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Getting Free from the Other Prison
Genesis 41:46-52
People are locked in more than one kind of prison
Many people hurt because they live nursing their hurts in the past to the point that they can't enjoy the present or the future
From prison to prosperity
In one day 41:37-45
He went from a falsely accused prisoner to a respected and honored political and spiritual leader
He went from prisoner and jail worker to second in command of the country
He went from prison clothes to a prince’s clothes
He was given a new name, a wife, and total freedom
God gave great harvests 41:47-49
Though he had achieved success the question would be how did he deal with all the bad things that had happened to him
Brothers that hated and mistreated him
How other slaves or prisoners may have treated him
Being falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife
God gave him a son that made him forget his past 41:51--Manasseh
God gave him a son that reminded him that God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction 41:52 Ephraim
How Joseph had suffered a type of prison
Horribly mistreated by his brothers
They hated him and considered killing him
He was the baby brother
He was only 17 years old
They threw him in a pit
They sold him as a slave
Hauled away by slave traders
What do you think were the conditions in lived in?
How did the other prisoners treat a young boy?
Taken to the home of Potiphar as a slave
Falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and thrown in jail
His hopes were dashed after he interpreted the dreams of the butler
He lives for two more years in jail forgotten
III.How Joseph got free from the prison of bitterness
A description of the prison of bitterness
Bitterness causes you to blame others as well as your past
Bitterness literally causes you to have to present or future only a past
Bitterness will cause you to be bitter and spiteful
Bitterness will cause you to build walls in your heart
Bitterness will cause you to remember all too well all that was done against you
Bitterness will make you a skeptical person and make it hard for you to trust people
Your bitterness and hurt will cause what happens to you, to become your identity
Bitterness will cause you not to want to forget
Bitterness will cause you to focus on that one thing so much that you begin to be like what you hate
The bitterness will cause you to focus on yourself to the point that it is all about you and nothing about what God is doing
Bitterness and the inability or lack of desire to forgive causes you to be placed in a prison of your own making at the hand of tormenters Matthew 18:34
The sinner seeks forgiveness for himself
The forgiven that can’t forgive
He doesn’t try to blame those who hurt him or seek vengeance only deliverance 40:15
He doesn’t allow what has happened to him to cause a bad attitude etc
He realized that the story of his life wasn’t about him
He doesn’t play the victim
He didn't want his suffering to become the defining moment of his life
Steps you can take today
Remember to change what you think about Philippians 4:8
Though you can’t forget necessarily what happened to you --you can replace the negative thoughts with other thoughts II Corinthians 10:5
It was worth it
God had a purpose
An all-powerful God would not have allowed this to happen if it weren't for His glory and good though I may not understand
Enjoy what you have now--his family
Let your blessings today become dearer to you than your hurts from yesterday
Don't sacrifice the enjoyment of what God has given you today because you are so focused on your past
Decide to forget so that your hurt doesn’t become your identity
Don't allow all the trouble and bitterness to make you sterile
Learn to see the greater purpose--why God used what they did for a greater cause
Forget those things which are behind and reach for the things before you Philippians 3:13
Joseph was able to forget all his toil as well as the good and bad of his father’s house 41:51
Joseph was able to lead a productive life even after all that had happened to him 41:52
God has a great plan for your life and He will use your past to make much of it come true