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Friday, August 11, 2006
Homegroup 28/07/06: When Bad Things Happened To Joseph (Genesis 39)
Hey all, Hsia Pin asked me to post my summary of the sharing on Joseph 2 weeks ago by Eunice - sorry for the delay, had a bit of trouble logging on at first.
28 July 2006
At homegroup this week, we read Genesis 39, the story of how, even though Joseph had been sold to Egypt as a slave, God was with him and blessed him so that he found favour with Potiphar who made him manager of his household. But Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him, and when he did what was right and fled temptation, he got put in prison. God was with him there too, though, and it was when he was in prison that events were set in motion that led him to later become Pharoah's prime minister and save the country in a time of famine.
Some of the major points of Eunice's teaching were:
1. Circumstances may not be great, but it's more important that God is with us than that things go smoothly. At the age of 17, Joseph found himself a slave in a foreign land and must have thought his future was over - how would we as young people today react if we found ourselves in the same position, kidnapped and sold as menial labour, with all our prospects of studies and career derailed, just expected to do the lowest of low jobs every day? Yet God was with Joseph and raised him to a position of honour in Potiphar's household.
2. When God is with us, He blesses us, and we become a blessing to others. Joseph was a blessing to Potiphar because God was with him. God doesn't bless us just so that we can keep the blessing for ourselves, but it's part of his plan for us to use us to bless others.
3. Joseph fled temptation! (vs 12) When Potiphar's wife was trying to get Joseph to sleep with her, he could have gotten his cloak back easily - after all, he was a strong & 'well-built' young man and she was a woman, he could have just grabbed it and ran. But he left it behind because didn't even dare to go closer in case he was tempted. In the same way, we should always do immediately what we know is right. For us, temptation may come in many different forms - what we watch, listen to, read and so on - and we must be ready to drop immediately what is unholy.
Joseph also stood up for God each time he was tempted (vs 9), making it clear that he was acting the way he was because he feared God. We should not be afraid either to show others that we do certain things because we are obeying God.
4. God had a destiny for Joseph, but he had to keep himself holy in the midst of temptation to fulfil his destiny. If he had succumbed to temptation and slept with Potiphar's wife, God wouldn't have been able to use him. His heart would have been wrong - and besides, he wouldn't have been thrown into prison, which was where God's plan for him lay, and he would have missed God's opportunity for him.
5. Hardships serve a purpose for us. It was 13 years from the time that God gave Joseph a dream that He would make him great to the time that God fulfilled his promise and did make Joseph great. In between Joseph had to go through hardships, but they were all part of his journey and each one took him a step closer to his destiny - without them he would not have become Prime Minister.
the alleged @ 10:00 PM
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Homegroup: Working Your Talent For the Glory Of God
Homegroup 05/08/2006
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