Joseph was the beloved son of Jacob, and because father Jacob favored him, his brothers hated him. One day while they were out in the fields, his brothers took hold of him and sold him to Ishmaelites passing through on the trade route. Then they killed an animal and dipped Joseph's coat in its blood, and took the coat back to their father Jacob, who was deceived into thinking his son had been cruelly killed by animals. Think of the terrible injustice done to Jacob's beloved son Joseph. His brothers had disposed of him out of their hatred of him. They sold him as a slave, utterly forsaken. When the Ishmaelites reached Egypt, they sold Joseph to Pharaoh's captain of the guard, the highest man in his administration. "Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there." Genesis 39:1 Imagine if you can, finding yourself sold as a slave by your own flesh and blood. Would Joseph's heart be able to bear it? Would he be consumed with bitterness? No, even in this terrible injustice his faith sustained him, and the Lord honored Joseph's faithfulness. Big time! vs 2-3: "The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand." Attitude is everything. Don't just read the words, put yourself in his place. We know the rest of the story, but Joseph didn't. He wasn't bitter against God for not intervening and delivering him from those who had done him such wrong. He maintained his faith and served Potiphar with all his heart, and God was with him. vs 5: "So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field." Well, there's more. It wasn't bad enough that Joseph had to endure the rejection of his family and captivity in a foreign land, no, there was more terrible injustice to come. Potiphar's wife was attracted to Joseph and asked him to sleep with her. vs 7: "And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, 'Lie with me.'” Joseph adamantly refused her as she continued day by day trying to seduce him. Then one day as he was trying to leave her presence, she grabbed his garment as he fled. Then when her husband came home, she showed him the garment and told him that Joseph had tried to seduce her and that she had screamed and grabbed hold of his shirt. vs 17-18: "Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, 'The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me, so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.'” So Potiphar was enraged and threw Joseph into prison. Now - if it were you, how would you react? Rejected by family members, sold into slavery, falsely accused and thrown into prison - pretty hard to take! Do you feel that you've been the victim of injustice? If so, has it destroyed your faith? God did not explain to Joseph why these things had happened to him, but in spite of that, Joseph remained faithful. As it turns out, God was to use this whole story to save Joseph's entire family much later on. But Joseph didn't know that. In his rejection and in his humiliation, Joseph remained faithful, he did not allow bitterness to consume him, though he had no idea why God allowed all this calamity to happen to him. Still, his faith did not waver. And so it is with those who belong to the Lord, there is always a story behind the story in everything that happens to God's people. Many cannot keep their faith in the face of injustice and humiliation, but that is what we are called to if we mean to walk as a disciple of Jesus Christ. And we have the PROMISE that God will work it all out to the good for us. "And we know that IN ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 IN ALL THINGS… Nothing happens to the people who walk with the Lord, unless it has been allowed by the Lord. And when he allows injustice or humiliation in our lives, there is always a purpose behind it. ALWAYS. A purpose and a promise - that he will work it out for the good. Pray with me: Father, you see the injustices that have been done to me, you know the rejection I have endured, but I believe your Word that says that you will work it all out for my good if only I maintain my faithfulness when I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I pray for grace, I pray for endurance, and most of all I pray to maintain my faithfulness to YOU when I'm in the midst of troubles that I don't understand. Help me Father, to keep my faith in the dark times, knowing that you WILL work it all together for good. In Jesus’ name I ask.
"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned."
Matthew 4:16
Many people who come to the Lord later in life can tell you the difference it has made in their lives before and after. It is wonderful to listen to testimonies of such, they just SO glorify the Lord and leave one in awe. Many will describe to you the picture of what they were, and then go on to tell you the impact the born-again experience had upon their lives. Alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, homosexuals, adulterers, liars - healed and set free. The born-again experience changes things - in a big way.
Every believer has a testimony, the story of what God did in their lives when they surrendered their lives to him. For anyone who does not have a story, I would suspect that they may not have truly been born again, because the very essence of the born-again experience is the change it makes in a person, because the Gospel is the Gospel of the POWER of God, delivering one from darkness and birthing him into light.
"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,
for it is the POWER of God to salvation
for everyone who believes…"
Romans 1:16
We are born into a fallen human nature, into a fallen world, to fallen parents, educated by fallen teachers, and we have grown up with all the effects that the fallen world has had upon us. We are born sinners, every last one of us. As it is written:
"There is not one righteous, no not one."
Romans 3:10
When a person is born again, he is taken out of the darkness of the world and transferred into the Kingdom of God. His spirit which was dead because of the fall of mankind, is suddenly infused with light and life. It changes everything. He begins to notice that he no longer thinks the way he thought before, and there is a change in what interests him. He receives a totally new worldview because now he recognizes the darkness as darkness, and he can never again look at things from that perspective. The greatest change, though, is the power that the Word of God has upon him as he picks up the Bible and begins to read it daily.
A person who is not born again cannot "see."
“Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again,
he CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God.”
Jesus -John 3:3
A person who is not born again may read the Word of God as literature or as history. He might even quote passages from the Bible as he might have quoted from any other book. But he remains in darkness, unable to "see." Some say they don't read the Bible because they don't understand it - and that proves this point.
You will find that this is the way it is in many churches today. That's why people in that kind of church can call evil good and good evil. For example, they call perversion "love," but that kind of love is only soulish, it has nothing to do with the Spirit of God, it is flesh. And it's corrupt. But they are not able to "see" that.
With the born-again experience on the other hand, the Word of God becomes life to him, changing him, guiding him, and affecting every area of his life. The Word of God will change the way a person thinks, the way a person perceives. It changes everything. It's not something a person conjures up. It's not that he makes the changes himself. No, it is the Spirit of God changing him. Many are truly shocked when they realize the changes that have been made inside them.
How can you tell whether a person is born again? It will be obvious in that person's view of the Word of God, because the Word of God becomes life to one who is born again. The Spirit of God now dwelling in that person "convicts" him of the deception he lived in and shows him the truth. He will lose the old way of looking at things which was in conformity with the world's views, and will realize he was wrong as he sees everything in a totally new light.
If you have not been born again, or worse - if you're religious but suspect you have not been born again, then pray with me:
Father, I have thought all along that I have believed in you, but I realize that I see everything from the world's point of view. My mind, my soul, has not been changed. I've agreed with those who justify their sin even using your Word to justify it. What I'm asking you Lord, is that if I've been deceived and have not truly been born again, please come into my life and change me through this life-giving experience. I realize it will change everything for me and that scares me, but it's too important, how can anything be more important? I'm willing to give up and surrender my life to you. Please become my Savior, and yes, please become my Lord. I relinquish to you all my old way of thinking, all my wrong attitudes, every deception I have fallen for, all religious practices that I do and have trusted in, and ask to see everything in the light of the truth. I surrender all Lord, please take me and make me yours.
"All to Jesus, I surrender, all to thee I freely give;
I will ever love and trust you, in your presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all, all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all."
More:
What did Jesus mean when he said, "You MUST be born again?"
"Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.' And they said, 'What is that to us? You see to it!'” Matthew 27:3-4 When Judas saw Jesus standing there condemned, he realized he had made a terrible mistake and regretted it. So he returned the money he had been paid to betray Jesus, but the priests and elders weren't interested. So he went out and committed suicide. vs 5: "Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the Temple and departed, and went and hanged himself." Earlier in this story, recorded in Matthew 26, we see Peter who denied Jesus three times! When he heard the rooster crow, the words of Jesus came back to him, in which Jesus had told him he was going to deny him three times before the rooster crowed. "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' So he went out and wept bitterly." Matthew 26:75 What is the difference between these two men? They both denied Jesus. The difference is in the heart. They both sinned a grievous sin, and one was not worse than the other. But more telling is what they did with it. Judas could have been forgiven, but instead he committed suicide. Peter, cut to the heart for what he had done, wept bitterly. Suicide is regret weighed down with despair. Weeping bitterly over sin is repentance. "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." 2nd Corinthians 7:10 We are all sinners, every one of us, and it's not a matter of the kind of sin or the degree of sin. A person who has not been born again will treat his sin much differently than one who has been. Judas had witnessed the miracles Jesus did over the past 3-1/2 years, and he saw Jesus escape every attempt by Satan to kill him before his time. So Judas thought that if Jesus was seized by the leaders of the people, that Jesus would fight and overpower them, put down the Roman government, and restore the Kingdom to Israel. When Judas saw that his plot had failed, and when he realized the greatness of his sin, he killed himself. Peter, on the other hand, LOVED Jesus. Throughout the Gospels we see Peter again and again acting from a deep love for him. When he realized his sin, the regret hit him in the heart. How could he have done this to someone he loved so much, the one he knew is the Messiah? He heaved great sobs of shame and regret. A repentant heart leads to godly sorrow, not to killing oneself. Judas removed himself from all possibility of forgiveness, but Peter later received the great forgiveness the Lord extended to him. Later, after Jesus was raised from the dead, he had a little conversation with Peter: "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” John 21:15 Jesus asked this question three times, and by the third time Peter was humbled in sorrow and grief. vs 17: "Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' And he said to him, 'Lord, you know all things, you KNOW that I love you!'” And that's the point. Throughout the narrative there was no question whether Peter loved the Lord. A weak human being as we all are, he had cowered in fear when the crowd took hold of Jesus to condemn him. Yet the sorrow Peter had was godly sorrow. That was true repentance and he was forgiven. Friend, it doesn't matter what evil you have committed, the degree of sinfulness is irrelevant to the point being made here. What matters is what you do with it. If you humble yourself before the Lord, he will hold out to you the hand of mercy. He loves you and is waiting with forgiveness for you. He will receive you. Come before him, confess your sin, all of it. Humble yourself before him and know the depths of his mercy and forgiveness. He will wash you and make you clean. And you will be clean! "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, AND HE WILL LIFT YOU UP." James 4:10