Wednesday June 10, 2015

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 41:14   So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

It’s clear from scripture that Joseph had favor and responsibility while in prison, but I find the word dungeon to be noteworthy.  Prison is bad enough, but dungeon sounds even worse.  It had been two years since he interpreted the cupbearer’s dream.  It had been thirteen years since he was sold into slavery by his brothers.  Had Joseph resigned himself to being a prisoner for the rest of his life?

I wonder what Joseph was doing when word came that he was to be ‘quickly’ brought before Pharaoh.  Think of the impact in our lives if the Secret Service showed up at our door and told us to quickly change because they were taking us immediately to see the President!  Had Joseph given up any hope of the cupbearer remembering to speak to Pharaoh about him?  Had word spread about Pharaoh’s dreams?  What was going through Joseph’s mind as he was brought to Pharaoh?

The important thing is that Joseph had lived righteously during all these years.  The Lord was with him and he prospered.  He wasn’t a complainer.  He didn’t allow his circumstances to negatively alter his attitudes and how he behaved.  In spite of such negative and undeserved surroundings, Joseph honored the Lord in how he lived.  I think of Job and how he didn’t sin by charging God with wrongdoing (Job 1:22).

When Pharaoh told Joseph that he had heard it said of him that he could hear a dream and interpret it, Joseph responded in humility and confidence.  “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” (Gen 41:16)  What a wonderful combination!  I picture a strong, young man, with a good spirit about him, acknowledging that while he cannot do it, God can and would do it.  He wasn’t fearful.  Joseph behaved the same whether he was in the dungeon or in the throne room of Pharaoh.  What an example for us.

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Tuesday June 9, 2015

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 41:1  When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream.

“Did Joseph spend two more years in prison due to a cupbearer’s faulty memory?”  Isn’t that a great question?  A companion question to it is, “Did God intend for Joseph to be in the dungeon for those two additional years?”

None of the magicians or wise men of Egypt could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.  It was then that the cupbearer remembered Joseph and recounted his experience with Joseph while in prison.  Pharaoh sent for Joseph.  Why did the cupbearer forget?

One of the important things for us to recognize in this situation is that God was working both in Joseph and in the bigger situation that he found himself in.  ‘Stuff’ was going on that he knew nothing about.  The timetable that God was working on involved Joseph, but it also involved a much bigger picture of people and events.  When things were in place, pharaoh had a dream.  Isn’t it interesting that one of the individuals who had been in prison with Joseph was the cupbearer – who just happened to be with Pharaoh when this dream happened?!  Isn’t it interesting that the cupbearer too had experienced a dream with Joseph and had been witness to his interpretation being fulfilled?!

Thus the stage was set for the cupbearer’s memory of Joseph to be turned back on.  In the meantime, Joseph was just faithfully performing the duties assigned to him in prison.  He probably had no idea how God was involved in the orchestration of events until after events unfolded and he looked back in amazement!

This is such an important principle for us to recognize and embrace.  God is at work in our lives and in the circumstances around us to bring about His plan and purposes.  We are not alone.  We are not left to ourselves.  Many times the issue of timing is vital.  Things don’t happen because they are dependent upon other things, possibly beyond our control, happening first.

It seems clear to me that Joseph spent two more years in prison because that is where God wanted him to be.  He was not subject to a cupbearer’s faulty memory.  If anything, I think God caused the cupbearer to forget.  God was working in Joseph and until the time of Pharaoh’s dream, the Lord wanted him there – in the dungeon. Of course God could have given Pharaoh the dreams two years earlier.  But that wasn’t His plan.

It is critical that we recognize that God is intimately involved in our lives – particularly in the difficult seasons that we go through.  If our prayers don’t bring relief, it could be that God wants us to be exactly where we are, and is going to keep us there – just like He did with Joseph in prison.  Our focus must be upon our Lord.  Hopefully, we will respond as faithfully as Joseph.

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Monday June 8, 2015

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 40:23  The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Today’s devotional is special to me because it describes an insight that became clear to me while writing it, regarding Joseph’s response to his experience with the cupbearer.  Even though I’ve read this story many, many times, my thoughts had been more on how disappointed and distressed Joseph might have been.  Even though Scripture is silent on this issue, his overall life suggests that this different perspective could be a more accurate understanding of Joseph’s response to this event.  The principle involved is one that has proved priceless to me in its impact on my life over the years.

As I was writing, I began wondering about what Joseph’s response was in the days following the chief cupbearer being restored.  I imagine that he had real hope that his situation was about to change – that he would be set free.  Maybe he thought about returning to his father Jacob; or getting married and having a family.  Maybe he thought he might have to stay in Egypt, but at least he would be out of prison.  As the days passed and became weeks, he realized that no one was coming to free him.

Today’s verse explains why – the cupbearer forgot him!  What a disappointment to live with each day – and it would be, if it was his focus.  But I don’t think it was.  Instead of looking at the failure of the cupbearer to do anything or even to communicate that Pharaoh refused to act, I believe Joseph had his focus elsewhere.  His focus was on God!

Yes there would have been disappointment to deal with, but I believe Joseph was encouraged by the reality that God had intervened into his situation by giving him the interpretation of the dreams.  He saw the interpretations come true.  He knew that he could not have interpreted them without God.  The depth of his pain and disappointment were overshadowed by his see seeing God manifest Himself in his life.  The fact that Joseph didn’t understand the ‘Why’ of it was irrelevant.  He knew he didn’t have to understand.  God was with him and he would trust his God.

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Sunday June 7, 2015

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 40:14-15  14 “But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”

When the chief cupbearer and the baker told Joseph they both had dreams and there was no one to interpret them, Joseph’s response was, “Do not interpretations belong to God?  Tell me your dreams.”  So they did.

The chief cupbearer told him his dream of a vine with three branches; of grapes forming and him squeezing them into Pharaoh’s cup and putting the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.  Joseph then told him that within three days, Pharaoh would restore him to his position as his personal cupbearer.

The baker heard the favorable interpretation so he shared his dream with Joseph.  Unfortunately for him, Joseph informed him that Pharaoh was going to execute him by hanging him in a tree within three days.  On the third day, things happened exactly as Joseph foretold.

In the middle of this narrative is a real gem that most don’t notice.  The verses for today are where Joseph shares his situation with the cupbearer in a truly righteous appeal for help.  Read the verse again and note the tenor of the words.  The appeal Joseph makes is done without the anger or a desire for revenge that we would typically expect.  Even though Joseph has endured 13 years of slavery and prison, he is simply stating things that are true—and doing it in a way that is acceptable! On top of that he was betrayed by family.  All these years he has been able to righteously carry the wrongs that have been done to him.

What an example for us!  We all have had wrongs done to us.  Joseph demonstrates that it is possible to righteously carry the knowledge of wrongs done in a way that is pleasing to God.

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Saturday June 6, 2015 – Happy Birthday Jamie!

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 40:8    “We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.”  Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Joseph asked these two men, “Why are your faces so sad today?”  They responded by telling him that they each had a dream and they didn’t know what the dreams meant and they thought there wasn’t anyone to interpret them.  Because Joseph asked the question, he was in a position to address their concern.

This event of Joseph interpreting their dreams would later play a crucial role in Joseph becoming Governor of Egypt.  But let’s take a moment to reflect on the sequence of events that were responsible for Joseph being there.

Joseph encountered these two prisoners because they had been assigned to his care.  He was able to ask them his question, because he was in prison with them.  He was in prison because Potiphar’s wife lied.  She lied because Joseph refused to sin with her.  He was in her house because he was a slave purchased by Potiphar, her husband.  He was purchased by Potiphar because his brothers sold him into slavery.         He was sold into slavery because God sent him ahead.  Joseph was God’s man to deal with the coming famine.

God chose the path that Joseph needed to take – with all its pain and difficulty.  God was with him, blessing him – helping him.  Each step of the way, Joseph was exactly where God wanted him to be – and was faithful in allowing God to make him the man he was destined to be.

We have the same opportunity, just much different circumstances.  There are all manner of challenging and difficult things that God will take us through in accomplishing His purposes and transforming us into the image of Jesus.  Our focus must be on Him and not on ourselves or our difficulties.  By responding to the Spirit working in us, our lives increasingly speak of the love and wonder of our God.  We are able to joyfully follow Him, wherever He leads, and endure any difficulties in order to become the men and women He wants us to be – and to be His hands extended to those we encounter.

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Friday June 5, 2015

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 40:6-7  When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”                                                                                                                                                                                                          Have you noticed how nice it is to work with thoughtful people who do their jobs well?  They are good examples to emulate in terms of their work habits, but their thoughtfulness is something special.  They are the ones, who notice things; who go out of their way to help or cheer people up.  They care about their jobs but they care about those around them.

This verse today has always blessed me because it speaks of such quality in Joseph.  The Lord was blessing Joseph in prison just as He had in Potiphar’s house, giving him success.  The warden had put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there (Gen 39:22).

Joseph was in charge – basically running the place, but he wasn’t bitter about all that had happened to him.  He wasn’t inwardly focused so that he was blind to what was going on around him.  He noticed that two of the prisoners were dejected and asked them why.  He cared – and he didn’t keep it hidden.

Earlier when he refused to go to bed with Potiphar’s wife, it wasn’t just because it was a sin against God.  Joseph saw it as wickedness because it was also a betrayal of the trust that his master had in him.  Joseph had honor and integrity.  The fact that he was a slave and a prisoner was irrelevant.  The quality in Joseph just continued to shine.

The Lord gives us opportunities every day to let His light shine through us to bless others.   What a privilege that is.  Giving someone an encouraging word, being kind or helpful is like giving a thirsty person a drink of water.  Remember Joseph, that he did it in the context of doing his responsibilities well.  Integrity and thoughtfulness – may our lives have them in abundance.

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Thursday June 4, 2015

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 105:17-19  and He sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.  They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.

Prior to being sold into slavery, Joseph was given two dreams by the Lord.  In the first, Joseph and his brothers each had a sheaf of grain.  His sheaf stood upright, and the sheaves of his brothers gathered around it and bowed down to it.  Upon telling his brothers this dream, they hated Joseph all the more.

In the second dream, the sun, the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him.  He shared this dream with his father, Jacob, as well as with his brothers.  Jacob rebuked him asking about the dream, “Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

Twenty years before the famine would arrive, God gave Joseph these dreams.  I wonder what he thought about them.  Did he think they would come true sometime soon?  Joseph had no idea what coming.  Instead of a life of blessing, growth and prosperity with his family – he experienced the opposite: betrayal by his brothers, sold as a slave, taken to Egypt, harsh treatment, blessed as a slave for an Egyptian master, and then imprisoned because he wouldn’t sin.

We tend to overlook the shackles and bruises on his feet, and the irons around his neck.  He wasn’t politely taken to Egypt – he was forcibly and painfully taken.  All of this was done because of God’s plan.  Joseph’s dreams were going to come true – his family was going to bow before him.  But first would come this path of preparation that God had for Joseph.

It’s so important that we recognize that God has plans for each of us – plans that require preparation.  While we probably won’t encounter anything like Joseph did, God will do whatever it takes to prepare us and enable us to do what He wants us to do.  Many things might be hard, but we must learn to embrace them – looking to the Lord to accomplish His plan and purpose within us.  Hopefully we will emulate Joseph and walk faithfully through all we encounter, being conscious of God’s presence with us – leading us on.

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Tuesday June 2, 2015

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Don Schmidt

1 Peter 2:19  For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

We have a tendency to expect positive results when we do the right thing.  Nothing wrong with that, but we must be aware that often that isn’t the case.  Peter is talking about us bearing up under the pain of unjust suffering because we are conscious of God – just like Joseph did.

Joseph refused to yield to the temptation presented by Potiphar’s wife.  Day after day she talked to him and he repeatedly refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.  When she caught him by his cloak one day, they were the only ones in the house and Joseph fled.  She proceeded to lie to Potiphar accusing Joseph of being the one wanting her.

It appears that Potiphar believed his wife for Scripture says, “he burned with anger.”  I’ve often wondered if he ever asked for Joseph’s side of the story – and would he have believed him if he did.  Potiphar then took Joseph and put him in prison.  Joseph did what was right and wound up in jail.  In spite of doing right, because he was conscious of God, he experienced even more pain of unjust suffering.

“But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.” (Gen 39:20b, 21)  In the midst of it all, Joseph could see that God was there with him.

Do we understand the importance of maintaining a godly attitude and godly behavior when in trying situations?  We too can be falsely accused.  We can be fired or receive unfavorable treatment because we refuse to go along with illegal or unethical demands.  We can lose sales or clients because we are unwilling to lie or deceive.  We can face the loss of “friends” because we refuse to participate in activities that are sinful.  If our focus is Jesus, we will make the right decisions and do it with grace – not self-righteousness.  Our goal is to do it right.  Wherever we wind up, the Lord will be there with us.

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Monday June 1, 2015

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 39:9  “No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

The story of Joseph has such amazing twists and turns.  He’s a young man of 17 loved by his father Jacob, who gave him a richly ornamented robe as a sign of his love.  This provoked hatred in his brothers because they saw that Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved them.  Then Joseph received the two dreams in which it appeared that his family was bowing before him.  This made his brothers hate him even more.

Shortly thereafter, the brothers sold him into slavery, instead of killing him.  Once in Egypt he was purchased by Potiphar, captain of the guard for Pharaoh.  God proceeded to bless Joseph in everything he did and Potiphar recognized it.  So Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his household and everything he owned.  Everything Joseph did was being blessed.

Into this success came serious temptation in the form Potiphar’s wife, who was attracted to this handsome young man.  Day after day, she repeatedly tried to get Joseph to sleep with her.  Joseph recognized the temptation for what it was and is – a wicked thing; a betrayal of Potiphar’s trust; and a sin against God.  When she finally grabbed his cloak to get him to come to bed with her, he fled and ran out of the house.  He refused to yield to sin.

What an example for us!  In Christ, we have the opportunity to be a blessing to all around us.  But in the midst of it, temptations will come.  Pray that we have the eyes to see them, as Joseph did – and also the firm resolve to resist them, no matter what.  Sin is sin.  The enemy of our souls wants us to sin against God – who allows the temptations to come.  God wants to see us stand firm against them – and flee if need be, in order to affirm who we are in Him – to demonstrate the quality of His workmanship in us.

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Sunday May 31, 2015

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Don Schmidt

Genesis 37:36  Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Life is filled with all kinds of experiences – many good, some not-so-good, and some downright awful.  I think at this point, Joseph probably viewed his situation in the downright awful category.  How do you adjust from being free and part of a family – deeply loved by your father, and suddenly find yourself as a slave – sold by your brothers no less – in a foreign land?

Joseph had a short time to come to a decision on how he was going to respond to his situation.  He might have viewed escape as impossible and viewed slavery as his lot for the rest of his life.  His attitudes and demeanor could have played an important role in who he was purchased by.  Did he realize or have a clue that the events of his life were being orchestrated by the God of his fathers?

He was purchased by Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.  At this point, the scriptures note that, “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered…” – so much so, that Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and was giving him success in whatever he did.

Remember, this is occurring long before Moses and the law.  Joseph’s knowledge of God would have been from the stories passed on by Abraham, Isaac and his father Jacob.  Yet Joseph responded rightly to what was occurring in his life.

While it is difficult for us to relate to being sold into slavery, there are those in the world right now that are having this happen to them.  Famine, plague, war, bombings, slavery, natural disasters – they are occurring now, all around us.  In our lives it might be loss of jobs, or loved ones – disappointments, accidents, bankruptcy, acts of violence, persecution.  These things happen – things that we don’t want – wouldn’t choose – wouldn’t want to happen even to people we don’t like.  But they happen to us or people we care about.  God expects us to respond consistently with our faith – not like the world responds.

As Christians, our Lord has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  In the midst of every situation, no matter what happens, He is there.  There is nothing He cannot redeem.  Pray that this knowledge of the Lord being with you – ALWAYS – becomes a rock-solid reality in your heart.  It will transform you – and those around you.

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