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Your Life’s Work
Genesis 50:15-21
The story of Joseph is really the story of God accomplishing His purposes through the life of a man
His purpose was to save many people 50:20
The lesson to learn is that God has a purpose for your life--find out what it is
Look at all the circumstances of your life and realize that God has a purpose and is working in you
Get the joy of God’s work and will by surrendering to Him and seeking to please Him in all that is happening in your life
Joseph’s brothers fear what he might do
While Jacob lived Joseph was very good to the family
He provided them with a wonderful place to live and work 47:6
He got some of the jobs taking care of Pharaoh’s cattle as rulers 47:6
He gave them the best 47:11
He nourished all of them 47:12
While everyone else is losing all that they have and becoming servants, Joseph’s family is prospering and ruling 47:6
They have lost their money, their cattle, and now their land 47:18
He moved the Egyptians from their land to other parts of the country 47:21
Jacob, their dad, dies 49:33
Jacob has given the blessing to Joseph
Joseph got a double portion 48:22
Joseph’s two sons are blessed 48:16
Joseph gets the blessings of Jacob on him 49:26
Jacob has commanded his sons 49:33
They fear that Jacob might hate them and make them pay for how they had treated him 50:15
They use the name of their father to ask his forgiveness 50:17
They offer themselves as his servants 50:18
Joseph answers, am I in the place of God 50:19
When we take vengeance on someone else, we put ourselves in the place of God Romans 12:19
They do not need to see themselves as his servants but God’s 50:18
He will not judge them or punish them
God had a purpose in all that happened to Joseph 50:20
For Joseph to be angry with his brothers would be to ignore that God had a great purpose in what he did no matter what their desire had been
We have no right to decide how God should go about accomplishing His purposes in our lives
We should not stand or even try to stand in the way of what He wants
It seems rather rebellious and presumptuous to be angry with the means God uses in our lives to accomplish His purposes
It hurt Joseph that they would doubt him 50:17
He told them not to be afraid 50:21
He promised to take care of them 50:21
He spoke kindly and comforted them 50:21
III.Putting things into perspective!
God uses even bad things that happen to us to accomplish good things in our lives and for the good of others 50:20
When you see the good that God accomplished through Joseph how can you complain about the way that He brought you?
Losing his family
Being a slave
Being falsely accused
Being in jail
Being forgotten
This is a Biblical principal John 12:24
The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die if it wants to bring forth fruit
The seed is alone in isolation
It suffers in the elements
It has to wait patiently until God decides to make it breakthrough
It is often covered in manure that will actually give it strength
It is, love your life or hate it-- John 12:25
We can hold on to ourselves and our own goals and purposes or we can allow God to work in our lives
We never understand all that He is doing or why
The alabaster box must be broken Mark 14:3
The Holy Spirit lives in us with all of His power
To have effective ministry we must get out of His way
He works in us to prepare us to give Him great glory
Jesus suffered and died to bring about salvation
Even the mother suffers to give birth
Everyone that God will use must be broken so that He gets the glory
Fruitfulness comes to those who are willing to surrender willingly to God’s working in their lives Romans 12:1-2
The keys to finding God’s will
Yield your life and all to Him
Do not think or act like the world
Learn His thoughts
Do you desire that He use your life like Joseph to save many lives?
Do you desire to glorify God with your life?