Its just been one of those seasons where Im looking for the right time to get back into the swing of things.

Ive been busy helping my parents with their church in WS, NC…

This has been a blast and Ive helped them get some new web presence up and going etc :)

www.TheGenerationsProject.net check it out, updates coming this week on that.

but newhoz as i was blabbin/bloggin ill be coming back to this site soon to begin some new thoughts and work, ill do a write up to explain where Ive been and what ive been up to..:)

-ps.J

Luke 6:45

[ 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.]

Let me first say I am not exacting a complete prohibition for people using secular songs as bookmarks in certain chapters in their life, its simply a catalyst statement. What I do want to put witness to is our need to point everything in our lives back to Christ.

I stated “…with more frequency…”, meaning, I see a huge problem when “christians” relate their lives more to the secular worlds wisdom, which is wisdom of the flesh as opposed to Gods wisdom.

I believe there is nothing in the secular world and its thoughts, philosophy and or wisdom, nor anything in a secular song that the bible has not already covered, yet covered with more sovereign grace and truth than  any piece “art, poetry” the world may offer.

Revelation 12:11 says:
11And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

As “Christ-ians” if we only approach life as the world, than the world will not approach life as Christ.

Modern “Christians” fail to consistently to share their own testimony, let alone “Gods Testamant”.

We have avenues like facebook, mysace and blogs where we can be an overwhelming light in the dark yet we fail to use them for this purpose. We are more satisfied blending in and drowning our sorrows in way of identification to the world.

As 2 Tim 4:3 says:

³For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

The world is always teaching us something, affirming something! And instead of Rising up in Christ often we find things which will suit our mood or fancy for the moment.

I picked on song lyrics becuase I see this generation putting every event of their life to music, always accompanied by an emotional statement from some song. But Gods word doesnt not always empathize with you.

He wants all of you, or he has none of you.

Rise up church, Your God is reliable. Find peace, strength, hope, joy, fullfillment, and love in Him, even when its hard, dont wallow in self or feelings, they will always betry you, and learn to use all of these sources of media and outlet to let Him shine through you.

WE[PREPARE|FOR|WAR]

Romans 12:Living.Sacrifice

Romans 12 (New Living Translation)
A Living Sacrifice to God
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be [your  Life] a living and holy
sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. [sober minded] Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Believers are to dedicate themselves to God.
-He entreated the Romans, as his brethren in Christ, by the mercies of God, to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to Him.
-This is a powerful appeal.

-LIVING SACRAFICE:
.In the Old testament worship context, animal sacrifices were offered up to God and put to death to make atonement for sin. The release of an object of value was key, the object had to cost something, and once given and offered up could not be reclaimed.
.Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice and final sacrifice, his perfection required no other blood sacrifice, but as we are to refelect Christ as “Christ-ians” we are called upon to offer up our lifes as sacrafice in the same way.
.MEANING it is no longer ours, all our days that remain are now His we live to glorify Him in all we do not ourselves

Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the mind; a change, not of the substance, but of the qualities of the soul.
The progress of sanctification, [dying to sin more and more], and [living to righteousness more and more], is the carrying on this renewing work, till it is perfected in glory.
The great enemy to this renewal is, conformity to this world.

Sacrafice we offer:
-Living
-Being Holy [Set Apart]
-Pleasing God

Our spiritual act of worship is a part of an interesting progression described in this passage:
.Gods Mercy leads to our worship of Him
.Our worship leads to being renewed by Gods presence.
.Our renewel leads to our minds being transformed.
.Our mental transformation leads to the ability o know God’s will
.In this context, we ought to consider ourselves with sober judgement(and honest self examination)

-Take heed of forming plans for happiness, as though it lay in the things of this world, which soon pass away.
Do not fall in with the customs of those who walk in the lusts of the flesh, and mind earthly things. The work of the Holy Ghost first begins in the understanding, and is carried on to the will, affections, and conversation, till there is a change of the whole man into the likeness of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. Thus, to be godly, is to give up ourselves to God. (Ro 12:3-8)

Judges 6:7-10
(English Standard Version)

7When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, 8the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:(A) I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage. 9And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and(B) drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God;(C) you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” (But you didn’t listen to me.”-The Message)
-I feel our problem may not be in the listening but in the acting, there is no obedience. I believe you can hear God all day long but choose to not act.
-Often though we hear God, refuse action, but still expect God to come through, we are blinded by our “expectation of God” and His only just response to us.

SO ONCE AGAIN WE FIND OURSELVES (I MEAN ISRAEL, NO I MEAN OURSELVES IN A FAMILIAR PLACE)

GOD RAISES UP ANOTHER.

EPIC LIFE Gideon.

(THE MESSAGE) 11-12 One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior

-Just like that God Calls Gideon, I AM WITH YOU.
-I don’t know about you but I say this is what I want what I would respond to, if God just shows up in my life im Gone!
-But that is not your nature, not as the sin corrupted vessel you are.
-And You and Gideon are no different.
-Didn’t even have enough faith to believe God liked him.
-Circumstances as an excuse as we go to verse 13.

13 Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.”

14 But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?”

- Gideon is Blaming God for the wages of sin.
Romans 6:23[For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.]
-God is not swayed by His excuse
-I AM WITH YOU…..Haven’t I just sent you. THAT is the strength that is with Gideon.
-Some of you are so busy and content with going it alone, even in failure, that you would choose it “SIN”
[SIN=missing the mark= separation from God,] over God being with you, because as painful as it is to fail, there is a perverted satisfaction in us to cultivate the illusion of “control”

-its why so many of you seek relationships, drugs, gossip, achievements, instead of allowing God to develop you. Waiting on God to correct your junk and in turn bring the right things into your life is paralyzing to your flesh, which strives to be the leader in your life.

-God is not concerned with or moved by your own grandeur but the fulfilling of His will by those whom He loves, all Glory and power and honor to him.

-Our self actualization in not impressive to God, Although like a good father whom son or daughter says with innocent enthusiasm states “look daddy I have ten fingers and ten toes!” he rejoices when we grow and define ourselves as full and whole persons. That’s great you have all your digits my child. That will come in handy.

-But just how that will come in handy we are not sure how would you know as that small child that those ten fingers could be the ticket to your destiny attending Julliard school of arts as a cello player.

-See our self-actualizations will always be limited to our field of view, its either self-consumed or God consumed.

-This is what God is seeking.

15 Gideon said to him, “Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter.”

{14And the LORD[b] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian;(R) do not I send you?” 15And he said to him,(S) “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold,(T) my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”} (ESV)

16 God said to him, “I’ll be with you. Believe me, you’ll defeat Midian as one man.”

17-18 Gideon said, “If you’re serious about this, do me a favor: Give me a sign to back up what you’re telling me. Don’t leave until I come back and bring you my gift.”

He said, “I’ll wait till you get back.”

19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat and a huge amount of unraised bread (he used over half a bushel of flour!). He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and took them back under the shade of the oak tree for a sacred meal.

-This had to have taken more than 5 min, there was no Marie calendars 5 min Micowave goat meals, and a bushel of flour is about…are you ready for this? 8 gallons…so he used 4 gallons of flour . either this was the driest loaf of bread in history of it was a ton of bread.
-I get the feeling when I read this like Gideon was stalling.
-I bet this guy aint gunna wait than I just got a good meal for me and the homies to munch.
-Do we string God out like that? Sure God just wait right here ill be “right back”

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unraised bread, place them on that rock, and pour the broth on them.” Gideon did it.

21-22 The angel of God stretched out the tip of the stick he was holding and touched the meat and the bread. Fire broke out of the rock and burned up the meat and bread while the angel of God slipped away out of sight. And Gideon knew it was the angel of God!

-Oh yeah Now you know!

Gideon said, “Oh no! Master, God! I have seen the angel of God face-to-face!”

23 But God reassured him, “Easy now. Don’t panic. You won’t die.”

24 Then Gideon built an altar there to God and named it “God’s Peace.” It’s still called that at Ophrah of Abiezer.

25-26 That night this happened. God said to him, “Take your father’s best seven-year-old bull, the prime one. Tear down your father’s Baal altar and chop down the Asherah fertility pole beside it. Then build an altar to God, your God, on the top of this hill. Take the prime bull and present it as a Whole-Burnt-Offering, using firewood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.”

27 Gideon selected ten men from his servants and did exactly what God had told him. But because of his family and the people in the neighborhood, he was afraid to do it openly, so he did it that night.

28 Early in the morning, the people in town were shocked to find Baal’s altar torn down, the Asherah pole beside it chopped down, and the prime bull burning away on the altar that had been built.

29 They kept asking, “Who did this?”

Questions and more questions, and then the answer: “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

30 The men of the town demanded of Joash: “Bring out your son! He must die! Why, he tore down the Baal altar and chopped down the Asherah tree!”
-I want you to realize here that in the times we live in. Its not always glorious to God to flaunt your calling.
-See I don’t believe Gideon was unwise in going at night he was using wisdom to accomplish what God had asked him. Now there are time in scripture where God has his people do something right out in the open. But other times you need to listen to Gods voice and decern the right way to represent HIM.
-Had Gideon went in the day he would have been killed most definitely

31 But Joash stood up to the crowd pressing in on him, “Are you going to fight Baal’s battles for him? Are you going to save him? Anyone who takes Baal’s side will be dead by morning. If Baal is a god in fact, let him fight his own battles and defend his own altar.”

32 They nicknamed Gideon that day Jerub-Baal because after he had torn down the Baal altar, he had said, “Let Baal fight his own battles.”

Our God is no slack, not a punk. But the God of this world this self-indulgent world has come to lie, steal , kill, and destroy. The wage and payment of sin is delegated out according to your own faith or lack thereof.

I will stand here as long as I have breathe and declare the will, justice, truth, and law of God to you all without apology without waiver. And I will tear down every alter you have built to this world and yourself, and sin. And say to you let your God prove himself. I dare your God to manifest as my God will. I dare your God through perversion, Addiction, fear, abuse, violence, lies and hate and confusion to give you the fulfillment your heart cries out for!

Let your God prove he works.

SEX and SEXUAL PERVERSION, VANITY, DRUGS, VIOLENCE, DEPRESSION, BROKEN HOMES, AND SECOND GUESSED VOWS.

GO AHEAD STAND UP FOR THE GOD OF THIS WORLD!
WOW, HE SURE HAS PROVEN HIMSELF.
RAPE, MURDER, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE
COME ON MY ATHEIST BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHERE IS YOUR SECULAR HUMANISTIC UTOPIA.

SAVE A WHALE, HUG A TREE, TEAR A BABY FROM THE WOMB PIECE BY PIECE.

LET THE GOD OF THIS WORLD DEFEND HIMSELF

HE CANNOT.

Do not buy the lies of your culture:

God is the only Soverign, the evil ruler of this world the real satan can never trump God. Everything else is a vain substitute.

Jerub-baal :
Let sin prove itself as more healing more fulfilling, more true and righteous and just than GOD.

EPIC//LIFE

GIDEON:Part 2

Judges 6:
33-35 All the Midianites and Amalekites (the easterners) got together, crossed the river, and made camp in the Valley of Jezreel. God’s Spirit came over Gideon. He blew his ram’s horn trumpet and the Abiezrites came out, ready to follow him. He dispatched messengers all through Manasseh, calling them to the battle; also to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. They all came.

36-37 Gideon said to God, “If this is right, if you are using me to save Israel as you’ve said, then look: I’m placing a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If dew is on the fleece only, but the floor is dry, then I know that you will use me to save Israel, as you said.”

38 That’s what happened. When he got up early the next morning, he wrung out the fleece—enough dew to fill a bowl with water!

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be impatient with me, but let me say one more thing. I want to try another time with the fleece. But this time let the fleece stay dry, while the dew drenches the ground.”

40 God made it happen that very night. Only the fleece was dry while the ground was wet with dew.

If your gunna call God out for a sign you better be ready to act upon it. Gideon was but still needed that.
-are you ready to act?
-or do you call God out fully intending to not really listen?

Judges 7 (The Message)

Judges 7
1 Jerub-Baal (Gideon) got up early the next morning, all his troops right there with him. They set up camp at Harod’s Spring. The camp of Midian was in the plain, north of them near the Hill of Moreh.

2-3 God said to Gideon, “You have too large an army with you. I can’t turn Midian over to them like this—they’ll take all the credit, saying, ‘I did it all myself,’ and forget about me. Make a public announcement: ‘Anyone afraid, anyone who has any qualms at all, may leave Mount Gilead now and go home.’” Twenty-two companies headed for home. (22,000) Ten companies were left(10,000).

4-5 God said to Gideon: “There are still too many. Take them down to the stream and I’ll make a final cut. When I say, ‘This one goes with you,’ he’ll go. When I say, ‘This one doesn’t go,’ he won’t go.” So Gideon took the troops down to the stream.

5-6 God said to Gideon: “Everyone who laps with his tongue, the way a dog laps, set on one side. And everyone who kneels to drink, drinking with his face to the water, set to the other side.” Three hundred lapped with their tongues from their cupped hands. All the rest knelt to drink.

7 God said to Gideon: “I’ll use the three hundred men who lapped at the stream to save you and give Midian into your hands. All the rest may go home.”

1. God calls all Glory to Himself
-God will be the only one to ever get glory in any circumstance He will not share, and is not obligated to do so.
• -God has to be first priority in all we do and the reason why we do it
• -God knows we will overlook him, and overlooking God will always breed fear because its only with him we can succeed,
• -This inevitably causes us to shrink away from any risk in our faith, and it will always be risky
• -So we naturally build ourselves up in our own schemes and pride
• -So God naturally sets us aside and chooses other ways and other people.

2. God calls you to Faith
-You will always find a reason to desert the cause of Jesus and the cross.
• -But though a religious society may be made fewer in numbers, it will gain in purity, and may expect an increased blessing from the Lord.
• -God chooses to employ such as are not only well affected, but zealously affected in a good thing.

3. Have Faith in your Call
-Do not pay attention to others actions before God’s call to action
• - we cannot just look at the forwardness/backwardness of others, or what/how they’re doing, but what God has called us 4.
• Its hard to endure when other people excel you in gifts or blessings, or in liberty, but look to your purpose not theirs: Faith

8 After Gideon took all their provisions and trumpets, he sent all the Israelites home. He took up his position with the three hundred. The camp of Midian stretched out below him in the valley.

9-12 That night, God told Gideon: “Get up and go down to the camp. I’ve given it to you. If you have any doubts about going down, go down with Purah your armor bearer; when you hear what they’re saying, you’ll be bold and confident.” He and his armor bearer Purah went down near the place where sentries were posted. Midian and Amalek, all the easterners, were spread out on the plain like a swarm of locusts. And their camels! Past counting, like grains of sand on the seashore!

13 Gideon arrived just in time to hear a man tell his friend a dream. He said, “I had this dream: A loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp. It came to the tent and hit it so hard it collapsed. The tent fell!”

14 His friend said, “This has to be the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite! God has turned Midian—the whole camp!—over to him.”

4. God works behind the scenes
-your enemys will be put to fear by Him
• Are we seeing its always Gods first
• How arrogant would Gideon have been to not be privy to this conversation and on battle day think “He had struck fear into the army”

15 When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he went to his knees before God in prayer. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said, “Get up and get going! God has just given us the Midianite army!”

5. Be confident in Gods construction
-He is working out for your victory
• Once again stay in confidence of Him

16-18 He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar, with a torch in the jar. He said, “Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do. When I and those with me blow the trumpets, you also, all around the camp, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘For God and for Gideon!’”

19-22 Gideon and his hundred men got to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after the sentries had been posted. They blew the trumpets, at the same time smashing the jars they carried. All three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands, ready to blow, and shouted, “A sword for God and for Gideon!” They were stationed all around the camp, each man at his post. The whole Midianite camp jumped to its feet. They yelled and fled. When the three hundred blew the trumpets, God aimed each Midianite’s sword against his companion, all over the camp. They ran for their lives—to Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, to the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

6. When Faith and Call Meet there is no doubt God moved.
-This entire story was all God, Hes the MAN.
• In the moment there could be temptation like man everythings going our way
• Back at the camp fire recounting the deeds:
• Once again Like God had done for their previous generations:

Judges 6:13 Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.”14 But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?”

• Once AGAIN IT WAS ALL HIM (GOD)

The substance of a life that is EPIC in faith, looks like this.
-Doing something big
-Doing something beyond imagination
-Realizing when it all goes down you were the vessel but no the power. A bowl only serves its purpose because its filled.
-You are only fulfilled when you are filled and God is head in your life.

1. Stop our planning for once
2. Surrender any thought of our future to God
3. Listen for His direction
4. Obey

How the Hebrews Adopted the Cult.
It would appear that the Hebrews first learned Ba’al-Worship from the agricultural Canaanites. Their life before the conquest of Canaan, whether lived in or outside of Palestine, was nomadic, and therefore kept them beyond the circle of religious associations promoted by the cultivation of the soil. After their settlement the Israelites began to live as did the people of the land, and with the new mode of industrial and domestic life came the example and the incitement of the religious use and wont that were inseparable from the soil. The stated festivals, in which the Ba’als of the land had drawn to themselves all the enthusiasm and devotion of an intensely religious people, were a part of the fixed order of things in Palestine, and were necessarily appropriated by the religion of Yhwh. With them came the danger of mixing the rites of the false gods and the true God; and, as a matter of fact, the syncretism did take place and contributed more than anything else to the religious and moral decline of Israel.

Dangers and Evils of the Worship.
The noxious elements in such Ba’al-Worship were not simply the degradation of Yhwh and the enthronement in his place of a baseless superstition. The chief evil arose from the fact that the Ba’als were more than mere religious fantasies. They were made the symbols of the reproductive powers of nature, and thus their worship ministered to sexual indulgences, which it at the same time legalized and encouraged. Further, there was placed side by side with the Ba’al a corresponding female symbol, the Ashtoreth (Babyl. “Ashtar”) and the relation between the two deities was set forth as the example and the motive of unbridled sensuality. The evil became all the worse when in the popular view Yhwh himself was regarded as one of the Ba’als and the chief of them (Hosea ii. 16). It was in northern Israel, where agriculture was more followed than in the southern kingdom, that Ba’al-Worship was most insidious and virulent.

Ba’al Worship (world worship)
•    Worship of multiple situaltional Gods
•    Gods you can move based on action
•    Worshipped by Sex, Festival including
o    Drinking
o    Orgies
o    Musical numbers
o    Dancing
o    Sometimes violence
•    Sacrafices
•    Not unlike the sacrafice of kids to the God of money and celebrity

12 And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. 13They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. 14 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. 15Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

Funny how we turn to God only when its bad.

The LORD Raises Up Judges
16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them.

You cannot use God as other Gods for your benefit becuase all things will always be tied to His will and your will and His will do not have to match, infact most of the time as we learn our faith and whom God is in our life our will and His Will do not match. We learn to hear His voice and not insert our own desires as His words.

They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so. 18Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people has transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, 22in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their fathers did, or not.” 23So the LORD left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

Scripture pulled from ESV version on:

www.biblegateway.com

Baal notes from :

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2&letter=B

Joshua 6:18-21 (English Standard Version)

18But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. 19But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.” 20So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. 21Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

Joshua 7 (English Standard Version)

Joshua 7
Israel Defeated at Ai
1But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.
2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.”
[and so Joshua came before the Lord and asked “OH LORD whom delivered Jericho to your people and goes before us, what do you wish to take this city for the Glory of your name, and fame of your chosen people?” NOPE]
4So about 3,000 men went up there from the people.
[Jospeh in the course of one victory takes control back, and allows God not even a secondary advisor role]
And they [Israel] fled before the men of Ai, 5and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
[In one swoop, the deliverance and victory is shattered]

1. In your life, God is sovereign Lord of all or not at all
- Sovereign
1 a : superlative in quality : excellent b : of the most exalted kind : supreme e : having undisputed ascendancy : paramount
2 a : possessed of supreme power b : unlimited in extent : absolute c : enjoying autonomy : independent
- The easy conquest of Jericho excited contempt of the enemy, and a disposition to expect the Lord to do all for them without their using proper means.
–Developed lax attitude to God

6Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. 7And [Now] Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

Joshua’s humiliation and prayer.
Joshua’s concern for the honour of God, more than even for the fate of Israel, was the language of the Spirit of adoption. He pleaded with God. He laments their defeat, as he feared it would reflect on God’s wisdom and power, his goodness and faithfulness. We cannot at any time urge a better plea than this, Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great name? Let God be glorified in all, and then welcome his whole will. (Jos 7:10-15)

2. We must have expectancy of what God will do, not expect that He must.
-It becomes dangerous to superimpose God’s Holiness and action over your life just because of His nature when you choose and refuse to acknowledge that everything is His.
–Yes they were God’s people, but just being that, or being a Christian or paying your church dues and droppin your check is not spiritual life insurance, I do my part so God you gotta do yours, as if we could ever manage our lives successfully.
–God’s Holiness acts in our lives when we are surrendered wholly.
-Where do you obligate God?
–Deepest root of bitterness against religion I have seen is unrealized expectations of God, as if the creator was made by the creation?

The Sin of Achan
10The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the LORD, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the LORD takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the LORD takes shall come near by households. And the household that the LORD takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

3. Sin is sin, and it moves against the very being of God
- you cannot pass off the calling of Holiness we have been given, a call to be Jealous for our God and His will as He is Jealous for us.
-God will Honor His name and dishonor yours.

16So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise
[not a command for worship but a demand for confession, similar to the instance in John 9:24 in the greek where the Jewish leaders put a man to an oath  whom Jesus had healed saying “Give Glory to God, we know this man is a sinner” Todah  can connotate confession as well as praise]
to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
[The spoil that Achan took was not a small thing in amount or in meaning.
The 6 pounds of silver, and the 1 pound and 1/4 of Gold represent what is believed to amount to a lifetimes wages for the average worker.]
22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the LORD. 24And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
[They gathered Achan and His entire family and the whole of his possessions before the assembly of the nation.
Parents realize that before God the decisions you make in your relationship to God will affect your family, your children’s children and all you hold close to your heart. And your faith or your rebellion will bless or curse your family.]
25And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.

4. Sin of Achan is a Sin of Disobedience and Control
-Disobedience well because he mocked Gods command by not following it as instructed.
–Oh yes there is no gray area church, you either follow your you mock
-Control because we see what is Achan attempting to Lord over his own future and forsaking trust in Gods plan, He desired a short cut as opposed to the natural gifting of God
–That which he took could’ve symbolized the ending of all his worries financially, all his needs met. His family provided for.
—But it was a mockery to God
—You cannot take Gods place, He will not be second to your plans for your life.
-Where do we let our plans and needs over ride and overrun God and His plans and desires?
-Where do we place God in order of importance in our life?
-Do you treat church as second priority; Parents are you training your children that the number one most important thing in life is God?
That without him first nothing will work out, or are you teaching them that just one more cheerleading, football, softball, baseball, extra circular this or that is more important than the living sacrifice of their life, because after all it deals with there “future”? And if you don’t pursue “success” you’ll be a failure in this life.
-Are we teaching our families that having the extra toy, or house accessory is more important than them or God as we look to pull extra hours to “provide” for our families. Taking us out of the home and finding us seldom to never in church.
-These are trying times we live in not because of this recession fear and turmoil of the world but because everyday we wake up is a day God seeks to bless our life and the enemy plans to steal it, and this is the battle the War we will fight till the day we cease.
-God instructs Joshua what to do.
Times of danger and trouble should be times of reformation.
We should look at home, into our own hearts, into our own houses, and diligently search to find out if there are cursed things there, which God sees and abhors;
secret lust,
desire for some unlawful or easy gain,
withholding from God or from others.
We cannot prosper, until we let it all go and let cursed things [idols] be destroyed out of our hearts, and put out of our habitations and our families, and forsaken in our lives.
-Achan forgot the miracle of the salvation of Israel from Egypt , the miracles God had done to sustain a people in the wilderness while those previous unfaithful dies off, He lost perspective of the great promise we have church, that God is our provider, and if we first pursue and honor him jealously and whole heartedly that He will not forsake us.

Hebrews 12:4-29(The Message)

Hebrews 12
Discipline in a Long-Distance Race
4-11In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

12-13So don’t sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

14-17Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God’s generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.
An Unshakable Kingdom
18-21Unlike your ancestors, you didn’t come to Mount Sinai—all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble—to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop. When they heard the words—”If an animal touches the Mountain, it’s as good as dead”—they were afraid to move. Even Moses was terrified.

22-24No, that’s not your experience at all. You’ve come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just. You’ve come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel’s—a homicide that cried out for vengeance—became a proclamation of grace.

25-27So don’t turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn’t get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he’s told us this quite plainly—he’ll also rock the heavens: “One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.” The phrase “one last shaking” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.

28-29Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

Genesis 42
1-2 When Jacob learned that there was food in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you sit around here and look at one another? I’ve heard that there is food in Egypt. Go down there and buy some so that we can survive and not starve to death.”

3-5 Ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to get food. Jacob didn’t send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something bad might happen to him. So Israel’s sons joined everyone else that was going to Egypt to buy food, for Canaan, too, was hit hard by the famine.

6-7 Joseph was running the country; he was the one who gave out rations to all the people. When Joseph’s brothers arrived, they treated him with honor, bowing to him. Joseph recognized them immediately, but treated them as strangers and spoke roughly to them.

He said, “Where do you come from?”

“From Canaan,” they said. “We’ve come to buy food.”

8 Joseph knew who they were, but they didn’t know who he was.

9 Joseph, remembering the dreams he had dreamed of them, said, “You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weak spots.”

10-11 “No, master,” they said. “We’ve only come to buy food. We’re all the sons of the same man; we’re honest men; we’d never think of spying.”

12 He said, “No. You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weak spots.”

13 They said, “There were twelve of us brothers—sons of the same father in the country of Canaan. The youngest is with our father, and one is no more.”

14-16 But Joseph said, “It’s just as I said, you’re spies. This is how I’ll test you. As Pharaoh lives, you’re not going to leave this place until your younger brother comes here. Send one of you to get your brother while the rest of you stay here in jail. We’ll see if you’re telling the truth or not. As Pharaoh lives, I say you’re spies.”

17 Then he threw them into jail for three days.

18-20 On the third day, Joseph spoke to them. “Do this and you’ll live. I’m a God-fearing man. If you’re as honest as you say you are, one of your brothers will stay here in jail while the rest of you take the food back to your hungry families. But you have to bring your youngest brother back to me, confirming the truth of your speech—and not one of you will die.” They agreed.

21 Then they started talking among themselves. “Now we’re paying for what we did to our brother—we saw how terrified he was when he was begging us for mercy. We wouldn’t listen to him and now we’re the ones in trouble.”

22 Reuben broke in. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t hurt the boy’? But no, you wouldn’t listen. And now we’re paying for his murder.”

23-24 Joseph had been using an interpreter, so they didn’t know that Joseph was understanding every word. Joseph turned away from them and cried.

[The Past hurts don’t just go away, no matter how far you pass them or how deep you try to bury them]

When he was able to speak again, he took Simeon and had him tied up, making a prisoner of him while they all watched.

25 Then Joseph ordered that their sacks be filled with grain, that their money be put back in each sack, and that they be given rations for the road. That was all done for them.

26 They loaded their food supplies on their donkeys and set off.

27-28 When they stopped for the night, one of them opened his sack to get food for his donkey; there at the mouth of his bag was his money. He called out to his brothers, “My money has been returned; it’s right here in my bag!” They were puzzled—and frightened. “What’s God doing to us?”

29-32 When they got back to their father Jacob, back in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened, saying, “The man who runs the country spoke to us roughly and accused us of being spies. We told him, ‘We are honest men and in no way spies. There were twelve of us brothers, sons of one father; one is gone and the youngest is with our father in Canaan.’

33-34 “But the master of the country said, ‘Leave one of your brothers with me, take food for your starving families, and go. Bring your youngest brother back to me, proving that you’re honest men and not spies. And then I’ll give your brother back to you and you’ll be free to come and go in this country.’”

35 As they were emptying their food sacks, each man came on his purse of money. On seeing their money, they and their father were upset.

36 Their father said to them, “You’re taking everything I’ve got! Joseph’s gone, Simeon’s gone, and now you want to take Benjamin. If you have your way, I’ll be left with nothing.”

37 Reuben spoke up: “I’ll put my two sons in your hands as hostages. If I don’t bring Benjamin back, you can kill them. Trust me with Benjamin; I’ll bring him back.”

38 But Jacob refused. “My son will not go down with you. His brother is dead and he is all I have left. If something bad happens to him on the road, you’ll put my gray, sorrowing head in the grave.”

Genesis 43 (The Message)

Genesis 43

1-2 The famine got worse. When they had eaten all the food they had brought back from Egypt, their father said, “Go back and get some more food.”

3-5 But Judah said, “The man warned us most emphatically, ‘You won’t so much as see my face if you don’t have your brother with you.’ If you’re ready to release our brother to go with us, we’ll go down and get you food. But if you’re not ready, we aren’t going. What would be the use? The man told us, ‘You won’t so much as see my face if you don’t have your brother with you.’”

6 Israel said, “Why are you making my life so difficult! Why did you ever tell the man you had another brother?”

7 They said, “The man pressed us hard, asking pointed questions about our family: ‘Is your father alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How did we know that he’d say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”

8-10 Judah pushed his father Israel. “Let the boy go; I’ll take charge of him. Let us go and be on our way—if we don’t get going, we’re all going to starve to death—we and you and our children, too! I’ll take full responsibility for his safety; it’s my life on the line for his. If I don’t bring him back safe and sound, I’m the guilty one; I’ll take all the blame. If we had gone ahead in the first place instead of procrastinating like this, we could have been there and back twice over.”

11-14 Their father Israel gave in. “If it has to be, it has to be. But do this: stuff your packs with the finest products from the land you can find and take them to the man as gifts—some balm and honey, some spices and perfumes, some pistachios and almonds. And take plenty of money—pay back double what was returned to your sacks; that might have been a mistake. Take your brother and get going. Go back to the man. And may The Strong God give you grace in that man’s eyes so that he’ll send back your other brother along with Benjamin. For me, nothing’s left; I’ve lost everything.”

15-16 The men took the gifts, double the money, and Benjamin. They lost no time in getting to Egypt and meeting Joseph. When Joseph saw that they had Benjamin with them, he told his house steward, “Take these men into the house and make them at home. Butcher an animal and prepare a meal; these men are going to eat with me at noon.”

17-18 The steward did what Joseph had said and took them inside. But they became anxious when they were brought into Joseph’s home, thinking, “It’s the money; he thinks we ran off with the money on our first trip down here. And now he’s got us where he wants us—he’s going to turn us into slaves and confiscate our donkeys.”

19-22 So they went up to Joseph’s house steward and talked to him in the doorway. They said, “Listen, master. We came down here one other time to buy food. On our way home, the first night out we opened our bags and found our money at the mouth of the bag—the exact amount we’d paid. We’ve brought it all back and have plenty more to buy more food with. We have no idea who put the money in our bags.”

23 The steward said, “Everything’s in order. Don’t worry. Your God and the God of your father must have given you a bonus. I was paid in full.” And with that, he presented Simeon to them.

24-25 He then took them inside Joseph’s house and made them comfortable—gave them water to wash their feet and saw to the feeding of their donkeys. The brothers spread out their gifts as they waited for Joseph to show up at noon—they had been told that they were to have dinner with him.

26 When Joseph got home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought and bowed respectfully before him.

27 Joseph welcomed them and said, “And your old father whom you mentioned to me, how is he? Is he still alive?”

28 They said, “Yes—your servant our father is quite well, very much alive.” And they again bowed respectfully before him.

29 Then Joseph picked out his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son. He asked, “And is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”

30-31 Deeply moved on seeing his brother and about to burst into tears, Joseph hurried out into another room and had a good cry. Then he washed his face, got a grip on himself, and said, “Let’s eat.”

32-34 Joseph was served at his private table, the brothers off by themselves and the Egyptians off by themselves (Egyptians won’t eat at the same table with Hebrews; it’s repulsive to them). The brothers were seated facing Joseph, arranged in order of their age, from the oldest to the youngest. They looked at one another wide-eyed, wondering what would happen next. When the brothers’ plates were served from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s plate came piled high, far more so than his brothers. And so the brothers feasted with Joseph, drinking freely.

Genesis 44 (The Message)

Genesis 44
1-2 Joseph ordered his house steward: “Fill the men’s bags with food—all they can carry—and replace each one’s money at the top of the bag. Then put my chalice, my silver chalice, in the top of the bag of the youngest, along with the money for his food.” He did as Joseph ordered.

3-5 At break of day the men were sent off with their donkeys. They were barely out of the city when Joseph said to his house steward, “Run after them. When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why did you pay me back evil for good? This is the chalice my master drinks from; he also uses it for divination. This is outrageous!’”

6 He caught up with them and repeated all this word for word.

7-9 They said, “What is my master talking about? We would never do anything like that! Why, the money we found in our bags earlier, we brought back all the way from Canaan—do you think we’d turn right around and steal it back from your master? If that chalice is found on any of us, he’ll die; and the rest of us will be your master’s slaves.”

10 The steward said, “Very well then, but we won’t go that far. Whoever is found with the chalice will be my slave; the rest of you can go free.”

11-12 They outdid each other in putting their bags on the ground and opening them up for inspection. The steward searched their bags, going from oldest to youngest. The chalice showed up in Benjamin’s bag.

13 They ripped their clothes in despair, loaded up their donkeys, and went back to the city.

14 Joseph was still at home when Judah and his brothers got back. They threw themselves down on the ground in front of him.

15 Joseph accused them: “How can you have done this? You have to know that a man in my position would have discovered this.”

16 Judah as spokesman for the brothers said, “What can we say, master? What is there to say? How can we prove our innocence? God is behind this, exposing how bad we are. We stand guilty before you and ready to be your slaves—we’re all in this together, the rest of us as guilty as the one with the chalice.”

17 “I’d never do that to you,” said Joseph. “Only the one involved with the chalice will be my slave. The rest of you are free to go back to your father.”

18-20 Judah came forward. He said, “Please, master; can I say just one thing to you? Don’t get angry. Don’t think I’m presumptuous—you’re the same as Pharaoh as far as I’m concerned. You, master, asked us, ‘Do you have a father and a brother?’ And we answered honestly, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother who was born to him in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only son left from that mother. And his father loves him more than anything.’

21-22 “Then you told us, ‘Bring him down here so I can see him.’ We told you, master, that it was impossible: ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he leaves, his father will die.’

23 “And then you said, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come with you, you won’t be allowed to see me.’

24-26 “When we returned to our father, we told him everything you said to us. So when our father said, ‘Go back and buy some more food,’ we told him flatly, ‘We can’t. The only way we can go back is if our youngest brother is with us. We aren’t allowed to even see the man if our youngest brother doesn’t come with us.’

27-29 “Your servant, my father, told us, ‘You know very well that my wife gave me two sons. One turned up missing. I concluded that he’d been ripped to pieces. I’ve never seen him since. If you now go and take this one and something bad happens to him, you’ll put my old gray, grieving head in the grave for sure.’

30-32 “And now, can’t you see that if I show up before your servant, my father, without the boy, this son with whom his life is so bound up, the moment he realizes the boy is gone, he’ll die on the spot. He’ll die of grief and we, your servants who are standing here before you, will have killed him. And that’s not all. I got my father to release the boy to show him to you by promising, ‘If I don’t bring him back, I’ll stand condemned before you, Father, all my life.’

33-34 “So let me stay here as your slave, not this boy. Let the boy go back with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? Oh, don’t make me go back and watch my father die in grief!”

Genesis 45 (The Message)

Genesis 45
1-2 Joseph couldn’t hold himself in any longer, keeping up a front before all his attendants. He cried out, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” So there was no one with Joseph when he identified himself to his brothers. But his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear him. The news was soon reported to Pharaoh’s palace.

3 Joseph spoke to his brothers: “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” But his brothers couldn’t say a word. They were speechless—they couldn’t believe what they were hearing and seeing.

4-8 “Come closer to me,” Joseph said to his brothers. They came closer. “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don’t feel badly, don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years—neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt.

9-11 “Hurry back to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: I’m master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live in Goshen where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won’t want for a thing.’

12-13 “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here, but don’t take all day—hurry up and get my father down here.”

14-15 Then Joseph threw himself on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. He then kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Only then were his brothers able to talk with him.

16 The story was reported in Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It was good news to Pharaoh and all who worked with him.

[Joseph's Witness and testimony of forgiveness and serving God no matter what, acting in faith not circumstance is a testimony to the world around him {secular} society/people watch how we handle every situation]

•    -Who do you need to forgive tonight?

• •    -without forgiveness you become a bitter hypocrite.
• o    –bitter is a curse of unforgiveness
• o    –hypocrite because you want grace but you do not wish to ever extend it

•    -You will have emotional struggle

• o    –But what they did was wrong., they were not sorry
• •    -takes one to repent and one to forgive and 2 to reconcile you can forgive whether or not they repent

Forgiving is not:

•    –NOT Approving

• o    –what you did was wrong and I choose to forgive you

•    -Not denying

• o    –it didn’t happen or that sin didn’t occurred

•    -NOT diminishing it

• o    –oh its not big deal…etc
• o    –NO its such a big deal Jesus came and suffered and died for it.

•    -Its NOT covering sin.

• o    –you can forgive someone and still have them arrested for a crime
• o    –that’s justice

•    -You need to forgive

• o    –or it will consume and kill you and you lock yourself to identity to there sin not Gods view of you
• •    -and you deny Gods forgiving you

•    -whom do you need to forgive

• •    -Its not easy
• •    -AS a pastor we have front row seat to the most painful moments of people lives}but also the most momentous as God miraculous works of haling and regeneration. You have to choose which one you want
  
• •    (* notes pulled from Pastor Mark Driscoll “LUKE’S GOSPEL” Beattitudes week 2 www.marshillchurch.org)

17-18 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is the plan: Load up your pack animals; go to Canaan, get your father and your families and bring them back here. I’ll settle you on the best land in Egypt—you’ll live off the fat of the land.’

19-20 “Also tell them this: ‘Here’s what I want you to do: Take wagons from Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives and load up your father and come back. Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.’”

21-23 And they did just that, the sons of Israel. Joseph gave them the wagons that Pharaoh had promised and food for the trip. He outfitted all the brothers in brand-new clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and several suits of clothes. He sent his father these gifts: ten donkeys loaded with Egypt’s best products and another ten donkeys loaded with grain and bread, provisions for his father’s journey back.

24 Then he sent his brothers off. As they left he told them, “Take it easy on the journey; try to get along with each other.”

25-28 They left Egypt and went back to their father Jacob in Canaan. When they told him, “Joseph is still alive—and he’s the ruler over the whole land of Egypt!” he went numb; he couldn’t believe his ears. But the more they talked, telling him everything that Joseph had told them and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the blood started to flow again—their father Jacob’s spirit revived. Israel said, “I’ve heard enough—my son Joseph is still alive. I’ve got to go and see him before I die.”

“I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32

Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is a farce, there was no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but a surgical operation.

When you are face to face with a soul in difficulty spiritually, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the Cross. If that soul can get to God on any other line, then the Cross of Jesus Christ is unnecessary. If you can help others by your sympathy or understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You have to keep your soul rightly related to God and pour out for others on His line, not pour out on the human line and ignore God. The great note to-day is amiable religiosity.

The one thing we have to do is to exhibit Jesus Christ crucified, to lift Him up all the time. Every doctrine that is not imbedded in the Cross of Jesus will lead astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is banking on the Reality of Redemption, the people he talks to must be concerned. The thing that remains and deepens is the worker’s simple relationship to Jesus Christ; his usefulness to God depends on that and that alone.

The calling of a New Testament worker is to uncover sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Saviour, consequently he cannot be poetical, he must be sternly surgical. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful discourses. We have to probe straight down as deeply as God has probed us, to be keen in sensing the Scriptures which bring the truth straight home and to apply them fearlessly.
-Oswald Chambers

1 After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.

2-6 As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him. He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master. His master recognized that God was with him, saw that God was working for good in everything he did. He became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him. From that moment on, God blessed the home of the Egyptian—all because of Joseph. The blessing of God spread over everything he owned, at home and in the fields, and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day.

Joseph preferred by Potiphar.
Our enemies may:
-strip us of outward distinctions and ornaments; but wisdom and grace cannot be taken from us.
-They may separate us from friends, relatives, and country; but they cannot take from us the presence of the Lord.
-They may shut us from outward blessings, rob us of liberty, and confine us in dungeons; but they cannot shut us out from communion with God, from the throne of grace, or take from us the blessings of salvation.
-THE 10/90 Principle
-Joseph was blessed, wonderfully blessed, even in the house where he was a slave.
-God’s presence with us, makes all we do prosperous. Good men are the blessings of the place where they live; good servants may be so, though mean and lightly esteemed. The prosperity of the wicked is, one way or other, for the sake of the godly. Here was a wicked family blessed for the sake of one good servant in it. (Ge 39:7-12)

6-7 Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. As time went on, his master’s wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”

8-9 He wouldn’t do it. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master doesn’t give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he’s put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn’t turned over to me is you. You’re his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?”

10 She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.

Joseph resists temptation.

Beauty either in men or women, often proves a snare both to themselves and others. This forbids pride in it, and requires constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends it.
We have great need to make a covenant with our eyes, lest the eyes infect the heart. When lust has got power, decency, and reputation, and conscience, are all sacrificed.

Potiphar’s wife showed that her heart was fully set to do evil.
-Satan, when he found he could not overcome Joseph with the troubles and the frowns of the world, for in them he still held fast his principle, assaulted him with pleasures, which have ruined more than the former.
-But Joseph, by the grace of God, was enabled to resist and overcome this temptation.
The tempter was his mistress, one whose favour would help him forward; and it was at his utmost peril if he slighted her, and made her his enemy. The time and place favoured the temptation. To all this was added frequent, constant urging.
-He urges what he owed both to God and his master.
–We are bound in honour, as well as justice and gratitude, not in any thing to wrong those who place trust in us, how secretly so ever it may be done. He would not offend his God.

Three arguments Joseph urges upon himself.

1. He considers who he was that was tempted.

One in covenant with God, who professed religion and relation to him.

2. What the sin was to which he was tempted.

Others might look upon it as a small matter; but Joseph did not so think of it. Call sin by its own name, and never lessen it. Let sins of this nature always be looked upon as great wickedness, as exceedingly sinful.

3. Against whom he was tempted to sin, against God.

Sin is against God, against his nature and his dominion, against his love and his design. Those that love God, for this reason hate sin.

The grace of God enabled Joseph to overcome the temptation, by avoiding the temper. He would not stay to parley with the temptation, but fled from it, as escaping for his life. If we mean not to do iniquity, let us flee as a bird from the snare, and as a roe from the hunter. (Ge 39:13-18)

11-15 On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there. She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, “Sleep with me!” He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. When she realized that he had left his coat in her hand and run outside, she called to her house servants: “Look—this Hebrew shows up and before you know it he’s trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me but I yelled as loud as I could. With all my yelling and screaming, he left his coat beside me here and ran outside.”

16-18 She kept his coat right there until his master came home. She told him the same story. She said, “The Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use me for his plaything. When I yelled and screamed, he left his coat with me and ran outside.”

Joseph is falsely accused by his mistress.
Joseph’s mistress, having tried in vain to make him a guilty man, endeavoured to be avenged on him. Those that have broken the bonds of modesty, will never be held by the bonds of truth. It is no new thing for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst of crimes, by those who themselves are the worst of criminals. It is well there is a day of discovery coming, in which all shall appear in their true characters.
(Ge 39:19-23)


19-23 When his master heard his wife’s story, telling him, “These are the things your slave did to me,” he was furious. Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the jail where the king’s prisoners were locked up. But there in jail God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer. The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners—he ended up managing the whole operation. The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best.

He is cast into prison, God is with him there.
Joseph’s master believed the accusation.
Potiphar, it is likely, chose that prison, because it was the worst; but God designed to open the way to Joseph’s honour. Joseph was owned and righted by his God.
He was away from all his friends and relations; he had none to help or comfort him; but the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy.

Those that have a good conscience in a prison, have a good God there. God gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison; he trusted him to manage the affairs of the prison. A good man will do good wherever he is, and will be a blessing even in bonds and banishment. Let us not forget, through Joseph, to look unto Jesus, who suffered being tempted, yet without sin; who was slandered, and persecuted, and imprisoned, but without cause; who by the cross ascended to the throne. May we be enabled to follow the same path in submitting and in suffering, to the same place of glory.

*Notes pulled from Matthew Henerys Commentary*