HOPE ~ AS WE WAIT

Today, as my family was pressing into God with prayer... these were some scriptures the Lord gave us.

Hebrews 10:23 (NLT) "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm for God can be trusted to keep His promise."

Are you waiting on something today? Has it been a long wait? God knows. He really sees you as you press in day in and day out and HE WILL RESPOND to the cries of His children, but before He does... He will do something in you and me that would have never happened had we not been pressing into His heart every day.

v.35, "So do not throw away your confidence - it will be richly rewarded." (NIV) Oh what a promise this is. Believe me when I say, we can stand on the promises of God and we must. I remember a preacher saying he literally took the Bible and stood on it declaring to God that he was standing on God's promises. Whatever you do... don't give up. If you feel like giving up, go to God and ask Him to release supernatural faith to believe Him. You were created to dream God's dreams. You were created to believe not only in Him, but to believe everything He has said He will do. Be as a child and remind the Lord what he has said to you. This does our heart good to remember what God has said. Just as my children NEVER forget "allowance" and they don't mind reminding me... God is not like me in that He forgets... NO, He never forgets, but he wants us to REMEMBER because when you forget what God said to you, you begin to die inside. You no longer have hope and you begin to shrink back from your faithful friend.

v. 37 "He who is coming will come and will not delay." Remember this, if Jesus will not delay His coming back to receive those who are His, then why would He go against his own character by delaying in responding to questions and concerns in your life. You and I have a timetable that we put the Creator God on and this in itself is WRONG. If God has begun something in you (and he has) then Paul said in Philippians... "...being CONFIDENT of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" Phil 1:5.

God's maturing us with little reminders of his attentiveness through prophesy, dreams, visions, the Word, etc. God knows how to sustain us as we wait. I love Isaiah 50:4-5 that says.... "The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back."

Just last night, I remember waking up and hearing in my spirit..... "I put on Christ." Then, I went back to sleep. Even as we sleep, the Lord is speaking and yes... singing over His children reminding us of how much He loves us.

Let it not be said of us that we drew back from God for it is rebellion. We need to repent of drawing back from him, when we should be drawing near to Him. There's no better place to be then close to the heart of God. Where could I go, oh where could I go... where could I go but to the Lord. I grew up singing this song in Church. How true it remains. There's no comfort anywhere else, but in the secret place of the Most High God.

Ask the Lord to give you a word to sustain you in your time of weariness. Does not Matthew 7:7-8 say, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to Him who knocks, the door will be opened." He will sustain you as only He can do. As you wait and God sustains you day after day..... you are maturing in your walk with Him. There may come a time in your life when many may be against you saying you're crazy to believe Him, but because of your history with Him... you will not shrink back. You will boldly declare the works of YOUR God.

Let it be said of us that "...we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved" Hebrews 10:39.

Hopefully I've encouraged someone today, if only myself. King David learned to encourage himself in the Lord and we must do the same. There are times when no earthly encouragement heals the ache of one's heart. But, when we remember the faithfulness of our Father towards us - it should stir us towards faithfulness to Him.... as we wait.

GOD'S GRACE FIRST ......

"And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace (favor,acceptance) in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand." Genesis 39:2-4 (KJV)


Joseph already had God’s GRACE upon his life before he found FAVOR in Potipher’s eyes. In other words, Potipher didn't make Joseph great. God was already prospering Joseph and Potipher took note of it and may have thought... Hmmmm maybe some of this blessing will fall on me when I promote Joseph (something to think about). God will use men who do not know Him to further bless his children.

Are you looking for FAVOR with your boss, your family, friends? When you seek God's face first - then FAVOR will find you. GRACE is God's gift to us as believers. It's his divine influence upon our hearts reflected in our lives. FAVOR, in my opinion and much study is the reward or benefit of the already existing GRACE. Joseph, who had been sold into captivity by his own brothers never allowed unforgiveness or bitterness to disqualify him from experiencing God’s blessing in his life nor future FAVOR from men.

As a result, Potipher recognized the presence of God in Joseph. He discerned the character of God in this young man. FAVOR resulted with a promotion for Joseph and complete trust with Potipher and authority over everything Potipher owned. Now, the blessing of God was upon all that Potipher owned, even the outside fields (Gen.39:5). Just think of this.... when God's FAVOR rests upon "you," His blessing now affects your sphere of influence; workplace, family, friends, etc. You are affecting those around you just because you are highly FAVORED of God.

Can people tell you are GRACED by God? Is it evident to those around you that the Lord is prospering/blessing you? How does your character reflect Christ? Because of His GRACE, we can live in expectation of receiving the FAVOR of God and men every day of our lives IF WE ARE CARRIERS OF GOD'S GRACE. I say "IF" because not everyone who is a Believer enjoys the GRACE of God.

As I said earlier, GRACE is God's gift to you and me. He desires that you open that gift of GRACE every day experiencing His divine influence upon your heart. Think of this - what if you gave someone a gift that would benefit them greatly, but they never opened it. Similarly, if you don't open the gift of GRACE from God - you may be toiling - stressing for something that could easily fall into your hand if only you rested in God's GRACE. Joseph may have had some hardships, but He never forgot who loved him. He never forgot the God who gave him dreams about his future. In spite of his circumstances, he believed God was for him and would not abandon him. He knew in time God would redeem all that had been taken from him. And Joseph was not disappointed.

Remember, the famous line of Joseph to his brothers when he revealed his identity -
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" Genesis 50:20.

If you are lacking FAVOR with men, first of all.... do you know God? Confess your sin (Romans 3:23) and invite Jesus to come live in you and through you. Ask Jesus to reveal himself to you. Invite the the Holy Spirit to flood your heart with God's GRACE and expectation of FAVOR to be extended to you on every side. Don't allow the hardships of life to sour you and cause a root of bitterness to grow in you. Hebrews 12:15 says, "See to it that no one misses the GRACE of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." This will cause you to miss the bountiful blessings the Lord has reserved for you. Even Jesus our Lord grew in wisdom and stature (maturity), and in FAVOR with God and men (Luke 2:52).

This is my prayer for you today. As Joseph and Jesus grew in the FAVOR with God and men - may the same be said of You.