Better, Not Bitter

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take your Bibles this morning and open to Genesis chapter 50.

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And I’m going to preach, and I’m going to testify this morning. Is that all right with you? Like, I’m going to take a little different approach. Some of y’all that come regular, you’re used to me just laying in and going 100 miles an hour and and preaching to the, you know, hammer down, master mash the gas kind of deal.

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And I may do some of that, but I got to testify to some things this morning and, I, I, I want you to I want you to hear from me, your pastor, some testimony this morning of the goodness of God that I’ve experienced and that we’ve all experienced, but I’ve really experienced this week and how good and faithful God has been and what a blessing I have received.

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And by the way, you’ve received to. And you may not know it, but I want to just share that with you. But more importantly, I want to I want to use that. And in this text this morning, in this story, in the Bible, that is about a really a very real family and a really real event that took place many years ago.

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A guy named Joseph in the Bible. And in this with the part we’re going to read, is close to the end of Joseph’s life. And I don’t know how much you know about the book of Genesis, don’t know how much you know about the story of Joseph, but I’m sure for many of you, you’ve at least heard of Joseph, and he had the story of his coat of many colors.

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Joseph’s father was Jacob, and Joseph was one of many of children, about 12 children. And he he was kind of his father’s favorite. And when Joseph was young, Joseph had some dreams. God gave him dreams and visions. What he didn’t know was how prophetic those dreams and visions were, that though they were not going to come to pass immediately, anytime you have something prophetic from God, you can mark it down.

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It’s going to come to pass. It may not come to pass when you’re thinking or at the time frame you’re thinking, but you got to remember your time. And my time is not necessarily God’s time. And I want you to remember that when you pray and when you ask God for things, you know, I think about how many times in my life I have prayed and asked the Lord for something, and it seemed like I didn’t get either the answer I wanted or at the moment I didn’t get an answer at all.

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And I just want to remind you, when you pray and you ask God for something, just because he doesn’t give you an answer right there doesn’t mean he’s not giving an answer. His answer may be yes. His answer may be no. His answer may be weight, and he may not say anything at all for a time, because he just wants you to keep trusting him, because God is as interested in the process as he is the outcome.

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Because it’s in the process that he molds us, shapes us to be more and more like his Son Jesus. And so Joseph has these prophetic dreams and he he in my opinion, just my opinion. I think he makes a mistake by telling his brothers what God had told him, knowing, not knowing that his brothers weren’t capable of handling it.

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Instead, it actually caused some jealousy among them such that, even though it was evident in their family that their father favored Joseph. And, you know, let me say this in Joseph’s defense, you know, there’s there’s a couple of people you read about in the Bible. No one in the Bible except for Jesus was perfect. We know that.

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But there’s two men in all the Bible that when you read, you really don’t read God pointing out any of their sin. Not that they didn’t have sin, but those two men are Joseph and Daniel. I met a young man this morning or this week, and his first name was Joseph, and his middle name was Daniel, and his mother named him prophetically by that name.

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He told me his mom was a strong Christian, because those two men in the Bible were powerhouses for God, and she named him after those two men, Joseph and Daniel, in the Bible, so that his name would have prophetic meaning. And that’s pretty powerful. But there’s just two men, Joseph and Daniel, and Joseph is the one we’re talking about this morning.

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Joseph has dreams, prophetic dreams and visions, and though he doesn’t understand them at the time, a share some with his brothers who really don’t understand him, and they’ve already seen that it seems like Joseph is their father’s favorite, such that he had a coat of many colors made and gave to him to wear, which was bestowing honor upon him in favor upon him, and it caused jealousy among his brothers.

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So one day they’re out and they’re in the fields, and they get angry because he comes to the field to work with them and says, hey, guys, I had this dream and it was this dream of all the sheaves, you know, like hay bales. They would have made sheaves back then and they were stacking hay. And he says, I had these dreams that all these and that you each were these sheaves.

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And, and you begin to bow down to my sheathe my arm ill and we’ll you can imagine, I don’t know how many of you got brothers and sisters in here. Can you, can you imagine your brother or sister coming to you? And you’re young and going, hey, I had a vision. One day you’re going to bow down to me here.

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Yeah, right. You know, and so that caused some conflict within the family. Well, they decide we’re going to do away with this little punk here. And they beat him up. They throw him in a pit, and then some people come by that buy slaves and they sell him into slavery. They take the coat of many colors that his father had made for him.

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They tear it up, kill a goat, sprinkle blood on it. They take the coat back. They say we were in the field. And a wild beast came up and he ate. Joseph and Jacob. His father is just torn apart by this, and they never saw Joseph again. Joseph just slowed, sold into slavery. He ends up in Egypt, and while in Egypt he he has the favor of God on him, and he becomes a very prominent man.

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He begins to serve under this guy named Potter for. And Potter for is very powerful in the Kingdom of Egypt. And and as he’s serving under him one day Joseph. Joseph is very faithful. Joseph is very godly, but one day Potiphar’s away. And he has one of those, you know, wives that is a desperate housewife. You check in with me yet?

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Y’all, y’all follow me. I she’s a desperate housewife and she sees Joseph and he’s young, he’s handsome, he’s good looking. He’s almost as built as I am. And. He he and his work. And she goes over and she says, hey, Joseph, come lay with me. Go to bed with me. I’m being real. This with the Bible read you read Genesis.

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You’ll see. I’m not making this up. And she grabs him to take his clothes off and he jumps back and he just plumb out of his clothes, out of his guts. And he says, no, I can’t do this. I can’t sin against God, and I can’t sin against Potter for my boss. And he runs out the door. He runs.

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And by the way, the Bible says about sexual immorality, did you know that the Bible will tell you that when you face spiritual conflict? The Bible says in Ephesians six, when you’ve done all you can do, stand and fight, but you know there’s only one place in the Bible that it tells us to run. And that’s when it comes to sexual immorality.

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The Bible tells us, don’t stand. Don’t try to fight. Run! Get out of there. Joseph did that. Joseph did everything right. He runs. And this Desperate Housewives. She begins to holler. Joseph tried to rape me. Joseph tried to rape me. So they throw him in prison. He’s in prison for 13 years over a false accusation. But then Pharaoh has a dream.

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One night I’m giving you a cliff note. Versions of this aren’t you? Go home and read it. Read about Joseph. He so Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt. He has this dream and he doesn’t understand the dream. He calls in a baker and some other guys, and you know, they that are in prison and they’re supposedly ever going to interpret this, but they can’t.

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He has them killed. And then someone reminds him, hey, this guy Joseph, he has dreams. He’s a Hebrew. And he it seems like this guy really knows how to interpret dreams because his God is different than our gods. So he brings him in and all of a sudden Joseph is standing before Pharaoh. He interprets the dream and get this in one day.

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In one day. Remember this in one day. God takes Joseph from the prison. A prison 13 years puts him in the palace before Pharaoh. He interpreted. Pharaoh is so impressed that he makes he makes Joseph second in command, Prime minister of all of Egypt in one day. So let me just say that if you don’t think God can turn your situation around, I want you to read your Bible because in the Bible is truth, and you’ll find out.

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For a man like Joseph in one day, he goes from a prison to a palace. One day he’s in prison. He’s he’s forgotten. His family don’t even know where he’s at. His dad believes he’s dead, but God promotes him in one day. Can I just tell you when God gets ready to promote you, it only takes one day.

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And it really don’t even take that long. It just takes one instant. It just takes one moment in God’s timing to put you exactly where God wanted you all along. And that’s what happens to Joseph. So Joseph is serving and Joseph has a dream, and it’s about cattles. I’m pretty sure he was a cow boy. Okay, you can argue that, but you go read your Bible.

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You’ll agree. So Joseph has a dream and he dreams about the seven fat cows. And then along comes the seven skinny cows. Pretty sure they were long horns. Later he made it. His calf must be good, calf good. And so he has this dream. And the seven skinny cows eat the seven fat cows. Well, that’s a dream. But what it meant was, was there was going to be seven years of abundance and plenty in Egypt, which, by the way, ruled the world at the time.

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And then it was going to be followed the seven years of famine. He he explains his dream to Pharaoh. Pharaoh gives him the authority to store up grain. Okay, and prepare for a coming famine. And he does. And so when the time comes, there’s these Hebrews, his family, living over in close by and, and as well as different neighboring countries and peoples.

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And when the famine comes, because of Joseph’s obedience to God and because of his supernatural wisdom given to him by God, he’s able to provide for all of Egypt and then all the surrounding peoples and nations. And one day his brothers come to the palace where Joseph is. Joseph is in charge of distributing food. They come before him thinking, at this point Joseph’s been long dead.

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These are the brothers that sold him into slavery. Lied about him to their father. They’re their fathers. Believe it. He’s dead all this time. And. And one day his brothers come in and the Bible says they don’t even recognize who he is, but he recognizes them. He gets up and he goes out and he weeps. And then he gives them not only what they needed, but he put some extra in.

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And it literally becomes to the point that they come back. And he reveals himself to his brothers that he he’s alive. And little did they know that prophecy. Remember I was telling you of the she’s bowing down to the others when they came in. You know what all the brothers did? They bowed down before Joseph, who was prime minister of Egypt and God’s prophetic dream that he had given Joseph many years ago, the one he told his brothers that made them so angry that they beat him up, threw him in the pit, sold him into slavery.

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It was coming true right before their very eyes. The day comes, he’s reunited with his father and his brothers. But then the day comes that his father, Jacob dies. And that’s what we’re going to read in Genesis 50. I’ve given you. I’ve given you like Paul Harvey. How many of you remember Paul Harvey? The rest of the story.

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So I’ve given you. Here’s the rest of the story. And this is really, really good. So look with me in verse 15, Genesis 50, verse 15. And when Joseph’s brothers saw their father was dead, they said, Perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him. Years have gone by.

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Joseph’s missed out on a lot of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas events, and, I’m just trying to equate it to what you and I would experience. He’s missed out on some some family things for years. Hasn’t he missed out on a lot of time with his with his family. And they’re thinking dad just died. Now Joseph’s going to get even for the evil we did to him.

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That’d be a pretty logical thought. Wouldn’t it be? But look what the Bible says. It says in verse 16. So they sent messengers to Joseph saying, before your father died, he commanded, saying, thus you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, please forgive the trespasses of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you in other words, they’re saying, our father’s dying wish was that you would forgive us of what we have done because we did evil to you.

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Now please forgive the trespasses of the servants of the God of your father. And the Bible says, And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. So they say this to him. And the Bible says that he hears it. And he begins to weep. I don’t know about you, but I love my brother. Before he put me through that kind of stuff, I might say, you got to hope and come.

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I might say, all right, buddy, now we’re going to get some even going on. That’d be my flesh, wouldn’t it be? That might be how we want to respond. But you got to remember, Joseph is a man whose hearts have been touched by God. Joseph, throughout his life has seen the favor and the blessing and the goodness of God on his life at every turn, even through the moments that it seemed like everybody else gave up on him, even in the moments that it seemed like he was most alone, even in the moments that it seemed like he was most insignificant.

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He watched over and over through his life that when God was ready, God had always been faithful, God had always been true, and God, in turn, had always promoted Joseph to where he wanted him to be. And Joseph’s life was to serve God, and God was to. But favor and blessing on Joseph. And because of Joseph’s faithfulness, many people had been blessed, including his own family, when they didn’t even know what was going on during the famine that I told you about.

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So here’s the next verse, verse number 18. This is after Joseph weeps. He hears this and he begins to cry. No doubt the pain of the past was real. No doubt that, and I know I don’t. I want you to listen to me carefully. There’s there’s no doubt that when you experienced hurt like that, and I don’t know how many of you.

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I’m sure most of you have experienced to some degree, family hurt. And that hurts sometimes the worst, don’t it? But whenever you experience that and you forgive, but that memory maybe never goes away. I think when Joseph wept, maybe he was reminded of the years he had missed. Maybe he was reminded of the years in prison that weren’t any fun.

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Maybe he was reminded of their sneers and jeers whenever they threw him in the pit and said, you goofy kid, you. You come around here telling us all your dreams. And yet now Joseph has lived to see that those dreams were of God and they did come true. And the Bible says he wept. But look at verse 18.

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That’s what I want you to see. It says, then his brothers also went in, and he fell down before his face. And they said, behold, we’re your servants. We will serve you. Joseph. We’re, we’re, we’re we’ve sinned against you, will serve you. We’re we’re we’re we’re we’re seeking forgiveness because they knew Joseph was in a place now that he could get revenge.

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We knew that he was in a place now. There. Okay, guys, I can get even. And it’s not all of us in here would have blamed him for that. Nobody would have blamed him for those feelings. And maybe even those actions. But here’s what makes Joseph so special in the Bible, and why I believe God had so much favor on Joseph.

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Can I just start right here before I get it? For I go any further and tell you, Joseph, would you agree was probably a man of great character. Let me tell you what character is. If you don’t know and especially want everyone younger than me to listen to this, I know you older ones that are older than me know you know if you’re younger than me.

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I especially want you to listen when I’m about to say about character. Character is who you are when nobody’s watching. You get that. See, I can be a lot of things in front of you, and you can be a lot of things in front of me. Character is who you are in In the Dark Hours. Character is who you are when nobody else is watching.

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But God. And listen to me carefully. God is always watching. God is always taking notes if you want. And God sees beyond the outside of a person, he sees the heart. And God knows when he’s dealing with a young man or a young lady of character. And I want you to listen to me. God’s word promises that he will bless a man or a woman of character.

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He’ll bless you. You. He sees that in you. He sees who you are when no one’s watching. In other words, he sees that you do the right thing when nobody else knows you’re doing the right thing. That’s the kind of man Joseph was. So I want you to see what God has done for Joseph. God has promoted Joseph.

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Joseph is now second in command of all of Egypt. I mean, he he has everything at his at his disposal, and he has all power, if he would. But why would God give Joseph there? Because he knew that he was a young man of character and that he could handle it. See, sometimes we pray for things and we long for things, and we want things in our lives that God is saying, no, not yet.

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Wait. And the reason for that is because God knows there’s a process that needs to take place in our life, because there’s some things we pray for, some things we want, maybe even some things we need. But if God gave them to us at this moment in our life, we wouldn’t have the character to deal with it.

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Think about that. But Joseph’s at this place now. He’s been through the fire. He, he’s been tried and tested and God knows that this is a man of character. God. God remember I told you he he went from a prison in one day comes out of prison, stand before Pharaoh and within an hour Pharaoh actually God. But he used Pharaoh to do it.

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Pharaoh promoted him to second in command of all of Egypt. How did that happen? God did that because he knew the heart of Joseph. He knew this was a young man of character. And so he he promoting. Now I gotta I gotta get to verse 18. So I get done. Oh I don’t read verse 18. Look at verse 19.

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They’ve told him, where are your servants? And Joseph said to them, notice what Joseph says. Joseph could have said, aren’t, aren’t guys all right now, now pay day is that that might be something that we should pay or now we’re going to settle the accounts, boys, remember how you treated me. You remember what you did to me. Is that what he says?

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Now? Remember, he’s a young man of character. Now he’s an older man. God knows his heart. God’s entrusted a lot to him. And notice how he responds. This is why I think when you look at Joseph or Daniel in the Bible, you’re seeing to the top class guys in all the Bible. It’s because of the way he responds.

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And here it is. He says, do not be afraid. If we’re sisters brothers, don’t be afraid, for I am in the place of God. I’m in the place of God. I’ve been put here in this moment, in this time, for this circumstance, for this event, for this very hour that you’re here pleading with me. I’ve been put here by God.

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This was for Dean. This was predetermined by God. This was God’s plan all along. Joseph isn’t bitter. A bitter man would have said, you guys better be afraid. It’s coming instead. What’s he say? Don’t be afraid, for I am in the place of God. I have been put here in this moment for a great purpose. And he says, but as for you, you man evil against me.

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But God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. And he goes on to say this now therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your little ones, and look what the next verse says. And he comforted. He comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

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I got to be honest with you, and I’ve been Joseph in that moment. I’m not sure I could have handled my brothers who did that to me that way. We might have had a lot stronger conversation, but I probably don’t have the character Joseph has. But let me tell you something. When you read that you’re reading a man, you’re reading the story of a man whose heart had been tendered and touched by God and who recognized everything he had and everything he was or is, is because of God.

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He says, am I not in the place of God that God put me here? God has orchestrated every event in my life, the good and the bad, the ones that the the stuff you guys meant for evil. God meant it for good. Are you listening to me this morning? If you if you you may hear me say this or repeat this verse often, because it is really one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 828 for for God works all things together for good to those that love God, and that are calling to bring to his purpose.

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The Bible never says that everything that happens is good. The Bible says that God is able to take everything that does happen and turn it into good. Best illustration ever heard that you may have heard me use this illustration before. I think I did not long ago about, you know, when you’re making a cake, how many of you ladies know how to make a cake?

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You know, or or some homemade brownies or, you know, so you’re you’re making them from scratch and you’re putting all those ingredients in the flour that the egg. And I don’t know what else you but you know, all the raw ingredients. Well, if you eat just raw eggs, I don’t know if you’ve ever done it. I saw Rocky do that years ago when I was a kid growing up.

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I mean, you know who? Rocky’s Rocky Balboa, okay, you got some of your going, who you are. Mission and greatest TV movies and shows of history. You know, Rocky Balboa, he would drink raw eggs. I tried that one time. That is nasty. Nasty. you ever eat white flour? All by itself? But that. But you take all that stuff, you mix it together and you bake it, and it can come out as a cake or a or brownies or whatever you want it and it mixed together.

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It comes out in the finished product can really be awesome. That’s what God does with our lives. He he’s able to take the the bad stuff, even the stuff that other people meant for evil against you. And he’s able to take that and work it together so that he is able to promote you because of it. And by the way, the reason that God will ever promote you or I for anything is to be a blessing to others.

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And God is not going to promote. If Joseph’s only purpose was to benefit him and his and and nobody else, I don’t believe God would have used him. God didn’t have any used to use him in that way, but God knew that Joseph would be a blessing to me. Let me tell you how much of a blessing he was.

00:28:08:25 – 00:28:35:20
Did you know that whenever his brothers come in, those would be the children of Israel? Do you realize that he was? He later would give them a home in Egypt. They would become slaves after a number of pharaohs, after some generations died. But it would be from there that they leave Egypt under the leadership of Moses. By the way, did you know that Pharaoh, whenever you you see the children of Israel leaving Egypt, and they’re going to cross the Red sea?

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Did you know that that God orchestrated that Pharaoh, the one who hated them, and the one who made slaves of them, gave them gold? They didn’t leave their poor. They left their rich in. And by the way, they did that in one day. God sent some plagues in men. There came one one night after the 10th plague. Moses had been telling Pharaoh, let my people go.

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So what I’m telling you is from that the Jewish nation was birthed. They went into the promised Land, which is Israel today. Do you realize that through the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, Jesus the Messiah came, and you and I know him today because of the faithfulness of a man named Joseph who would not let the bitterness of life ruin him.

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I don’t know how many of you who’ve had some bitter stuff happen in your life. I’m going to tell you, I’ve I’ve had several like that. Several things that can make you bitter. And I got I like to say I didn’t just get one t shirt for the tour. I got 3 or 4. But let me tell you what bitterness it’ll ruin you.

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It’ll destroy you, and it destroy everybody around you. The Bible says, beware that you don’t let a root of bitterness spring up in you. Matter of fact, let me just go a little further. Would you may not know is bitterness will open a demonic door into your life. That’s it’s terrible thing. But here’s what happened. Joseph didn’t didn’t hold all the bitterness, but rather he kept his focus on what God was doing and what God’s purpose was for his life.

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And as a result of that, God blessed Joseph, and through Joseph he blessed the children of Israel. He blessed the entire nation of Egypt. He blessed the known world at that time, all because of the faithfulness of one man who trusted God. And and I remember years ago, my pastor. When I when I began pastoring.

00:30:54:04 – 00:31:24:19
24, 23, 24 years ago that I actually became a pastor and started doing, I thought that everybody loved and agreed with pastors. Yeah, the whole board, I thought it I mean, I thought everybody did. Well, I found out real quick that wasn’t the case two years into it, man. I’m getting shot at. Get the bullet back there on my desk.

00:31:24:25 – 00:31:49:08
I got people won’t kill me. I got people saying things about me. I mean, and and I’m just like, what? I didn’t expect this. And I’m. I go crying to my pastor telling me I didn’t sign up for this. He goes, oh, yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. And I just didn’t understand. And I was and what was happening is I was beginning to get bitter.

00:31:49:11 – 00:32:15:09
I was getting getting bitter. And he said, you know what? He said, Jeff, there’s going to be a lot of things happened to you in life and in ministry. And you better decide now, are you going to let it make you bitter or better, bitter or better? I learned to be more wise. I learned to seek Holy Spirit, discernment.

00:32:15:12 – 00:32:47:16
I learned to notice when when there’s some some, some boundaries. I needed to set things like that. Don’t misunderstand me. But, you know, ultimately, I had to learn that in the moments of my life that it felt like I was losing just to trust God and be faithful to trust God and be faithful. Now, I told you I’d testify, and I’m going to testify to some things, and I’m going to be done.

00:32:47:18 – 00:33:07:22
So. Quin and I went on vacation a week ago. This week was our first week back. And by the way, we’ve not been on a real vacation in several years. So when we got to go, that was just like, really, really awesome. Some of you are going, you seem like you’re in a better mood. Oh yeah, I would.

00:33:07:24 – 00:33:25:24
It helps to get away sometimes. And so we had just wonderful time. So Monday morning is really, you know, I was here Sunday. I preached last Sunday morning and we met Monday morning. Yeah. My Monday mornings are just like your Monday mornings are like Monday mornings. And most of the time I’d rather skip and just go to Tuesday.

00:33:25:27 – 00:33:48:20
Matter of fact, most preachers want to resign on Monday morning. And like, I’m kind of like Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. I’ve written about, you know, 40 resignation letters, resigning and get over it. So I wake up, okay. Just just a glimpse of what was unfolding in my life and what God did. And he didn’t just do it for me.

00:33:48:20 – 00:34:11:16
He did it for our church. Because if you know, I live right over here, so I wake up. I’m going to get ready early on Monday morning. I’m practices my habit. Just get up and go to the gym because I like food too much and I’m going to go in. I walk out and I see Uno and another boy standing right outside on this alleyway that goes between the church and the other property next to it’s, well, that alleyway.

00:34:11:16 – 00:34:34:01
He goes back to the very back, and then it connects to 7000 acres of Wagner Ranch over there. Okay, so just before I left, we just got our bull, swamp puppy back who’d been over there for a month. Okay. Like, they get over there, you know, like you’re going to catch him any time soon. We’ve had bulls over there, sometimes for months, and I’m like, oh, no.

00:34:34:01 – 00:34:51:25
I knew instantly the Bulls had somewhere got to the fence. I grab, you know, a couple dogs run back there. I’m on this Ranger of my dad’s and I’m able to cut him off. I call Quinn in the dogs and and I got him back. But I’ve got fence to fix. I come back up to the area about the buck and shoots.

00:34:51:25 – 00:35:12:04
We’ve got a feed room there, and it’s been. We’ve had it for a long time. It was an old office mobile office trailer been given to us, and that’s where we stored feed in. But the bulls figured it out. Busted the door. Damn. Got inside this mobile office trailer. I mean, they walk through a door like that, you know, like a single door right there.

00:35:12:06 – 00:35:32:12
And they danced around in here, ate all the feed, tore everything. I mean, the floor. They knocked the walls out. Coming out. If you saw pictures, they. There might lash that thing. And I’m thinking, oh man on now I got fence to fix. And I already had a very busy day and a very busy schedule. This week. And I see that.

00:35:32:12 – 00:35:53:26
And I’m thinking, no, no, no. And on top of that, this unit’s been out and we just got it fixed this week. But we’ve I had people that were to be coming this week and trying to get this done, but already knew it was going to be expensive. Cody and some other guys had already worked on it and said, man, you’re going to have to have a whole new unit back there.

00:35:53:26 – 00:36:20:18
And how many of you know that work? We’re talking $5,000 plus right there. And so by the time I got to the gym, I got it out. Now I got fences to fix. Now I got a store up storage. I got a lot of stuff happening, and my Monday is not going well, and I can’t go on and tell you a number of other things.

00:36:20:20 – 00:36:39:05
I pulled my head Monday night to that and a number of other troubles and expenses, things going on here in the church as well as I don’t know how many of you have been at our concession stand. It. That thing’s old as it was, I think. I think Moses took it across the Red sea back in the day.

00:36:39:05 – 00:36:58:12
I he said, oh, every time the roof is caving in on it now, I mean, it’s like it’s just falling apart and all of that weight kind of coming down on me. And I fell on my head. Monday night and I’m just, I’m worried and I can’t sleep that well that night because I got so much on my mind by Tuesday.

00:36:58:14 – 00:37:19:06
By Tuesday, we had a guy who was able to fix this air conditioner. Half, half the price of what we had been quoted by the other air conditioner companies, like, I mean, from 5000 to 25. And not only that, but had a family in the church that was able to step up and take care of most of that cost for us.

00:37:19:09 – 00:37:39:07
Gator had taken and I took a picture and said to him, like, you’re not going to believe this feed room. He puts it on social media before long, we’ve got some help from some families right here in the church that came through. A man in the church calls me, says, hey, we go down there and pick out a brand new unit, one of those storage containers.

00:37:39:10 – 00:38:02:11
And he said, I’m going. The Lord told me to take care of it. And he did. And then another church gave us another container similar that has insulation for a concession stand. And so by the time I fell over my head Tuesday night, Wednesday night, the Lord had met many, every one of those needs that we had.

00:38:02:14 – 00:38:36:13
I had guys out here help me fix some fence I had. I mean, everything in a day began to turn around. I’m telling you that. But let me let me give you something even a little deeper. And I’ve never talked about this, never said much about it. A couple of years ago, we were really struggling as a church and as a brand ministry, and I knew the Lord had told me, Jeff, do this variety ministry.

00:38:36:13 – 00:39:10:03
We’re going to reach outreach. A lot of people through that. I had taken a Sunday off. I’d gone over to open range, and there were some people talking, and there was actually another church and a friend of mine that I didn’t know it at the moment. They were they were sure of our demise. My ministry was done, our older ministry would would fail and our church would close up and they would come over and take it over.

00:39:10:05 – 00:39:31:01
That’s that’s what they were saying. The truth. You thought it was true? Dennis knows. He knows. I’m telling you, I came home that evening and saw the border, and I saw a lot of people from that church here and didn’t know at all. They came over to support us. No, they came over. They were they were expecting us to go under a little.

00:39:31:01 – 00:39:53:24
Did I know when they found out that we weren’t we weren’t going under, I mean, I, I knew I knew this. If this is of God, it cannot fail. And I am convinced this is of God and it cannot fail. And I believe that and others in the church believe that. And we we hung in there and we we stayed hooked, believing God was going to bless us.

00:39:53:26 – 00:40:27:07
And I’m just going to tell you this. I stood yesterday watching the same ministry, former ministry, but same same church, new pastor, new new direction. I stood yesterday as we loaded a container and we’re being blessed by this church and loading some things whose former pastor was the one who led that they will fail. We will take them over.

00:40:27:10 – 00:40:52:23
And you know what? We did? And they were blessing us with a lot of things. And I was seeing the blessing of God. I was reminded of this story of Joseph give. I told you, just stay put, I got blessing come. And I called my wife. When it came to me what was going on? I said, I can’t believe two years later I’m standing here and we’re being blessed by the very ones who thought we were going under.

00:40:52:26 – 00:41:21:15
And she said this to me. She said, don’t you remember Psalm 23? Even the Lord prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. How is that not? Is that not what happened in Joseph’s life? I can promise you. Yesterday I saw that come full circle. I saw the goodness. I’ve never spoke of that. I don’t I’m not speaking against anybody.

00:41:21:17 – 00:41:40:11
I’m just telling you. I remember the time when the devil’s voice was saying. You’ll not make it. The church won’t make it. That ministry’s no good. You will fail. And I was hearing the jeers of some of the people who didn’t like us and didn’t agree with us, saying, you’ll fail. This won’t work. You’re going under. And I was watching yesterday.

00:41:40:11 – 00:42:09:09
Yes, God was saying no, you. I told you, God bless you. This is the work I started. I’ll bless this. I’m going to honor this. And I’m telling you, like Joseph, and I’m saying this to you when it seems like the enemy is piling up on you, when it seems like he. He’s telling you you’re done for. You’ll never make it through this, this, that divorce, this problem.

00:42:09:13 – 00:42:35:21
You’re this. This losing your job or losing this in your life. This. This relationship that fell apart. Whatever it is that that he’s whispering in your ear saying you’re done. You’ll never see the favor or blessing of God again. I’m pleading with you. Be a man and a woman of character. Trust a heart of God when you can’t see the hand of God moving in your life.

00:42:35:21 – 00:43:05:15
Trust the heart of God and know that your blessing and your breakthrough and his favor is on its way. Just sit still, wait on him and be like Joseph. One day you’ll say, am I not in the place of God? In other words, did not God prepare me and place me in this moment that I would receive his favor and blessing, that I might be able to bless other people?

00:43:05:17 – 00:43:39:15
Would you pray with me? Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word. Thank you for the encouragement from your Word today. Thank you for the story you recorded for us of Joseph. Thank you for an amazing testimony from this man. How he trusted you. His heart was tender and sensitive to your calling and your purpose. Help us to be that way.

00:43:39:17 – 00:43:54:09
Lord, help us to lean in in the moments that we feel defeated. Help us to lean in. In the moments we feel like Satan’s winning.

00:43:54:11 – 00:44:30:03
Lord, I just want to speak this morning. Words of favor and blessing and encouragement to someone in this room, someone listening online. Lord, I know that there’s people all over this building that may be facing discouragement. A spirit of discouragement or depression that the enemy has assigned to them to try to defeat them.

00:44:30:05 – 00:44:41:21
Lord, I pray that you remind them in the Holy Spirit today and through the power of the Holy Spirit, that you have the final word.

00:44:41:24 – 00:45:18:14
And I pray, blessing and favor, I pray you help us to lean in and trust your timing. God and Lord, to live our lives not being bitter, but better because of your goodness and your grace. If there’s anybody here today, Lord Jesus, that doesn’t know your Savior, I pray that they’ll believe the gospel. That Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and that if they call upon his name, your word says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

00:45:18:16 – 00:45:35:11
I pray that if someone doesn’t know you today, that they will humble their heart before you come to know you, Jesus, as the Lord and Savior. God bless each one of us today. Bless all of our families. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.