The Feed Mill

Today’s Bible Reading: Genesis 37-39

Today’s Devotional: Genesis 37:1-11

The remainder of the book of Genesis, excluding Genesis 38, zeros in now on the life, development, and walk of Joseph before the Lord. The book of Genesis covers more of Joseph’s life than any other one individual.

Genesis 39:9 Joseph recognizes it’s before the Lord that everything we do is conducted.

As we saw with each of the Patriarchs, the Lord reveals a blessing upon them and their lives. Then there’s a time of what seems like is obscurity.

Joseph in Genesis 37:1-11 was eager to speak of what God was revealing to him. We don’t see anything that suggests Joseph was intentionally throwing things in his families face out of pride. God never speaks one word of reproof to Joseph.

We do see however that Jacob favored Joseph above all his other children.

• Ephesians 6:4 Paul writes to the father’s not to provoke your children to wrath. There are many ways that a father can provoke a child to wrath, one of those ways are fathers to show favoritism to one of your children or to exclude one or some from your favor. Fathers let your Father in Heaven be your example. And if you have or had a father who shows(ed) favoritism, your Father in Heaven does not; Romans 2:11, Acts 10:34-35, Deuteronomy 10:17, Job 34:19. God shows the completeness of His favor to each of us. So there is no competing with one another within the Body of Christ. Ephesians 1:3 He’s given each, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

As we continue through Joseph’s life we see that something has happened. There’s character development, what the Bible says is Spiritual Growth, and that is the goal of each and every Christian. God tells us through His Word that true character development, true Spiritual Growth is only possible after we place our hope and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and to do things His way. John 14:6, John 15:5-11, Matthew 26:51-54, Psalm 1.

And why is this so?

It’s because our problem is an internal problem. The world tells you and tells me the problem is with our kids, our parents, or our job, or the problem is that we don’t have enough money, or our car is not new enough or it doesn’t communicate the right appearance of what our aim is for our life, or maybe our clothes, our education isn’t high enough to compete, or it’s because our house is _________, fill in the many blanks.

But that’s not what God says is the problem, and if you say that you’re listening to the Holy Spirit and He’s telling you one of these things is your problem then that spirit your listening to is not the Holy Spirit but you’ve been deceived because as James says in James 3:13-18 there is a spirit of wisdom from above and below. And James warns us further in James 4 about where the spirit from below directs our focus.

Our lives can only be transformed and Spiritual Growth to happen by the Holy Spirit, that when He comes into our lives, and He does a new work in the inner man, Ephesians 3:14-21 and 4:17-24, and we become something new. Our value system has changed our focus, drive, and direction has changed.

As we go about this year we’re going to see Spiritual Growth happen all throughout the lives of individuals in scripture, and it’s my prayer that you’ll see Spiritual Growth happen in your own life as well. And the times in which we see that this inward working happens by the Spirit, most often, is in times of obscurity. So wherever you find yourself right now as the year has begun, take encouragement if your in obscurity. Or if your not in obscurity then you will be eventually. Obscurity is a season of how God works in our lives. So I want to encourage you just as God’s Word does, take hope because the obscurity is for season, that season has a purpose, and that purpose is for your growth into the image of Christ Jesus.

Genesis 37:1-11 this whole time it was not Joseph who was great before his family and over his family, but it was Joseph who was a servant before the Lord. In the chapters to come we will read how Joseph becomes the ultimate servant before the Lord. Our life is not about our greatness before and above our others but our service before the Lord. Jesus said that if you want to be great, to serve others, become chief of all servants. To serve is to place yourself and your desires below everyone else’s.