God's Plan And Purpose For Your Life pt.2
We are continuing in the lesson regarding God's plan for your life. Sometimes our lives go in an unexpected direction and the enemy tries to use your situations and circumstances to distract you or sideline you from God's plan for your life.
We are going to look at the life of Joseph and learn some principles for our lives that will keep us from being sidelined from God's plan for our life.
(When you have the opportunity, read
Genesis 37 - 50 which is the story of Joseph and his family.)
The first principle we are going to look at is that
you don't know where your life journey will take you, but God does. You need to have a positive and optimistic attitude. Philippians 4:12-13 AMP & KJV
Regardless of where you are going in life, having a good attitude makes the journey so much better. No one likes to be around someone with a nasty attitude, it doesn't matter what you are going through. Joseph had plenty of opportunities to have a bad attitude based on what he went through. But, he didn't. He stayed positive which allowed God's blessing to work through him wherever he went.
The second principle we will look at is that
you cannot allow the enemy to cause you to question God's love for you based on what you are going through. John 16:33; Romans 8:35
Why is it when we go through things that we automatically question God, forgetting that we have an enemy and that people have free will? We have to recognize that we really do have an enemy named Satan. His job description is to steal, kill and destroy. So, when we see things that don't line up with God's Word, we know the enemy is at work and he has to work through people. To blame God when things go wrong is to not understand God's character at all. He is Love and always desires the best for us. John 10:10 AMP
The third principle is
when God shows you something in your life, use wisdom and discernment in whom you share it with. Ask God if you should share it at all. Genesis 37:6; Luke 2:19
I know Joseph was excited about the dreams God showed him but, Joseph did not use wisdom in sharing his dreams with his family. Make sure you do use wisdom.
The fourth principle is that you don't have to be in the place of promise in order for people to hate you. Genesis 37:8, 11 The enemy sees the potential in your life and will cause people to envy you.
The fifth and final principle for this lesson is sometimes persecution will come from those we love and care about. Genesis 37:10
We have to be careful to not put people in the place of God. Even those we are related to. Sometimes we give people too much power in our lives and make decisions or live by their opinions or approval. God's opinion is the only one that matters.
Next month we will continue to look at more principles that we see from looking at Joseph's life. Looking forward to speaking with you next month. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and be blessed until next month.
Co-Pastor Gena
