God Is With You: Living Like Joseph

He doesn't say, what if the servants see? He could have made up a thousand reasons, but that's not the pressing thing in his life. That's not what his life is all about. He says this, how could I sin against God? Joseph, right off the bat, in the midst of this challenging hard time, goes, no, no, no. He's like, God is in his life. God is influencing his life. God is dictating the way he lives his life. God is molding his life. [00:39:59] (33 seconds)  #GodFirstLifestyle

He's like, don't be upset with yourself. And, look at Joseph what he says, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of of you. What does Joseph know in the center of all of this with beyond a sigh of a doubt? He knows that God's been with him. He knows that God loves him. He knows that God's got him. God is the essential thing in Joseph's life that keeps things together in the midst of this whole thing called life that he's dealing with. [00:48:21] (34 seconds)  #GodIsMyAnchor

Decades later, here's Joseph standing in front of his brother who deserved to be killed, but he does for them what he saw his uncle Esau do for his brother, Jacob. He show he shows the brothers mercy. Mercy that they don't deserve. Just like he saw Esau do for Jacob. It says this, then Joseph kissed each of the brothers and wept over them. And after that, he began talking freely with him. That's what he'd done. He did it. He did it because he saw it also. [00:55:14] (47 seconds)  #MercyOverRetaliation

Here's the reality. There are people in your life who are watching you, and we have no idea. You have no idea. They're watching how you live. They're taking cues about life from you. They're watching how you deal with heartache and sadness and brokenness and favor. They're watching how you deal with all those things. They will model their life in some way after the way you live your life. [01:01:08] (41 seconds)  #PeopleAreWatchingYou

So when we talk about this is great for our life because it matters, it's bigger than this. You have the potential to influence your friends, your people you work with, and your kids. And you can impact a generation and a generation and beyond. Our our I feel bad for our kids because the world is trying to sway them and it's up to us and they will not listen to what they say. They will watch how we live. And when we live in a way that shows Jesus matters, it captures their hearts. And maybe they will as well. [01:01:49] (47 seconds)  #InfluenceFutureGenerations

And right in the middle of my prayer, and I time it like this every morning for when the sun, it comes up just over the hills as I'm praying. And every morning, I remind myself, God is with me. God loves me. God cares about me. I do it religiously. I fight to do this. It's that important to my life. [00:33:02] (21 seconds)  #MorningPrayerRoutine

we get through challenging times by realizing that God hasn't gone anywhere. And God is there. And God is with us. And that God cares for us. And when we come to realize that, we have this sense in our lives, no, no, no. I wanna live for this God who loves me. God, in our lives, when we live for him and realize them, he has the ability to change the trajectory of our lives. [00:40:39] (26 seconds)  #GodNeverLeft

At the time that Joseph was thrown in the pit, he was 17 years old. Now he's about 40. And these guys are gonna stand before their brother. These guys, the 10, are now at the mercy of Joseph because Joseph has all the power and he could do whatever he wants. As we think about those times when we make the worst mistakes, I'd say one of them is when we're all alone and no one will know. The second one is this, is when we have power and we can do what we want. And when that opportunity comes, we can make some of the most brutal and crummy mistakes. We do it because we can. [00:46:43] (48 seconds)  #PowerAndPrivacyTrap