This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, with an emphasis on “Focusing on God’s Finished Work”. On Monday I started teaching you about God’s Finished Work. God made plans for you before the world began. His plans are finished. Just like an architect who has to finish the plans before a building is erected, God finished His plans for your life before you ever took one breath. You were born as God’s design. But the major issue is that you get a vote. You get to choose. You get to decide. You get to make the call between God’s will and your own. You had to choose to accept Jesus as Lord. This does not come without God’s involvement. He sent countless people your way to tell you about His Son and the gift of eternal life. After much pushing, pulling and prodding, you finally acknowledged Jesus as Lord and you were Born-Again. But now, in similar fashion, God is attempting to get you to align your life with what He has assigned you to do. Until you do — until you die to self and all the plans you came up with on your own — you will never become the person God called you to be. You will still make it to heaven WHEN you die, but you won’t fulfill your purpose BEFORE You die!
I normally teach by precept and example. In this series I will start with the examples and then get to the precepts. Yesterday I used Abraham and David as examples of what I am teaching you. Today I will use Joseph. I wanted to use two people, but it will take me a while to simply recap the story of Joseph’s life. Let’s get into it.
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s see.
Joseph was the 11th son born to Jacob, but the firstborn of his true love Rachel. Because of this, Jacob loved Joseph tremendously and he gave the young boy favor above his brothers. But the story of Joseph is not really one connected to his natural father. Joseph’s true story is one birthed in the heart of his Heavenly Father. One day God gave Joseph a dream. In the dream his brothers were bowing down to him. Later the Lord gave Joseph another dream that revealed that he would even be elevated above his parents. The dreams were God’s idea. The dream’s were God’s plans. This had nothing to do with Joseph. He was still a young boy. He did not work for them or earn them. He simply believed God would do what He put in the dreams. Joseph was so convinced that he took his dreams public. This did not go over well at home. His brothers were so angry that they almost killed him. They wound up throwing him in a pit and then selling him off as a slave. But Joseph still believed the dreams.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a man who ‘just so happened’ to work directly for the king of Egypt. God favored Joseph in Potiphar’s house and before long, he was a prospering as a slave. I know that sounds weird, but it’s true. Joseph was a prosperous slave. Potiphar’s wife wanted to sleep with Joseph, he refused, she lied, and Joseph was thrown into prison. Not just any prison, but a prison reserved for violations connected to the king. And guess what? Joseph kept believing God’s dreams would come to pass. Before long Joseph was running the prison. He was a prosperous prisoner.
God gave Joseph the grace to interpret dreams. He did so for a baker and a cupbearer. This interpretation opened the door for Joseph to wind up before Pharaoh, the king himself, to interpret a dream. The grace of God was on Joseph to interpret the dream, he released his faith, he opened his mouth, and God gave him the words. As a result, Joseph was promoted to Prime Minister over all of Egypt. Joseph took a crazy journey through the pit, Potiphar and prison phases of his life, before he became Prime Minister. It was as the Prime Minister that God’s dreams finally came to pass. Joseph could have never orchestrated his life this way. This was all God’s dream. This was all God’s plan. This was all God’s finished work. All Joseph had to do was release faith to access God’s grace. Joseph was successful, but not on his own. Joseph was a grace case.
- Like Joseph, God already planned out your success. He has a dream for your life that was birthed in His heart before the world began.
- Like what happened with Joseph, God’s dream for your life and the grace to perform it, does not mean you will not face opposition. It may mean you face more opposition than you ever dreamed of, but that’s okay, because God has already provided you the grace to overcome everything you will face on the path to your purpose.
- Like Joseph, God’s dream for your life is much bigger and better than anything you could ever imagine on your own. Your job is to die to self, so God’s plans can be manifested in your life.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016. Like Joseph, You have made me a dreamer. You give me dreams birthed in Your heart. I believe them, receive them in my heart and pursue them by faith. I know I will face dream-killers along the way, but their poison cannot stop my purpose. My heart is fixed on You and Your dreams. No matter what I face along the way, Your dreams shall come to pass in my life before I die! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
