Tag Archives: Joseph

Aug 15

Joseph’s Game Plan

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Joseph's Game Plan copyAny time a person is going to enter battle or take the field against an opponent, he develops a game plan. Christians entering the battlefield of life should be no different. From the moment we wake up until the time we go to bed, we are at war. Our war is with the temptation to sin. For most of us this battle with sin is hard because of all the temptations we face.

Joseph was a young man who faced the same temptation day after day (Gen. 39:10), yet he didn’t succumb to it even when he had the perfect opportunity. He had a game plan in advance. Notice what Joseph did to help him resist the temptation before him.

  1. He Remembered (Gen. 39:9). As Potiphar’s wife was standing there tempting him to sin, Joseph stated how wrong this act would be to God. I have to think we would be less likely to sin if before we gave in to the temptation we reminded ourselves how wicked the act is in the eyes of God.
  2. He Realized (Gen. 39:8-9). While some people might have tried to justify giving in, Joseph did not. He understood there would be consequences because she was the wife of another man. He simply had too much to lose. One of the best ways to overcome temptation is to understand when we give in to the temptation and sin, there will always be consequences.
  3. He Refused (Gen. 39:8). Instead of giving Potiphar’s wife what she wanted, he refused her advances each time. If we’re going to overcome the temptations which face us, we’re going to have to make up our minds ahead of time to refuse the temptation.
  4. He Ran (Gen. 39:11-12). When Potiphar’s wife grabbed Joseph and demanded he sleep with her, Joseph understood his refusal was no longer enough and ran. He ran out of the house and away from the temptation. If we want to resist the temptations we face, run away from the people, places and things that tempt you to sin.

To overcome the war with sin, we’re going to need a game plan like Joseph. We must prepare well in advance or it will be too late. May God bless us with the wisdom to develop a game plan for resisting temptation.

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Jan 11

The CHALLENGE: Day 1 Reflections

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Yesterday, the Student Ministry at Karns began our challenge of reading through the New Testament in only 90 days. The nice thing about beginning yesterday is that last night we had our Thursday night Bible study and 15 kids and 4 adults were able to discuss the reading for the day.

In this post I want to share with you a few things that we talked about last night.

  1.  The genealogy of Jesus mentioned in the book of Matthew is from Joseph’s family history (Matt. 1). One of the students found this interesting because Mary was the one chosen by God to give birth to the Messiah. However, Matthew writing to the Jewish people included Jesus’ family’s kingly history. Read Luke’s account for the genealogy through Mary’s family.
  2. A lot of the people mentioned in Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus aren’t the kind of people you would expect to find in the family history of the Messiah (Matt. 1). We concluded this is important because it shows two things. 1) It shows Jesus’ family tree is a lot like ours today and 2) It shows failures and sinners were the whole point of the birth of Jesus even among His own earthly family.
  3. We discussed the righteousness of Joseph; particularly the fact that he wanted to put Mary away privately and not make a big deal about what had happened (Matt. 1:19). This is interesting when you consider how most people would have responded if this were to have happened today. By God choosing Mary to be the mother of Jesus, He was in turn picking Joseph and his righteous character to be the earthly father of Jesus. Amazing!
  4. When considering the temptations of Jesus (Matt. 4:1-11), it’s worth noting that 1) This wasn’t the only time Satan tempted Jesus (read Luke’s account) and 2) Jesus demonstrated the best means of dealing with temptation is by keeping the Word of God in the forefront of one’s mind. What a great reminder for us all.
  5. The first apostles called by Jesus left everything “immediately” (Matt. 4:18-22). They walked away from their livelihood and followed Jesus not really knowing what was going to happen. How many of us are willing to walk away from almost everything else in order to follow after Jesus? This takes an extraordinary amount of faith.

Last night was incredible. Singing, praying and discussing the Word of God with the teens was both encouraging and uplifting for me personally. I am looking forward to continuing in our challenge together to become the image of Jesus. What a great year this is going to be!

What has stuck out to you during your daily Bible reading over the last few days? Leave your comments below.

 

Feb 24

What Are You Willing To Give Up?

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What are you willing to give up for your religious beliefs? I dare say that most of us would be willing to give up almost anything for our religious beliefs, at least things that have no attraction for us. For instance, I would gladly give up alcohol and drugs because I have no desire to have either in my life. However, some people would choose the alcohol and drugs because either they enjoy them or they think alcohol and drugs make them look cool.  Still others are willing to choose sex, popularity and status over their convictions. What are you willing to sacrifice for your convictions?
Joel Northup was willing to give up a state championship for his religious beliefs. Northup, a sophomore in high school, refused to wrestle his first round opponent in the Iowa high school state tournament last week. His reason for forfeiting the match was because his first round opponent was a girl. Joel Northup felt that wrestling with a girl would conflict with his religious beliefs, because he would most likely have to touch her in inappropriate places.
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of respect for this young man. He was willing to forfeit a match that he was favored to win, because of his religious beliefs.  By refusing to wrestle, Joel single handedly sacrificed his shot at a state title, something for which all athletes on the high school level strive. A lot of people probably thought he was crazy. Why sacrifice something so big like a state title for something so little as a religious belief? I mean, it’s not like he was going to intentionally touch and grope this girl. He was just going to compete against her as he would any other opponent on the mat.
When you read through scripture you find others who were willing to give up things of value and places of superiority for their beliefs and convictions. Take Joseph for example. While in Egypt his master’s wife pleaded with him to sleep with her. I have no doubts that Potiphar’s wife was very attractive. After all, Potiphar was an Egyptian officer in Pharaoh’s army. He was an important person in Egypt. However, instead of giving in to her advances, Joseph refused her day after day. Listen to what Joseph said, “How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9) Joseph was willing to give up sexual pleasure in order to remain true to His God.
Daniel is another example who was willing to sacrifice something most would consider important because of his convictions. Daniel was taken captive by the Babylonians, when they invaded Judah around 605 BC, for the purpose of serving in the king’s court. In time Daniel became an important figure in the Babylonian empire. Each time a new king took the throne Daniel always found favor in his eyes. In chapter 6 Daniel refused to obey a decree to only pray to the king and not any other god or man for thirty days. Daniel was sentenced to the lion’s den. However, we tend to overlook that before this situation occurred, the king was planning to appoint Daniel over the entire kingdom (Dan. 6:3). Daniel was willing to give up prominence in the kingdom for his convictions and beliefs.
This list could go on and on. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were willing to give up their lives for their convictions (Dan. 3). All the apostles were willing to give up the pleasures of life for their convictions. Many of the early Christians were willing to sacrifice all they had for their convictions. Many men and women throughout history have been willing to give up pleasure and prominence for their convictions.
What are you willing to give up for your convictions? Joel Northup was willing to sacrifice the Iowa high school state wrestling championship because of his religious beliefs. Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24). I hope and pray each one of you reading this is willing to give up and sacrifice everything that gets in the way of your relationship with God. In the end, that’s all that truly matters in life. Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
What are you willing to give up in order to stay true to your convictions? Are you willing to sacrifice something as big as a state title? Joel Northup was!
Now that’s Something to Think About!