Failure Did Me a Favor: You Are a Result of Your Success but Your Success Is a Result of Your Failure!

By PJ Edmund Sr.,

In Failure Did Me A Favor, PJ Edmund critically and analytically traces and examines the turbulent life of Joseph and witnesses the steps, the stages and phases of his life. It underscores how life will not always present success as we view it, but life itself is a gift to be used for success. It also examines the unconventional and even mysterious ways that God allows dreamers to gain and grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding through both great opportunities and great disappointments. What is success, what does it look like when we get there? Simply stated it is the lessons learned risking failure. No other account brings these lessons into focus more than the life journey of the eleventh son of Jacob, the dreamer Joseph.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524535803

PJ Edmund Sr.,

PJ Edmund, Sr., is a graduate of Cornerstone Christian University and Seminary. He has served for the past 10 years as the Senior Pastor of Timbrel Church International in Largo, Maryland, and now the Overseer for Pneuma Fellowship of Covenant Churches of the Apostolic Faith, Inc., an association of independent churches and pastors. Through the work of the Centre for Leadership Arete (Excellence) and the Leaders Today Conferences the ministries provides training and development conferences that equip, train, develop and prepare dynamic ministry leaders. PJ has also authored Walk With Him (Managing Your Call to Ministry), and Leaders Today (Principles of Effective Leadership) and has inspired thousands of believers to strive for excellence in ministry.

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Copyright © 2016 by PJ Edmund, Sr.

ISBN:      Softcover   978-1-5245-3581-0

               eBook        978-1-5245-3580-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the New International Version Bible.

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Rev. date: 08/22/2016

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Lesson in Dreams and Dreamers

Chapter 2

The Lesson in the Conspiracy

Chapter 3

The Lesson in the Pit

Chapter 4

The Lesson in Losing Everything

Chapter 5

The Lesson in Potiphar’s House

Chapter 6

The Lesson in the Dungeon

Chapter 7

The Lesson in Breakthrough

Chapter 8

The Lesson in Rewards

Epilogue

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my precious mother, Pastor Sweedie Mae Edmund my unsung Bishop. You remained my hero all the way up to your departure from earth to glory, and remain my hero even now in spirit. A better example of courage, steadfastness and integrity cannot be found. Mom you are the greatest person I have ever known!

Thank you for allowing God to use you to deposit in me what I realize more and more each day. Thank you for not just giving me life, but teaching me how to live through it!

I have missed you every moment, of every day!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ for the inspiration and gifting to accomplish this project. To my family Chelly, PJ, Britanny, Eryka for your continued support.

To Elder C. Lisa Fields for sharing your gifting as business manager and this time as editor!

Stay lifted and use the gifts for His glory!

INTRODUCTION

I have always wondered how some people start life apparently from nothing, and others begin life apparently with everything, and yet have similar levels of life success. I am also intrigued by what people create with the few opportunities or circumstances they are presented with, and still manage to make their dreams a reality. I also think about the role that failure plays in determining success. It seems to me that it is the unusual navigation and utilization of failure that really result in ultimate success. In my own life experience I have failed miserably at everything that I have attempted, only to discover this tenacious habit of not being able to quit. Quitting was a choice, but absolutely not a choice that I could accept easily. My discovery in part, was that I could actually recover from levels of apparent failure with renewed energy, to work again, now equipped with the wisdom of my previous attempts. I am not sure if my success was due to the desire to succeed, or simply not desiring to live with the thought of what could have been. I have also noticed that success is not as much learning to be perfect, but rather exercising the lessons learned from those imperfect moments. The end result of that failure process in my opinion is success. The lessons learned from horrible mistakes have really been my salvation! Had I not learned how to fail, I would not have experienced the empowerment of the recovery process. I would have probably never learned how to understand success, or recognize it when reached, and respected it enough to learn how to sustain it!

Failure Did Me A Favor critically and analytically traces and examines the turbulent life of Joseph and witnesses the steps, the stages and phases of his life. It underscores how life will not always present success as we view it, but life itself is a gift to be used for success. It also examines the unconventional and even mysterious ways that God allows dreamers to gain and grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding through both great opportunities and great disappointments.

What is success? What does it look like when we get there? Simply stated, it is learning through risking failure. No other account brings these lessons into focus more than the journey of the eleventh son of Jacob, the dreamer Joseph. There is a great deal of speculation and investigation dealing with the formula to success and how we achieve our dreams. It is something we all strive for in whatever our chosen path. What makes the dreams of individuals successful or unsuccessful for that matter? What are the missing ingredients in a person’s life that either steer them towards a level of satisfaction, or demotes them to levels of dissatisfaction? If we all understood the missing ingredients, it would help us all to accomplish our dreams, visions and destiny. There would be no need for anticipation or preparation; we would be able to apply the formula that makes everything work efficiently. Yet Joseph will show us that our setbacks provide for us as much a rich platform for being successful, as any other experiences that are available to us.

This understanding of what it takes to be successful is the beginning of the journey. It is difficult to read the word of God without being left with the impression that God created us to be better and seek for greater. This is the purpose of God calling dreamers. Dreams are God’s way of revealing the possibilities and greatness in each of us. Many of us have lost passion for our dreams and no longer dream big! Within each of us there is a yearning to rise to the level of our God- given greatness. If the purpose of God is not to provide us with an opportunity to achieve our God-given dreams, then why clothe the path of our fulfillment with periodic failure. It would seem insensitive of God to reveal dreams to dreamers, and visions to visionaries, and not clearly reveal what steps we would have to take to accomplish it. This search for success and accomplishment in the midst of frustration and ineffectiveness has always evaded the best of us. Humanity has searched for answers through intellectualism and philosophy hoping to find the key to the door that opens the answers to success! It is not God’s intention to have His purpose and plan for us remain hidden or unrevealed. It is God’s intention to reward those who search for Him, and persevere long enough for His purpose and plan to be discovered and activated. Finding God is not the only objective. Discovering God’s plan on the way to discovering God’s purpose is the real objective.

If purpose was as simple as asking continually, seeking continually and knocking continually, then those who persist beyond normal levels would be rewarded immediately. Obviously, it takes a little more than desire to accomplish anything rewarding. However the principle of asking, seeking and knocking could be the door to the door of success. It begins with understanding what a successful dream is, and what it takes to follow it to the end. To be successful, God must be a part of anything that seeks success. All success initiates with Him. It also involves the understanding of what to do when life goes wrong and how to cooperate with failure. We must learn the lessons of inadequacy and trust. God cannot be a part of anything unsuccessful. Success would be great if it was comfortable. Success is often shrouded in work, difficulty, disappointment and doubt. This is God’s way of determining those who truly deserve the honor of being rewarded. It is not what you do to be successful; it is what you endure to be successful.

The dream, journey, and life of Joseph, provide an amazing window into the planfulness and creativity of God when fulfilling dreams. Joseph’s life depicts the nuances and adventure that populate the experience of anyone daring to believe and follow a vision from God. We will see that the failure experienced by the pit, Potiphar’s house, the prison or the dungeon, and the palace all build the character in a man ready for a place of influence and authority. I know we want to grow, to excel, and to reach the next level, however, we cannot influence how God takes us to that next level! Let’s learn together how failure can actually do us all a favor!

CHAPTER 1

THE LESSON IN DREAMS AND DREAMERS

~Dreamers understand that when the things we fear happen more frequently than the things we believe, it is the result of a series of occurrences that will not deny your success, but rather strengthen the pursuit of your destiny~

EVERYTHING

Everything begins with a dream! God begins destiny with a dream! The dream is a revelation or a picture of what God has predestined for the dreamer. It is the picture of a calculated, fulfilled and expected end. A dream began a journey that redirected and impacted Joseph’s life’s purpose. Joseph was born into a shepherding family, and even though a hard worker, his life was tied to a greater destiny that would exceed his humble beginnings. A dream changed everything. A dream that God released into his life represented a hope, a motivation for something greater than anything he had ever been exposed to. Without a dream, Joseph would have been content with the routine of his current life. The dream expanded his worldview, stretched his imagination, and revealed an uncertain yet incredible future. Of course God knew Joseph’s future. He created that future. The dream would release his purpose and guide all his thoughts and actions. It was a future so different to anything Joseph could have ever imagined. This is the life God creates for dreamers. By revealing something incredible in his future, it entices Joseph to desire that incredible thing. God writes the end of a purpose, already knowing the beginning of that purpose. Everything that God creates is designed to be fulfilled. His plan and purpose is already in motion; by the time we realize there is a plan and purpose. Even though it is sometimes difficult to trace the planning and purpose of God, He makes it available to us in a dream.

God knows everything there is to know, and chooses when to share His plan for us at significant and relevant times. What we must be convinced of is that God does not release a dream or a vision that is not equipped with the resources and empowerment to succeed. Joseph receives an incredible dream without being fully aware of the full manifestation of the dream. Like Joseph, when we receive a dream it is without exact directives. The process is initially without clarity or methodology. Everything that God does in our lives is methodically, perfectly planned and provided for. If we believe what He has revealed and called us to, we must also believe in the steps or the process that will bring us to the conclusion of that calling. There is a plan! Everything that you need for the plan, God has already seeded or deposited in you. Everything that Joseph was meant to be, and would be, was already deposited in him waiting to be developed. Just like Joseph, we do not understand that everything we need to accomplish our dream is already in us. The plan is released and orchestrated by God to bring about his original intent. We look for answers and revelation outside of ourselves. We look for answers in areas unrelated to where God operates. Yet the dream is a guiding force that continues to encourage our steps and move us toward fulfillment. Joseph is called to pursue a greater and more meaningful place in his life. We also are called to dream and pursue greater accomplishments and achievements than we could ever imagine. Joseph is able to survive the path of his dream because God will prove to be everything he needs Him to be in order to walk out that path. Everything we need to carry the greatness of our dreams and visions is already embedded in the fabric of who God has created us to be. God possesses all things and will patiently release what we need to fulfill His dream in us.

DIVINE AND DEFINED PURPOSE

Joseph was born with defined purpose. Joseph was born with divine purpose. The purpose of his life was withheld from him at birth and would not make sense to him until much later in his life. It is withheld because the magnitude of what God has planned, accompanied with the magnitude of what he would have to endure, God knew would be too overwhelming to handle together. We are also created with defined and divine purpose which we are unaware of at birth and even less aware of through much of our lives. We are born in a world but we are also born into a plan. We are born through travail, but that travail provides the channel of purpose. Joseph was destined for a future that had nothing to do with where he was born or who he was born to. It had everything to do with the assignment that God presented in a dream. God communicates the divine and defined plan to us in time. It is communicated at a time when we are mature enough to receive it, and even possibly understand it. Joseph did not understand the importance or the implications of the dream, but had a notion that greatness was in his future. He was unaware of the complications that lay ahead and the challenges he would have to face. It is this sense of greatness that often intrigues us. We cannot quite put our finger on it, can’t quite describe it, but intuitively we know that something significant is being established in our lives by God. The dream causes us to reach for more, believe more and pray for more. It causes us to stretch our faith in order to be able to keep pace with its unfolding truths. When God wants to give your life direction, purpose and trajectory, He utilizes a dream! The dream undergirds us no matter where we begin in life.

Small beginnings do not mean small endings. Joseph without the undergirding of a dream has an unknown, unpredictable, and regular life. Joseph in possession of the dream is positioned for greatness even without fully knowing what that greatness is. God will often reveal what He will do at the expense of not revealing how He will do it. God will reveal our future at the vision level, without revealing the details on the everyday life level. It is imperative that we do not allow the absence of details to destroy what we have received at the vision level. The dream is God showing us the big picture of our lives as we live in the fragments of our regular existence. We