Open Heaven 21 August 2019 Wednesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye
Topic: Strategically Located
Memorise: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” – Genesis 50:20
Read: Genesis 37:13-28 (KJV)
13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Bible in One Year: 1 Samuel 29-31, Ezekiel 37:15-28
MESSAGE:
Out of envy and hatred, Joseph’s brothers wickedly plotted evil against him. They even wanted to kill him but God intervened, so they decided instead to sell him to slave merchants who led him to Egypt, where he served Potiphar as a slave for several years before being sent to prison. Jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, his chances of regaining his freedom became slimmer and slimmer as the days went by. After a period of about fifteen years, God visited Joseph with His mercy and brought him out of prison and slavery with a strong hand. He became second in command to Pharaoh in the whole Egyptian empire; a position that was by all means impossible for a foreigner to occupy, not to mention a slave and an ex-convict. Most remarkably however, throughout his experience, Joseph was never bitter, angry or vengeful towards his brothers, because he believed that God’s purpose was being fulfilled through everything he faced. Indeed, the ways of God are past finding out. What Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 45:5-8 is so instructive to us today:
“5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”
Joseph did not want his brothers to feel sorry for their past wickedness against him, because he did not view what happened to him entirely as an act of hatred but rather as God’s way of strategically positioning him for the fulfilment of His great purpose. Although he did not try to whitewash the evil his brothers did, he was determined to show them that God had a saving purpose in the cruel events of his life, otherwise, how else could he have gotten to the position he found himself in Egypt if he had remained with his father in the land of Canaan? This same message is echoed to us by the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:28, which says:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
I therefore pray that God will strategically position you and that all things will begin to work together for your good and the overall blessing of your entire family in the Mighty Name of Jesus.
Prayer Point: Father, please let every evil plan of the enemy work together for my good in Jesus’ Name.
Hymn 4: Take My Life, And Let It Be
1 Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise,
Let them flow in endless praise.
2 Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3 Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
4 Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose,
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
5 Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
6 Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
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