This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing with our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”, by continuing on with the story of Joseph. Joseph set God’s plan in motion and during the seven good years the land in Egypt produced bumper crops. Joseph saved the excess in strategically selected cities around the country and the Bible says that Joseph stored so much food “that it could not be measured.” The excess grain was like the sands of the seashore.
During the time of plenty Joseph’s wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest in the city of On, gave birth to two sons. The name of each son is significant. We will discuss the first son today and the second on Monday. The Bible says, “Joseph named the first son Manasseh. He was given this name because Joseph said, “God made me forget all my hard work and everything back home in my father’s house.” (see Genesis 41:48-51).
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. You must let go the pain of the past in order to lay hold of God’s best in the present. Joseph had been through a lot. He was betrayed by his own blood, sold as a slave, falsely accused of rape, and forced to spend years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Even though he was clearly walking in the favor of God, Joseph had suffered a great deal. He named his first child Manasseh as a testimony of the fact that God helped him forget his troubles and let go of his past. Joseph was not going to miss the blessing of being Prime Minister by nursing and rehearsing the pain he experienced as a prisoner. Some fail to enjoy the present because of the past and Joseph was not going to make this mistake. My message to you is simple: don’t do it either. Whether your past was good or bad, you are not there anymore. There comes a time when you must LET GO of the past in order to LAY HOLD of your future. I am going to share a secret with you. I have four words that have been a great blessing to me. Whenever I have had a bad day, I simply go to sleep and wake up the next morning and say, “Yesterday ended last night!” So:
a) Don’t keep good records of bad things. Use your time and mental energy in a productive way.
b) Be quick to forgive, so you don’t develop a root of bitterness.
c) LET GO, so you can LAY HOLD! Far too many believers can’t LAY HOLD of their future, because they refuse to LET GO of their past.
2. Forgiven people forgive people. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul was both a recipient and a disperser of forgiveness. He personally persecuted the church and he knew that he needed forgiveness for that. He came to God, received forgiveness from God, learned to forgive himself, and then sought to forgive others as he had been forgiven. In his letter to the church at Colossae he taught them how forgiven believers should live, saying, “Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14). As believers we should not walk around with a root of bitterness, but rather with the oil of joy – quick to forgive, to let go, and to move on!
3. Forgiveness is a choice. Joseph could have harbored bitterness towards his brothers for selling him as a slave or for Mrs. Potiphar for sending him to jail when he had done no wrong. But Joseph chose to move forward and not to live in the past. He responded to evil with love. He let the bitterness go and he was able to embrace God’s best for his life. You must learn to do the same. You can either respond to evil with evil (making you no different than the world), or you can respond to evil with love (making you an example of God in the earth). Which will you choose? I can tell you from personal experience how liberating it is to release the wrong done to you. Not only does it free you, but it also frees the person who did you wrong. The Bible is clear that God expects us, as recipients of forgiveness and grace, to become extenders of forgiveness and grace. Forgiveness helps mend broken relationships, heal broken hearts, and it provides a covering for the wrong done. The Apostle Peter said, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1st Peter 4:8).
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith. You loved me enough to forgive me, and I declare, by faith, that I develop in Your love to the point where I am able to completely forgive others. I will not allow what others have done to me, in the past, to derail me from my future. I release the root of bitterness, anger, resentment and wrath. I forgive, I let go, and I move forward! I truly appreciate Your grace towards me and I will allow Your grace to flow through me, towards others. Since I have been forgiven of much I will forgive much. Since I have received grace, I will become a conduit of grace. Since You have forgiven the inexcusable in me, I will, through Your love, forgive the inexcusable in others. And I will never allow myself to become a prisoner to my past. I am still alive, I am still breathing, there is blood still flowing through my veins, so this is evidence that You are not through with me. I have a great assignment and I don’t have time to waste on yesterday. Yesterday ended last night! Like Joseph, You can bless me to forget the pain of my past. You release it from me and I release it from others. I am too focused on what You have called me to do to waste time worrying about something that happened already. Forward-ever, backward-never! The best is yet to come! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
