Welcome!
Date: Monday, August 02, 2010
Today: From prison to the palace
Passage: Genesis 49: 22-24 NIV
22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. [j]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed [k] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
At the church retreat we had this past weekend, I was just sharing, and I mentioned this scripture portion above
Then, something like I have never thought before came up
In Genesis chapter 49, we read about Jacob blessing his children
Jacob, in the spirit, speaks about each of his children exactly what they are!
I have seen that most parents don’t have a clue on how their children are
Almost everybody likes to say, “My child is very good” or “my child won’t do that or this”
But Jacob got the exact picture of each of his children, because he is now looking at them through his spiritual eyes-his spiritual gift
We need this kind of a view about our children, to pray for them effectively
In the N.T we read about Paul making a statement like this:
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (2 Cor 5:16- NIV)
In the church, let all “connections” be spiritual, not otherwise
Disagreements between people can be because of various reasons, just to mention two of them:
1. Personality clashes for physical or spiritual reasons
2. Difference in spiritual views-on issues like healing, deliverance, prosperity, gifts of the spirit and so on
Praying together will be most effective, when we are in one accord
Now, looking at Joseph:-
Joseph was elevated from the prison, to the palace
It was one gift in him that took him from the prison to the palace
His job responsibilities doubled up; but his burden became half, I believe
Your “burden” about your job responsibilities is not always in proportion to the amount of work you have
Some people are very much burdened about the little they have; some are not at all burdened with the too much they have
God can reduce the “burden” feeling and make our lives easier
At the same time, He is the one who can increase your earnings
That is what we happened with Joseph
We need our lives to be simplified as much as possible; but the enemy wants to make it as hard as possible
Prayer can do wonders- individual as well as corporate prayers
We need to pray. We need to pray effectively
Sometimes, children may ask: “Why is God not answering our prayers?”
They may be asking about a certain thing they prayed or the family prayed
Those are times that make us think, because they won’t be satisfied with “make-up” answers. They want real answers for real questions they ask
They mean what they ask, and they want answers that make sense
We need our prayers to work. We need changes in our understanding of prayer. We need to pray right
God is there to help us with that. The Holy Spirit is with us
We need to see God touching the lives of people, as we pray
We will see that, if we are open to God and if we are available to God so that He can continue to work in us and work through us
God bless
BG
Prayer: Lord, make me the kind of person you want me to be, so that I will be satisfied and you will be happy about me. Give me the right perspective on people as well as things I deal with. Amen