The Prisoner who was Richer than the King

So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 

“I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Genesis 41:14-16

What an exciting day for Joseph! How many men in the history of the world have been lifted up out of prison to have an audience with the King? Sure, some were pulled out of prison to go before the King to be sentenced or judged, but how many were brought out so the King could make a request of them? Pharaoh asks for Joseph's help!!! He has all the power in Egypt, but even in that dungeon Joseph is richer than Pharaoh because he has something Pharaoh doesn't...GOD!

Never underestimate the blessing you have, Christian! The Spirit of the living God dwells in you. Don't waste your time coveting the things of this world - other people's money, house, car or career - when what you have in Jesus far surpasses all those things. There will come a time in that person's life when all their possessions will mean nothing, when they would gladly give up all they own to experience what you have, the Spirit of God. 

He is in us to guide and direct, to enlighten, to lead into all truth, to comfort, and to empower. This is a gift so special that no amount of money can buy it. No worldly influence can win it. You can't be born into it, and it can't be counterfeited. And absolutely no one can take it away from you. They can take away all your earthly possessions. They take away your freedom. They can wrongly accuse you and throw you in jail like they did Joseph, but they can't take God's Spirit away from you. Even in that jail cell, even at his lowest point, Joseph had something that Pharaoh never would, and that means that even then, in jail, he was incredibly blessed.

God in you...what a powerful blessing! Don't take it for granted. Spend some time alone with God today. Listen to His Spirit. Ask Him to guide you. And if you don't have that, but you want it, here's how you can become a Christian. 

• A- Admit that you are a sinner and in need of God's grace (Romans 3:10 and 3:23).
• B- Believe that Jesus is God's Son, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and that He was raised from the dead (Romans 6:23 and 5:8).
• C- Confess Jesus as Lord of your life. Turn from sin (from living life your way) and commit to live your life for God (Romans 10:9).

It's just that easy!

Doubting the End of the Story

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

John 11:25

The great Christian hope isn't just eternal life, or even forgiveness of our sins, it is experiencing a physical resurrection from the dead and being a completely new and glorified body. If you really pause to think about that, it tells us a lot about our God.

Notice, for example that He doesn’t spare us the pain of death or the hardship of life and simply take us up to Heaven to be with Him now. No! He chooses to give us life on the other side of death and hardship. This means that God doesn’t always allow us to avoid suffering, sometimes He wants us to pass through it, just like Jesus did. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we suffer hardship or even death. It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. In fact, it may be when God is working in us and through us the most! You see, the hope of resurrection should change how we respond to difficulty and death. It should give us the hope we need to persevere through hardship and suffering without losing faith. 

Think about it. With Jesus, no matter how bad your life gets, you can’t lose. You already know how your story ends. In that way, it's kind of like one of those sports underdog movies. You know who is going to win before you even start the movie, but they often do a really good job making you think that maybe, just maybe, you’re wrong and the underdog is going to lose. The more they can make you doubt the ending, the more entertaining the movie is. So, they have become very skilled at making you doubt how the story is going to end. This gives the movie a sense of unpredictability even though we know that it is entirely predictable. 

The same is true of your life. We have an Adversary who is very, very good at getting us to doubt how it’s all going to end. But if you’re a believer then your story has never been in doubt. No matter how bad things get, no matter how low your life sinks or how difficult it becomes, in the end you will win. So, don’t lose faith! “Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) Press on, because you can’t lose! Your victory has been secured. It’s in the bag! What you are living for now is just to show God thanks, to point others down the right path and to lay up rewards for yourself in heaven.

Public Praise (W.o.W. Rewind)

Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

Psalm 111:1

It's just a little verse but it has a lot to say.

If we are to follow the psalmist's example, the first thing we find we must do is praise the Lord. To praise God means to brag on Him, to tell how great and worthy of honor He is. In the first four verses of this psalm alone God is called unendingly righteous, gracious and compassionate. His works are called great, splendid, majestic, and wonderful. For me even the first word of the psalm rings forth as a call to praise. The Hebrew word 'hallelujah' is considered to be the highest form of praise in the Bible because it includes part of God's sacred name. It combines the Hebrew word for praise (halal) and the beginning of the name Yahweh ("I am who I am") by which God revealed Himself to Moses. It literally means "Praise the LORD!" Let's heed this admonition.

Second, we see how we are to praise Him. The psalmist commits himself to praise God with his whole heart. It would be insulting to offer up half-hearted praise to a God this deserving of worship. Praise ought to be the overflow of a grateful heart. It is the willing gift of one who has been awed by God's glory. When we glimpse God's true character we are driven to worship Him with all we have. Is that how you praise God? Is red-hot praise flowing out of your heart or is your praise just lukewarm leftovers from your love affair with the world offered up half-heartedly?  

Lastly we see that although we worship God with our hearts, it is not enough to worship Him in our hearts. The psalmist commits to worship God in the assembly and in the congregation. He will tell others of God's goodness! God is so wonderful, so amazing that those who are stricken with love for Him must tell others. This is what we do when we sing in worship. We are not only telling God about His greatness but we are singing it at the top of our lungs so that anyone in earshot can know how wonderful God is too. Notice though that the psalmist isn't talking about singing in this passage. Music is a wonderful way for us to praise God but it shouldn't be the only way we praise Him. We must praise God with words too. We must declare His goodness publicly! When was the last time you bragged on God in front of other people? When did you last give Him the glory for answering a prayer or for providing for your family during a difficult time? Purpose in your heart today to openly declare how great God is! Don't be timid; do it wholeheartedly. Who knows, your worship just might give someone else the courage to publicly praise God too.

Walk by the Spirit (W.o.W. Rewind)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16-25

When I was a kid we had a big, untrained dog named Bear. This Australian Shepherd mix was aptly named (in my eyes anyway). I was only an eight year old boy at the time and Bear was much bigger and stronger than me, so my feelings toward him were a mixture of love and fear. Anytime I tried to take him for a walk Bear would see something worth chasing and tear off after it. It was all I could do to hold onto his chain and get drug behind him. I simply wasn't big enough to stop him. The truth is I never walked Bear. Bear walked me.  

Sadly, this is exactly how a lot of people live their lives. Only it’s not a big, untrained dog that drags them around... it’s their flesh. When our fallen, sinful nature gets a craving it simply takes off after the thing it desires. Sex, money, success, proving you were right and winning the argument. Whatever it is that the flesh wants it runs after. The problem is that all of us are like that eight year old version of me. We are drug around like rag dolls behind our cravings. None of us are strong enough to fight the lusts of the flesh alone. We need a stronger power to pull against the flesh. A power that will ultimately overpower the flesh and put it down like the rabid dog it is. Only then can we be truly free. 

Galatians 5 tells us that this is exactly what happens in Christ. Verse 24 says, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." When a person declares Jesus as Lord of their life, they die to sin and are raised to live a new life for Christ. In this sense they participate in Jesus' death and resurrection spiritually. But how is this possible? 

It happens by the supernatural work of God's Spirit who indwells believers at salvation. Once the flesh has been dealt with, the Spirit begins leading us in the way that we should go. Prompting, convicting, and directing us. Unfortunately, though the final death blow has already been landed, Christians are not completely free of their sin nature until heaven. So there is a constant tug of war going on in a believer's life. 

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (Galatians 5:17)

Thankfully, Scripture tells us what we can do to gain the victory here and now. "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). When Christians aren’t living by the Spirit daily, when they return to their old ways of living, then they strengthen their fleshly desires. They actually join in with their flesh and fight against the Spirit of God in their hearts. But Paul shows us a better way. WALK BY THE SPIRIT! If the believer chooses to listen to the Spirit's whispered promptings day by day, if he chooses to turn his ear to God's voice, and if he sets his heart to obey the Spirit's tugs, then the great promise of verse 16 awaits him. He will no longer carry out the desires of the flesh.

You don't have to taste defeat at the hands of that addiction or bad habit any more. You can finally be free of the sin that has entangled you for so long and kept you from becoming the person God is calling you to be.

So what does it mean to walk by the Spirit? It involves drawing nearer to God through things like:

• Scripture Reading- This is God's primary way of revealing Himself to us. Don't take it for granted. You must make time to be with the Lord, if you are to walk with Him daily.
• Prayer- And I don't mean just a one-sided conversation where you download your wish list. God placed His Spirit in believers for a reason. We have to stop and listen some. We have to tune our hearts to be sensitive to the Spirit's promptings.
• Be sensitive to God’s voice- According to John 3:4-8 & 6:44, every believer feels the tug of the Spirit when we get saved. Since we are all called to salvation, we have all felt Him move in our hearts before. It is that burning conviction in your heart and in your gut. Oftentimes you just know what it is that God is telling you to do. At other times God speaks to us through our circumstances, through opportunities that come our way or through the wise counsel of Christian friends. But of course we must always make sure to check our understanding of these leadings against Scripture. Only Scripture is inerrant. 
• Be Eager to Obey what you know- We need a prepared readiness to eagerly obey whatever God leads us to do. Whether he reveals it to you, be careful not to quench, grieve, or resist the Holy Spirit. Step out on faith and see what God does. 

Consider Paul's admonition in verse 25 as a challenge to take up. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."