Learning to Hold On

by Jeff Curtis

In Genesis 39, Joseph was maturing in his faith as he was faced with difficulties of bondage. His faith and integrity continued even while he was in prison.

God’s people sometimes find themselves in difficult circumstances which require them to wait in faith for vindication. Joseph was trusted by Potiphar, who put all of his possessions and household concerns under his control – with only one exception, his wife. When she tried to seduce him, Joseph refused to yield to her because such an act would be a betrayal of his master’s trust and sin against God. In spite of his fidelity, and probably to appease Potiphar’s wife, Joseph was cast into prison. Even in these surroundings, God was still with Joseph, caused him to prosper while there to the extent that he was placed in charge of other prisoners (39:21-23). But he remained under bondage as a prisoner himself, and “the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalm 105:19). This testing was difficult, but it built spiritual strength in Joseph (James 1:2-4, 12; 1Peter 1:6-7).

God’s people should use every opportunity to show their faith, regardless of how difficult and desperate their situation appears to be. An opportunity came to Joseph when two of the prisoners who were entrusted to him had dreams (40:6). When Joseph asked them why they were depressed, they answered that no one there could interpret their dreams. They had lost their access to the wise men, magicians and conjurers of Pharoah’s court, who specialized in interpreting dreams.

This was an opportunity for Joseph to profess his faith in God, the only true interpreter of dreams. Even in the midst of difficult times in the Egyptian prison, Joseph was showing his faith in God; but the outcome of his efforts was disappointing for him. The chief cup bearer said nothing to Pharoah about Joseph, but forgot about completely (40:23).

We don’t know what through Joseph’s mind during this time. He had suffered slavery and imprisonment for about eleven years, and he was no doubt anxious for the Lord to free him from his Egyptian bondage.

If Joseph pondered some the difficulties and struggles his ancestors had endured over the long periods of time, such thoughts may have reassured him that he shouldn’t despair about the future. After all, he knew that God had enabled him to reveal the correct dream, Evidently, the Lord had a plan for his life, although he didn’t know what it might be or when it would become a reality.

God has always tested people’s faith in His promises before entrusting them to positions of greater responsibility. “For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Hab. 2:3; ESV). God isn’t governed by clocks and calendars, and He follow any manmade timetable. God’s people have often wondered, as Joseph probably did, “Where is God? What is He doing? Why does He take so long?” Believers must trust the Lord revealed in Isaiah 55:8; “⁸ “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹ “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, o are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The early Christians grasped these concepts and showed their faith in the midst of difficult circumstances. Although they apparently expected Jesus to return very soon, they weren’t discouraged by having to wait (1Thess. 4:5). Not long after Pentecost, Peter and John were arrested, imprisoned and threatened with severe punishment if they didn’t stop preaching Jesus as the Messiah and performing miracle in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:5-22). They answered boldly, “We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).

Their persistence in teaching about Christ greatly angered the Jewish leaders, who considered execution a suitable punishment for the apostles (Acts 5:33). Because of Gamaliel’s counsel, they decided on a lesser punishment of flogging. Nevertheless, they continued “teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” This led to more persecution, including imprisonment, and more beatings (Acts 5:41-42; 6:8-15), and martyrdom (Acts 7:1-8:3), but the apostles and other early Christians were steadfast in bearing witness to their faith, in spite of the hardships and persecutions they faced.

Guard Your Children

by Jeff Curtis

Pope John Paul II, said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” This is a practical point for all of us, as parents, to consider. We are the guardians of the next generation.

Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 6:4-9; “⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” God has intended for parents to always be busy teaching and protecting their children from this world.

We don’t need to be like Jacob, who seemed indifferent when Dinah was taken by Shechem (Genesis 34). We are to take an active role in training and teaching our children. Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Today, our children listen to music that may questionable at times, even the music we listen as their parents could be questionable at times. However, we shouldn’t think that just because our kids are listening to “contemporary Christian” music that they will not influenced in a negative way.

Many young people want to consider themselves to “in the know,” and up to date on what’s going on in the world. They like the progressive ideas in politics today, and still want to consider themselves to religious, and faithful (in their own way) to God.

There is a Grammy winning Christian singer, Kevin Max, who has stated recently that he is no longer evangelical. He voiced his support for groups that are anti-government, anti-police, etc. He says he is now called an “Exvangelical” and a follower of the ‘Universal Christ.”

What?

He recently said on a podcast, “We embrace the LGBTQ community fully, are thoroughly feminist, denounce the role of white supremacy in society in general, and white evangelicalism in particular.” I’m not sure I completely understand all that he said. I’ve never heard of “white evangelicalism.” But, to claim his support for homosexuality is in direct conflict with God’s Word. Homosexuality has always been condemned and rebuked in the Word of God. God has destroyed cities because of this belief. Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis 19. “as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude v.3).

As parents, we are obligated to protect our children. Sometimes, they are not going to like our objections to things such as the music they listen to, they may even resent our questioning of their choice of music. The alternative, is that you could help to persuade them to change some of their choices and help prevent them from being so heavily influenced by the world.

Who knows, they may live long enough to thank you for your love and concern for their soul.