January 18

Gen 37-38 | PS 16 | Prov 3:27-32 | Matt 12:22-45

You have given your heart to God, you have repented of your sins, and have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are now pouring into God's word and His messages to you are clear. What are you doing with that? As God's children we are called to speak forth God's word to those around us, both those who are also believers and to those who don't know God. So, you are sitting at the family dinner table. Gathered together is your father who you know has never made a decision to follow Jesus (Oh, he is a great guy, provided well for you and your family, is great with the children and grandchildren, but concerning God, that topic is avoided for fear of retaliation), there is your sister and her husband who go to church on occasion , but you know they don't really give God a second thought, and others. Do you bring up Jesus at that dinner, or do you leave it alone for fear of retaliation, fear of being ostracized, fear of being labeled or marginalized. When I consider, almost 30 years ago, how bold that woman who entered my mother's hospital room where I sat crying by the body of my mother (who had just died) was, when she approached me without fear of scrutiny or what I might say or do, and simply prayed Psalm 23 over me with boldness and conviction, it makes me thankful that she did not hold back. So many are hearing from God but suffer from the paralysis of analysis. Do we take lightly or choose to disregard that those around us who have not made a decision for Jesus will spend eternity with the others following the wide road to hell (Matthew 7:13-14)? Will we comfort ourselves by the many friends and family who state that our loved one is in a better place, when to the best of our knowledge they are not and we did not bother to help set them on the right path? Over the past 5+ years I have written much, always approaching God's Word with fear and trembling, and waiting to be moved as a vessel by the Holy Spirit. With many people now going through this challenge, I'm sure that many have disagreed and some might even have been offended by some of the statements that I have made. If I allowed this to stop me, what I send out every morning would be impossible for fear of who I might be offending. Though I pray that my words never hurt anyone, I pray daily that my words might help even one person that day. May we remember Jesus' words in Matthew 10:28, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

Aside from Jesus who is indeed perfect, the only two major characters in Scripture in which no sin is attached to their names are Daniel and Joseph. As we go through the remainder of Joseph if we pay close attention we will see that Joseph is a type of Jesus with around 100 analogies that can be drawn. Some develop an immediate dislike to Joseph at the outset due first to his actions in Genesis 37:2, "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father." This makes young Joseph seem like a little snitch or a tattle-taler. But we read in the next verse of Joseph's tunic of many colors, which could also be rendered "long sleeves". Most feel that Reuben lost his birthright of the firstborn due to sleeping with Bilhah in 35:22. This coat or tunic would signify that Jacob bestowed this birthright onto Joseph as a result. With Joseph in charge it was his responsibility to detail the poor work of Jacob's sons. We next come to Joseph's first two dreams in 37:5-11. These dreams might at first seem prideful, as though he was bragging. At the very least it would seem like he lacked discretion for passing this information along with how they might make the rest of his family feel. But if God gives us a vision or a revelation, are we to keep our mouths shut out of fear? Or, are we to speak forth the Word of God in boldness. Without Joseph's second dream, the understanding of the woman clothed with the sun and the moon and the twelve stars in Revelation 12 would be impossible, but through this dream , we can understand that it refers to Israel.

Look at the boldness of Jesus to a crowd who was at the least mixed concerning Him in Matthew 12:40-42, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." Like Joseph he passed along God's message. Both could be labeled braggers, but with Jesus we know the end of the story and know that He is indeed God. Realize both Jesus and Joseph both spoke forth God's word to others fearlessly. Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." The question we must all ask ourselves is why are we all holding back? This does not mean that we should go out of our way to be offensive in our own strength and in our flesh. But we as believers in Jesus Christ, have all been filled with the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is communicating with each of us who have made that profession of faith. So why are we so silent? Have we allowed our fear of public scrutiny, the thought of being unpopular, the fear of persecution to stifle us? There is a world out there literally starving for the gospel truth. We, believers, have all been commissioned by Jesus, Himself ,with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, to "...Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,...". With world events rapidly progressing toward those prophesied in end times this is not the time to keep our mouths shut. This is the time to share the gospel truth anywhere and everywhere. The opportunities are endless, but we are rendering ourselves blind to them. May we never fear the world and their comments, but instead seek the words of the One we love, one day hearing, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).

Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley:

Marj Lancaster