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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Saturday, 14 December 2024:
Genesis 39:2, 3 – The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man…. His master saw that the Lord was with him.
Joseph was successful because the Lord was with Him, not because Joseph was lucky or talented. God’s activity in Joseph’s life was apparent to Joseph’s master. There are many talented people in the world, but being empowered by God is a totally different thing, revealing a power far beyond natural human abilities, bringing glory to God rather than the person. Is God’s activity in your life apparent to those around you?
Genesis 39:6 – So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
In captivity, Joseph worked so diligently for his master Potiphar put him in charge of everything and worried about nothing. How does this compare to how you do jobs for people for whom you would rather not do it?
Genesis 39:6, 7 – So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge…. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
Character is who you are in the dark, what you do when you have no restraints or no repercussions that concern you. Ethical failures, usually involving sex and money, have destroyed many high-level leaders. God allowed Joseph’s leadership to be tested in a big way. Here is where we see the truth of Joseph’s heart – he is truly a man of integrity and fidelity. Here is a leader you can trust. Today, society often overlooks the ethical failures of leaders and then wonders why they can’t seem to be counted on to make good policy decisions. People act as if character can be compartmentalized, as if a person can be untrustworthy in one area of their lives but trustworthy in another – nope. Character is what you repeatedly do – if you almost never murder, you’re still a murderer. If you hardly ever steal, you are still a thief. If you rarely lie, you are still a liar. Habitual behavior reveals who you are and shape who you are becoming. Disciplines are essentially intentional, unnatural, often uncomfortable, imposed (either by self or someone else) actions designed to disrupt your natural habits in order to shape within you new character, to slowly change your desires so that you eventually want to do what you are currently being forced to do. Joseph acted faithfully because he WAS faithful. Who are the Joseph-type leaders today?
Notice though God was with Joseph, He didn’t totally shield Joseph from serious temptations. God allows temptations in your life, not to set you up for failure, but to build you up in moral character and conform you to Christlikeness. Remember, God can forcibly make you obey Him, but what He wants from you is to be the kind of person who doesn’t have to be forced to obey but who wholeheartedly desires to obey and who has the strength to do it, to follow-through on integrity no matter the cost, even to a cross. We can’t learn to overcome sin without temptations. When we sin in temptation, it is God’s way of exposing in us, not for His awareness (He already knows) but for ours, who we aren’t yet, so we can become who we ought to be. Don’t simply surrender to habitual sin and use the excuse many make, “I guess this is just who I am; God understands I am only human.” Be transformed through right thinking; remember, in Christ, you are a new creation, and all power and authority has been granted to you by Christ and through the Holy Spirit within you to overcome temptation and grow into who you really are. Repent, and walk in renewed in faith, not by feelings, taking up your cross daily, practicing the disciplines of a disciple, and being transformed degree by degree as you set your focus on becoming just like Jesus in accordance with God’s ultimate purpose for your life (Romans 8:29; John 17:22-23).
- 1 Corinthians 10:13 — No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
- 2 Peter 1:3-15 — His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
- James 1:12-18 — Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
- James 1:4 — And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
- 1 John 1:5-10 — This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Genesis 39:7 – Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Few people can handle the temptations that come with being attractive or wealth, and few can handle the temptations which come from hard times. Joseph will be tested by both. In the constant presence of the Lord, no one or no situation should cause our love, joy, and peace to be shaken. What threatens your countenance and consistency? “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8, 9)
Genesis 39:9 – How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
Joseph understood that sins were not merely committed against other people, but were, more terribly committed against God. Sin isn’t just breaking the rules, it is breaking relationship with the Almighty, Sovereign Creator. David understood this too: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…. (Psalm 51:4)” All sin, even the smallest, is not only cosmic treason, it is the ultimate offense against Love, trampling on the blood of Jesus who went to the Cross to pay the penalty for those very sins so we would be saved. How could we return sinful indifference for ultimate love? Perspective changes everything.
- Hebrews 10:26-29 — For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
Genesis 39:12 — But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.
Don’t just avoid temptation, run from it! Escape at all cost.
- 1 Corinthians 6:18 — Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
- 2 Timothy 2:22 — So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Genesis 39:16, 17 – Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me.”
The light of the Christian life will expose the darkness in the lives of others, and the response of those who live in the dark will often be to extinguish the painful light. When Christians refuse to condone sin and participate in sin, they will be hated and silenced. Unfortunately, too many Christians respond to attacks from sinners by dimming their own light, by either compromising or remaining silent before sin. Had Joseph surrendered to sin, he might not have gone to prison, but he would have missed out on the great things God had intended for him along the path of fidelity and obedience.
Genesis 39:21 – But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
A Christian following God is never a mere victim of circumstances, and God will bring all things together for good for them, even those things that seem so terrible at the time.
Genesis 39:23 – The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.
Again, Joseph was successful because God enabled him. Joseph wasn’t a ‘natural’ leader but rather a God-empowered leader. Therefore, he was able to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Joseph was usable because he did not simply surrender to his terrible circumstances but relentlessly trusted in God. Joseph didn’t take on a victimization mentality, wallow in self-guilt, seek some form of escapism, or even complain – he just sought to faithfully put his 100% into his current situation and wait upon the Lord. What do you do when life doesn’t seem to work out for you?
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 14 December 2024: Today, grown in your love for God and trust in God by practicing obedience, regardless the personal cost. Trust Him with the results of your obedience, particularly when it doesn’t seem to be “working.” Remember, in Christ, it isn’t happening to you, it is happening for you; and if it isn’t working for you; it is working on you as a refiner’s fiery, purifying you into Christlikeness. Be strong and courageous! The LORD is at hand!
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 