Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
January 18, 2022: SOAP #4429:  Genesis 44-46; Luke 18

SCRIPTURE:  Genesis (NIV) 45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be ploughing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God…

OBSERVATION: Joseph’s brothers saw Joseph as the one they sold into slavery.  They remembered Joseph as the victim of their evil intentions.  Joseph did not see himself as a victim.  Joseph saw himself from God’s perspective.  God had sent him to Egypt!  He was in Egypt on a mission.  There was a reason.  He was there on purpose! 

Joseph’s family would need a place of provision; the people of Egypt would need a plan for provision.  Joseph was God’s instrument in meeting these needs. 

APPLICATION:  I am God’s child.  He has me where He wants me.  He has used good things and the bad things to move me to the locations where I can best serve Him.  (Romans 8:28)

I serve my family best as God’s servant; I serve the people around me best as God’s servant.  (…including the SOAP readers.)

Note:  We serve our families best as God’s servant; we serve the people around us best as God’s servant.   

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, I am yours.  You have used the good and bad in my life to position me for usefulness.  It is my joy to serve you.  Amen.

Pastor Leon
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