The 'Humble' will be exalted!

The 'Humble' will be exalted!!

Genesis 41:40
"You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you."

Oh what a great privilege and honour will it be to have someone tell us this. Imagine the Prime Minister of Singapore tell you this, " Mary (Whatever your name is), You shall be in charge of the government of Singapore, and all the people of Singapore are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to my position as PM will I be greater than you!"

This was told to Joseph(the dreamer), Jacob's favourite son, by the Pharaoh of Egypt, when Joseph interpreted his dream.

For a Pharoah to put a prisoner whom he just released, on the pedestal and appoint him as Prime Authority and ruler of Egypt, is unthinkable. How much must he have trusted Joseph in order to do that?

Why did Pharaoh trust Joseph so much? How did Joseph earn the trust of the Pharaoh? Let us look at Joseph's life. He was Jacob's beloved wife Rachel's eldest son. Therefore he was Jacob's pet son. We know that Jacob sent him to check on his elder brothers while they went out to let the sheep graze and even gave him a multicolored cloak which made him more special above the other siblings. This induced the jealousy of his brothers. If Joseph was not trustworthy, loyal and acted with honesty and integrity his father would not have sent his beloved seventeen year old son alone to Shechem to supervise his brothers. His father told Joseph, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock; and bring word back to me.” Shechem was where Jacob's daughter Dinah was raped by the prince Shechem and the brothers of Dinah murdered him. Now Jacob would surely be worried about the safety of his sons who  had been away for a long time. There was no hand phone or internet in those days for them to keep in touch. Even now Jacob was worried that some relatives of prince Shechem might harm his sons. So obviously he had to send someone who was reliable. If Joseph was not reliable he would not have sent him to such a dangerous place.  Joseph proves his reliability by going further to Dotham when he finds out from a passerby that his brothers went there. He could have easily come back and told his father that they were no where to be found, instead he journeyed faithfully to Dotham to see if his brothers and the flock were ok.

Next when he was sold as the slave to
Potiphar who was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
The Word of God says in Genesis 39:2,
[2] The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master.

'The Lord was with him!' This is something to be noted. Is the Lord with us?

Now Potiphar noticed that God was with Joseph and that all the works of his hands were succeeding. Moreover Joseph was hardworking. Therefore he made Joseph his personal assistant. Joseph was loyal to both God and his master. He never once betrayed the trust of Potiphar but was falsely accused and imprisoned. Even then he trusted God and submitted to Him and waited upon the Lord.

God rewarded Joseph for his hardwork, patience, integrity and his humble submission to authority. Even when Pharaoh said to him, in Genesis 41:15,16   [15]... “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.” [16] “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”

We see that Joseph had come to rely on God in total humility. He was able to interpret the Pharaoh's dream accurately with humble confidence. Even Pharaoh could see that God was with Joseph. That is why he entrusted his prized possession which was his land and people to Joseph a prisoner whom he just released.

Integrity, honesty, loyalty, hard work, humble submission to God and being able to wait upon the Lord patiently will allow God to be with us and use us.

Let us reflect upon this today and ask the Father to breathe His life giving Spirit upon us, to empower us to rise above our situations and trust wholly on Him. Let us practise integrity, honesty, loyalty, be hard working , submit humbly to God and wait upon the Lord patiently.

When we are found trustworthy in little things by our Father, He will empower us and use us for His greater honour and glory.

Mary Augustine
28/01/2018

Let us shine the Light of Christ for all to see!

Let us shine the Light of Christ for all to see!

Matthew 14:10-14 NLT
So John was beheaded in the prison, [11] and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. [12] Later, John's disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened. [13] As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. [14] Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus did not worry about what others would say nor did He act out of His own interest. When He heard the news of His cousin's cruel death, Jesus wanted to be alone. But when He saw the needs of the people He healed them and then even fed them miraculously. Through this compassionate act of feeding He taught His disciples how to have faith even in dire situations and engaged the miraculous.

Do we do likewise? When our plans are interrupted what would we do? Sulk? Complain? Get furious? Withdraw into our enclosures? Or would we respond with the right attitude? Would we do what Jesus would do, if He was in our place? Or would we do what we feel like doing?

In these modern days people are programmed into thinking that they and they alone matter. There is scarcely any compassion found in today's society.

Even Christians behave selfishly. If we, who are to be the 'Lights' of the world live in darkness, then who will shine the light to the unbelievers?

Let us reflect on this and turn our hearts to our Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us reflect on His life and do what He would do. Let us shine the Light of Christ for all to see!

Mary Augustine

26/01/2018