SQUEEZE pt. 2: One Squeeze at a Time (5.17.09) [do the next right thing]

*Matt continued his Squeeze series Sunday, with part 2 of 3.

*He started off by asking a question that many of us struggle with: Is God Here and Does He Even Care?

*Is God even present in the middle of our difficulties?

REAL-LIFE APPLICATION TO BIBLE STORY : GENESIS 37:23-28, 39:1-23
* Before Matt proceeded into the Bible, he gave a little background on the life of Joseph:
o Abraham-------Isaac--------Jacob------------12 Sons (one was Joseph)
o Jacob played favorites and Joseph was his chosen one. He gave Joseph a multi-colored coat so everyone would know who Jacob’s fav was.
o Joseph had dreams where he was the head man and his brothers were zeros who bowed down to him.
o Joseph thought the dreams were coming from God and he started treating his brothers as if his dreams were reality.
o His brothers, obviously, were not too fond of Joseph.
o One day, Jacob sent Joseph out to look for his brothers who were away. The brothers saw him coming from a distance and thought “now is our chance to get (kill) him!”
o The story picks up at Gen 37:23-28
23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the robe of many colors that he had on. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. They looked up, and there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our [own] flesh." His brothers agreed. 28 When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.
* Joseph was only 17 years old when this occurred.
* He was sold to be a slave for 20 pieces of silver.
* All of his special treatment his father had given him was suddenly gone and his life was changing in an instant.
* What motivation does he have to continue to believe that God is with him?
*Moving now to Genesis 39:1-6
• THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH!
1 Now Joseph had been taken to Egypt. An Egyptian [named] Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites (A) who had brought him there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, (B) and he became a successful man, serving [a] in the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made everything he did successful, (C) 4 Joseph found favor in his master's sight (D) and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. [b] 5 From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house because of Joseph. (E) The LORD's blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields. 6 He left all that he owned under Joseph's authority; [c] he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
• Notice that Joseph found favor in his master’s eyes and became his personal attendant!
• Joseph was thinking “since I am here, I might as well do the right thing and be the best slave I can be.”
• Also notice that the Lord blessed the Egyptian household because of Joseph and the Egyptians didn’t even believe in Christ!
• Joseph never whined and complained “why me, why me….” He kept doing the next right thing because he knew God was with him.

*Genesis 39: 7-10
• THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH!
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After some time his master's wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, "Sleep with me."
8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. 9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"
10 Although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her.
• So, Joseph was tempted day after day after day by this woman and he continued to do the next right thing and tell her no.
• Joseph refused to sleep with her because his master had been so good to him and withheld nothing from him.
• Joseph eventually refused to even be in the same room with the woman, and she progressively got more and more upset.
• So……Genesis 39:11-18
11 One day Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants was there. 12 She grabbed him by his garment and said, "Sleep with me!" But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she realized that he had left his garment with her and had run outside, 14 she called the household servants. "Look," she said to them, "my husband brought a Hebrew man to us to make fun of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, and I screamed as loud as I could. 15 When he heard me screaming for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside."
16 She put Joseph's garment beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: "The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to sleep with me, 18 but when I screamed for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside."
*Genesis 39:19-23
• THE LORD WAS WITH JOSEPH!
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him—"These are the things your slave did to me"—he was furious 20 and had him thrown into prison, where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.
Joseph in Prison
21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph's authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. 23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph's authority, because the LORD was with him, and the LORD made everything that he did successful.
*Joseph believed!
* Joseph really believed that God was with him despite all the bad things that were happening to him.
* Notice that last verse: The Lord was with him and made everything that he did successful. That is amazing. Although Joseph might not have always been in the best of situations, (he was obviously being squeezed) he still believed God was with him and he continued to do the next right thing.
* THE REST OF THE STORY: After 13 years of being a slave/prisoner, in 1 day, he went from being head of prisoners, to being 2nd in command over all of Egypt!
* God had a plan, and Joseph believed even when life was squeezing him. He had no idea what God’s plan for him was, but he knew there was one and he knew that God was always with him so he continued to do the next right thing.
* God was able to use Joseph because he kept believing and doing the next right thing even when he was being squeezed!
*Daily Life Application
o Our job, just like Joseph’s, is to do the next right thing because God is with us.
o Do the next right thing as if you are certain God is with you, because He is!
o God gives us the strength to make it through the day.
o We need to take life one day at a time, one squeeze at a time.
o God is preparing us to impact the lives of people all around us!
o Holding onto the truth that God is there gives you hope, strength, and wisdom.
o We have to trust that God is with us even when we can’t see it.
o WHEN WE DO THE VERY THING WE LEAST FEEL LIKE DOING, WE HAVE OUR GREATEST VICTORIES OVER SATAN!

Listen to the sermon:

http://tiny.cc/BDKrm



Squeeze pt 1 sermon from 5.10.09:

http://tiny.cc/LFIUv