This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing with our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”. We closed out last week with a message entitled, “We Serve a God Who Turns Tragedies into Triumphs” from the following passage:
The Lord was with Joseph and continued to show his kindness to him, so the commander of the prison guards began to like Joseph. The commander of the guards put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. Joseph was their leader, but he still did the same work they did. The commander of the guards trusted Joseph with everything that was in the prison. This happened because the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord helped Joseph be successful in everything he did. (Gen 39:21-23 ERV).
Today I feel led to stay with the same passage and bring out some golden nuggets inspired from a message I heard my Pastor, Tony Brazelton, preach yesterday. Pastor Tony said some things about 2 Corinthians 4 that reminded me of Joseph and what he went through.
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s get to it.
1. God has put His power IN you. Paul said, “We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us.” (2 Cor 4:7).
a. Your true power comes from God and not from you, your strength or your ability.
b. God freely makes His power available to you by His grace.
c. God wants it to be clear to everyone that it is His power flowing through you and not just your human ability. This way He gets the glory.
d. You are the container and God has filled you with His treasure. You are humanity housing divinity and if you die to self God’s divinity can be seen in you.
2. The pressures of this world help bring God’s treasure OUT of you. Paul went on to say, “We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.” (2 Cor 4:8,9).
a. God has placed His treasure IN you and just like it takes pressure to develop a diamond, it often takes pressure to release God’s treasure/power from within you.
b. You might face trouble, but God’s power will ensure you are not defeated.
c. Sometimes you don’t know what to do, but God’s power keeps you going so you don’t give up.
d. You will be persecuted because of your purpose, but God will never leave you and His presence will keep you through the storm.
e. You might get hurt sometimes, but God’s power will see to it that you are not destroyed.
3. The key to releasing God’s power IN you is dying to self. Paul went on to say, “So we constantly experience the death of Jesus in our own bodies, but this is so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies.” (2 Cor 4:10).
a. God won’t be seen in you until you die to self.
b. God is not going to compete with you. If you want to do all the work, He will stand by and rest. But if you die to self, you will be able to REST in God and He will work through you.
c. When you experience death to self, the life of Jesus will flow through you freely, clearly and powerfully. People will look at you and see Jesus.
4. The pressure Joseph faced helped bring OUT what God had placed IN him.
a. Joseph would have never realized his full potential at home. He was the 11th and favorite son. He was too sheltered to blossom, so God allowed him to be stripped of his shelter. Once Joseph was exposed to the real world he began to develop into the man he was born to be.
b. Joseph would have never learned what he needed to learn at Potiphar’s house. While Joseph was comfortable at Potiphar’s house and he was the second in command, he was only blooming at the home/domestic level. God wanted Joseph to learn things that would prepare him for the national level. That is why Joseph wound up in the royal prison. The prison afforded Joseph an opportunity to flourish on another level.
c. Joseph learned things in the prison, about the nation of Egypt and how the government worked, that he would have never learned in Potiphar’s house. There was purpose in the pressure he was facing.
d. When you are facing difficult challenges, get excited. God is still WITH you, God is working FOR you, and He has placed His treasure IN you. What you are facing will help you get the treasure OUT!
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my purpose. The more I learn about each the more comfortable I become with relying on Your power and dying to self. I die to ME, so that You can freely flow through me. I minimize ME so that You can maximize YOU through me. I want the world to see Jesus when they look at me. You have placed Your treasure IN me for all the world to see. But for the world to see it, I need to let it out. It sometimes takes the pressures of this world to release Your best in me. So I am open to whatever You deem necessary. If I face trouble, I know Your grace will see to it that I am not defeated. If I don’t know what to do, Your grace will keep me going, so that I don’t quit while I am waiting on guidance from You. If I am persecuted because of my purpose, I don’t fold or crack under the pressure because You are always with me. Your presence gives me peace and it connects me to Your power. Even if I get hurt in the process, I know I will never be destroyed because Your power will protect me and heal me. So no matter what I face, I face it believing that it will bring OUT of me all that You have placed IN me. I am determined to bloom where I have been planted, to blossom within my sphere of influence, and to develop into the person I was born to be in the process. I die so that You can be seen in my living. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
