Let Go of the Hurt - Lessons from the Beach: Episode 6

Good morning, Victorious Living family, or afternoon, or good evening, depends on when you're watching this. Today we are going to continue our study on the beautiful story of Joseph. The last session we started talking about this man of integrity, this man who made a lot of right choices along the way, but we'll see from his story that making the right choice doesn't always land us in a comfortable place, but let me tell you what it does do. It positions us to be blessed by God and to be positioned by God to the place that he ultimately wants to take us and to use us. God sees us in every place. We established that yesterday, and his hand of blessing is on us in every place, and don't ever forget that. Joseph was a man who made the right choice. I don't know about every time, but when I study his life, I see that even though he probably made some unwise choices, maybe sharing dreams with his brothers that created more jealousy, maybe some people say that was an unwise choice, maybe telling on his brothers was an unwise choice. We see that he did that, but you know what? I think that his telling on his brothers was a wise choice because they were doing things that were ungodly, that were against his father's house. Telling them about the dream actually enabled them later to see that the dream was fulfilled. Had they not known about the dream, then they would have never known that God had already foretold this and this was what was supposed to happen. So as you go through life, I want to remind you to make the right choice. We're going to see that Joseph, he makes the choice to flee temptation. He makes the choice to stand against sexual temptation over and over and over and he sets boundaries so that as he's in that sexual temptation, those moments he can stand strong and he flees those moments. That was a right choice, but he still got in trouble for it, for something he didn't even do. But the thing about Joseph is no matter how he ended up, like he ends up in the prison

because of what we're about to study today. He made this one choice, I refuse to get bitter, I refuse to be angry, I refuse to be jealous, I refuse to hold a grudge. I am going to choose instead to bless my captors. I'm going to choose instead to forgive my brothers. I'm going to choose instead to serve God with honor and work enthusiastically for him. And because of those choices, God blessed Joseph and he was successful every place that he set his foot. And people saw the success, they saw his fruitfulness, they recognized that God was with them. You know, if I could sum up one reason that Joseph's story ended up so beautifully, it is because of his choice to forgive. The Bible says that a bitter root defiles many. A bitter root, if you allow bitterness to take root in your heart, it will defile you, it will defile so many other people, it will bring destruction. The Bible says very clearly that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. That word devour in the Greek is a picture of someone, like an animal, eating its prey. All the way down to the, it's finger-licking good to him, and he's got the bones and he's eating and there's nothing left but bones. Everything's gone. That's what the devil wants to do to you. The devil wants to kill, steal, and destroy. He wants to devour you. But no weapon of his can succeed in your life. If you are suited up, in your faith... in your trust, and if you make the choice to be joyful, to forgive, to honor God. The Bible says that we are not to go to bed angry because that opens up a foothold for the enemy to come in and bring destruction on your life. And the enemy here would have done the very same thing to Joseph. If Joseph had been in that well and said, I hate you God, and I hate my brothers, and he sat in that in the

well or on the caravan going back to over to Egypt as a slave, if he had allowed his heart to get angry and bitter, y'all that's a lot of energy first and foremost to have that kind of hate. And when you have bitterness and hate, it leads to revenge, it leads to plotting to get even with people, and that's a lot of energy wasted. And it's negative energy in your bodies. It brings about negative spirits and harmful things into your life, the spirit of hate and the spirit of jealousy. And the Bible says don't go to bed angry. Joseph had many opportunities to go to bed angry for years and years and years and years. And I'm sure he was tempted many, many times to give up, but he didn't. He was a man that every place that he set his foot he decided, I'm gonna forgive and I'm gonna trust God. I'm gonna refuse to grow hard-hearted and bitter. I refuse to give up. I'm gonna make the best of where I am. I'm gonna bloom where I'm planted, and I am going to serve God. And I'm gonna be used by God where I am right here. And my brother and my sister, if you will do that, if you will make that choice today, everything in your life will change. Everything in your life will change. So we see that Joseph in verse 39, so we're gonna chapter 39, we're gonna pick up there, says verse 2, the Lord was with Joseph so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Remember he's a slave here. The Lord was with Joseph even in that position. And because the Lord was with them, it says, so he succeeded in everything, not just some things, in everything he did. Now listen to this, as he served. He wasn't sitting there like this. He wasn't sitting there like this. Oh, bird just crashed through the window. He wasn't sitting there twiddling his thumbs. He was serving in the home of his captor. Are you serving in the home of your captor today? Listen, what happens when you serve with integrity? Potiphar, verse 3, noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar. So he made, he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. So why would this help Potiphar? Because if Potiphar can put Joseph in a place of responsibility and their success, it's going to be credited to Potiphar. Potiphar was in this for his own good. He

wanted the house to be run right. He wanted Pharaoh to look at the house and see the blessings and Potiphar was going to get the credit. And so it was for Potiphar's own good, but Joseph is giving, giving honor. Joseph is serving and this pleases Potiphar. From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master's household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar's household. Why? Not for Potiphar's sake, for Joseph's sake. So Potiphar is being blessed. Potiphar's looking good. Joseph, I'm sure, is not getting the credit. Maybe he is, but I doubt it. Potiphar's getting the credit. But why is God blessing Joseph? It's not for Potiphar's sake. It's not for Pharaoh's sake. It says right here it's for Joseph's sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly and his crops and his livestock flourished. Now those things didn't just happen. Joseph is active. He's at work. He's serving Potiphar and he honors Potiphar. We're gonna see that. It says that Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man. He's got muscles, y'all. He's well-built. He's looking Good, and Potiphar, his wife, Potiphar's wife notices. And listen, she could have had anything, but what does she want? She wants Joseph. And she makes it known. And she keeps making these sexual advances and even says, come sleep with me. And Joseph says, look, verse eight, my master trusts me with everything in his household. No one here has more authority than me. He, Talmud Potiphar, has held nothing back from me except for you, you're his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin, listen, not just against Potiphar, but against God. So he's like, I'm gonna honor Potiphar

because he's honored me. But above all, this would be a sin against God. It would be a sin against God. So we know that Joseph is thinking about God. And he's wanting to honor God in his choices. But this lady did not give up. She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day after day. But listen, he refused to sleep with her and he kept out of her way as much as possible. Listen, there's gonna be times where temptation is right there at your face. It's calling out to you. It's flaunting itself in front of you. And it's probably looking really good. But Joseph did everything in his power to stay away from it. But sometimes we can't get away from it. Maybe you're in a place right now and that temptation keeps coming at you. People are bringing it by, they're shoving it in your face. Joseph did everything that he could to stay away from the temptation. But when it came in front of him, he was already made a resolve to stand firm and to say no. He didn't make that resolve later when it was flaunting in his face and say, oh, maybe I should say no to this. He had already determined,

I'm gonna have integrity at all times. And I'm gonna say no to this thing. Decide today that you're gonna say no to that thing tomorrow. Make that your choice. She says, come on, sleep with me. And she's pulling at him. Joseph tore himself away and he ran. The greatest thing you can get some spiritual tennis shoes and run. He followed the wisdom of Proverbs that says flee from iniquity. Flee, don't even go near it. Don't sit by, don't hang out with it. Flee, as much as it depends upon you, run. Run, stay away from it. Put up boundaries. Put up boundaries. Don't be flirting with temptation. He never flirted with her. Temptation flirted with him and he ran. He put up boundaries. He said no. And we're gonna find, she turns on him. He ran, I mean, she's got her hands on him and he flees and he leaves his cloak behind. And she takes that cloak and she turns it in. She's mad. And she says, look at what your servant did to me. He tried to sexually assault me.

And Potiphar is mad and he puts Joseph in prison. Now listen, this can look like another bad deal for Joseph, but actually God's grace was on him because I would imagine Potiphar probably had the wherewithal and the authority to have Joseph killed. I mean, this would have been the ultimate betrayal, but instead he puts him in prison. And there, Joseph, does he start twiddling his thumb? Does he get angry? No, he starts serving the warden. He starts interpreting dreams. Says right here, verse 21, and I want y'all to hear this of chapter 39. But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. The warden had no worries because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. So we see that the Lord was with Joseph in prison, but we also see that Joseph is successful as he is serving God with integrity. He's not angry. He's not bitter. He just starts serving. I'm gonna do what I'm supposed to do wherever I am,

no matter how I got here. That's his choice. And the Lord was with him and the Lord showed his faithful love to Joseph. And the Lord. made Joseph a favorite. But this was something. It's not just about you being someone's favorite. Listen to this. The warden had no worries. This is verse 23 of chapter 39. The warden had no worries because Joseph was in charge. Does your warden or your boss or your officer that's the lead officer, Sergeant, whoever they're called, do they have worries when you're in charge? Look here. Potterford didn't have any worries when Joseph was in charge of the house. The warden has no worries when Joseph is in charge of the prison and we're gonna see that Pharaoh had no worries when Joseph was in charge of the land. Joseph was a man of integrity. He didn't have everything go his way. He didn't always get treated right by people but he always and and you could look at it and say, well, god didn't treat him right. He had to live, he had to be thrown in a cistern. He had to be sold as a slave. He had to be in prison. He got falsely accused of a sexual assault. But god was with them every step of the way. That's the part of the story we can't forget and god loved him and god blessed him and god was positioning him to the ultimate place and sometimes as I mentioned in our first study of part one, we can't see the end of the story but god sees it. So, don't give up. Don't get mad. Serve. Serve with integrity. Honor those in authority over you. Bless your captors. That's what it says in Jeremiah. Um I believe it's twenty-nine eleven and it says for I know the plans that I

have for you says the lord. God knows the plans that he has for you. Go read Jeremiah twenty-nine. He says, I know you're in a place of captivity but be fruitful where you are. Work unto the lord. Bloom where you're planted and bless your captors and it will go well for you and it'll go well for you as it goes well for them. Alright, so while I'm going to start summing this up. While Joseph is in prison, um the cupbearer of the king of Pharaoh and um the baker, they something happened. I don't know what but they're thrown in in prison and there they have a dream and Joseph interprets the dream. He uses his spiritual gifts where he is. Interpreting dreams is god's business. Joseph says in chapter uh forty verse eight and so the chief cupbearer gives Joseph his dream. Joseph interprets it. The baker gives his dream to Joseph. Joseph interprets it. So, these men are released and he tells the cupbearer. He says, when you are released and you're reinstated to your position as the king's cupbearer, this is a man that's going to be right there. The cupbearer is the one that tasted the wine for the king to make sure it wasn't poisoned to make sure it was good um and he was always right there with the king. So, he would always have the king's ear. He would always be positioned but we'll see when he gets out, he forgets. How many times have you been forgotten? You did the right thing and you should have been honored but man forgot you and I don't believe that this was something that the cupbearer meant to do. He just got out. He started living. He started getting blessed again and he was like, thank you god. If or he from Egypt, he probably says thank you to the gods and uh he just went on doing his thing and he forgot for years. He forgot

Joseph and again, another chance for Joseph to just get mad and give up but he didn't. He forgave and one day, Pharaoh had a dream and nobody in the land could interpret it and all of a sudden, the cupbearer remembers there's a man in prison who can interpret dream. He's a Hebrew boy and this is when Joseph goes from the pit of prison to the palace where he is brought before Pharaoh and he interprets the dream and Joseph's suggestions. We're going to pick up at forty-one thirty-seven. Um well, first of all, listen, listen to this. Uh forty-one Nine, when the cupbearer remembers, Joseph says, today I have been reminded of my failure, he told Pharaoh. Some time ago, you were angry with me and the baker, and you put us in prison, but there was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard, that's the warden, and he told me my dream. So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, he brought him, and he shaved him and changed his clothes and stood before Pharaoh. So Joseph gets all cleaned up, and Pharaoh tells him the dream, Joseph interprets it, and then in verse 37, Joseph's suggestions were well-received by Pharaoh and his official. He says, can we find, this is Pharaoh speaking, can we find anyone else in the land like this man, so obviously filled with the spirit of God? Do people look at your life and my life and say, that is one obvious, it is so obvious that that person walks with God, talks with God,

has been with God, is serving God, has the spirit of God on them. Pharaoh says, God has revealed the meaning, and listen, Pharaoh knew God had revealed the meaning of the dream because in verse 16 of 41, Joseph says, it is beyond my power to interpret the dream, Pharaoh, but God can tell you what it means and set you at ease. We see another trait of Joseph all along the way, he's given God the glory. Pharaoh says, since God has revealed the meaning of the dream to you, clearly, no one else is intelligent as wise as you are, you will be put in charge of my court and all my people will take orders from you, only I sitting on my throne will have a rank higher, but you, Joseph, are in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Now, why did God want him to get to Egypt? It was because there was gonna be a famine in the land and his father Jacob and all his brothers were gonna have to come to Egypt where God uses Joseph to store up all this grain. He gives Joseph a plan to save the nation of Israel and he uses someone who was stripped, thrown in a cistern, sold as a slave, falsely accused of a sexual assault, thrown into a prison, forgotten in prison, he uses that man to save a nation, to save the Jewish race. And so, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt. He was 30 years old when he began serving in the court of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,

and when Joseph left Pharaoh's present, he inspected the entire land of Egypt. We see that Joseph is a man who's wise, he's intelligent, he goes and inspects the land and then he prays and seeks wisdom from God. And he comes up with this plan of building all this crops and storing up crops to have during the seven years of famine. And so, we're gonna stop right there. And you can continue to study of how Joseph's brothers come to the land to get grain, and they're actually in the presence of their brother and they don't even know it. And there's a lot of really neat things that happen, but in the end, we see the brothers bow down to Joseph, so the dream is fulfilled. The Joseph's, Joseph's brothers go back and they bring Jacob and they move him to the land of Egypt, and there they grow and they grow in numbers and they grow in numbers and they're blessed in that land. So blessed that they find out that they end up kind of settling in Egypt and God wants them to go back. And that's where in Exodus, we find the story of Moses and by then there's a different Pharaoh. And that's where that story leads them back to the land from whence they had came. And so I hope you've enjoyed this little side journey. And anyway, it just reminded me of our choices that we can make along the way in our difficult journey

are the very things that will position us. They're the very things that will bless us. They're the very things that will bless those around us. And they're the things that, if I haven't already said it, will position us to be exactly where God wants us to be. But if we make the choice to get mad, to get angry, or to grow complacent. or to just start twiddling our thumbs and waiting until the day that we get released, we'll never experience that fruitfulness, we'll never experience shining for God, we'll never experience the success and the fruitfulness that He wants to give us right now. We'll be wasting our lives, we'll be wasting our spiritual gifts. You've got spiritual gifts right now that you can give God glory and use the gift of encouragement, use the gift of giving, use the gift of serving and leadership. Use your gift of healing and praying. I mean, a lot of us have such a gift of prayer. There's power in your prayers. Use everything you've got in your arsenal right now and it will go well for those around you. It'll go well for you and people will look at you and they'll say, that is a man and woman of integrity. And if you're faithful in the small, listen, he was faithful, Joseph was faithful every place

and people noticed and he got repositioned. The warden will notice and work in such a way that that warden will have no cares in the world when you're in charge. And you will be blessed and your household will be blessed. God bless you. Father, help us today to be faithful every place that we are. May we put aside resentment. May we forgive those who have hurt us, betrayed us, and even got on with life and forgot about us, Lord, who didn't intend to harm us. May we forgive them too. May we bless those. May we make right choices, Father. You say if we're faithful in the small, then we can be trusted with bigger things. May we rise up today from our place of complacency. May we let go of the anger and forgive. May we exchange our bitterness for your blessing, Lord. And as my brother, I think his name was John, wrote the other day, he said, it felt so good not to be angry anymore. It felt so good not to live with bitterness anymore. I felt light, I felt free. Lord, it takes a lot of energy to be mad. It takes a lot of energy to be hard-hearted. Would you give a hard, hard dousing of your spirit today? Would you start to melt it and give us a pliable heart, one that hears from you and one that is used by you? May we bless our captors today and shine like a bright star

in this dark place that we have found ourselves, Lord. You can use us, Lord, wherever we are, but it starts with us choosing to honor you, to trust you, and to honor and serve others, and to forgive. In Jesus' name, amen. I love you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you, and may he be gracious to you and grant you his peace. Please pass this on to a friend, and remember, if there's anything that we can do for you, don't hesitate to call. God bless you. Thank you for watching our broadcast. Are you an incarcerated brother or sister who needs encouragement? Write to us at Victorious Living Correspondents, P.O. Box 2751 Greenville, North Carolina, 27836, or email us at hope at vlmag.org. To view Victorious Living Magazine in its entirety, please have your chaplain contact us at 352-478-2098, or email us through our website at vlmag.org. We are happy to provide our Victorious Living Magazine free of charge, in bulk, with or without staples.