Oh my...
Well, it was a really good morning.
I'd like a do-over just because I haven't laughed like that for awhile and I want to again.
I hope Pastor Rob doesn't get into any trouble...
Theme for month of August is -"Bigger Than My Location"
Story:
Once upon a time, a lady went to the mission board and said that she wanted to go to India and open an orphanage. They discouraged her. "How much money do you have?" they queried.
"Three cents..." she replied. "You can't go on the mission field with just three cents!"
"You didn't let me finish," she said. "I have three cents and God.
Who was she? Mother Teresa.
During the high point of her career, she would get letters from many people in high society who wanted to come and help her. She would write back to them and say,"Find your own Calcutta."
PR-"I work and live in Jerusalem-Farmville. People see the good, the bad, the ugly in Farmville. They know me."
Our 'Location' is our life situation.
We often say to ourselves, "If I had more time, more money...if I didn't have so many issues.
I will serve God tomorrow when things settle down."
The purposes of God for our lives seem out of reach. We think...someday..someday I will step into the calling that I am passionate about.
God's purposes for me are bigger than my life situation.
(I also believe that it is in my life situation where God wants to fulfill His purposes for me.)
PR asked the question, "Who in the Bible had every opportunity to become bitter but instead, he remained faithful to God?"
(I am so embarrassed about this but I started yelling out,"Joseph! Joseph!", like an eager schoolgirl. Steve L. looked slowly over at me and gave me his look and acted like he was scribbling in a notebook. He was mocking me. He let me know that I was acting like a teacher's pet and I turned several shades of red as I realized how loud and obnoxious I had been. I didn't worry about whether I embarrassed Phil because he always tells me that I can't embarrass him. Oh, well. I can't think about it any more. And I was right, by the way. It was Joseph. )
Joseph was about 17 years old when we get a glimpse into his dysfunctional family.
Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat. He didn't give his other eleven sons a coat like that.
How brilliant was that?
And Joseph had two dreams which he shared with his family.
Both dreams were easy to interpret."Someday, everyone in this family would pay homage to me and bow down to me. " That went over real well.
Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers and when they saw 'The Dreamer' coming, they decided to kill him. Rueben talked them into putting him into a pit. He was planning to rescue him later. When Rueben went for a little walk and a caravan came by, the boys decided to sell Joe and make some profit off of him.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar who was a captain of the guard in Pharoah's army.
The Lord was with Joseph and everything Joseph was involved with prospered.
Potiphar only had to be concerned with the food that he himself ate.
Now, Potiphar's wife had a thing for Joseph. PR thinks her name is Victoria because she had a secret. Maybe I shouldn't write that, but that is what he said.
This is where things got really interesting in the service but I think I will just protect PR here since he wasn't really watching out for himself.
Joseph did not give in to Victoria and a woman scorned can behave very badly.
She accused him of coming on to her big time.
He was put in prison and the Lord was with him there.
God showed him kindness and granted him favor and Joseph was given responsibility for everything having to do with prison life. (And perhaps he was glad to get a little break from Victoria.)
Application:
Our attitude affects our altitude. Our perceptions regarding the situation we are in have more power in our lives that the actual situation we are in.
Joseph could have been bitter. Even though he was an overseer, he was still a slave. When he did things well, he wasn't given his freedom. He was given more responsibility. Potiphar prospered because of Joseph.
Some people are never happy. So many people wonder why God has allowed them to remain in Potiphar's house or in prison. Maybe it's because we haven't learned our lesson yet. We keep asking, "Why me? Poor me." Instead we should ask God what He wants us to learn in prison and in Potiphar's house. (Perhaps we need to be willing to help 'Potiphar' and our 'Prison Guard' to prosper before we can move on.)
The favor of God is not without thorns.
Joseph had some thorns-
His dysfunctional family, his brothers and what they did to him, Potiphar's wife, prison, the cup-bearer who forgot him...
~~~~~
Thorns don't have to be ugly.
They can be appealing to us.
Thorns are those things that keep us from fulfilling God's purposes in our lives.
Our response to our thorns, our tough life situation and difficulties, preaches way louder than our words.
People notice our obedience and disobedience.
People notice the favor of God.
People notice our attitude particularly in a time of difficulty.
And the Master sees.
St. Francis of Assissi said, "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words."
We can carry an undercurrent of joy even if we are not always happy.
With everything we do in life, we are a license printer for those coming up behind us.
If I can do this, you can too.( positively or negatively)
People respect genuineness.
We think the things in our lives have to be in a perfect place before we can do something for God.
But we don't have to be perfect. We need to be genuine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I like Joseph.
I think his secret life-giving thought was this:
'God is in control of my life.'
When he had come through some things
he was able to see that what man had meant
for evil, God had meant for good,
but until he had that perspective,
He simply believed that His life was God's
responsibility
and God was in control
and God was good.
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