Each of Joseph and his brothers, Jacob, Esau, Samson and all those of whom we’ve heard, they all went through many trials. The same we do, every day we go through situations and challenges, either we act according to what is in the heart of God and succeed, or we do the opposite to what is said in the Bible; it is our call!
Rest assure, you are in a crossroad in every situation; are you going to live the Bible, or the habits, traditions, thoughts and nature of the devil? Do you live according to the heart of God, to please Him? Or do you live to please your flesh, your mind, your dignity or the others? What do you do in challenges? Do you act for the benefit of the Kingdom, or for the benefit of the devil? To whom do you belong, to the devil, or to God?
Know that you lean towards one of the two teams. Every day, you either satisfy the heart of the devil through a behaviour that is against God, or you act according to what the Bible tells you. It is very important to discern when you get into a trial, to discern when you face challenges.
Joseph, for example, sought in his heart to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, whatever the challenges are. All those around him, in all his life, introduced thoughts and deed, and he had to decide whether to accept or reject these.
Indeed, even the thoughts that are not according to the will of God, these must be rejected, for there are sins of the thoughts, that is to think in a way that is not pleasing to God, a way that is not according to the Bible.
Abraham went to Egypt with Sarah; and he was very frightened to say that she is his wife so they would not kill him to take her away from him. Abraham got frightened and he lost his trust in God.
In our path after the Lord, we will go through such situations; however when we go through Abraham’s situation, we have to trust in the Lord much more than he did. We have to trust in the Lord much more than any other thing. We shall not fear anything, but to primarily put our concern on being according to His Word and Ways, not according to the ways of the world. Only then we will take the right decision.
The whole world is under the control of the evil one; however his thoughts and ways are known. Yet as we live very long in this world, we adopted his qualities, leaving the qualities on which we shall be, the qualities that are the image of God. Hence we were transformed to become like the devil, not according to the heart of God. As the body of Christ, what we need to learn together, is to reflect the true qualities of Christ, these should be rooted in the depth of our souls, not in a shallow nominal way. For example the love, it should not be merely outward, but it should come from our depth, hence I would always seek my neighbour’s joy, blessing and so.
The fruit of my tree is revealed during challenges, is it good, or is it from the devil? My fruit shall be revealed, is it modesty, love and forgiveness?
When the olives get pressed, oil comes out. Therefore, when we go through a challenge, it will reveal our true depth.
For example, my sister or my friend is getting married, or maybe succeeding with high marks…etc, will I be delighted for her, or I will hate her success? She would always thought that she loved her sister/friend, however situations will truly show whether there is love.
Joseph’s brothers’ intentions were revealed when Joseph told about his dream that his brothers will bow down to him. If they would have suppressed their pride and envy toward Joseph, if they would have put down their thoughts, they would not have done what they did, they would not have gotten filled with envy that they intended to kill him; they got united in one sin. Here we also learn not to contribute our brothers if they gathered to kill a weak man, whatever the method of killing is, humiliating, rejecting, making fun of, or degrading. We should not contribute with the team when they are wrong. If everyone around me doing one thing, it does not mean that I shall walk along.
We are not of this world, therefore we are invited to be different than the world.
In situations, we should choose to live the Word of God. When we face a challenge like what Joseph’s brothers faced, we should pause, pray, repent and see our true selves; we shall not turn away from ourselves but to face it, and to refuse the evil, to make the good choice according to the Bible.
The life of integrity and righteousness is not an easy life, however it has an unusual comfort! For within this life, we can unite with the Holy God, and dwell in His presence, becoming on the genuine nature on which we were created.
“If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66: 18) Many are separated from God because they left their nature to deteriorate, that they became on the image and qualities of the devil, instead of being on the image of their God and Heavenly Father. Instead of the qualities of God, the mark of the beast appeared on their forehead. Therefore, we must walk in the opposite direction, to come back from being conformed to the world, from being on the image of the evil one.
