Friday 22 July 2016

On the Way to the Palace



"Jacob’s son Joseph was now seventeen years old. His job, along with his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, was to shepherd his father’s flocks. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things they were doing."-Genesis 37:2 TLB Today's Living Bible

Today, I would like us to begin with a series that I have been teaching on the Radio for over a month now. I have decided to share these truths using this forum also as I believe we all learn differently and while some would prefer to read through, others may be more akin towards visual /audio learning  and maybe because I love to write, I am biased towards write ups  as it affords me the pleasure of reading.Going through my previous notes, I must adnit that  the Holy Spirit  has shed  further  light on this series as I began to teach it as compared to when I  originally studied it privately two years ago.

I was going through a particular difficult period in my life and was beginning to examine again the book of Genesis with the aim of getting to the encouraging story of Joseph(Romans 15:4). There are some   scenes  in the story of Joseph that evoke the same reaction every time I read(Potiphar’s wife- Genesis 39:2-20 ) .I  especially love when this young man was reunited with this father Jacob and how he wept when he kissed his father(Genesis 46:29). I must admit that severally whenever I come to that part of the story, I end up crying with Joseph. The tears fail to take a gentle stride as they  seem to be in a race  to outrun   each other in a protest for the many years   Jacob had ended up crying over a lie (Genesis 37:31-35).

Joseph’s story  (Genesis 37-49) is  one that leaves us with genuine admiration  for his integrity and sense of purpose. He is one of the few Bible characters that we struggle to find fault with. Some commentators in their respect for him parallel his life with that of Jesus ; they both seemed to have  suffered hatred, rejection, they were both sold by  their loved ones and so much more.

However  in these series, I would like us to look at the life of Joseph as a prototype of the kind of life we should emulate if we want to get to the Palace which is hopefully where we all want to get to .Some  sermons erroneously  portray Joseph’s promotion as  an overnight success and leave us   with the impression that he attended a Special Next Level Anointing Service or that he sowed  a Breakthrough  seed from the prison the night before and suddenly , the next day, he became the second in  command to Pharoah( Genesis 40:40-41). This however was not the case


I believe that you  would receive  fresh insights in this story as I did  and will very much love to hear from you. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will show you further things that we can all learn from. Do not hesitate to share your comments here or on our page on FacebookFeasting at the Tablehttps://www.facebook.com/feastingatthetable

I also invite you to join me on Peace& &Joy Radio(Online or via Tune In App) every Saturday @11am for “Feasting at the Table”  aka F.A.T and subsequent rebroadcast on Tuesdays  @7pm.

Remain in His Service 
Grace Tom-Lawyer.
Ps-.I  am indebted also to the works of several Bible commentators such as  F.B. Meyer, W.H.Griffith Thomas, Sewyln Hughes Charles Swindoll , and several others .

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