Eventually, one day came and God brought out Joseph from the prison. He did not just bring him out, He became a ruler!
When he was called, he did something.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh. –Genesis 41:14 (KJV)
Learn to dress for your future address as Joseph did. Ladies, learn to dress well without being seductive. Don’t be overly spiritual and be careless with your dressing. The fact is that men are moved by sight, even the very spiritual guys. So learn to dress well.
Wear clothes that fit you very well. Joseph shaved and changed his raiment in order to prepare for where God is taking him. Before you complain that there is no husband, go and fix that hair, dress well and be particular about your appearance.
6. Finally, Joseph was a forgiver!
He forgave his brothers. He didn’t try to fix them or deal with them.
Now, therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. –Genesis 45:5 (KJV)
He allowed the overall plan of God to gain ascendancy over hurts and past wounds. If your relationship, and inevitably marriage will work, you must be a quick forgiver. An unforgiving spirit can hinder you and stop God’s blessings in your life.
The one that violated you while you were little, the one that raped you, the one that took advantage of you, the one that deceived you, the one that used you and dumped you, the one that collected your money and later dumped you, the one that jilted you, the one that was double dating with you, the one that really hurt you badly, the one that slowed down your education.
The one that impregnated you and denied he never met you, the one that ditched you for a richer person, the one you sponsored out of the country and then forgot about you, the one that took your money and your esteem away, the one that stole your dignity, the one that robbed you of your innocence, the one that forcefully violated you, the one that toyed with your emotions, the one that you trusted as a pastor but manipulated you….the list goes on…forgive all of them!
Why forgive? Four reasons:
a. So that God in heaven will also forgive you.
b. So that your heart can be unclogged and you can move on.
c. So that your prayers can be answered.
d. So that the adversity will eventually become an advantage!
Mention their names, and say, so so… I forgive you!
That seems difficult, but do it! That is how to move forward in life. Let go and let God!
I pray for you this morning that God will help you to forgive those you need to forgive! Free yourself. Let your soul escape like a bird out of the snare of the fowler.
If you need to cry to do that, please do, but forgive! God will wipe your tears away and you will forget the shame of your youth!More Lessons From The Life of Joseph
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I forgive. I am a forgiver! I will not clog my heart with hurts and bitterness
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray and ask God to give the grace to be a quick forgiver
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. –Genesis 45:8 (KJV)
This morning, we are looking at more things singles can learn from the life of Joseph
4. Joseph would not let go of his dream
Joseph held on to his dream despite contradictory circumstances. He refused to give up on God. He had hope. He knew God would not let him down!
I will like you to know this morning that your dreams will still come to pass. Never let go! God’s words will never fall to the ground and He is never too late. Hold on to the horns of the altar and refuse to resign to fate! He that has promised you is also faithful to bring it to pass!
5. Joseph was in the prison but the prison was not in him!
It is one thing to be bound physically, it is another thing to also be bound within! There are many people who are not imprisoned physically but are chained within. There are many people who are walking free but are actually in prison and there are people who are imprisoned but are free within!
Joseph never allowed the prison to enter him. He still went ahead and interpreted a dream for someone in the prison which was to be an act that would later facilitate his exit from the prison. That is something Singles Can Learn From Joseph
Joseph never allowed bitterness and offense to which he had every reason to succumb. He was still trying to help out others with the intent he became the leader in the prison. Despite that he has been sentenced to a special maximum prison where the king’s offenders were kept with no hope of coming out, he did not get bitter!
Never get bitter at God for any reason. You cannot fight your maker and win. You cannot blame God for any woes. God is not mocked. Bitterness at God will only worsen the situation
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I forgive. I am a forgiver! I will not clog my heart with hurts and bitterness
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray and ask God to give the grace to be a quick forgiver
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 45:8 (KJV) So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
This is a major one! He was offered free intercourse, but he ran away! He refused to get bitter about God because of his experiences and did not allow depression and conflicting emotions to push him into the clutches of available compromise with Potiphar’s wife!
(7) As time went on, his master’s wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.”(8) 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.(9) 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.(11) On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there.(12) She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, “Sleep with me!” He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. – Gen 39:7-12 MSG
Joseph said; I cannot sin against God! He had the fear of God. This is one of the reasons he became the greatest in Egypt! From prison to a ruler! What Singles Can Learn From Joseph
You see, righteousness exalts! Never ever allow the devil to tell you that you are missing out because you are a child of God. Never envy those who don’t have a relationship with God. David made that mistake too and he envied unbelievers, but he said when he got into God’s presence, then he understood their ends.
Joseph ran away! This is what you do in the face of sexual compromise! That is not the time to start speaking in tongues when he or she has removed his or her clothes! Run away! Flee! That is why God created legs for you!
Don’t come around and say somebody seduced you. Run! Five minutes before the compromise, you will always know what is about to happen. Don’t wait there trying to see what will happen when all the angels have already fled so that their eyes will not behold evil!
What else will happen between a guy and a lady alone in the room, with no light and no candles around 9.00 pm? Run! That is how to preserve your destiny! Run! That is how to fulfill your destiny! Run! Pack out of the house, you are not yet married! Run away because your destiny is greater than the compromise you are entangled with! Free yourself by God’s Spirit and run!
Take a cue from Joseph. But if I leave him, he won’t give me money again! If I leave him, he won’t pay my school fees again, and so on and so forth. That was also the place Joseph found himself. He ran away, and then seemed to land in the prison! But God did not leave him and that is the important thing. Righteousness will eventually exalt you and give you a better platform than exchanging your body for some paltry sums!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a dreamer. I will not stop dreaming!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will give the strength to say No in the face of compromise
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 39:2 KJV And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Well, some people would say he was careless and that if he had hidden his dream, he would not have gone through the ordeals of the pit and then being sold into slavery.
However, I also want you to know that if he had not verbalized his dream, he might not have been sold into slavery and he might not have been transported into Egypt from where he eventually fulfilled his destiny! Talk about God using perceived enemies to fulfill His counsel over your life!
Hear me well this morning! God is using some of the people you hate right now and you think don’t like you to achieve His overall plans for your life! In the end, you will see how everything will eventually add up! Before you fight the person that jilted you, why don’t you wait for the unveiling of the new person God is bringing your way? You will thank him or her later for breaking your heart!
Learn to talk faith and not doubt. Learn to say what you want God to do and not what you are going through in your relationship or as singles. It is a spiritual principle! Say what you will like to happen and not just what has happened or what is happening!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a dreamer. I will not stop dreaming!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will give the strength to say No in the face of compromise
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 39:2 KJV And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
We all know the story of Joseph and I will like to bring out some salient truths by the Spirit of God as it relates to relationships and marriage.
What God did in the life of Joseph is what you could call a ‘crazy miracle.’ God did not just make him an important man in Egypt, a strange land, he actually became a father unto Pharaoh!
It is like God making you a father unto the King of Dubai! It is as crazy as that! How did Joseph get there? What kind of a person is he?
(4) And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. (5) Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. (6) For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. (7) And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.(8) So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. – Gen 45:4-8 KJV
Here are things to learn
1. Joseph was a dreamer
Never stop dreaming about your life and future. After his first dream, the scripture says that he dreamt yet another dream! Don’t stop visualizing where you want God to take you to or where He has shown you that He is taking you to.
Keep hope alive! It is not out of place to visualize and pray about the kind of relationship, marriage, and home you will like to have. Don’t let the experiences of relatives and your environment suffocate or kill your dream. That nobody has enjoyed his marriage in your family does not mean that would be your experience! No!
To be continued…
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I am a dreamer. I will not stop dreaming!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that God will give the strength to say No in the face of compromise
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Gen 39:2 KJV And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
