Good morning, Springhouse.

Look at somebody next to you and say, "I'm so glad you're here today."

Joining us on live stream, glad you're joining us today.

It's always a good day to be in the house.

I'm glad you're here today too.

Thank you.

Very, very kind.

Well, we are continuing our series, The Greatest Stories Ever Told.

And wasn't last week such a wonderful, sweet gathering?

Pastor Barbie, the Holy Spirit used Pastor Barbie.

I was in East Tennessee ministering to a church there, but I found myself in anguish like

Esau, where he was in anguish saying, "Dad, I want a blessing."

And I just, as I was watching the screen, I thought to myself in anguish, "I want a

blessing too."

And wouldn't you know hours later, I say randomly, but this is the Holy Spirit, Landon Rushing

sends me a text message and says, "I think our pastor needs a blessing as well."

God doesn't leave any stone uncovered.

Is that true?

He's a good God.

He's a faithful, faithful God.

Well, we're going to dive into the story of Joseph today and how many have been following

the Bible reading plan.

And if you have been, you would have read about Joseph this week.

And I'm glad you've read Joseph because I think we could do a six month series on Joseph

in the house.

And I'm not going to do justice today with the story.

I'm going to tell you that right out of the gate, but I hope that you have read the story

of Joseph.

It is a phenomenal story.

There are so many takeaways that the Holy Spirit uses in the story of Joseph's life.

And so we are going to go in a direction where I feel like the Lord has us to go today in

the story.

So if you'll stand with me, we are reading the, you can find the story of Genesis from

Genesis 37 to 50.

We're going to read all 13 chapters.

No, I'm just kidding.

We're going to, we're actually going to read one scripture, one scripture from the story.

Let's read it with gusto.

Like you're excited that there's only one scripture today.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being

done.

The saving of many lives.

Ooh, let's read it again.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being

done.

The saving of many lives.

Father, thank you for your word.

I thank you that it is alive and active.

I pray Lord today that you would anoint my words Lord, and that your words would change

our hearts for eternity.

Allow our eyes to be open to the things we need to see Lord.

And as you identify those things, may we do with them Lord, what you would have us do

with them today in Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

I love the story of Joseph.

I love the story of Joseph.

I don't know about you, but there are characters throughout scripture and surely everybody

can relate to this on some level.

But there are stories in scripture where you draw comparisons to your life, to the things

that they have gone through.

Has anybody, has anybody done that before with any of the characters in scripture?

And I really can empathize with Joseph on some levels, on some things that I believe

that Joseph felt in his journey with the Lord over the period of time that we, that we read

about.

And so I love Joseph's story and it is a reminder to me of God's faithfulness and his grace,

as are all the stories that we read in, in scripture.

And so the verse we read today out of Genesis 50 is actually toward the end of the story.

This is after the, the famine had started, the brothers came back, Joseph is revealed

and the brothers are looking at this situation from a perspective of, Oh my goodness, I am

so sorry and repentant for what we did.

And Joseph responds, Hey, what you intended for evil, God intended for good.

And can I tell you that there are sometimes people in your life who attend, intend for

things to end up through evil channels, evil things, evil schemes, but God will always

look at situations like that and turn them for his good.

He's a good God.

He, he loves you.

He is for you.

He's not against you.

He has a plan and a purpose for your life.

But can I tell you that even so when God has a plan and a purpose for your life, it doesn't

mean that he eliminates the trials and the hardships that we have to go through.

You know, sometimes we hear stories.

One of the privileges that we have as we're reading the story of Joseph, or we're reading

any of the stories in scriptures, we are a privileged people because we know the end

of the story.

And sometimes I think that if we would pay attention and we would lean in by faith, knowing

the end of some of our stories, the choices that we make within the story may evolve and

change to be something completely different.

Right?

But what happens is we look at the end of the story and sometimes we can remove ourselves

from understanding and looking at the perspective of what the person had to walk through.

We know Joseph, we know what happens to Joseph.

We know how God uses the story, but can you imagine Joseph as a boy having favor from

his father and being subjected to the things that he had to go through?

We're going to unpackage that a little bit today.

You are a part of the greatest stories ever told.

You have a story as well.

Joseph is here and he is the youngest of the sons and he is favored by his father, Jacob.

Would you say favored?

He is favored by his father, Jacob.

And the Bible tells us that Jacob renders to Joseph a coat of many colors.

You have heard of Joseph's coat, the garment that he was given.

And this is the symbolic for the favor that Jacob places or confers to Joseph, his youngest

son.

And so Joseph, have you ever had somebody in your life where you just didn't like them?

No, everybody just likes everybody.

Or somebody you just don't like.

Joseph is the favored son and Joseph has been given the task to go out into the field and

tell his father what his brothers are really doing.

Have you ever had a sibling come and snitch on you?

How'd you feel about that?

We got any rule followers in the place today?

Anybody a rule follower?

How you feel about rule followers?

I've got some rule followers in my car every time I drive, looking over at the dash at

the speedometer and letting me know exactly what I'm doing.

Joseph is a rule follower and God blesses him for it.

And God blesses him for it.

I want us to watch how God weaves Joseph's story together and how the Lord keeps his

promises.

God keeps his promises when he tells us things.

And God gives Joseph some dreams.

He gives him two dreams here at the beginning of the story.

The first dream, he sees his brother's sheaves of wheat bowing down to his sheave in the

field.

And the interpretation here is that the brothers are at some point going to bow down to Joseph

and he lets him in on that truth.

How do you think those brothers felt at that moment?

You're already out snitching on me for doing whatever.

You got everything right.

You're the favorite son.

And now you're going to tell me that we're going to bow down to you.

This is not going well for you, Joseph.

Then he has another dream.

And the other dream says that he says the sun and the moon and the 11 stars bows down

to Joseph.

And he goes to them and shares that dream with them.

And Jacob, his father rebukes him and says, are you telling me that I, your father, I'm

going to bow down to you?

Not setting himself up very smartly here, I don't think.

But he shares the stories.

Now some would argue, why did Joseph share these stories?

Maybe he shouldn't have shared the stories.

I believe emphatically it was important for Joseph to share these dreams with the brothers

because coming full circle at the end of the story, the evidence of God's hand and move

was in the fact that they knew the dreams from the past.

And so there is timing and there is wisdom when we're sharing what God is doing in our

lives and the dreams that he's giving or the vision or the word or whatnot.

And can I tell you that there are always going to be people in your life when you give a

word or whenever you share something that God's done that are not going to be for you.

There are going to be people who look at you and think that you've lost your mind.

There are going to be people that look at you and say, you're wrong.

But can I tell you that every promise of God is yes and amen.

Every dream that God gives, if he says this is going to happen, guess what?

It's going to happen.

You can rest assure that the promises of God in your life are going to come to fruition.

They're going to be exactly as God says.

So here's the question that I would pose to us this morning.

Why would God give Joseph a dream 22, almost 22 years prior to its fulfillment?

We can't wait 22 seconds for a cup of coffee, let alone 22 years for a promise to be fulfilled

from the Lord.

So why would God choose in his mercy and grace to give Joseph a promise, a dream, a word,

a direction this early on in his life?

A word from God will fuel your faith.

A word from God will fuel your faith.

And can I tell you, get ready for this, everybody in the room.

I believe God, the star breather has a word for every person under the sound of my voice.

The God of the universe cares so much about you and the purpose and the plan that he has

for your life that I believe that he has a word for every single person in this place.

Some of you know the word and you've been holding on to the word and claiming it by

faith.

Some of you have not heard the word yet and I don't think it's because God's not been

speaking.

It may be because you're not listening.

Maybe you're somebody saying, I haven't received, I've longed for a word for the Lord.

I haven't received a word from the Lord.

My question would be, have you asked the Lord to reveal himself to you?

Because I believe that the star breather is not out trying to hide himself in his presence

from your life.

The Holy Spirit of God wants to be an active agent daily in your life, leading you and

guiding you to fullness and the abundant life that Jesus Christ promises for us.

Are you listening?

Are you paying attention?

22 years, Joseph has this word.

So why would he give this word to him?

It's because he needed his faith to be fueled before he knew he needed his faith to be fueled.

He needed a hope to hold onto before he knew he needed a hope to hold onto.

Now I have had words spoken over my life.

I've had words spoken over my life and they came to pass the next day.

And I've also had words in my life spoken over me as a teenager that have yet to come

to pass.

Do I anguish?

Do I walk in anxiety that those words have not come to fruition?

I don't because I trust the God who delivered them to me.

I trust the God who rendered the word to me that he is faithful.

He who started the work will complete the work, but he who gave the promise it is yes

and amen.

How he chooses to do it is his prerogative, but I just say, I render it back to you Lord,

because it wasn't mine to begin with.

A word from God will fuel your faith.

Here's what Isaiah says, and this is a verse that we can claim to.

It says, "As the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering

the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread

for the eater, so is my word that goes out of my mouth.

It will not return to me empty."

Will you say that?

It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for

which I sent it.

Sometimes you need to say to yourself so that you can convince yourself that you can train

your mind and your heart to say, I actually believe what I say I believe.

I actually believe that the word of God will not return void.

God, every circumstance around me looks like this word is not gonna come to pass, but I

choose to stand on your promise.

I stand on your word.

I stand on your truth, and there are no voices around me that are going to supersede the

voice of you.

His word will not return void.

So just because the people around you reject what God has told you doesn't mean that it's

not from him or it's not going to come to pass.

The important thing is that you try not to make it happen, that you not try to make it

happen.

We learned that from Abraham, did we not?

You don't have to make God's word happen.

He will give you direction.

Now what are some of the modes that God gives us words?

Dreams, obviously we're looking at dreams.

He does give dreams.

He gives words.

Might I suggest something to you this morning that's gonna tick you off?

The person who annoys you the most may be God's greatest gift to you.

The person who annoys you the most may be God's greatest gift to you, and you might

be sitting next to him this morning.

God has this uncanny ability to use instruments in our life, people in our life who we would

not choose to be the mouthpiece of God.

I would like to choose this person because of their status or their title or because

I trust them or because they're with me or they agree with me or they're not in the back

of my car telling me I'm speeding down the road.

I want to hear from somebody who lines up with my goals and my emotions and all of those

things, but God has this uncanny knack of sending the person in your life that you just

refuse to hear from to be his voice in your life.

He even spoke through a donkey for crying out loud.

And so God will use people in your life and they will end up being your greatest gift.

And a lot of times the reason that he'll choose to use such people in your life is because

if he uses the people you chose, then you get some credit in the deal.

And God is all about gaining all the glory for himself.

Can I tell you that this much this morning?

So the person who annoys you the most may be God's greatest gift to you.

Be watching if you're looking for a word, if you're looking for direction, it may be

that person that you're trying to cut out of your life.

And so Joseph has rendered these dreams and he's annoyed the brothers.

And here's what they say to him as his father has sent him back out to them.

He says, they say, "Here comes that dreamer," they said to each other, "Come now, let's

kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him."

Then we'll see what comes of his dreams.

They plotted in their heart to kill him.

Can I tell you, friends, that sometimes we plot to kill in our heart and there need to

be no action.

The fact that we plotted in our heart is enough.

They plotted in their heart to kill him.

Now the story reads that they didn't kill him because Reuben stands up and he says,

"No, let's not actually kill him."

And the word tells us that Reuben has the intention of returning Joseph to his father.

Intentions minus actions equals squat.

Intentions minus actions equals squat.

Where are the bold people who know the Lord Jesus Christ enough to stand up in situations

that are going awry, that you know are not laden with truth, not laden with light, and

to stand up in the moment and not care about the repercussions of what the people say against

you, but to be able to speak truth in a situation to save somebody's life?

Where are the bold, testifying Christians, the ones that say, "I believe in the God who

breathed stars," that are not afraid to stand up when things are going wrong and say, "I

want to make this right."

We need the Holy Spirit.

We need the Holy Spirit in our life who convicts us and gives us the ability to stand up and

change things.

Reuben had the ability, all of them really had the ability to stand up and change this

whole paradigm, but they didn't.

They didn't.

So where is the person that stops this?

There isn't one.

This morning, I want us to understand that we all, I believe, have a word from God.

You have a trajectory.

You have a path.

You have a direction.

God has something for you.

But today, what I want to do is I want to evaluate some of the pits that we find ourselves

in when we receive something from the Lord.

When I receive a word from the Lord, usually the first thing I'm going is, "Lord, whatever's

about to come out of this person's mouth or if this is a dream or whatever, whatever it

is, God, I want to make sure that I am quick to give it right back to you.

I don't want to dissect it.

I don't want to try to get too deep in the weeds in it.

I just want to give it back to you."

That's the first thing that I do.

Second to that, if I acknowledge that the word, if I bear witness that the word has

come from the Lord, the very first thing I do, this is just Kevin, I get excited.

I get excited because the God of the universe has sought fit to speak a word into my life.

And that is exciting.

But what happens so often, and this is unfortunate, is we get excited about a word that the Lord's

given us and then we go and share it with people around us.

And you know what?

They're just not as excited as we are about the word the Lord's given us.

You ever notice that?

You share what's going on and it's not like they're not jumping up and down as much as

you have a few people and they're like, "Oh, that's good.

I thought it's good."

But they're not really as excited about the word that the Lord's given you.

And so sometimes we have these pits that we have to contend with.

So the first one that I believe happens when we receive a word from the Lord, the very

first thing that we end up having to contend with is discouragement, wounds and hurt.

The pit of discouragement, wounds and hurt.

Do you realize that the brothers turned their back on Joseph?

It wasn't just anybody.

They were his brothers.

Have you ever had somebody you love deeply betray you, turn their back on you, turn against

you, leave you quote unquote for dead?

Have you had anybody who you thought loved you, speak harsh words in your life, reject

you, turn away from you and cause hurt?

I think all of us could probably say we've experienced it.

The hurt of rejection.

The discouragement that comes from being in the pit where the people who are supposed

to love you the most want to see you dead more than alive.

Joseph is in this pit.

Some of you today may be in that pit.

You're discouraged and you're hurt and you're wounded because of what somebody has said

or something somebody has done.

And if we're not in a posture with the Holy Spirit holding onto the encouragement of the

God of the universe, then some of the most destructive behaviors come from a posture

of discouragement, wounds and hurt.

And what happens is we wear this hurt, we wear this discouragement, we wear these wounds

and we want other people to be discouraged and wounded and hurt because somehow it makes

us feel better that we're not the only one in the club.

But Joseph is able somehow to hold onto the faith that he has in Christ or in the Lord

rather in the Lord and be able to not act from a place of discouragement, wound and

hurt.

I believe he was discouraged.

I believe he's wounded and hurt.

But his actions manifested something supernatural.

I'm going to be transparent with you this morning.

About three years ago I had somebody come into my life, maybe three or four years ago,

I had somebody come into my life and they had a conversation with me and they said to

me, "Hey, listen, I don't know that the people at the church can really receive from you

very well because you just don't, I don't know really who speaks into your life.

I don't know really who, like the walls are up and you're just not vulnerable enough.

Like nobody really knows the real Kevin, you know, and all of this."

And I, you know, I listened to that voice and I thought, "Okay, maybe I need to make

some adjustments."

I mean, I didn't, I don't know.

And before that, it wasn't that I had any, I didn't have any, I didn't, I had issues,

everybody has issues, but I didn't have any problems that I was holding onto.

In fact, I was super secure in my relationship with the Lord, very secure in my relationship

with the Lord.

And so what happened was, is I began to let my walls come down and I began to get in some

friendships and relationships and I began to get real vulnerable.

And what happened is it wasn't bad for me to allow people to speak into my life, but

can I confess to you this morning over the last three years, I've allowed some of those

voices to supersede the voice of the Lord.

And so over the last three years, I have realized that I've been more insecure in the last three

years than I've been in my entire adult life.

Because anytime you allow a human voice, no matter how wonderful they are, no matter how

much you love them, no matter how much you think they're incredible, outrageous, all

of them, no matter how deep you go with them, humans are humans and they are broken.

And nobody can speak into your life like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here's the thing, people will fail you, but the Lord will never let you down.

People will fail you, but the Lord will never let you down.

And so it's good to have people in your life that you're conversing with and God uses them

as instruments to speak into your life, but never buy into the lie that what they say

is more important than what he says.

He is the one that provides the foundation.

And so in these last three years, I've contended with insecurity and I'm climbing out of the

hole right now.

I'm in the middle, I'm in the thick of it.

Every day I'm getting up and going to the Lord, one, repent it, but two, saying, "Lord,

I need you to speak a word of encouragement.

I need to buy in."

There's a point in my life that I remember, God, I was closer to you than I am right now

because I've allowed some voices to get into the mix and they're sharing the spot with

you, and I don't want that to be.

And I wonder if anybody else is the same, that you find yourself in a perpetual place

of having an empty hole because you're allowing the other voices, that land, and then they

fall away to come over and over and over again into your life and you find yourself in the

same place, if not worse.

God wants to fill that hole.

God has incredible things to say about you.

You can rest assure in who he is and what he says.

People will always fail you, but the Lord will never let you down.

You may be in a place this morning where you feel helpless, rejected, and alone.

I've been there.

I've been there.

And can I tell you that your God is for you.

He is with you.

In 2 Corinthians, it says this, "Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles

so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from

God."

God is a God of comfort this morning.

And if you're alone and you're wounded, you feel helpless, God wants to comfort you this

morning and remind you that he is your God and he sees you and he knows your name.

And so Joseph is in this pit, discouraged, wounded, and hurt, he gets sold into slavery

and he goes into a man named Potiphar's house and he begins to utilize the anointing and

the gifts that the Lord gave him.

He begins to utilize the anointing and the gifts and he begins to do some things administratively

in the palace, following the rules, helping keep things in checks and balances.

And guess what, in a slavery state, God elevates him to be second in command of the home.

Only God can elevate you in the midst of slavery.

Only God can do something like that.

And so he gets elevated in this home and he becomes second in command and he does a great

job with the gifts that the Lord has given him and he remains faithful to the Lord.

He remains faithful to the Lord.

And so here's the thing, Joseph has this problem.

He's a good looking dude.

Joseph is a good looking dude and Potiphar's wife knows it.

The next area that we tend to contend with after discouragement, wounds, and hurt is

credibility and accusations.

The pit of our credibility being put in question and false accusations being made against us.

And so Potiphar's wife sees Joseph and she wants him.

I mean, she wants him.

And continuously, day after day, he's there put in the situation where he could have totally

chosen to go in that direction.

But this was his response.

It says, "But he refused."

Would you say that?

"But he refused.

With me in charge, he told her, 'My master does not concern himself with anything in

the house.

Everything he owns, he is entrusted to my care.

No one is greater in this house than I am.

My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife.

How then could I do such a wicked thing against God?

Oh, that we would be a people in private situations to make choices that would render positive

consequences in our public places.'"

In other words, when we ruin our credibility in private, we tarnish our reputation in public.

When we ruin our credibility in private, we tarnish our reputation in public.

Joseph had every ability to go and do things with Potiphar's wife, every ability.

But he chose to do the right thing.

Let me ask you a question.

Has your credibility ever been called falsely into question?

Have you ever done the right thing?

You know before the Lord, you did the right thing.

Yet somebody makes an accusation against you in another way, and you end up at bottom instead

of top.

Somebody makes a false accusation against you, and you lose that job, or you lose that

relationship.

Somebody makes a false accusation.

In fact, what they do is they lie.

And so we have to contend with the lies that people say about us, the accusations and the

lies that people present about us.

Has anything unjust ever happened to you?

And so Joseph is in a situation where his credibility is being questioned, and he did

nothing wrong.

He did nothing wrong.

And I wonder if there might be people here today where you have been accused of things

that are absolutely not true and put your credibility on the line.

And you're subject to the court of public opinion.

And so you have to wear the badge and the consequences and the waves of what comes with

what people think instead of what's actual truth.

Potiphar's wife lies about him.

It's not fair.

He did the right thing.

But can I tell you, friends, that I don't think that our credibility, for the most part,

is tarnished in our actions as much as our credibility is tarnished in our words and

what we say.

The Bible says this, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, only what is

helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who

listen."

One of my favorite phrases that we have coined here at Springhouse is this, "Love is my

name protected in your mouth."

We had a text interchange yesterday with a small group, and the initial text said, it

was talking about love.

And I responded to it later in the day knowing what I was going to be speaking about.

And I was like, "Man, this is a tall task."

Because when I look at the biblical definition of love, I need the help of the Holy Spirit

to love in that way.

Love is supposed to protect.

So that means, in the issue of credibility, if I'm hanging out at your house or I've got

a text message conversation or I'm over at the grocery store and I'm talking bad about

somebody else without them being present, my credibility is in question.

And I think this is where we get tripped up more than anywhere else.

Can I tell you, profession, confession to all of you, I want to be known as someone

that you can say, "I don't ever remember Kevin O'Dea saying something bad about another person

in my presence.

I want that testimony in my life."

And I give you permission.

If you hear me talking ill about somebody, talking out of school about somebody, it doesn't

even matter.

If they're not present and it doesn't edify them, I want you to call me out because I

want the testimony of my credibility before the Lord to not be tarnished, to not be ruined.

How many of you all would like to unlock your phones and let me read some of your text messages

in front of the congregation?

Would that be hard?

Because it's not just what we say, it's what we text, it's what we write, it's what we

laugh about.

And if you feel convicted right now because you may be engaged in conversations, let me

tell you the pathway to freedom.

Go to that person and you don't even tell them what you said.

Go to that person and say, "I need to apologize to you because there was an instance where

I didn't love you and I need God to do a work in my life."

And watch what the Holy Spirit does.

I've had that happen to me in my life and those people now are so much closer.

That's what God woo's us toward.

Credibility, lies, accusations.

This is my friend Cole.

He's got his new baby here today.

And Cole, there was a conversation that happened with Cole, I think it was about eight months

ago, something like that.

We were in a living room, we were in a situation where people were talking about somebody.

And Cole, one of my proudest moments of Cole was that he stood up in the middle of that,

he clapped his hands, he said, "Hey, let's pray for them.

Because obviously something's going on and they need a touch from Jesus."

And the minute he said the name Jesus, the whole atmosphere shifted.

Do you know you have the power to shift an atmosphere no matter who you're talking to

by interjecting the name of Jesus?

He said, "I don't know how to get this person to stop talking about that person in that

way."

Jesus.

He said, "Let's introduce Jesus into the equation.

Because there should be no conversation that's happening about anybody else unless it's building

them up that they're not involved with.

They're not involved in."

Cole has that testimony in my life, because I witnessed it firsthand.

Do you have a testimony like that?

Or is your credibility such that I know that person actually talks about people behind

their back?

Because they talk to me.

Here's what the Word says in Psalm.

"Surely the Lord, you bless the righteous."

I want a blessing.

And the pathway is righteousness.

You surround them with your favor as a shield.

Who would like to see the favor of God in their life?

Man, I want the favor of God in my life.

It's just hard for me to connect favor when I'm gossiping about people.

It's just hard for me to get my—maybe God will do it, but that would be a hard stretch

for me.

And so he ends up in jail.

Here he is.

He's sitting in jail, and I can imagine that he's sitting there saying, "God, I did not

touch his wife.

I didn't do a thing.

I was not in the wrong here.

God, here I am in this jail cell."

But you know what he chose to do?

He used his gifts and his anointing, and he served the Lord faithfully.

And in the confines of a jail cell, God uses this Joseph.

And Joseph raises up, and he gets some liberation and freedom within the jail cell, and he happens

upon a cupbearer who has been sent to jail from Pharaoh.

And this cupbearer is in anguish because he had a dream, and he doesn't really know how

to interpret the dream.

And I love Joseph's response because it shows us Joseph's heart.

He says this, "Do not interpretations belong to God."

Do you know that Joseph had every right, every wound, every thing discouragement to stand

on a platform that says, "I can interpret dreams.

I need some credit here because I've been kicked while I was down, and I didn't deserve

it.

I can do this."

Do you know that your most potent, wonderful, outrageous gifts do not belong to you?

They belong to the Lord.

He has given them to you to steward.

And every time you get a chance, you should acknowledge God for the things you're able

to do, for the favor he's bestowed in your life.

And that is what Joseph's response was.

And so they tell him the dream, or I'm sorry, the chief cupbearer says, "There was a vine,

and the vine had three branches, and it blossomed, and I was squeezing the grapes into Pharaoh's

cup."

And Joseph says, "Oh, I can interpret that.

In three days' time, Pharaoh's gonna get you out of here, and you're gonna be reinstated

next to Pharaoh."

What a wonderful interpretation of the dream.

Well, there's this other fella in the jail cell.

He was the baker.

And he also had a dream.

And the word tells us, because he saw the favorable interpretation of the dream, he

wanted his dream interpreted.

And so he says, "Oh, hey, I want mine interpreted."

He says this, "I too had a dream.

On my head were three baskets of bread.

In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating

them out of the basket on my head.

What does it mean?"

Joseph says, "You're gonna die.

You're gonna die."

Let me caution you.

When you see God moving in somebody else's life, do not allow the seed of jealousy to

rise up where you try to go and grab something that they're supposed to have for yourself.

Because it's not gonna go well for you.

God has something for you, and he has something for them.

And so he interprets these dreams, and he says this to the cupbearer.

He says this, "But when all goes well with you, remember me."

Would you say, "Remember me."

And show me kindness.

Mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.

I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I've done nothing

to deserve being put in a dungeon.

The next thing we contend with is that we become forgotten and not valued.

Has anybody been in a place where you've been forgotten?

You see how much blood, sweat, and tears I put into that ministry for all those years,

and now nobody recognizes me anymore?

You see how much work I did for that program or that thing, and now it's just like y'all

just wanna toss it out with the wind?

I mean, do you see the things that I'm contending with in my life?

Do you not recognize all of the sweat equity I've put in here?

I mean, I am just not valued.

And this will cause people to run.

This will cause people to deny their faith in Christ.

This will cause people to say, "I've got church hurt.

I'm going somewhere else."

Because I feel forgotten.

I feel that nobody is giving me the credit due that I'm supposed to have.

I feel forgotten because the cup bearer, he just interpreted the dream.

Can you imagine what Joseph could have been thinking there?

I would have been sitting there thinking, "Okay, in the next 15 minutes, Pharaoh's gonna

show up.

In the next 30 minutes, the next day, Pharaoh's gonna be here."

He sits there for years.

Did it really work?

Did the interpretation really happen?

Like, I mean, God, did you really...

God, is it not what happened here?

Why do I have to continue to sit in this prison?

And then Pharaoh has a dream.

He says, "I see seven fat calves and seven lean ones, and the lean ones eat the fat ones,

and the lean ones stay lean.

And I don't understand this dream."

And he's saying this, and the cup bearer is in earshot.

And guess what?

The cup bearer remembers.

He remembers.

He says, "There's this guy that I know."

And he was in the jail cell, and I believe his God can interpret this dream.

And so he calls Joseph out of the jail, and he pulls him in, and he tells him the dream.

And so tells him the dream, and Joseph says, "I can tell you what that dream means.

It means you're gonna have seven years of planning and seven years of famine."

And he says, he could have said, "And you need me to help you get this together."

But he says, "No, you need to find someone.

You need to find someone so that you can prepare Pharaoh, or you're gonna lose everything."

And Pharaoh says, "Is there anyone who has a greater God than this man, Joseph?"

And he raises him up again, second in command.

And Joseph puts his administrative gifts and faithfulness on display for all to see, accumulating

all of the food that was needed.

Well then guess what happens after that?

After 22 years, the brothers arrived back on the scene because they need food.

And now the dream has come full circle because Joseph is in an elevated status.

And the first posture that these brothers have to make before him is to bow down.

Joseph moved by compassion, moved by compassion.

He tests them.

He tests the brothers to see where their heart posture was.

Why did the brothers have to be tested?

Why did Judah have to ultimately stand up and say, "Don't take Benjamin, take me instead."

Can I tell you something that we don't like to hear?

Repentance requires action.

Repentance requires action.

You can say all day long, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm all," but repentance actually requires

you to do something different.

And what Joseph was looking for was a repentant heart, a change that says, "I would never

do that to my youngest brother again.

I have suffered long and hard.

My father has suffered long and hard."

And undone, he reveals himself to the brothers.

He reveals himself to the brothers.

At the beginning of the story I told you, Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors.

They conveyed favor.

The brothers were jealous of the coat.

They were jealous of him, the favor.

But might I suggest to you this morning, favor comes with a price tag.

And there are people that you have been watching getting blessed and you have been jealous

and you have been upset about it and you've been wondering why they're getting it, but

I want you to know that the coat that they are wearing comes with hurt.

It comes with depression.

It comes with seasons of discouragement and woundedness.

It comes with a season of credibility being in check.

It is not something, favor comes with a price tag.

And God has favor for your life, but he's going to have you walk through some things

because here's the thing, everything, this blows my mind.

The favor of Joseph was not for Joseph.

It was for the very people who put him on the trajectory he was on.

It was for the favor of Joseph wasn't for him.

It was for the brothers.

It was for the people who put him through all of the pain and all of the hurt.

Don't you understand that the favor that the Lord puts on your life isn't for you.

It's not about you.

It's not about you.

And Jesus Christ did the exact same thing because I hurt.

I turned my back on Jesus.

I criticized Jesus.

I lied about Jesus.

And Jesus even experienced moments of being alone.

Do you remember the garden?

Yet he comes back and he does with supernatural power what only he could do.

Joseph looks at his brothers.

He says, I forgive you.

What the enemy meant for evil.

Twenty-two years later, he meant for good.

I've got these scars, but they're beautiful because of this moment.

Jesus Christ forgave every one of us in this room for such a time as this.

I'm going to ask you a question this morning.

If you are a leader of any sort, a ministry leader, an elder, a pastor, or you're a leader

in some type of company or business, you consider yourself a leader manager, would you stand

this morning with me?

Leaders, leaders, if you consider yourself a leader of any sort.

I want to speak to you for just a second, just you guys.

The elders last week came up here and they blessed the people.

And I want you to understand that our leaders at the church every week come into this place

having to be filled up so that they can pour out.

You can't come up here and offer something you don't have, right?

But one of the things that I love about Springhouse Church is that we are a community full

of authenticity that understands that your lead pastor can get up and say, guys, I'm

struggling the last three years with insecurity.

Would you pray for me?

And the people who are standing up in this room, I believe that some of you are in places

of discouragement.

I believe that some of you are in places where your credibility has been called into question,

that maybe you've been falsely accused.

I believe that some of you are walking in a season where you feel forgotten.

You feel undervalued.

You feel like you've put blood, sweat and tears, but you don't understand why there's

not abundant fruit like it used to be.

You're just kind of wrestling internally with that.

And I want to invite you this morning because we are a church with humble leaders that if

you are in any one of those places, would you come forward to the altar space so that

we can pray for you?

Just step right on up.

Don't hesitate.

I have been contending with any discouragement.

I have been wounded.

I've been hurt.

I felt rejected.

I feel lonely.

I feel forgotten.

I feel any of those things.

Come on up.

I need you guys to come a little closer to the stage.

Yeah.

Last week, the leaders spoke into your life.

This week, you're going to speak into their lives.

Would you stand with me this morning?

The same Holy Spirit that these people have in their hearts and their lives, you have

in you.

And not one of them need to leave here the same way because you get to choose.

You get to choose what you carry.

You get to choose how you respond.

You get to choose.

Yeah, it's true.

You may be in that pit.

But you can choose faithfulness and you can choose to render your anointing and your gifts

to the Lord so that the outcome can be for his glory.

So I'm going to ask you all to do is just face out this way.

I believe this is an appointed, anointed moment in time that God has a word from you all to

these people.

So lock eyes.

A lot of them lead you.

So here's the direction.

I don't want anybody up here not attended.

You all have words for them and prayers for them.

I want you to come and join with one of these brothers and sisters and encourage them this

morning as we worship.

Let's worship together.

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