Genesis 39:20-23, 40:1-8 Ministering to Others: I know it has been a minute since you have had a message from the Mount, but be not dismayed we are back and please believe this, the Lord has been speaking! This was a trying summer for me and as I was going through, the Lord spoke familiar words to me and those words were about development of character. The Lord has designs on us and he intends to use us for his purposes. Before anything can be used it must be tried or proven and in the spiritual realm this is called development. Yes beloved here we are again talking about the development of character, because being gifted without the correction of development is disaster! So the Lord has been working on me; how about you? As I was going through my season, the Spirit directed me to my old friend Joseph, yes Joseph, gifted but in need of guidance and development. The text before us shares some interesting insights regarding how to handle caring for others when you need care for yourself! Joseph has been thrown into jail because of a lie and while he is in jail the scriptures reveal that God is with him. Key thought: Knowing God and having God on your side does not mean you escape difficulty. Key thought: The blessing of our trials is that God said I will never leave you neither will I forsake you. The text reveals that God was with him and prospered him in jail. Key thought: God can make you prosperous in a poisonous situation. Joseph sees two men who are sad and he asks them "why are you so sad?" What a question! He is in prison with them. He has been lied on and imprisoned because of it, and yet he has to minister. Key thought: Trouble in your life does not mean you get a time out from ministry. The real test of our ministry is not what we do when the skies are fair and the wind is calm, but it is how we handle the dark days and restless nights. Our ministry and character is perfected when the conditions are far from perfect. I will share more from this in the upcoming weeks but please read through the scripture and let the Lord minister to you. Determined to Live by Faith, Dr. Stan |
Sep 28, 2011
Character Matters
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Reading this, I couldn't help but to wondering how many times, we as church folk, have walked by someone either at work, on the street, or in the sanctuary, and not asked the question that Joseph asked, "why are you so sad?" I would surmise because we really don't want to know the answer! Isn't it something how, we sometimes ask a person, "Hey, how are you doing?" But in the back of our minds we are saying, Lord I hope they don't go off on a tanget about their problems because I got problems of my own to deal with!I think we can learn alot from Joesph, especially, new ministers who are called to preach! I would like to share a similiar story, that happened to me. Days before, and the day of, my trial sermon, I didn't think God was showing me enough! I didn't think He gave me enough word to give to His people. Therefore, I started doubting myself and allowing circumstances and situations to enter my head which got me off track. I didn't want to do my trial sermon because I thought, my personal trials/tribulation were overshadowing me. But had I only read the story of Joesph, i would have known that, In due time, everything would have been ok! After all, God didn't stop Jesus from going to the cross, God didn't stop Jesus from the beatings, but He went through it went Him, and when He was done, He had a name higher than any other name! Just as the in the story of Joseph, God was showed favored toward Joseph becasue of he was. Just think,I would have missed out on what GOD called me to do. I realize now, that it's not all about YOU (me) anyway, it's about allowing God to use a broken down you, to get the Glory inspite of your cirucumstances. Glory Be to God! for allowing me to keep the faith! Bro Deonn
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you! I know that God will truly use you to minister to his people wherever you are! He will use to do all the marvelous things and GREAT WORKS!
ReplyDeleteStay Encouraged!
Natalie