{"id":837,"date":"2019-07-21T11:21:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T15:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/?p=837"},"modified":"2019-07-21T11:21:20","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T15:21:20","slug":"joseph-a-portrait-of-an-abundant-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/2019\/07\/21\/joseph-a-portrait-of-an-abundant-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Joseph: A Portrait of an Abundant Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-21-19.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>He enjoyed his father\u2019s favor <ul><li>He was willing to do what was asked of him (Genesis 37:12) <\/li><li>By contrast, his brothers acted wickedly (Genesis 37:3) <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>He provoked the wrath of his brothers <ul><li>The righteous, enjoying the favor of the Father will provoke the wrath of the wicked. (John 15:18-21) <\/li><li>There is a blessing for those who are persecuted for righteousness\u2019 sake. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10) <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Joseph went through cycles of blessings and persecution in his life <ul><li>The favor of God meant that Joseph was protected <ul><li>Psalm 23:4 &#8211; God did not lead him around the dark valleys of life, but protected Joseph through them. <\/li><li>Joseph was a good sheep &#8211; he allowed the Father to shepherd him <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Persecution: Genesis 37:18-36 <ul><li>Joseph was going about his father\u2019s business, being sent to the wicked and the wicked desired to kill him. <\/li><li>God used Reuben to intervene and talk the other brothers out of killing Joseph <\/li><li>God then used the Ishmaelites to take Joseph to Egypt <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Blessing: Genesis 39:1-6 <ul><li>Potiphar very quickly saw that the Lord was with Joseph <\/li><li>Because of this, he elevated him to chief status over the household. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Back into the Valley: Genesis 39:7-20 <ul><li>Potiphar\u2019s wife brought temptation to Joseph. <ul><li>Lustful, sexual temptation <\/li><li>He could also have perceived this as a means to advance himself &#8211; her favor could have been useful to him. <ul><li>In contrast the wrath of Potiphar\u2019s wife could be dangerous <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Joseph refused and once again brought upon himself the wrath of the wicked <ul><li>Potiphar put him in prison <\/li><li>Again, God protected Joseph and no harm came to him. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Back on top: Genesis 39:21-23; 40, 41 <ul><li>Just like Potiphar, the warden saw the blessing of God on Joseph\u2019s life and entrusted the running of the prison and oversight of the inmates to him. <\/li><li>Pharaoh\u2019s baker and cupbearer <ul><li>Both had dreams, Joseph interpreted their dreams. <\/li><li>He asked the cupbearer to remember him when he got out\u2026.but he forgot him! <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Pharaoh himself had a dream that he did not understand nor could anyone interpret for him <ul><li>The cupbearer remembered Joseph, got him out of prison <\/li><li>With God\u2019s wisdom, Joseph interpreted the dream and devised a plan of action to survive the famine. <\/li><li>He was elevated to the number two position in Egypt. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The plan for an abundant life is not about us <ul><li>When we walk in God\u2019s abundance, it\u2019s never exclusively for us, but it is to glorify Him and to bless others. <ul><li>It\u2019s about allowing the Lord to use us <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Joseph saved multiple nations from destruction <ul><li>Israel was one of those nations, ensuring the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise to Abraham. <ul><li>Saved from famine <\/li><li>Brought into the land of Goshen <ul><li>This would allow the nation to grow and develop without the dangers and influences of the nations in Canaan. <\/li><li>The Egyptians detested the Hebrews, so they weren\u2019t too keen on intermarrying and interfering. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>This also ensured that the Messiah would have a family line descending from Abraham. <ul><li>God\u2019s ultimate plan for the salvation of mankind hinged in no small part on Joseph living the abundant life. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>The abundant life allows us to forgive those who wrong us <ul><li>Genesis 45:1-15 <ul><li>Joseph had the power to take revenge on his brothers <\/li><li>Instead, he forgave them and blessed them with the best of the land <\/li><li>He remembered that the purpose of his life was not to gratify or glorify himself, but to glorify the Lord and to advance His kingdom and His plan. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>We can see this same pattern in the abundant life of others <ul><li>David <\/li><li>Paul <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Scriptures:<\/strong> Genesis 37; 39; 40; 41, John 15:18-21, Matthew 5:10, Psalm 23<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>He enjoyed his father\u2019s favor He was willing to do what was asked of him (Genesis 37:12) By contrast, his brothers acted wickedly (Genesis 37:3) He provoked the wrath of his brothers The righteous, enjoying the favor of the Father&#8230;<br \/><a class=\"read-more-button\" href=\"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/2019\/07\/21\/joseph-a-portrait-of-an-abundant-life\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.newhopeforlife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}