Joseph left his coat behind, because he wouldn’t leave his character behind. And God blessed and used Him to rescue people. Sometimes there’s a door and ya gotta run for it.
Joseph's master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” Gen. 39:7
Probably looked kinda hot--sometimes having money can help with all that. Joseph’s flesh more than likely said, Dude, go for it, for her and the demons of course were only too quick to agree. She spoke to Joseph day by day (that can wear a guy down into a bed), but he did not heed her to lie with her or to be with her. 30:10
She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” So Joseph bolted leaving his garment in her hand, and ran outside. 39:12
Listen, here's how not to fall away from the Lord, and your faith. Let the adversities that come your way toughen you up for what God has called you to do.
Remember earlier when Joseph's brothers were all out there working hard, fairly-soft Joseph was strolling around the house in his long-preferential-robe of a pampered ruler.. that is until God allowed some adversity to show up to help him. Muse on God's promises and on this.. If Ruben had actually rescued young Joseph out of that pit before the sale, adversity wouldn't have prepared him for his future ministry as it did. Joseph needed some iron in his soul. Think about the pain Joe endured. The Bible says, "Moreover He (God) called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them--Joseph--who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. The king sent and released him, The ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, And ruler of all his possessions, To bind his princes at his pleasure, And teach his elders wisdom." Psalm 105:17-18 nkjv. This means Joseph gained a soul of iron. You and I need that too! With the holy fear of God inside, choose to praise Him in the middle of it all. Choose to daily add to your faith.. virtue. The Bible says..
“Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ..” 2 Peter 1:4-8
God gives visions in the day or in the night (dreams, some of His gifts). Some believers overemphasize them, (or foolishly spiritualize every dream they have. I know some who take classes to do this), and there are believers who under-emphasize em--we don't live for em. Why?..cuz we love the giver of em far more.
Remember how Joseph held on to the promises of God -- these came to Joseph in dreams. Like a pit-bull he refused to forget or let go.. even when the tough circumstances told him he should. Do you recall how his dad, Jacob, had that dream with that ladder? Dreams seemed to be a family thing. Has God given you a promise via a dream? If not, no worries. He knows what's best for each of us, and His good promises are there for you in the Bible. And yet some do dream.
"And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on My menservants and maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.." Joel 2:28-29a
"In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on My menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." Acts 2:17-18
Here’s 5 Steps How:
2.) Fill your minds with the Word of God. Be busy being filled up with the truth of Scriptures in your brain and heart.. Think of the Aramenes displacement rule. If you go in a full tub of water, the water will always rise up, flow out and make room.
3.) Fill your routines with good rules for self. Never be left alone with a woman other than his wife. Billy Graham made a rule. Not on an elevator alone with a woman. His hotel room was checked, There’s more temptation in our world than ever before. But people will think I’m radically old fashioned. Who cares?
- Question: Do ya hang out in a bar, night club, or sport's bar and get feeling tempted to drink sometimes? Many Christians do and pray something like, Lord, help me not get drunk tonight...but then do.
- A real guy named Eric was really mad at God and said so to a friend. But why so mad? It was because he explained how he prayed he that wouldn’t fall into adultery with this certain girl at work.. but then he did and was "mad God didn't answer his prayer." Why be an idiot?
- Yo! Listen Eric, as I gradually push this vase across this table towards the edge of it praying.. Please, please God, let it not fall off..CRASH!!! Wouldn't it be weird of me to say. Hey, I’m mad at God! Uhh, YES!
- Another businessman (a real guy) said he was tempted towards adultery at work, and the certain lady there wouldn’t go away. Dude, quit and find another job!
4.) Fill your life with accountability. (Love your faith family and small group Bible study). “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. [Mat 5:30 NKJV] "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” Mat 5:29-30 nkjv
The Spirit’s first name is Holy! Duh! Now did Jesus mean the practical application should happen exactly like that? Probably not. Cut something important to you out.
5.) Fill your fellowship with sinners open to turning and trusting Jesus. New baby believers revitalize, motivate, remind, sort of energize veteran believers. Gets you back to the basics of relationship and sowing. You're either for or against the Lord, no in between. You're either busy seeking Him..and busy gathering with Him or scattering away. You're either a soul-winner or a backslider, either a missionary or a mission-field, either evangelizing or fossilizing.
Factoid: In CA people go to church 2 out of 5 sundays. DavidJerm
Some Bible promises are of course made to Israel. And many to Christians in His Church. Know which ones.
You’re Christian life won’t work unless you follow God's plan. Believer, you have God’s power and promises and plan and purpose. He's so there for you!
You’ll never be a powerful Christian without being in His Book. He has a purpose for you - 1. You get His nature (you don’t become a god), he doesn’t eradicate the old nation in you, but gives you His divine nature.
“Two natures beat within my breast, the one is foul the one is blessed, the one I love the one I hate, the one I feed will dominate.” (The one you feed them most will have the victory over the other. Yes, one nature will dominate even you, believer).
You connect the word of God with a new nature of God within you, believer. The Bible says when you do that, you’ll 1. Become more Godly and if you do that, 2. You will escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.
They are incalculable and infallible -- they are all true. Everyone is yes in Christ.
In God’s Word, it says He’s given us everything we need for life and godliness and He means it. Then why are so many of us searching for them in books, seminars and workshops? The Bible says...
Bottom-line: God's power is not available apart from the Scriptures. His divine power is connected to His precious and magnificent Bible promises. See the context.
If you don't read the Bible then don't complain about not having God's power in your life. The one God of power gave us His written Word for a reason--His truth, "by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises." We all need the power of God for daily victory ..this is like a huge generator, this power of God. How do we get connected to his power?
We get connected with the Word of God--He is our power source. He gave us exceeding great and precious promises His the Bible for this. Listen, God's power is not available apart from the Scriptures. If you want the power of God to be working in and from your life... don't ignore this Book. You know a lot of Christians come and talk to me about what's happening or not happening in their life power-wise, and I like to ask them just a few questions. Some even complain about not having God's power for victory. But connection between God and you--it happens via His Spirit and the wires from the Word so to speak. They carry the power of God from Him to you..not in vain..and what are those wires if ya will? They are God's precious promises.
And why are they great? They are Great because they come from a great God and they lead to a great life in the Son.
Yes, that's why they're great. That's why you and I need to really focus on this relationship that's number one priority. The promises of God's Word are incalculable--Yes, they're exceeding great because you can't even count them! Can any mere human fully count the promises of God in the Bible and not later find some more? Many people have tried to.
There was this guy named Dr. Everek R. Storms of Ontario, in Canada. He spent a vast amount of time studying the promises of Scripture and then said:
“The Scriptures contain a grand total of 8,810 promises. How do I know? I counted them. All my life I have seen various figures quoted as to the number of promises in the Bible. The one most generally given is 30,000. Since this is a round number with four zeroes in it, I have always been a little suspicious about it. Furthermore, since there are only 31,101 verses in the Bible, it would mean that there would be practically one promise in every verse. I do not guarantee my count to be perfect, but it is the most accurate I know of."
He even classified the promises that he found in Scripture into eight kinds:
1.) There are 7,487 promises from God to man (about 85 percent of all the Bible promises).
2.) There are 991 instances of one person making a promise to another person. 3.) There are 290 promises from man to God.
4.) There are promises made by angels, most of them found in Luke.
5.) There are nine promises made by “that old liar, the devil.” (For example, his promise to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him.)
6.) Two promises are made by an “evil spirit.”
7.) Two are made by God [to his] Son.
8.) Dr. Storms additionally found that one book of the Bible contains no promises at all—yep, that's Titus. Ephesians has only six promises. On the other hand, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel have over 1,000 promises each.What section of Scripture most impressed Dr. Storms? He wrote, “The most outstanding chapter as far as promises are concerned is Psalm 37. Practically every verse is a most wonderful promise.”
Kurt, so what do I do? Here's some practical application for you:
--Number 1: Analyze (Where are you most lacking power? What’s keeping you from enjoying a life of godliness. What are your besetting sins. Take inventory and connect your life with the power source. Ask Yourself: Where do I fail and need a promise in my life? What does the Bible say about this thing I’m struggling with? Collect those verses. Besetting sins of Paul?: “Rom 7:15-20 nkjv - For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that [it is] good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but [how] to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will [to do], I do not do; but the evil I will not [to do], that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not [to do], it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”
--Number 2: personalize (Where in my life do I need a promise from God? Where do I need a Scripture to fortify my life? sometimes we allow the word of God to become so General it doesn't have any particular good for us personally. The word of God was meant to help us with personal things. Start writing the promises of God's word that deal with your personal challenges. Build a customized Treasure list of verses that speak to the issues that you are facing. Get a good Concordance, look up the key words on your list. You can use a written or computer concordance--find verses that correspond with your weaknesses.
--Number 3: memorize (When you memorize the Bible you make God's word portable. When you memorize the Bible you have the Bible with you wherever you go how many do you know when you get into a tough spot you can't say could you just hold it while I go get my concordance I know there's a verse in the Bible here for that. Put in your hard-drive early)
--Number four: verbalize (Find ways to share them with others--speak them out loud with your wife and friends. I mean my wife is help me memorize and I'll read it to you so you know you miss this verse you know now you got computers and you can ride him and there's all kinds of ways to do what you need to do what you going to verse) and..
--Number 5: organize. (Whatever problem it is you're dealing with. Write it down and put that title at the top of the page. When you get a verse from your study, write it out on that page and little by little you're not only adding versus and pages. Then put those pages in alphabetical order--you’ll be building your own little memory bank to help you in a pinch to download the power of God into your own life.
It's one thing to tell God about your problems, but sometimes you need to tell your problems about God and when you do this with the Word of God.. you neutralize that bad situation. ~ kvs
“We (humans) promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.” ~Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld
“And be these juggling friends no more believ'd,
That palter with us in a double sense;
That keep the word of promise to our ear
And break it to our hope.” ~William Shakespeare
For us, humans-promises are kinda like babies in a sense: so fun and easy to make, so hard to deliver and fulfill on time. But not for God -- He keeps them all, His timing is always perfect and He can help us do the same. Be careful to keep them, believer! It's a good witness.
God keeps every promise He has ever made.
He never hasn’t. He’s never failed, never not fully kept his promise to people. He keeps them all. This is why his promises are described as exceedingly great and precious.
--We love His promises because there are so many of them that we need.
--We love His promises because He never ever breaks them.
--We love His promises so thoroughly because He’s so thorough and they're always available to us. (Peter uses that term "precious" eight times cuz His promises more precious than--far better than gold!)
What's Your Current Need? Here Are Some Promises To Start With Believer:
1. Abundant life
John 10:10
2. A crown of life
Rev. 2:10
3. A heavenly home
John 14:1–3
4. A new name
Isa. 62:1–2
5. Answers to prayer
1 John 5:14
6. Assurance
2 Tim. 1:12
7. Cleansing
John 15:3
8. Clothing
Zech. 3:4
9. Comfort
Isa. 51:3
10. Companionship
John 15:15
11. Deliverance
2 Tim. 4:18
12. Divine sonship
1 John 3:1–2
13. Everlasting life
John 3:16
14. Fellowship of Jesus
Matt. 18:19
15. Fruitfulness
John 15:4–5
16. Gifts of the Spirit
1 Cor. 12
17. Glory after death
Man. 13:43
18. God’s protecting care
1 Pet. 5:6–7
19. Growth
Eph. 4:11–15
20. Guidance
Isa. 42:16
21. Hope
Heb. 6:18–19
22. Inheritance
1 Pet. 1:3–4
23. Joy
Isa. 35:10
24. Knowledge
Jer. 24:7
25. Liberty
Rom. 8:2
26. Peace
John 14:27
27. Power for service
John 14:12
28. Renewal
Titus 3:5
29. Rest
Heb. 4:9, 11
30. Restoration
Isa. 57:18 ; 1 John 1:9
31. Resurrection
Rom. 8:11
32. Rich rewards
Matt. 10:42
33. Spiritual fullness
John 6:35
34. Spiritual healing
Hos. 6:1
35. Spiritual light
John 12:46
36. Spiritual treasures
Matt. 6:19–20
37. Strength
Phil. 4:13
38. Temporal blessings
Matt. 6:25–33
39. Understanding
Ps. 119:104
40. Victory
1 John 5:4
41. Wisdom
James 1:5
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