Commandment #2 The Word of God

“For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
The second commandment of ministry is Bible Study. Stockstill talked about the dysfunctional untaught church. It is the Word of God that will restore the untaught church to its right place. He writes “The devil’s ‘rat poison’ is a lack of knowledge of the true Word of God and lack of application and transformation from that Word.” In Hebrews 5:12-14 the writer explains how some people only partake of milk and not solid food. The mature in the faith need Solid Food. When solid food is ingested, one can then distinguish right from wrong. The problem with so many today is there is the availability of the Word of God but it is not taken advantage of nor is it applied. The Bible must be preached. Scriptures are the foundation of what we are to believe, not opinion. Ones personal Bible should be their best friend. There must be an interaction with the Word of God. “Interaction with the Word means to handle it, hold it, make use of it and become familiar with it.” The Word of God is our guide to life. As I heard many years ago, it is the ‘Manufacturer’s Handbook.’
We as leaders must relate the Word of God to others demonstrating its relevance in our everyday lives. At times this takes creativity, but in the world of computers and the World Wide Web, this creativity does become much easier. There are volumes of resources out there to help make the Scriptures come alive. Daily devotions in the Word of God are also necessary. “The devotional habit of the daily reading of Scripture is the single most important thing we must instill in believers.” Amen to that. I believe it was Billy Graham who said that he reads through the Bible every year, and each time he does, God reveals new revelations into his life. The reason for this rests in the fact that the Word is God is living. It breathes new life into our lives each time we read it. We can read the same verse everyday and then suddenly one day, God will reveal something special to us.
Last week we talked about Prayer and Fasting, this week, the importance of the Word of God. Practicing these will change our lives, change our church, and change our nation.

Commandment #1

Commandment 1 – Prayer
We now move into the second section of The Remnant. This section includes the 10 Commandments of Ministry. Larry Stockstill opens chapter 6 with the Scripture from 1 Timothy 2:8, “I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension.” He is actually writing this chapter from David Yonggi Cho’s church in Seoul, South Korea. The church of 750,000 has built their church on faithful, consistent prayer. They have daily prayer meetings that are attended by thousands and an all night Friday prayer meeting.
Dr. Cho has a pattern of prayer called the Tabernacle Prayer. In this pattern he uses the various pieces of furniture in the Old Testament temple. He uses this pattern in his daily prayer.
1. The Brazen Altar: The Cross – The brazen alter was a large “barbecue grill” where animals were laid and consumed by fire. The brazen altar represents the cross. In prayer the first thing we should do is give thanks to God for what Christ did on the cross.
2. The Laver: Sanctification – This was located next to the brazen alter. IT was a birdbath-shaped object with a surface of mirrors. The priest would wash himself here and look at his reflection in the mirrors to make sure he was clean. Each day we need to take a realistic look at ourselves. We need to submit our bodies, mind and spirit unto God.
3. The Candlestick: The Holy Spirit – The candlestick would provide light to the Tabernacle. IT was to never go out. In the candlestick, 6 golden branches proceeded out of a central shaft. Isaiah 11:2 describes the six aspects of the Holy Spirit. Each day we should ask the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us so we can see the way to go.
4. The Table of Shewbread: Relationships – On the table was 12 loaves of fresh bread, one for each tribe in Israel. During this time we need to pray for relationships and fellowship within the body of Christ.
5. The Altar of Incense: Worship – This was a small gold covered pedestal on which the priest offered a portion of incense twice a day. This is a time to sing and worship the Lord.
6. The Ark of the Covenant: Intercession – This is the final stage of the Tabernacle which includes the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant. The High Priest would enter here once a year to offer intercession for Israel and offer propitiation for sins. This is the time we can pray for our family, our city, nation, and the world.
Stockstill then writes about prayer and fasting. “Prayer is energized by fasting.” I like that. Fasting is not to be legalistic but focused on the Lord. The purpose of the fast is “to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke.” (Isa. 58:6) We need to fast individually for God to work in our lives and family. We should fast as a church for God to move in our churches and nation. Fasting needs to become part of our lifestyle.
We must have a burden to pray for the lost in the world, in our communities and in our family. “A burden for prayer and fasting is the foundation of all successful ministry.” That is so true. It must be the foundation for all we do. We should do nothing without fervent prayer. Stockstill says “We are facing a crisis in our world and nation that requires us to single-mindedly focus on standing in the gap, raising our hands in intercession to a God who hears.” Amen

Three More Dysfunctions of the American Church

Last week in The Remnant by Larry Stockstill, we looked at the first two characteristics of the Dysfunctional Church; the unfathered church and the uncorrected church. This week we will look at the remaining characteristics of the Dysfunctional Church. We read in John 15:16 “I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain.” The third dysfunction in the American church is Unfruitfulness as related to the office of the evangelist.

There are three levels of participation in every church: attenders, members, and multipliers. The attenders are those who come every once in a while. There is no commitment in finances, attendance or involvement. But they consider your church as their own church, especially on Christmas and Easter. The second level is that of a member. They are committed to attending weekly, tithing and some involvement. They are moving towards discipleship but are not there yet. The next level moves up to the multiplier. The multiplier is what is needed in every church today. The multiplier has all the characteristics of the member but in addition is committed to seeing the body of Christ grow.

Paul had a method of church growth recorded in Col. 1:28 NKJV “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

1. Winning Souls “Him we preach”

2. Sanctifying the body, mind and spirit “Warning every man”

3. Imparting wisdom and order through Scripture “Teaching every man”

4. Multiplication “Present every man perfect in Christ Jesus”

Now this is a formula for growing the church.

The forth dysfunction of the American church is that it is wounded and unhealed. Jeremiah recognized this and wrote about it in Jeremiah 6:14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying ‘Peace, Peace’ but there is no peace.” To quote Larry Stockstill, “The unhealed church has deep inner wounds that only the cross can heal.” (AMEN) “As the message of the cross moves further from the center of attention, we polarize around personalities.” Following is a list of some of the things believers need to know they have possession of as a result of Christ’s sufferings:

1. Peace (the brow) “Jesus took my cares, worries and anxieties upon Himself and gave me peace.”

2. Healing (His back) “Jesus bore my pain and agony so I could be healed in every dimension of life”

3. Forgiveness (His Hands) “The debt was canceled when we receive Jesus’s forgiveness.”

4. Victory (His feet) “By His death on the cross, Jesus put my weakness, fear, and defeat under His feet “.

5. Inner healing (His side) “The inner wounds and heartbreak of my experiences and circumstances are healed as I release bitterness and experience forgiveness”

The Cure for the unhealed church is healing that comes through the pastor. “The healing and deliverance of believers is truly the work of the pastor, the fourth listing in the fivefold callings.” “A truly well-pastored church is one in which each member’s inner wounds are healed and inner gifts and talents released- a church in which no one is anonymous; couples aren’t living together; and no one is bitter, addicted and unhealed”. That is quite a statement. This cannot be accomplished by the pastor alone, but by well trained, spirit-filled individuals. Stockstill describes this as “thickening the core of your ministry.” Ministry was not created to be done alone. We need one another and we need the ministries of one another in the body of Christ today.

The fifth dysfunction of the American church as described in The Remnant is the Untaught Church. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 declares “From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” He states what I have been saying for quite some time. Many churches in American have become a mile wide and a foot deep. There is no foundation and no understanding of basic Bible doctrine and teachings. Many churches today barely mention a passage of Scripture from the pulpit. The Word of God must be taught from the pulpits of America again. The Bible is more relevant today than ever before. If a church wants to be relevant, use the Word of God. The lack of knowledge of the Scriptures has left the church illiterate and dysfunctional in the world we live in.

We have seen in the first section of the book that the five dysfunctions of the church, unfathered, uncorrected, unfruitful, unhealed and untaught can be remedied by reinstating the fivefold ministry of the church outlined in Ephesians 4 :11. Fathering comes from apostolic mentoring. Correction comes from fearless prophetic accountability. Fruitfulness comes from evangelism and multiplication. Healing comes from pastors who will care for their people. And Teaching comes from those who will teach the Word of God to a hungry church.

The Remnant – Part 1

Over the next several weeks we are reading “The Remnant” by Larry Stockstill. The subtitle of the book is ‘Restoring Integrity to American Ministry’. The happenings over the last several years prove this type of book is needed. The book is broken down into two parts: Part 1 is titled ‘Help for the Dysfunctional Church’ and Part 2 is ‘The Ten Commandments of Ministry’. This week we will start with the first three chapters and move through the rest of Part One next week.

Larry Stockstill opens the book with the statement “I’m going to shake this nation.” This shaking will awaken a new breed of pastors and laypeople who will examine some important questions of ministry; calling for a transparency and integrity to ministry.

In Part One we look at the dysfunctions of the church. The term ’dysfunction’ is defined as “deviating from normal behavior”. As we discuss these five functions, we will also look at the cure for these dysfunctions found in a return to the fivefold ministry of the church in Ephesians 4:11.”And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

The first dysfunction is ‘The Unfathered Church”. “Fathering is a basic human need and those in ministry are not exempt from it.” Even Jesus was affirmed by his Father in heaven in Mark 1:11. “You are my Son, whom I love, and with you I am well pleased.” Stockstill says “Affirmation, however, is not optional but totally necessary for a leader to function correctly.”

The cure for the Unfathered Church as described by Stockstill is ‘The Government and Mentoring through the Apostle”. Government, what is he talking about? Make sure you read to see exactly what he means by government. He states “All church government should flow from an environment of affirmation, validation and acceptance.” He describes government as “the operation of seasoned spiritual fathers who develop and mentor protégés as though they were sons.” The government process then provides the apostolic function in ministry. I am fortunate to have someone like Pastor Robert Owen as my spiritual father. I believe each of us need someone in our lives that can pour into us. Someone we can look to for advice, enrichment, affirmation and encouragement. Who is that in your life?

The second dysfunction we see is the ‘Uncorrected Church’. In the Bible we see the prophet of God as someone who “called it like it was.” The prophet was no respecter of persons. He confronted kings and servants alike . “Accountability was built into the prophetic office and was intended to bring deliverance rather than destruction.” We see in the Old Testament the prophet Nathan confronting David. Now that guy had guts. Last week in church we talked about the discipline of the Lord. How he uses different things to discipline us. One of those things was the Spiritual Authority over us. Stockstill talks about the importance of accountability today within the church. But unfortunately there is little. “Choices without consequences bring confusion”. “The world looks upon the church’s abuse of authority and lack of accountability as ultimate hypocrisy”. Boy is that true.

The cure he presents is “Accountability and standards through the Prophet”. The church and leadership must be held at higher standards. We are to be an example to the world. We are to lead the way. People must be held responsible for their decisions. I thank God for my accountability partner. We have given each other permission to ask the hard questions to one another. This protects both of us.

Stockstill writes “Fathering the unfathered church and standards for an uncorrected church will lay a new foundation for touching America. Security and sincerity will reign.” People want something that is real today. Wouldn’t it be great if the church was that example?

What if God turned His back on you?

What if God turned His back on you?

That is a sobering thought for sure. Could a God who is so loving turn His back on His own children? But all throughout scripture we see God turning His people over to their enemies, selling them off to their own desires, turning His ear away from them because of their unfaithfulness to Him. In the book of Judges we see a repeated cycle occurring again and again. The people turned their backs on God – Apostasy. God then handed them over to their enemies and they were in Bondage. They Cried out to God. He heard them and sent a Deliverer.

We read in 2 Kings 24:2 that the LORD sent the enemies of Israel to them to destroy them. In verse 4 we read “the LORD was not willing to forgive them.” God’s chosen people had drifted so far away from Him. They worshiped the gods of their enemies instead of looking to the God who delivered them. God judged them because they were not faithful to Him

We can move on to Isaiah 1. God talks of a people who have turned their backs on Him. He compares their unfaithfulness and godlessness to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their sacrifices of worship and their offerings meant nothing to Him. In Isaiah 1:15 God declares “Whey you spread out your hands in prayer; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” They had gone too far. God would not even hear their prayers. Because of their unfaithfulness, God turned from them.

One more example we find in Hosea 4. God cries out in verse 1-2, “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying, and murder, stealing, and adultery.” In Hosea 4:6 God declares “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” The people were in such a bad condition because they lacked the knowledge of God’s Word and Will in their lives. God declares that He will punish them for their lack of knowledge. God is bringing judgment on them because they do not know Him or the value His Word.

Moving on to the New Testament, we read in Romans 1:18-32 how God poured out His anger on his people because of their wicked behavior. They “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images”.(23) “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”(25) Several times we read that “God gave them over…” The people became obsessed with sexual immorality and abandoned purity. Men were having “unnatural relations” with other men. And women were “inflamed with lust for one another.” Because of this, God “turns them over” to the depraved (reprobate) mind. These individuals knew God’s righteousness but chose to live involved in this lifestyle. They would receive the due penalty for their perversion.

Reading the accounts of the Old and New Testaments on how God dealt with His people turning their backs on Him, living for themselves, satisfying the needs of the flesh instead of seeking God, concerns me greatly. This could be written about the condition of the church today. God is not talking about pagans here. He is talking about His church, the Israelites, His Chosen People. They are the ones who turned to other gods and threw themselves into all kinds of sexual perversions.

God does not want to punish His people but He must. He is a just God. He wants everyone to come to repentance. He does not want anyone to perish. (2 Peter 3:9) And so He does provide a way. Isaiah 1:18 God tells them, “Come let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land but if you resist and rebel you will be devoured by the sword.” There is still a hope. God provides a way. Hosea writes in Hosea 6:1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us, He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds.” God does offer redemption if we repent, put away evil, and strive to do what is right (Isaiah 1:16-19).

We have a God who believes in giving second chances to His children. That is why Jesus came. He did not come to condemn the world, but to see that people have a way to be saved. (John 3:17).

Our nation continues to be on a slippery slope, heading further and further away from God. I recently read a quote by Billy Graham “To get nations back on their feet, we must first get down on our knees.” This is so true.

Some may have turned their backs on God. Others may feel God has turned His back on them. Does God have a reason for not hearing your prayers? This is a question we must ask ourselves. It is time for this nation to turn back to God, to return to the Godly roots of our forefathers. It all starts with us as individuals. Is His Word a paramount in our lives? Do we have a knowledge of God’s Word? Does it guide our lives? Are we involved in sexual activities that are keeping us from God? Are we truly working for Jehovah God, or for other gods? We must examine ourselves. We must repent. We must turn to God so He will turn back to us.

Are you ready for some…Warfare?

God’s chosen people are settled at the edge of the Jordan River. They have just finished their Exodus of a lifetime across the dry and barren land. They can now see the promise of God across the other side of the river, God’s Promised Land. God has told them the land is theirs for the taking. But they do have to take that land. But there is a problem; there are “ites” in the land. Joshua 3:10 tells us they are the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, Parasites and other “ites”. These are the enemies of Jehovah God, they worship pagan gods, and they are strong. Reports were given to Moses years earlier of their might and strength.

So what does God do? He first tells them to “Get Ready.” He then gives them His promises in Joshua 1:1-4. “As I was with Moses, I will be with you… I will give you every place where you set your foot…No one will be able to stand against you…I will never leave you or forsake you”. These people are going into battle. They must be prepared. If they are not prepared, they will fail.

The first thing he tells them is “Be strong and courageous” in Josh 1:6. This is the same promise God spoke to Moses to pass on to Joshua in Deut. 31. He did not want the people to fear going into the land. Fear can paralyze. And Paralyze it will, if people let it. The people wondered in the wilderness for a generation because of fear. Fear kept them from having faith in God that He would take care of them. Fear kept them from the promises of God. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind.

Fear is learned. The people learned to fear their enemies by what others said. Joshua wanted the people to be strong with God behind them. But there were the “ites” in the land. We still suffer from the “ites” today, just different ones. There are the Fear-ites, disease-ites, poverty- ites, bad marriage- ites, stress-ites, grouchy neighbor-ites, insecurity-ites, rejection-ites, bad economy-ites. But God is bigger than the “ites”. As God told Joshua and the people, he is telling us, Do Not Fear – Be Strong and Courageous – I Am With You.”

Today, we like Joshua and the Israelites are involved in a battle. Our battle is not against the things we can see. But against the things we cannot see, forces of evil as described in Eph. 6:12, spiritual forces. We wrestle against them daily as we strive to walk in the ways of God. And just like God told Joshua to “Get Ready”, we need to get ready on a daily basis for the warfare we are involved in.

We must first realize that the battle is not ours. God has already given us victory. Jehoshaphat realized this in 2 Chronicles 20:12 when he declared, “For the battle is not yours but Gods”, and David in 1 Samuel 17:47 when he declared to the giant “for the battle is the LORD’S”. We need to come into that same realization.

God told Joshua to tell the people to “Consecrate Themselves” in Joshua 3:5. In other words they needed to get themselves in order inwardly lined up with the will of the Father, God. To have victory, hearts need to be pure. The same with us, if we are going to gain victory we must have our lives right with God first.

Joshua then told the people in 1:8 ““Be careful to obey all the law of Moses, don’t turn to the left or the right. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from our mouth, meditate on it day and night, so you may be careful to do everything written in it.” Going into spiritual warfare we must be armed with the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 tells us “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes.” The weapons of spiritual warfare are not physical but spiritual (2 Cor. 10:4). We must get ready every day with the FULL armor of God. Especially the Word of God as our sword of the Spirit. We like the Israelites must read it, meditate on it and live it out in our lives.

Another weapon we have is Spiritual Worship. Israel sent Judah first into battle. Judah is Praise. In 2 Chronicles 20:22 we read that as the people “began to praise, God set ambushes”. Trumpets brought down the walls of Jericho and won the battle at Ai as well. God unleashes all the arsenal of heaven when he hears people worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

We also have the weapon of prayer. In Psalm 5:3 David expresses the need and power of consistent prayer. The disciples in the book of Acts believed they needed to pray continuously because spiritual warfare was continuous. The bigger the church grew, the more they prayed. Often times, the busier we get, the less we pray. We can learn a lesson from the disciples in Acts 6. Joshua won his battle because of his constant communication with God. When he failed to petition God about the Gibeonites (Josh. 9:14) and make a treaty with them. He opened the door for pagan worship in Israel. When we do not pray, the door is opened for sin to enter our lives.

Another weapon Joshua knew was the power of his army. Joshua did not fight the battle alone. The army of Israel fought it with him. We have a family in the body of Christ to encourage and pray with us. God has not called us to go through battles alone. When we are under attack, we cannot withdraw but move on with the weapons of our warfare. God has given us what we need. We are his children. He has won the battle and has given us what we need to fight our spiritual battles willing to prepare us to fight on in our spiritual battles.

What is revival?

A few weeks ago I was in a meeting with several pastors and we were discussing revivals.  One of the pastors declared, “Most churches in America today don’t even know what a revival is!” That got me thinking.  I went back to my office and looked up the word “Revival” in my Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of English Language.  Revival – “return, recall or recovery to life from death or apparent death.”  Well, if we want revival in American churches, the American churches must be dead or near death.  That is a sobering thought.  But then I started thinking, attendance is down in American churches, salvations are down, baptisms are down, and the influence of the church that once existed no longer does.  Maybe the church in America is nearing death!

When talking of revival we often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14 but do we know what it really means. “If my people, (God wrote this to his church at the time. This church must have been dead too. They needed revived.) who are called by my name, (there are a lot of names out there today) will humble themselves (most leaders today want to be in the front not on their knees)and pray and seek my face (we must hunger for God more than things) and turn from their wicked ways, (not half way but the whole way. Not one leg in the world and one in the church) then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This is a conditional promise. We must do our part then God will do his. Perhaps the reason we do not have ‘alive’ churches is we are not doing our part.

We read in Ezekiel that he had the same problem, a dead church. God gave him a vision in Ezekiel 37 of dead dry bones. And what brought life to those bones was the Spirit of God. In Ez. 37:14 God said, “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.” That is what we all need. The Spirit of God living and breathing in us.

We read about the revivals of the past with Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, Dwight Moody, Jeremiah Lamphier, Evan Roberts, and the Azusa Street revival with William Seymour. There have been other pockets of revival, but why doesn’t God move today in the church as he did years ago? I recently heard someone make this statement, “We don’t have revival today because we want revival without repentance.” How true that is!

Why don’t we want repentance? True Repentance is hard work. John the Baptist came declaring “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” in Matthew 3:2. In the Greek language, the word ‘repent’ actually means “to turn around”. Turn from evil ways to Christ. Turn from acting out of the flesh to walking by the Spirit. God has spoken the need for man to repent for years. Jeremiah declared it. So did Ezekiel and Joel, as well as other Old Testament prophets and priests. Even Jesus came preaching repentance in Mark 1:15 “The kingdom of God is near, Repent and believe the good news.” And the apostle Paul declared it in Acts 26:18.

But what is repentance? Proverbs 28:13 encourages us to confess and renounce our sins. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to one another. True repentance involves confession of sin, turning away from sin, turning to God and it may also require restitution. Zacchaeus taught us this in Luke 19 when we encountered Jesus he gave half his possessions to the poor and gave back 4 times the amount that he took from others. Jesus then told him in Luke 19:9 “Today salvation has come.”

This can be a hard thing to do. We do at times ask God to forgive us but what about going to the one we have wronged and ask for their forgiveness, then changing our behavior and attitude. This is a hard thing to do. But if we truly want to see a move of God, we need to truly repent.

Revival will not happen without Repentance. When true repentance occurs revival will come. And it all starts with us!!!!!

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.

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