placed all the jail into his hands. We are told the warden did not have to worry about anything. WHY? Because God’s presence was with Joseph.

Hey, now I remember Genesis 12:3 when God told Abraham that He would bless those who bless him. And we learned last week that the promise was for Abraham and his descendents. Joseph was a descendant of Abraham, therefore he was blessed. As a result of Joseph being blessed, so was Potiphar…now also the warden in the prison. That is so Cool!

Joseph interpreted some dreams for some of the king’s men while in prison. Years later, Pharaoh had some dreams that his wise men could not interpret. They did not have clue what the dreams meant. Then one of Pharaoh’s men remembered Joseph who interpreted his dream in prison. Joseph was brought before the king. He interpreted the dream of the king. There would be 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. He then told the king to store up grain during the 7 years of plenty so they would have food during the 7 years of famine. He even gave Pharaoh a plan on how to do this. Pharaoh was so impressed that he promoted Joseph to second in command over all of Egypt. Only Pharaoh would be higher. God blessed Joseph and as a result all of Egypt was blessed with food. God’s presence again made all the difference.

It was just as Joseph had said, and who came for food? His brothers. There was a famine in Canaan as well. His brothers came and bowed down before Joseph. (Remember Joseph’s dream at age 17. When his brothers came, Joseph remembered.) Joseph did not let them off the hook so easy. He put them through some tests to possibly see if they had changed any at all. When he was convinced they had changed, he exposed his identity to them. He was their brother. They were terrified when they found out. But Joseph loved them and forgave them. Joseph told them that this was all in the plan of God. If Joseph would not have experienced all he had, his family may have died in the desert. God used these events in Joseph’s life to keep the line of Israel alive. And it was through the line of Israel that God would send his Son, Jesus, to save all of mankind.

What made the difference in Joseph’s life? – The Presence of God. Everywhere Joseph went, God’s presence was with him – in the pit, in Potiphar’s house, in the prison, and in the palace of Pharaoh. It was God’s presence that made all the difference. And it is God’s Presence in our lives that will make the difference in us and in those we come in contact with. But it is up to us.

Let God’s Presence permeate your life. Let the love of God’s presence shine through you. You will be blessed, and so will those around you. We can impact the world by God’s presence.

Journey through The Story Here we go!

Well here we go – This is my first attempt at blogging. Hopefully I will join you each week and share what God has laid on my heart.

This past Sunday we started our journey through “The Story”. “The Story” will prove to be an exciting journey as we read through the Word of God together. Each week I want to encourage you to read along with us. Write down some things that God speaks to you through your readings and share them with us all. As I mentioned it is said that 92% of the American people have Bibles in their homes but less than 17% actually study to see what the Bible actually says. Reading “The Story” together will help us actually see and understand the Bible a little better and hopefully give all of us a hunger to Read and Study God’s Word applying it to our everyday lives.

We read in Genesis 1:1 that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. I love it God was in the beginning – He is a the end and He is alive in every page of His Word. He took something that was nothing an created. We looked together as he created something different day after day. Following each day of creation He declared – “It is Good”. It was only when he saw the loneliness of man that God said, “It is NOT good.” Man was alone, he had all creation around him as well as the animals but he was still alone. God then took one of his ribs and created a woman. Then man looked at the woman and probably said – “IT IS GOOD.” God created man and woman to be together. No other way. It was only after this that God said – “It is VERY Good”. God was then finished with creation and He rested on the seventh day. But looking at the creation story it is very evident that God – Created the heavens and the earth, all the stars, moon and sun, the plants and trees, the mountains and the valleys, the fish, birds and animals all to glorify Him. And ultimately He created man and woman to have fellowship with Him. He would walk and talk with Adam and Eve. He would spend time with them daily in the Garden of Eden. They had great fellowship together. But man and woman chose to disobey God and they sinned. This sin separated them from God’s presence. No longer could they have the fellowship with God they had earlier. There was now a wall between them.

This wall between God and man lasted for years until God sent his only son into the World. Jesus lived and died to fulfill the need of a sacrifice for the sin that originated with Adam and Eve. For when Adam and Eve sinned an animal was sacrificed to cover them. For years people sacrificed animals to cover over the sins of Israel. But now God sent Jesus into the world not just to cover over sin but to wash away sins. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice and that once again made a way for man to have fellowship with God. Jesus died and rose again for each of us. We now can have the same fellowship that Adam and Eve had in the garden with God. What an amazing thing to think about. And when we come to realize this – our lives will be truly changed. That is so cool.