6-24-21 From Success to Setback

Daily Devotion: From Success to Setback - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org But the LORD was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the LORD made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. —Genesis 39:21 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/from-success-to-setback/ - Listen Joseph’s story occupies more space in the book of Genesis than the stories of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, or his own father, Jacob. He was the son of Jacob’s true love, Rachel, and his own brothers hated him. Their antagonism and hostility toward him, fueled by envy, began to grow, and ultimately they decided they wanted to kill Joseph. But they changed their minds when a group of Midianite slave traders passed by. So they sold Joseph to them for 20 pieces of silver. Then the Midianites brought Joseph to Egypt. Potiphar, the man who purchased Joseph, was very powerful, the head of Pharaoh’s palace guard. Joseph was so responsible, so hardworking, and so full of integrity that Potiphar gave him more and more responsibilities. Ultimately, he put Joseph in charge of his entire estate. However, Potiphar’s wife was determined to sleep with Joseph, who kept refusing her. She was far from subtle about it, and one day when the other servants had left the house, she grabbed Joseph and pulled him down on the bed. Joseph ran out of the house as fast as he could, but she falsely accused him of rape. So Potiphar sent Joseph to prison. How easily Joseph could have been discouraged. How easily he could have said to God, “Lord, I can’t take this anymore. First, my brothers sell me into slavery, and then this woman tries to entice me. I resisted her, and then she lied about me! Now I’m in prison. This isn’t fair!” It wasn’t fair. Yet the Bible never tells us that Joseph said anything to that effect. He could have felt like God had forgotten him, but the Bible gives us this very important detail: “The Lord was with Joseph” (Genesis 39:21 NLT). The Lord was with Joseph as he sat there in that prison. And wherever you are today, the Lord will be with you, too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t...
Read more

9-25-23 The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas

The Farm Chronicles: One Christmas :: By Bill Wilson Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:Bill Wilson, General Articles There are a lot of terrible things going on right now in the world. But we are at the time of the year when we, as Christians, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be impacted by the world around us in its dimly lit arena, or we can choose to let our light so shine. I choose the latter. I want to tell you a little about the Christmas that I had growing up on our family farm in Ohio. I was blessed to be born into a horse and cattle farm that has been in our family for some 200 years. And Christmas, especially Christmas Eve, was a wonderful time for our family. December 24 was my Dad’s birthday. And my Dad was well-loved by his neighbors and friends, so we had a lot going on Christmas Eve. I remember one special Christmas Eve. I must have been about four years old. The night was falling, and the wind and snow were whipping across the barny...
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th...
Read more