But God Was With Him - Pastor Stuart Price

• 28/03/2019
• SLC Stuart Price

 

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

 

    Stephen preaching in Acts 7:9-10 “And the patriarchs, becoming envious,

    sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all

    his troubles, and gave him favour and wisdom in the presence of the

    Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his

    house.” Our Heavenly Father God is ever faithful, compassionate, unchanging

    and He has a heart of the ‘2^nd mile’ towards us. He desires to

    see us grow into mature sons and daughters of the kingdom. In the life of

    Joseph; whilst it appeared to go downhill significantly from the age of 17

    from the pit to slavery to prison, but God meant it for good [Genesis

    50:20] and it was all in His plan to save His chosen people, from whose

    line the Messiah would come into the world for all mankind.

 

    The question for each of us individually every day is: “Do I really believe

    that God is with me?” The truth this answer is shown by our words and

    actions in the times when we are in the midst of a storm. “But God…” is

    used 43 times in the Bible and it always precedes some “good news.” Storms,

    trials, battles & testings are part of this life, but do we really view

    them as good events and count it all joy? [James 1:2] Paul calls all his

    hardships ‘light afflictions’ and in Philippians 1:12 says that they ‘all

    turned out for the furtherance of the gospel’.

 

    Josephs path to the palace had a very unusual route, but nevertheless it

    was Gods plan and Joseph deeply trusted God knew what He was doing. God was

    developing Joseph to be mature and steadfast in his trust of the Almighty.

    Josephs life is a living testimony to the fact that perseverance will

    always outlast persecution. He never lost the dream that God place in his

    heart. He was only 1 man, but God working with him for the salvation of his

    nation. His name means ‘My Jehovah gives increase’. Pharaoh gave him a name

    which means ‘Saviour of the world’.

 

    Joseph is an Old Testament type of Christ and an example for us all to

    follow. His character stands out as one of the purest in all history. He

    allowed no temptation to affect his high morality, no calamity to shake his

    faith in God, no adversity to depress him and no power or position to make

    him proud and haughty. Joseph was a truthful, pure, just, merciful, kind

    and God-fearing man. The Lord is coming back for a church without spot nor

    blemish, a holy, spirit-led people.

 

    Although Joseph did not really know how significant his life would have

    turned out to be, he must have lived just like Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to

    live: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own

    understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your

    paths.”

 

    This is so important for us to constantly be reminding ourselves of. Our

    enemy tries to grip our lives with fear of what our future may be. Jesus

    told us not to worry about tomorrow. Psychology tells us that people want

    to know their future because they are unhappy with the present and that

    they long for news of a better future. The Bible has a solution for us by

    being so clear on who holds the future. Your faith in God and peace built

    on that faith is a clear antidote for a desperate need to know our future.

    God has a rest for His people to enter into and that’s by giving control of

    our lives to Him.

 

    Ask yourself : “Do I really believe that God is with me, orchestrating my

    path and future???”

 

    He doesn’t lead by sight nor circumstances BUT GOD has given us His Spirit

    to be our guide. Too often we use ‘BUT I’. Joseph never defended himself,

    he could have justifiably said “But I didn’t touch your wife… or But I did

    nothing wrong to be sold into slavery etc”. “BUT” is a powerful word that

    has the power to undo all that came before it and when its “BUT GOD”

    together then suddenly anything is possible. Jesus said, “But with God all

    things are possible.” Once we were dead in our sins, BUT GOD made us alive.

    Once we were held captive by satan, BUT GOD made us free. How can you work

    a ‘BUT GOD’ into your sentences relating to your difficulty? By knowing how

    He thinks.

 

    Good news always follows a ‘BUT GOD’ statement. In times when fear tries to

    take its foothold over us, we must talk to ourselves about who God is in me

    and who we are in Him. He is never caught by surprise, like we might be. He

    has given us all that we will ever need…His nature, His weapon which is His

    Word, His power by His Spirit and our rightful righteous authority back

    over this realm. Remember the last times you were troubled BUT GOD came

    through and made a way. The way a thing looks is all relative to

    perspective. Jesus was able to sleep during a storm and rebuked the

    disciples for not trusting Him when He said, “let us go to the other side.”

    Sing songs like “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives,

    all fear is gone.” Walk by faith in Him that He knows what’s best for your

    future.

 

    The more time you spend with Him in His word and prayer, the more

    confidence you will have in Him.

 

    Have a great week

 

    Much love

 

    Pastor Stuart & Colleen