(Gen. 39:1-2) “And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither. And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” No matter what the particular circumstance is that we find ourselves in, we can be sure as Joseph was, that “The Lord will not leave us nor forsake us” ( Heb. 13:5). 1) Circumstances change quickly. One day Joseph was happy and free and the next day he was physically taken away from the only family he knew, betrayed by his brothers, kidnapped, sold into slavery, and enslaved in a far-away place. Oh, how quickly life can change with the next phone call, piece of mail, visit to the doctor, ride in the car, or even at work with the loss of a job. Circumstances change quickly in life but thank God as Christians we know that God has allowed the circumstance for His purpose, and His glory. For (Rom. 8:28) says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” 2) Character is strengthened through adversity. You don’t read of Joseph complaining in this story, or even fighting back, but rather we see Joseph submitting to the will of God and those he served, and because he did “The Lord was with Joseph.” Joseph saw God’s blessing because his faith endured each test. Joseph learned that adversity was not meant to destroy but rather build our faith!
(Matt. 2:11) “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts;...” Christmas is all about the giving of gifts ; God gave the world Jesus (Jn.3:16), and here we see the wise men giving gifts as well. I think that in many ways, gifts are the real reason that the world enjoys Christmas time, but to those of us that understand God’s purpose in sending His Son Jesus, we love this season for a different reason. The Biblical account doesn’t say how many wise men came from the east seeking Jesus, but it does tell us that they gave three different types of gifts; 1) Gold . In Jesus’ day gold was given to honor new kings, and to increase their wealth. Gold also represents the very best that God had to give to us but also the very best man should give to God. 2) Frankincense was the incense burned in the temple of Solomon. It represented praise, pra
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