1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,920 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,560 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,280 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,320 We hope that you enjoy this message. 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,880 We're in the midst of a series on the life of a man by the name 6 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,360 of Joseph, and his story is given to us in the book of 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,320 Genesis, the very first book in the entire Bible. 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,240 And we've been walking through the life of this man by the name 9 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,000 of Joseph. And that's where we're going to 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,120 be picking things up in just a moment. 11 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,040 But before we jump back into the life of Joseph straight out of 12 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,640 the gate, let me ask you a quick question just for reflection. 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,080 What is the hardest, most difficult thing that you have 14 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,960 done in your life? What is the hardest, most 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,240 difficult thing that you've ever done in your life that you've 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,280 had to do in your entire life? Or maybe the the the hardest, 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,520 most difficult things that you that you chose to do? 18 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,040 And I know that that answer is going to going to going to vary 19 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,200 because we have a wide spectrum of backgrounds and ages and, 20 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,000 and, and experiences in here, right? 21 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,480 So for you, maybe the hardest thing, most difficult thing that 22 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,840 you chose to do is actually mustering up the courage to ask 23 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,760 that girl out on a date. For others of you, the the 24 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,720 hardest, most difficult thing that you have done to date is is 25 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:32,240 disciplining yourself to train for that marathon. 26 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,600 I don't know why anybody would do that, but some of you like to 27 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,400 do that. My whole take is if God intended 28 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,600 for us to run, he never would have invented cars. 29 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,520 But maybe for you, maybe, you know, and and I hear people say, 30 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,800 Ben, you got to try running it. There's just this euphoric 31 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:50,400 feeling. And I was like, yeah, I get that 32 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:56,240 on my couch. But, but maybe maybe the most 33 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,520 difficult thing that, that, that you have done, maybe the most, 34 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:01,840 the hardest, most difficult thing that you have done today 35 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,360 is making the, making the painful decision to, to, to, to, 36 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:10,800 to uproot and to move away from family or friends or, or 37 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:12,800 everything that you knew to be familiar. 38 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,320 Maybe, maybe it was, maybe it was because of a job, maybe it 39 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,640 was because of a relationship. It could be a variety of 40 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:23,320 reasons. Maybe the most difficult, the 41 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,560 hardest thing that you've ever had to do today is saying 42 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,960 goodbye to a loved one. And those are really tough, 43 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:36,680 aren't they? Remember when Julie, Julie and I 44 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,600 talk about this often? Remember when we were young and 45 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,360 we thought that life was as hard as and as complex as it was ever 46 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:54,280 going to get when we were 19? So what, what is today, what is 47 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,160 the hardest, most difficult thing that you've ever had to 48 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,240 do? You know, like I said, that 49 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,480 answer, because we have a variety of backgrounds, 50 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,040 different backstories, different experiences, There's going to be 51 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:05,800 a lot of different answers to that, right? 52 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:12,000 And, and, and it's not about comparing at all or, or to stack 53 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,400 up in some tier tiered order. It's basically just to bring us 54 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,040 all together to the same table and to look at the fact that 55 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,720 we've all had to go through some very difficult things and we all 56 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,080 will go through very difficult things. 57 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,440 But I think universally, one of the things that I think is the 58 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,720 most difficult and one of the hardest things that any of us 59 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:40,880 will ever have to do and that we have had to do is to offer 60 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,480 forgiveness to someone who has legitimately, legitimately 61 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:52,480 wronged us, who has legitimately does not deserve it and 62 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,600 legitimately has never asked for it. 63 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,640 That's hard. That's so difficult. 64 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:04,760 But I also believe, I also believe that when we harbor 65 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,200 unforgiveness in our hearts, when we harbor unforgiveness 66 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,200 towards someone who has legitimately wronged us and 67 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:16,440 caused pain and hurt and trauma, that in a way we cap. 68 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:21,519 When we harbor unforgiveness, we cap what God wants to do in our 69 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:24,400 lives. In other words, when we hold on 70 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:30,200 to unforgiveness, that unforgiveness slowly but surely 71 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:36,680 and subtly begins to break us. And if you've been with us over 72 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:41,120 this past series, you know that one of the things that we've 73 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,360 been talking about and that that that series big idea is going to 74 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:47,840 flash up on the screen if you're if you're taking notes with us. 75 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,960 But the thing that we've been talking about together is what 76 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,920 can easily break you. God turns into breakthrough and 77 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,120 church. This is what we desire for you. 78 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,880 This is what I desire for you as your pastor is that you live in 79 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,760 the breakthrough, that you live in the blessing of God, that you 80 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,520 live on the other side of unforgiveness and experience the 81 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,680 blessing and the breakthrough that God offers on that other 82 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,080 side of unforgiveness. So this morning we're going to 83 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:24,360 be holding 2 truths simultaneously #1 forgiveness. 84 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:31,920 True, full forgiveness is incredibly, extremely hard #2 85 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:37,280 nothing will set me free like offering true and full 86 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:40,400 forgiveness. We're going to hold on to those 87 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:46,240 truths simultaneously and to help guide us and to explore 88 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,120 those truths and to help us navigate those truths and how we 89 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,200 get from unforgiveness to experiencing the breakthrough 90 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,840 and the blessings of God on the other side of forgiveness. 91 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,040 We're going to go back and we're going to look at the life of 92 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,800 this man by the name of Joseph. And this morning we're going to 93 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,280 be picking it up in Genesis chapter 42. 94 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:09,400 Genesis chapter 42. If you have a Bible with you, it 95 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,040 can be a hard copy. It can be a digital copy, but 96 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,680 Genesis Chapter 42 is where we're going to be hanging out. 97 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:16,480 That's where we're actually, actually we're going to be 98 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:18,600 starting. You may look at the top of your 99 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:22,200 at, at your bulletin, at your, at your note sheet and sit there 100 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,360 and go, man. Genesis Chapter 42 through 47, 101 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,000 we're going to be here for a long time. 102 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,120 We're going to be summarizing most of it, but you'll get where 103 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,160 we're going as you're making your way there. 104 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,480 If you're new to Riverbend, maybe just new to the series, 105 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,080 let me go ahead and fill in some background info that's going to 106 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,280 be really helpful for you. This guy by the name of Joseph, 107 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,560 we're first to introduce to him back in Genesis chapter 37. 108 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,800 So if you want to pick back up at the very beginning of this 109 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,680 guy's life, you go to Genesis chapter 37. 110 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:55,160 There we meet a 17 year old by the name of Joseph, who by far 111 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,160 is his dad's favorite. His dad is a guy by the name of 112 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,520 Jacob, but God changes his name from Jacob to Israel. 113 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,360 But throughout the book of Genesis, it kind of flip flops 114 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:07,240 back and forth. It's going to become important 115 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,560 for us, in case you're wondering, throughout the rest 116 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,960 of the Old Testament, throughout the rest of the Bible, that 117 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:16,440 whenever we read about the 12 tribes of Israel, what we're 118 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,680 talking about and what the Bible is referring to are the 12 sons 119 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,800 of Jacob, whose name is actually changed to Israel. 120 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:28,040 But most of Joseph's narrative, he goes by the name of Jacob. 121 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,760 Joseph's dad goes by the name of Jacob. 122 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,440 And like I said before, Joseph was his dad's favorite. 123 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:37,840 And because he was his dad's favorite, it wasn't like it was 124 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,560 a secret. It wasn't like, you know, Jacob 125 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,000 slipped extra grilled cheese sandwiches under the table to 126 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,040 Joseph. Oh, no. 127 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:49,040 Jacob gave Joseph a coat, a robe of many colors that was only 128 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,520 reserved for him. So it was very much out in the 129 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,440 open. And it calls massive animosity 130 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,600 from Joseph's other brothers, from Jacob's other sons, so much 131 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:05,200 so they hated Joseph because of their dad's favoritism towards 132 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,080 Joseph, that they actually beat him. 133 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:09,160 They ripped the robe from his body. 134 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,680 They threw him into a pit. They sold him into slavery. 135 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,640 And then they took that robe. They killed a wild animal, 136 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,640 dipped the robe in the blood of the wild animal, ripped the robe 137 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,920 just a little bit, and then took the robe, the blood soaked robe, 138 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,960 back to their dad, Jacob, and made-up a story about how Joseph 139 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,200 was attacked by a wild animal. And apparently eaten by this 140 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,320 wild animal and that his favorite son is now dead. 141 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,240 That's the back story of where Joseph came from. 142 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:44,120 Meanwhile, in Joseph's world, he's carted off 300 miles away 143 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,360 from home to the nation of Egypt, sold as a slave to a man 144 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,520 by the name of Potiphar. He's falsely accused of sexual 145 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,240 misconduct by Potiphar's wife. He's thrown into prison. 146 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,480 He's forgotten about in prison. And then he's ultimately called 147 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,040 up to Pharaoh's palace because Pharaoh has two dreams that are 148 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,120 very concerning to him. And Pharaoh gets wind that this 149 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,080 guy in his prison can interpret dreams. 150 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,120 And Joseph goes on to interpret these dreams of Pharaoh. 151 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,960 And in true God fashion, God always being faithful and true, 152 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,640 the interpretation of the dreams actually comes into reality. 153 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,160 The interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams was, hey, Pharaoh, for 154 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,800 the next 7 years, there's going to be a lot of overabundance of 155 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,080 grain and crops. You're not even going to know 156 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,160 what to do with them. So listen, you need to store 157 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:33,720 them up. You need to put them away. 158 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,520 You need to preserve them. You need to store them up. 159 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,040 Because after those seven years, they're going to come seven 160 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,760 years of severe famine all around the region. 161 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:42,680 That's going to be felt all around the world. 162 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:45,640 It is going to be a met. There's going to be a mega 163 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,800 drought all around the world. So you need to stockpile 164 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,760 reserves from the seven years of plenty so that your people don't 165 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:55,960 starve during the seven years of famine. 166 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:58,920 And that's exactly what ends up happening. 167 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,560 But that sets the stage for where we pick it up in Genesis 168 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:05,560 chapter 42, verse one. Check this out. 169 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,960 It says when Jacob, again, Joseph's dad, when Jacob learned 170 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,440 that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, this 171 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,760 is such a deadline, right? Why do you look at one another 172 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,160 like, what are y'all doing just staring at each other? 173 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:20,840 And he said, behold, I've heard that there's grain for sale in 174 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,120 Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us 175 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,040 there that we may live and not die. 176 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,840 So 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 177 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:35,520 So for the first time in five chapters, for the first time in 178 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,640 five chapters, the narrative and the setting shifts back to 179 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:44,680 Joseph's hometown and his own family, to Canaan. 180 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,520 And there you got Jacob the dad saying, hey, listen, we're about 181 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,200 to starve to death. He's going to send ten of his 182 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:56,120 sons to go get grain. Check this outlook over with me 183 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,120 at verse 6. Now, Joseph, he was the governor 184 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,400 over the land, and he was the one who sold to all the people 185 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,640 of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and 186 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:09,440 bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 187 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:13,400 Verse 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he 188 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,120 treated them like strangers and he spoke roughly to them. 189 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,600 Where did you come from? He said, and they said from the 190 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:25,600 land of Canaan to buy food. You ever run into anybody at the 191 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:30,200 store or a restaurant that they are 1000% convinced that they 192 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,200 know you, but you have no idea who they are. 193 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,400 And there's nothing worse than like, you see somebody, they're 194 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,400 like waving and you're like, and then you look back and there's 195 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,640 somebody actually that they're waving at and you're the one 196 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,760 that looks like a like a goon. But, yeah. 197 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:48,080 You ever been there, like at a store? 198 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:49,760 They're like, hey, man, how's it going? 199 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,240 You're like, good buddy, you know? 200 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:54,920 And you, you, you know that they know you. 201 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:57,680 You just have no idea who they are. 202 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,200 Yeah, this is, this is like a lot worse than that. 203 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,040 Joseph recognized his brothers. They had no idea who he was. 204 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,960 He recognized them probably the moment that they came in the 205 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,760 room, but they had no idea who he was. 206 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:20,840 Now let me go ahead and Fast forward. 207 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,720 Let me summarize and you can I would highly encourage you to 208 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:29,000 read Genesis 42 through 47 in your time with God this week. 209 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,440 But let me go ahead and summarize what what what goes on 210 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,920 here, just for the sake of our time together, is Joseph is 211 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,400 going to accuse his brothers of being spies. 212 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:41,480 He's going to accuse him of being spas. 213 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,720 And he's going to hold, he's going to hold 9. 214 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,840 He's going to hold 8 of them in custody and he's going to let 215 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,640 one of them go back home. He's going to hold one in 216 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:57,040 custody, let one of them go back home, but then after three days, 217 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,560 he's going to release or he's going to hold none of them in 218 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,160 custody, let one of them go back home because there were ten that 219 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,840 came together. He's going to let none of them 220 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,120 go back home with grain and he's going to give them their money. 221 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,400 He's going to hide their money in their saddlebags that they 222 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,280 came to to buy the grain with. He's going to hide their money, 223 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,600 but he's going to keep one of the brothers behind a brother by 224 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,800 the name of Simeon. And basically, this is what 225 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,440 Joseph tells the brothers, that he releases the eight. 226 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,840 Hey, go back to your dad. Go back to your dad and tell him 227 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,160 to bring the youngest son with you. 228 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:36,480 And unless you bring the youngest son with you, I'm not 229 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:37,760 going to release your other brother. 230 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:39,600 I'm going to keep him in custody, in prison. 231 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:41,200 Now, here's what you need to know. 232 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,480 We've already established the fact that Jacob, Joseph's dad, 233 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:49,080 he played favorites after Jacob was convinced that his favorite 234 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:53,440 child, Joseph was killed, was slaughtered by by a wild animal 235 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,880 20 years prior. His favoritism didn't go away. 236 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,640 It just shifted. It shifted to Joseph's younger 237 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,400 brother, a guy by the name of Benjamin, a young man by the 238 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,800 name of Benjamin. And Benjamin was, was Jacob. 239 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,040 He was, it was Jacob's prized possession that he was so 240 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:15,120 protective and, and some would even argue overprotective of 241 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,960 Benjamin to where he wouldn't let Benjamin like go anywhere 242 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,880 because he was so fearful that something might happen to 243 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:23,880 Benjamin like it happened to Joseph. 244 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,240 So when the eight brothers returned home to Jacob and said, 245 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,800 hey, listen, the guy, the governor that's selling us a 246 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,480 grain in Egypt, he said that. He said that we can't get any 247 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,720 more grain and we can't get Simeon back until we bring 248 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,000 Benjamin. And that just like struck such a 249 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,840 deep chord, struck at the heart of Jacob. 250 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,720 And after a lot of convincing, one of Joseph's brothers, a man 251 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:54,240 by the name of Reuben, tells his dad, Dad, if anything happens to 252 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,040 Benjamin, you can hold my life accountable. 253 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,800 If he does, then you can take my life. 254 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,760 It was that serious. So Jacob finally relents and he 255 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,800 allows Benjamin to travel back to Egypt. 256 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,880 Now, what Joseph truly wanted is he wanted the entire family to 257 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,960 be reunited. And he was hoping that Jacob 258 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:20,320 would come with them, but he didn't. 259 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,960 Jacob stayed home. He he's, he's an old man at this 260 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,320 point in time and probably wasn't deemed healthy enough to 261 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,960 make the 300 mile trek through the desert. 262 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:38,920 So brothers bring Benjamin to Joseph and Joseph basically 263 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,160 accuses them of being spies again. 264 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,840 And then he tells them, listen, I need you to go get your dad 265 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,200 Jacob. I'm going to load your donkeys 266 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:49,520 down. I'm going to load your caravan 267 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,080 down with, with grain to take back. 268 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:56,040 But what they didn't know is Joseph instructed some of his 269 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:02,000 chief advisors and officials to sneak Joseph's royal silver cup 270 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,240 into Benjamin's saddlebags. And he allowed them to get a 271 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,000 little bit ways down the road. And then Joseph's like, hey, I 272 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,680 need you to go get them. Search the search the 273 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:14,720 saddlebags. And sure enough, when they 274 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,440 search the saddlebags in Benjamin's saddlebag, they found 275 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,360 the royal silver cup. And his brothers are just beside 276 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,200 themselves because they know that their dad is going to die. 277 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,480 This something's going to happen to Benjamin. 278 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,840 So they they're brought back to the court of Joseph. 279 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,720 And this is where we pick it up. Genesis chapter 45, verse 4. 280 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:43,000 Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me, please. 281 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,960 And they came near. And he said, I am your brother 282 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,160 Joseph, whom you sold into slavery. 283 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,760 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because 284 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:58,320 you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 285 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:04,400 So when Joseph was getting ready to to basically leverage the 286 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,520 situation to get Jacob to come to town, come back into town, 287 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,800 come to Egypt, he breaks down, he begins to weep. 288 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:18,920 Can you imagine, again, remember what I said like this is 20 289 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,800 years since Joseph, over 20 years since Joseph's been sold 290 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,680 into slavery? Can you imagine over the course 291 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:30,560 of those 20 years, what Joseph had convinced himself if he ever 292 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,000 had the opportunity to meet his brothers again, what he would 293 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,720 say to him, how he would just let him have it? 294 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,120 How could they? They were his brothers. 295 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,360 They were his older brothers. He looked up to them and they 296 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:46,360 were the ones that beat him and betrayed him and sold him. 297 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,320 Do you know how many questions he must have had? 298 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:56,360 And yet it seemed to all dissolve into a softened heart 299 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:02,480 and forgiveness towards them. How in the world can that 300 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,600 happen? How in the world can that happen 301 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:12,080 to where there's so much pent up animosity and even justified 302 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,040 animosity? How in the world can it all 303 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:22,480 dissolve into a softened heart into offering forgiveness to 304 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,560 help us discover the answer to that question? 305 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,640 If you've been with us throughout this series, you know 306 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,800 that we've been kind of riding on this natural rhythm and 307 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,000 cadence to where we've been asking 3 questions or the 308 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,720 passages that we read together and that we unpack together. 309 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,000 And the three questions are, what does this tell me about 310 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,640 God? Or what does this tell me about 311 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:41,800 Joseph? What does this tell me about 312 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:43,320 God? What does this tell me about me? 313 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,680 So let's start with that first one first. 314 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:50,640 What does this passage from Genesis 42 through Genesis 47, 315 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,200 what does it tell us about Joseph? 316 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,040 If you're taking notes with us, here's the first thing that we 317 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,800 should know. Forgiveness was not Joseph's 318 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,680 default. Forgiveness was not Joseph's 319 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,760 default. One of the things that I need to 320 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:10,200 stress to you and remind you of is Joseph was a real man with 321 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,760 real hurt, with real emotions that endured real trauma. 322 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:16,360 He wasn't some fictitious character. 323 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:21,040 He he wasn't the invention of screenwriters that, that that 324 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,640 gave him the character attribute of just forgiveness for some 325 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:26,640 emotional twist in a Hallmark movie. 326 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,840 I mean, we know that this wouldn't be a Hallmark movie 327 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,360 because it's set in the desert and we know that all Hallmark 328 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,480 movies are set in the Northeast and there's snow involved, 329 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,880 right? But he was a real man that 330 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,080 endured real hurt, real pain, real trauma. 331 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,080 And then what was Joseph's initial reaction? 332 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:53,400 Remember back in Genesis 42, verse seven, he treated them. 333 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,200 He spoke roughly to them. He treated them as strangers and 334 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:02,640 he spoke roughly to them. You see, that was Joseph's 335 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,600 initial reaction. But here's what we know about 336 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,000 Joseph. Joseph did not allow his initial 337 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,400 reaction to become his lasting response. 338 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,440 You see, his initial reaction toward them was treating them 339 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,240 like strangers and speaking roughly to them. 340 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,240 But by the time we see God playing out in Joseph's heart, 341 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,080 that wasn't his lasting reaction. 342 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,400 Or that wasn't his lasting response. 343 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:32,880 His initial reaction did not have to be his lasting response. 344 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:37,600 Let me put that on the personal Your initial reaction to things 345 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,160 do not have to be your lasting response to things. 346 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,600 But make no mistake about it, this is not some fairy tale 347 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,040 character. Joseph's natural reaction, 348 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,040 Joseph's natural default was not forgiveness. 349 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,600 You see, if we wrongly assumed that his natural default was 350 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,560 forgiveness, we sit there and go, well, that's just one of 351 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:05,280 those Bible superheroes. And I'm not that, you know, this 352 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:08,880 is a real man that went through real hurt, real harm, real pain, 353 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:14,280 real trauma, had real emotions. He had a real first reaction, 354 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,720 but he chose, and that's a mark of maturity by the way, is 355 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:22,840 choosing for his emotions not to become his main driver, that his 356 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,560 initial reaction didn't have to be his lasting response. 357 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,680 Second thing that we see about Joseph is Joseph's greatest 358 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:36,040 temptation came when he was in a position of power. 359 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:40,200 As you jot that down, I encourage you circle that word 360 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,440 power. Circle that word power. 361 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:47,640 Here's why. Power. 362 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:51,000 The power dynamic, it changed everything about everything. 363 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,040 For the first time in Joseph's life, he is in a position of 364 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,680 power. No longer is he the 17 year old 365 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,560 boy, the runt of the family that can be kicked around and thrown 366 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:06,640 into a a pit by his brothers. No longer is he a slave in 367 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:10,200 Potiphar's house. No longer is he a voiceless 368 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,920 victim of Potiphar's wife's lies. 369 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,840 No longer is he a prisoner who's more known by his number than by 370 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,600 his name. He is Zephaneth Penaea, which is 371 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:27,320 the name that Pharaoh himself gave Joseph, which means God 372 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:33,200 sees and God lives. That name was given to Joseph by 373 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:39,040 Pharaoh, and for the first time, Joseph is sitting in a seat of 374 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:44,920 power to where, at the very snap of his fingers, the very command 375 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:49,880 of his voice, he had the power to exalt or to execute. 376 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,560 He had the power to to to, to harass or to help. 377 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,680 And yet, what did Joseph do with this power? 378 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,200 We read at the end of or at the beginning of chapter 42. 379 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,520 We read how Joseph broke down and he began to weep and he all 380 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,320 his heart was softened and he offered forgiveness towards his 381 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,160 brothers. And in other words, Joseph chose 382 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,000 with this power and with this influence, Joseph chose to 383 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,240 extend grace to his brothers. Grace is giving them something 384 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,920 that they did not deserve and he chose to extend mercy to his 385 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:30,840 brothers. Mercy is get is not giving them 386 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,360 what they do deserve. And he chose to give them 387 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,640 forgiveness, to offer forgiveness to them, which is 388 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:41,840 giving up his right to execute punishment and judgment against 389 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:47,440 them. Joseph knew Joseph had an 390 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:54,480 eternal perspective that God used what they did for evil, and 391 00:23:54,480 --> 00:24:00,160 he turned it for the good. Speaking of God, what does all 392 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,120 of this tell us about our God? Again, if you're taking notes 393 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:07,120 with us, here's the first thing. God will use our triggers to 394 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:11,400 bring about his healing. God will use his triggers to 395 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,960 bring about his healing. Let me unpack that for a second. 396 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:21,920 An emotional trigger. An emotional trigger is a name, 397 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:28,280 is a face, is a place, is a smell, is a memory in the now 398 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,840 that takes us back to a hurt, a pain, and a trauma in our past. 399 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:38,200 That's an emotional trigger. Like for example, it can be a 400 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,160 building that you drive past. It can be something that you 401 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,640 smell it, it can it can be like a similar name that you hear. 402 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,760 It can be a song that you hear. It can be pretty much anything 403 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:54,320 and everything. You ever been riding down the 404 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,280 road, minding your own business or or maybe just like taking a 405 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,200 shower. And then like you have an 406 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,480 emotional trigger and you start to be transported from the now 407 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,120 to something that happened in the past. 408 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:11,360 And before you know it, you're having an imaginary argument 409 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:13,000 with people that aren't even there. 410 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,000 Anybody with me on that or are you just all liars? 411 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,040 I hate that. That is so frustrating. 412 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,440 Emotional triggers are so frustrating and here's why. 413 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,040 I like to think that once I've dealt with something that I've 414 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,680 dealt with it and now it's time to move on and I don't have to 415 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,120 deal with it anymore. Anybody else with me on that? 416 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:36,440 Man, we would love it if that were true, right? 417 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,840 So why does God allow emotional triggers? 418 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:43,880 Why does God allow emotional triggers? 419 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,320 I need you to lean in really close on this one. 420 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:54,680 God allows emotional triggers in our lives to remind us that 421 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,400 there is a deeper healing that needs to take place. 422 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,000 I heard of, I heard a very wise veteran Christian counselor 423 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,920 several years ago make this statement Emotional triggers in 424 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,640 the now. Our Holy Spirit nudges that 425 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,120 there's a deeper healing that needs to take place. 426 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,200 You see, whatever pain and hurt and trauma that you have already 427 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,880 gone through and that you've already healed, you're probably, 428 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,520 chances are very good you're not completely and fully healed. 429 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:29,280 You're healed to the degree in which you can be healed right 430 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:30,600 now. But guess what? 431 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:35,200 God doesn't want to leave you in that state of being completely 432 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,720 and fully unhealed. He will bring about emotional 433 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,760 triggers in our lives as Holy Spirit nudges that there's a 434 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,120 deeper work that needs to take place. 435 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:52,440 You see, God will use our triggers to bring about His 436 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,200 healing. Don't hate the triggers. 437 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:01,400 Turn to the Savior whenever you come, whenever you pass that 438 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,120 building, and you're immediately transported from the now to the 439 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,520 past. Whenever you hear that name, and 440 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,240 you're immediately transported from the now to the past. 441 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,800 Whenever you smell that smell or hear that song and you're 442 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:18,000 immediately transported from the now to the past, don't hate the 443 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,200 trigger. Turn towards the Savior and 444 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,240 understand that there is a deeper work of healing that 445 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,920 needs to take place. And that emotional trigger is a 446 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:32,320 Holy Spirit nudge that He can do what only he can do because he 447 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,000 can go where only he can go. Because what we're talking about 448 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,240 with hurt and pain and trauma and unforgiveness is this is 449 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:45,440 deep soul stuff. That's why God allows emotional 450 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:47,320 triggers and uses emotional triggers. 451 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,680 Second thing that we're reminded about God is God's healing is 452 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,200 not about erasing the memory of pain, but transforming my 453 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,000 response from cursing to blessing. 454 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,560 I need you to trust me on this. Just jot that down and then 455 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:02,160 we'll unpack it. We'll walk through it. 456 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,920 God's healing is not about erasing the the memory of pain, 457 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,640 but transforming my response from cursing to blessing. 458 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,680 What we mean by that is we live in a day and an age that 459 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,040 basically is about just suppressing. 460 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,400 Do what you got to do just to get through it. 461 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,160 Suppress it, push it deep down, let somebody else deal with it 462 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,760 later on or hey, listen, you just need to move on. 463 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,160 You just need to get over it. You need to move on. 464 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:34,160 God will never, God will never approach your pain and your hurt 465 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,000 and your trauma as like, hey man, you just need to get over 466 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:37,640 it. Move on. 467 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:44,440 But God will also never call you to erase the memory of that 468 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,600 trauma. He doesn't want to erase the 469 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,320 memory of the trauma. He wants to redeem the trauma. 470 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,680 He doesn't want to erase the memory of the pain. 471 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,640 He wants to redeem the pain. Let me kind of explain what what 472 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,640 I'm talking about. When you and I have been 473 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,880 legitimately wronged or hurt by someone, there are two very 474 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,240 natural, very, very accepted responses to that hurt and pain. 475 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,200 We can either. It's not in your nose, but you 476 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,200 may want to jot down. We can either seethe. 477 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:20,200 We can seethe to where like we just grit our teeth. 478 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,160 We hear that name, we see that stupid face on Facebook. 479 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:29,120 Like we just seethe. It just makes us mad. 480 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,080 Like basically, I never want to hear that name again. 481 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:36,480 I never want to see that face again. 482 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,440 I never want to hear about that church again. 483 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:43,040 I never want to dot, dot, dot. We just seethe. 484 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,000 Listen, that's accepted by our culture. 485 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:51,280 Second option, this accepted and I would even say celebrated by 486 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,600 our culture. It's even more celebrated than 487 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,400 the seething option. It's the option to ignore. 488 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,240 It's the option to ignore. Like if you want to put some 489 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,920 2025 or twenty 20s verbiage around it, cancel. 490 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,680 We just cancel people Like hey man you did me wrong. 491 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,920 You said something about me or my family or you just did US 492 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,040 wrong. You disrespected us like you 493 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,200 hurt us. You have no idea the level of 494 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,040 pain and trauma you caused. Man. 495 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:23,120 I'm just going to forget about you. 496 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:28,080 You might as well be dead to me. I'm just going to ignore the 497 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:36,760 fact that you even exist. We cancel that is so celebrated 498 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,640 because we have people around us that sit there and go. 499 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:44,360 You are such the bigger man. You're choosing not to take 500 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,200 vengeance on them. You're just choosing to walk 501 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:47,960 away, to cancel them out, to ignore it all. 502 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:49,880 You are such the bigger woman in this. 503 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:55,320 Do you know God gives us the third option? 504 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,760 And what I'm about to tell you is incredibly difficult, but 505 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,520 will bring about the deepest level of healing that you and I 506 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:07,600 will ever experience. When we are encouraged by people 507 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:13,200 around us to sieve and when we are patted on our backs to 508 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,400 cancel people out and to ignore them, and we actually even think 509 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:21,200 highly of ourselves to ignore them, God gives us the option to 510 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:27,400 jot this down. Bless them, You may say. 511 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,960 I'm out. You have no idea what he or she 512 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:32,560 did. You have no idea what I've gone 513 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,040 through. Hang with me, because in just a 514 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:38,920 second you're probably going to be even madder. 515 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,640 Do you know what it means to bless those that curse you? 516 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:49,720 It's to pray for them. It's to desire good for them as 517 00:31:49,720 --> 00:32:02,040 God defines good. You must say I don't like that. 518 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:09,640 Yeah, me neither. But Jesus is very clear that, 519 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,240 listen, it's easy to to love those that love you and it's 520 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:13,760 easy to hate those that hate you. 521 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,640 But a mark that you're a follower of me is that you bless 522 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:20,600 those that curse you. Listen, you don't have to be in 523 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,800 close proximity to somebody to bless them. 524 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:27,040 You don't have to be in close proximity to somebody that to, 525 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,560 to pray for them. Let me tell you, let me tell you 526 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,160 what I'm talking about. Let me put some like real 527 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:37,560 tangible feet on this. Maybe I'm the only one and I'm 528 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,360 just like working out some therapy in front of y'all this 529 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,160 morning. You ever had somebody that hurts 530 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,680 you so deeply and you've endured pain and trauma so deeply that 531 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,840 in the middle of the night you wake up for some unknown reason 532 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,920 and that name or that situation is at the forefront of your 533 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,560 mind. What do you do with that other 534 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:05,800 than getting frustrated? I think that's an opportunity 535 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,400 for us to make a choice. We can wake up in the middle of 536 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,960 the night. We can sieve and probably not go 537 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:13,520 back to sleep. We can wake up in the middle of 538 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,600 night. We can ignore, probably struggle 539 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:22,480 to go back to sleep, or we can acknowledge maybe God woke us up 540 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:28,360 and maybe God placed that name or that face for that entity on 541 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:32,680 our mind for us to pray for. And here's the prayer. 542 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:39,800 God, I desire that you do your work through this person's life. 543 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,280 I desire you're good for this person. 544 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:49,320 God, I desire that you bless them, not bless what they have 545 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,280 done. Do not get that twisted or 546 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,720 confused, but I pray that you would bless them once they are 547 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:01,480 in accordance with you. You see, God will never call us 548 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:05,120 to erase the memory of our pain. He actually wants to redeem it 549 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:09,239 from cursing to blessing. So what does this tell us about 550 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,280 us? Very quickly on the on the home 551 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,400 stretch, Two things that this tells me about me. 552 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,480 My forgiveness of someone else sets me free. 553 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,159 My forgiveness of someone else sets me free. 554 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,760 As lovingly and as compassionately as I possibly 555 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,520 can, let me be very, very clear on something. 556 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,000 This morning is not about anyone else. 557 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,880 This morning is about you. This morning is not about anyone 558 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:44,239 else. This morning is about me. 559 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:51,920 Nothing will set me free. Nothing will set you free like 560 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:56,239 offering forgiveness to someone who is legitimately wronged. 561 00:34:56,239 --> 00:35:00,200 You legitimately does not deserve it and may never ask for 562 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,040 it because listen, it is not about them. 563 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:04,400 It's about you. It's about me. 564 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,000 Now we have to be very, very clear on what forgiveness is and 565 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:13,200 what forgiveness isn't. Forgiveness is not saying what 566 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,160 they said or what they did was OK. 567 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:18,760 Forgiveness is not letting someone off the proverbial hook. 568 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,280 Forgiveness is not just stuffing it down and moving on and 569 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,360 getting over it. Forgiveness is giving up my 570 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:28,480 perceived right to take vengeance on someone else 571 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:31,720 because I understand. Listen, what is true for me is 572 00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:34,880 true for you. No one is going to stand at the 573 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,080 end of their life. No one is going to stand before 574 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,320 me and give an account of their life to me. 575 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,520 As a matter of fact, I'm going to stand before God and all of 576 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:49,400 us, every single person, once we die, we will stand before God 577 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,760 and give an account of our lives to a holy God. 578 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,920 And I don't know about you. I've got more than enough to 579 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,040 deal with. No one's going to give an 580 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:03,560 account of their life to me. So forgiveness is not letting 581 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:05,600 somebody off the hook. It's not justifying what they 582 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,720 did, saying that it was OK, not ignoring it and stuffing it and 583 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:12,480 just deal with it later on. Forgiveness is going, God, I 584 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,000 know that you know it and I know that you've got it. 585 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:21,240 So you take it. And when I offload unforgiveness 586 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:23,080 and give it over to him, guess what? 587 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:29,360 I am lighter and I am freer. Second thing this tells me about 588 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:33,480 me, not only is my forgiveness of someone else setting me free, 589 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,560 but nothing will draw me closer to God than releasing someone 590 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:42,040 through forgiveness. Nothing will draw me closer to 591 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,800 God than releasing someone through forgiveness. 592 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,280 Let me give you, let me arm you. Please search. 593 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,840 Let me arm you with a passage of scripture that has helped me so 594 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:56,440 much that I hope will help you. Flip back to that last one right 595 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:57,760 here. If you want to know the main 596 00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,840 theme of the life of Joseph, here it is. 597 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:02,960 Genesis 50, verse 20. You meant evil against me, God 598 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,560 meant it for good, Praise God. You meant evil God meant it for 599 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:13,600 good, Praise God. You see, nothing will draw me 600 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,200 closer to God like offering forgiveness of someone else, 601 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:20,000 releasing someone else for my unforgiveness. 602 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:26,000 Here's why is whenever we come to our senses and we realize 603 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:31,000 that there is something stay in our life, a mountain that is way 604 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:36,680 too high, a giant that is way too imposing in our life that we 605 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:42,280 stand no chance against that we come to our God and we say God, 606 00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:45,160 this is too big for me, but it's not too big for you. 607 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:48,320 This is a problem for me. It's not a problem for you. 608 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:52,200 And guess what that is, that posture of prayer is surrender 609 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,440 and dependence. And nothing will draw us closer 610 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:57,760 to God then surrender independence. 611 00:37:57,880 --> 00:37:59,840 This isn't in your notes, but this is for free. 612 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,360 If you want to know, if you want to know what habits you need to 613 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:08,880 instill in your life, what habits to practice, to regularly 614 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,360 practice in your life, that will fast track and that will super 615 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,200 grow your relationship and your love for God and your 616 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:17,960 understanding of His love for you. 617 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:24,000 It is the practice of regular confession, which means that 618 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,080 when I recognize that there's something in my life that is 619 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:31,600 against His will, His word, and His ways, that I confess that to 620 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:34,160 him as sin and ask Him to forgive me. 621 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:39,440 A mark of Christian maturity is the distance between my sin and 622 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:44,680 my confession starts to shrink. So practicing regular 623 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,800 confession. But the second thing is offering 624 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:52,200 forgiveness of someone else, releasing other people through 625 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,760 forgiveness, because it reminds us of how much we have been 626 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:59,440 forgiven by God. And it reminds us that, listen, 627 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:03,360 God, I don't want to carry this anymore. 628 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:05,320 God, I want to give it over to you. 629 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,720 You're the only one that can do anything with us to begin with. 630 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,920 And if you've been with us over the past several weeks over this 631 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,360 series, you know that the way that we have ended is by walking 632 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:17,840 through several key questions this morning. 633 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:19,880 This morning, we're not going to walk through several. 634 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:21,080 We're just going to walk through 1. 635 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,320 And you probably have already figured out what it is. 636 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,160 Here it is. Who do I need to release through 637 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:31,640 forgiveness? Who do I need to release through 638 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:35,560 forgiveness? It can be a spouse. 639 00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,560 It can be a former spouse. It can be a sibling. 640 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,400 It can be a Co worker or a former Co worker. 641 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:43,000 It could be a boss. It could be a former boss. 642 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:45,120 It could be. It could be. 643 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,640 It could be a church. It could be. 644 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:49,080 It could be anything, everything. 645 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,560 It could be a parent. It could be an abuser. 646 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:58,320 It could be somebody who has taken it as their mission to try 647 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:05,560 to wreck your life. You may say, Ben, I hear you. 648 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,520 And I have offered that forgiveness before, but here I 649 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:11,560 am. You throw this question up. 650 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,040 And if Ioffer forgiveness to that person, why am I still 651 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:21,960 dealing with this? Perhaps this is a Holy Spirit 652 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:26,560 nudge. It's a Holy Spirit nudge. 653 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:31,000 Do you know our our ultimate act of worship is surrender 654 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:34,960 independence to God. God, you can do what only you 655 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:39,200 can do because you can go where only you can go into the hearts, 656 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,920 into the minds and into the souls of me and the people 657 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:45,400 around me, the people that I'm harboring unforgiveness towards. 658 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:51,640 So God, I freely, I pray that you would help me to forgive 659 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:54,480 this person. I pray that you would help me to 660 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:56,440 forgive this person. And if you're one of the people 661 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,200 that says Ben, I've already forgiven them, forgive them 662 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:02,360 again. You see, what you're going 663 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:04,400 through right now is one of those emotional triggers. 664 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:06,880 That is a Holy Spirit knows that there's a deeper level of 665 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:08,240 healing that needs to take place. 666 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:13,920 Here's what I would tell you is the invitation of God to bring 667 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,720 about healing in your life. It is offered. 668 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,240 You're the one that has to accept it. 669 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:23,080 So that's what we're about to do. 670 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:26,320 We're going to give you the opportunity to accept God's 671 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:30,160 invitation to you, to set you free. 672 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,760 Because as your pastor, one of the things that I desire most 673 00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:37,720 for you is that you leave freer here this morning and that you 674 00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:42,160 live holier once you leave here, then when you came and you leave 675 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:46,960 lighter than you did because and, and, and you live closer, 676 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:49,160 you leave closer to God than you did. 677 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:53,400 Like I said, nothing, nothing will draw you closer to the 678 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:57,280 heart of God then freely releasing somebody through 679 00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,560 forgiveness. So what I'm going to do is I'm 680 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,440 going to pray our band, they're going to come back out leading 681 00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:08,120 us and lead us in another song. You can stand or you can choose 682 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:12,680 to stand and sing, or you can choose to come and kneel and 683 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:19,520 take up God's invitation to you. If you want to talk to a pastor, 684 00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:21,320 I'll be over here. Pastor title will be over here. 685 00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:23,560 We would love to pray with you. We'd love to talk with you. 686 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:29,160 My hope, my prayer is that you be obedient to what God calls 687 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:31,880 you to this morning. God, we love you and we thank 688 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,000 you. God, we love you and we thank 689 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,960 you for the fact that you love us not based off of anything 690 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:41,440 that we have done or not done, but based off of who you are. 691 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:47,000 God, we also love you and thank you for the fact that you know 692 00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:48,720 everything that we have been through. 693 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:52,080 God, you know how our heart breaks and you know how our 694 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:55,160 heart has been broken. God, you know the pain that we 695 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:57,880 have endured and you know the pain that we are going through. 696 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:05,280 God, you know the trauma that we have walked through, and God, 697 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:07,320 you know the trauma that we are walking through. 698 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:15,520 God, it is not just a knowledge of all of that that we are in 699 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:20,120 awe of. It is your invitation to us for 700 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:22,600 us to freely give that over to you. 701 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,840 God, I believe that if you could speak anything to any of us in 702 00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:36,040 this moment, in this space and in this place, you would quietly 703 00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:39,360 whisper in our ears. You know, you don't have to 704 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:42,480 carry that anymore. I can take it. 705 00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:47,480 But God, you love us so much that you will never force or 706 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:53,400 coerce your goodness on us. God, you wait for us to give it 707 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:57,120 to you. So God, whatever we give to you, 708 00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:02,240 whatever we bring to you this morning, got to pray that you 709 00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:04,640 would receive it, that you would use it, that you would transform 710 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:06,200 it, ultimately, that you would redeem it. 711 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:09,520 It's in Jesus name that we pray, Amen. 712 00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:16,600 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 713 00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:20,040 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 714 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,480 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.