So now it was not you who sent me here, but God;

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Posted on: 1st May 2014

ScreenHunter_01 Jan. 15 12.00.gif Genesis 45:4-8 (NKJV)

⁴ And Joseph said to his brothers, �Please come near to me.� So they came near. Then he said: �I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For these two years the famine has beenin the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸ So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Reflections:

Now how�s that for an application of Romans 8:28, �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.�

The name Joseph means: God will increase. Well, for Joseph it sure didn�t feel like God was increasing him. On the contrary everything in his life seemed to be going in the absolute wrong direction.

� His brothers were jealous of him and sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt.

� They told their father that Joseph was dead.

� Joseph ended up being a slave, was falsely accused of lying with his master�s wife, and was cast into prison for several years.

It was through these experiences that God developed Joseph�s character. Everyplace Joseph found himself along his cyclic journey, of ups and downs, Joseph was faithful and God prospered him. Joseph�s life was exemplary in that he remained steadfast in his integrity.

It took God years to develop the necessary character in Joseph that would be necessary to fulfill God�s purpose for his life. When, after many years, God�s plan for Joseph�s life finally did unfold, Joseph had saved the nation of Israel and found himself elevated to second in all the land of Egypt.

The Holy Spirit takes us, like Joseph, through the flood and through the fiery trials and tribulations of life so that we too may one day emerge; vessels fit for the Master�s use.

We do well to remember that we each gave our lives to Christ to do with as Hesees fit � or did we miss the fine print: �What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Cor 6:19-20).�

Is it so surprising that that we must suffer with Him in order to reign with Him (2 Tim 2:11-12a)?

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So now it was not you who sent me here, but God;

Is it so surprising that that we must suffer with Him in order to reign with Him (2 Tim 2:11-12a)?

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