BECOMING A FRIEND OF GOD – Part 5
“The example of Joseph”
Pastor Mike Barnett
Hebrews 12:1 says (pg.
852)
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great
cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for
us.
Genesis 37:3-10,19 (pg. 28) says:
3 Now
5 Joseph had
a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when
suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around
mine and bowed down to it."
8 His
brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually
rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he
had said.
9 Then he
had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said,
"I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were
bowing down to me."
10 When he
told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said,
"What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers
actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" 11
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
19
"Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. 20
"Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say
that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his
dreams."
·
Joseph was
the youngest son of Jacob.
·
When Joseph
was seventeen, Jacob made him a coat of many colors.
·
His brothers
knew their father loved Joseph more than them and they began to hate Joseph.
·
They hatred
for Joseph grew when Joseph told them about two dreams he had about his
brothers and family someday bowing down to him.
·
When Joseph’s
brothers went to feed their flock in Shechem, Jacob sent Joseph to see how they
were doing.
·
When Joseph
arrived, his brothers threw him into a pit and then sold him a slave to passing
caravan of merchants on their way to
·
They took
Joseph’s coat, dipped it in the blood of a goat, and returned home to show the
coat to their father.
·
Jacob assumed
that Joseph had been killed by a beast and wept.
·
Joseph was
purchased by Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh.
·
Joseph worked
hard, doing his best for his master.
·
The Lord was
with Joseph, and everything Joseph did turned out
well.
·
So Potiphar
made Joseph the overseer of his house.
·
But
Potiphar’s wife found Joseph attractive, and tried to seduce him.
·
Joseph
refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
·
One day, when
everyone else was away from the house, she grabbed him by his garment and
pulled him toward her.
·
To get away
from her, Joseph left his garment in her hand and then fled.
·
She cried out
falsely accusing him of mocking her and trying to seduce her. So Potiphar put
Joseph in Prison.
·
Joseph
continued to be faithful and give his best.
·
The keeper of
the prison found favor in him, and gave him responsibility for all the other
prisoners.
·
Again, the
Lord was with Joseph, and he was successful in everything he did.
·
While in
prison, Joseph interpreted dreams of the chief butler and the chief baker, who
had both been imprisoned for offending the Pharaoh.
·
The Chief
Butler promised Joseph he would try to get Joseph out of prison, by putting in
a good word for him to Pharaoh, but forgot his promise…So Joseph remained in
prison.
·
Two years
later, when the Pharaoh had troubling dreams, he sought someone who could
interpret them.
·
The magicians
and the wise men of
·
So the
Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams.
·
Joseph told
the Pharaoh that there would be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years
of famine.
·
He urged the
Pharaoh to find a discreet and wise man and put him in charge of gathering up
food during the years of plenty, so it could be stored and then eaten during
the years of famine.
·
The Pharaoh
decided to appoint Joseph to do the Job – to be ruler, second only to the
Pharaoh himself.
·
When the
famine came, the Pharaoh told the people to go to Joseph, who opened the
storehouses.
·
People from
other lands came to
·
Jacob sent
his sons to Egypt, where they came to Joseph, and bowed down to him, Joseph
recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him.
·
Joseph’s
brothers were afraid that Joseph would take revenge against them for what they
had done to him so many years before.
·
The brothers
went to Joseph, fell down before him, and said they were his slaves Just like Joseph dreamed about 23 years earlier.
·
Joseph told
his brothers not to be afraid, because God wanted him to go to
·
Joseph kissed
them, and wept with them, and sent them back to Jacob with wagons full of grain
and bread and meat.
·
The Pharaoh
invited Joseph’s family to reside in
·
Jacob went to
·
They became
shepherds in Geshen
·
Joseph lived
to be 110 years old, and saw three generations of his own children.
OBSERVATIONS FROM JOSEPH DREAM STORY:
1) Friends of God have __________________(dreams).
·
Dreams are _______________________(conceived) long before they are ____________________(achieved).
·
The period of
time between the birth of a dream and its realization is always a
___________________(process).
·
This period
is filled with doubts, adversity, changes, and surprises.
·
During the
process of realizing your dreams you will experience good days and bad days.
·
And when
pursuing God’s desires for you, frequently you will be faced with a dilemma: Do
you ___________ ______(give up), or _______ _____(go
on)?
2) Friends of God don’t _______________
________(give up) on the God given dream even they if
they didn’t ________________(start) off _____________(well).
·
Joseph’s
dream came to him early – when he was seventeen years old.
·
That’s when
he received visions from God that one day his brothers and even his father
would bow down to him.
·
Joseph
immediately shared that information with his family, and it got him into
trouble – but it didn’t stop him.
·
The beginning
of the dream often generates more ________________________(enthusiasm)
than _________________(wisdom) - We say things we shouldn’t say and do things
we shouldn’t do.
·
Like Joseph,
we sometimes do not start off well, but unlike Joseph, too often we give up on
our dreams in the ____________________(early) stages
when the dream is the most ____________________(fragile).
3) Friends of God don’t
give up on your dream even if their family doesn’t ________________________(support) it.
·
Clearly
Joseph was not going to get any support from anyone in his family.
·
It is very
difficult to retain your dream when your family wants you to release it.
·
But when your
dream comes from God, the dream _________________ _____________(holds you) steady even when you feel unable to hold the dream.
4) Friends of God don’t give up on God’s desire
for them even if the journey is full of ________________________(surprises).
·
Just because
things don’t go as planned, that’s no reason to give up.
·
Look at the
surprises Joseph lived through and how he reacted.
·
Joseph was misunderstood
by his family. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph was
sold into slavery by his brothers. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph was
living is a strange country far from home
as slave in Potiphar’s house. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph was
then given favor in Potiphar’s house. (GO ON!)
·
Joseph
resisted temptation by Potiphar’s wife who tried to seduce him.
·
Joseph was
wrongly accused by Potiphar’s wife – She lied when she told her husband that
Joseph raped her. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph was
thrown in prison even though he was innocent of the charges. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph was
them put in charge of all the prisoners.
(GO ON?)
·
Joseph was
forgotten by the chief butler after he interpreted his dream. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph
remained in prison for two years. (GIVE UP?)
·
Joseph
interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. (GO ON!)
·
Joseph became
second in command of
·
Why didn’t
Joseph give up? After all, like you and me, he had twice as many “give ups as
go-ons”.
·
Every dream
contains ___________________(negative) surprises that
can greatly ______________(discourage) you.
·
How did
Joseph have the strength not to give up on God’s desire for him?
·
Every time
Joseph found himself in a give-up time of life, he realized that the Lord was
with him and that’s what mattered the most.
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·
God is too _______________(good) to be ___________________(unkind).
·
God is too _________________(wise) to be ______________________(confused).
·
When I cannot
trace God’s ________________(hand), I can always trace
his ____________________(heart).
·
Even when
life made no sense to Joseph, it made sense to God.
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5) Friends of God realize
that God is _______________________(always) with them
even when it does not look or feel like it.
·
When Joseph
was lying in the pit, he didn’t give up hope because He knew God was watching
over him even in his darkest times.
·
When Joseph
was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, He knew God was with him and gave him the
strength to say no.
· When Joseph was wrongly accused of raping Potiphar’s wife and he w