Devotion for Motion 4: Devotion for Motion, #4

By Pilgrim Preacher

The Devotion for Motion Series: full-text messages in a conversational style to be read to an audience to spur to heartfelt action.

 

Each book in the series has full-text ready-to-read bible devotions in a conversational style, expounding biblical principles from both Testaments. Geared to spur the Christian Pilgrim to action, these devotions glean inspiration from numerous passages and the lives of some of the best-known men and women heroes of holy writ.

 

These devotions are perfect for personal use, bible camps, midweek bible studies, revival meetings, bible in universities, campus bible clubs, outreach training events, small group meetings, main church services, and retreats.

 

Everyone in ministry can use these devotions to equip, entertain, and encourage members of their congregation to devote themselves to motion in the Lord's service.

 

"Just to let you know that there has been a big shift in our church family from apathy to evangelism. Our church numbers are growing, and it is all because of the Devotion for Motion books. Thank You!" R Lamez

The author is ordained with over thirty-five years in ministry. He is an authority on the book's subject matter, having trained many parishioners to live devoted to motion in the Lord's service. With keen insight into life and ministry, he has written this book to help you live devoted to motion in your Christian life and Kingdom role. 

 

You need this motivational book on the timeless themes of Revival, Evangelism, and Christian Assurance.

Get each book in this series to be the best you can be.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pilgrim Preacher
• Release date: Oct 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223717829

Pilgrim Preacher

The Pilgrim Preacher gives Ministers and Teachers everything they need to deliver a relevant and engaging Bible lesson to today's audience. Ordained with over thirty-five years of theological experience and having e-books distributed in online bookstores, the Pilgrim Preacher is your one-stop shop for sermons and bible lessons. The Pilgrim Preacher's suite of sermons, lessons, and devotions is the busy minister's best friend. The biblical genres covered are comprehensive, theologically sound, and engaging. Each series format empowers Pastors and Teachers to achieve their routine of delivering bible lessons multiple times each week. Everyone in ministry should have this suite of e-learning courses to educate and inspire their parishioners to greater heights in the Faith.

Book preview

Joseph Dreamed a Dream

In Genesis chapter thirty-seven, we see two dreams which God gave to Joseph. Two impossible dreams. It seemed like they would never be fulfilled. How could they be fulfilled? We shall see how Joseph dreamed a dream. But it was not his dream; it was God's dream for Joseph. Impossible dream number one:

Genesis 37:5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:  37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.  37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

Joseph was the youngest son in the family in a culture where the firstborn had preeminence. The first born was to take the father's place, should the father die. He would inherit the best, and all the other children would bow to the firstborn. Joseph was the youngest, he was at the other end of the scale. And yet God gave him a dream that said that all of his older brothers would come to bow the knee to him. And because the father favoured Joseph and because of this dream, the brothers envied him and hated him even more.

Genesis 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.  37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 37:11 And his brethren envied him.

So, here we see impossible dream number two. God gave Joseph another dream that indicates that his dad, and his brothers would bow themselves to Joseph, and Joseph would have the preeminence over them. No way. Never. That seemed impossible. How could that be fulfilled? Joseph was at the bottom of the scale. He was the weak, the base, and the common. How could this be?

Several years ago, God gave the author a dream. So, this devotion is of special significance in the author’s life. And God confirmed that vision through different means. God gave me a dream of The Pilgrim Band. And in the early days, when people heard about the dream, they were fascinated. Maybe, you have dreamed a dream. It is not your plan. But it is something that God has given you, and that God has promised to fulfill in your life. Has God given you a dream?

And then we come to the impossible events. You see, every good story has obstacles in it, enemies in it, bad guys in it. And your life is a story in which there is opposition to the fulfillment of the dream: this purpose that God has for your life.

Genesis 37:18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 37:19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.  

So, this is the first opposition to the dream. We see that the brothers plot to kill Joseph so that his dream will not come true. The brothers hated him for his dreams, envied him, and they were going to put a stop to the fulfillment of the dream. There was no way they were going to bow down to their little brother.

Now, we see that Joseph’s life was spared (in verses 25 to 28). The brothers saw a caravan of merchant men, and they sold Joseph as a slave for twenty pieces of silver, and the merchants brought Joseph down into Egypt.

Genesis 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

Here is another obstacle to the fulfillment of the dream which God gave to Joseph, that he was sold and separated from his family. He was bound in chains and taken down to Egypt, to be made a common household slave in a foreign country, separated from his brethren. How could this dream that God gave him ever come true?

Have you ever wondered what was going through Joseph’s mind, as he is being led in chains across a barren desert down into Egypt? It must have been a very difficult time for him. Taken miles away from the ones he loves, never to see them again. He was sold into slavery; all hope was gone.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? Where you have been separated from someone or something. And you think this dream that God has given you cannot be fulfilled now? How on earth can God do this in my life now? It is impossible.

Genesis 39:20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.  39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.  39:22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.  39:23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

A period later, as Joseph has adapted to life in Egypt, we see that Joseph is framed and imprisoned. But this is not like a modern prison. Back in those days, a person was cast into a dungeon: it could mean that one would never get out again. If you read chapter forty, you will see that he is left to languish there. In chapter forty-one, verse one, it says that it came to pass at the end of two full years. So, Joseph was left in prison for a little bit over two years. He is down in the dungeon. He is thinking to himself, this dream that God has given to me, I wonder how God is going to bring it to pass? Or am I going to die here in this prison? Joesph must have had occasional doubts; he must have had his times of depression. But, overall, Joseph had a pretty good attitude, and he kept his faith in Jehovah. 

We do not have time to go into all the details, but in chapters forty-one and forty-two, if you know the story of Pharaoh's dreams, you will see that Joseph was able to interpret the dreams. And because of this, Pharaoh released Joseph from prison and made him the second in charge of all the land of Egypt. Joseph was exalted to a prominent position. And then after seven years of abundant harvest, God called the famine, and of course, Egypt had storehouses of provision from which people from all nations could buy grain to make bread. Joseph’s brothers also arrived looking to buy grain in Egypt.

Genesis 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.  42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. 42:8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him. 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them.

The brothers did not recognize Joseph, it had been a long time. Joseph had changed. They would never have imagined in their wildest dreams that this governor sitting upon a throne was indeed their little brother, whom they had sold into slavery years before.

Joseph was the governor of the land, and he sold grain to all the people. Joseph's brethren came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. Joseph saw his brethren and knew them, but they did not recognize him. Joseph remembered the dreams that God had given him approximately a decade before.

Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed years before, how his brothers and his father would bow themselves to the earth before him, and Joseph would have the preeminence. All through the impossible events: his position in the family as the youngest; the brothers plotting to kill him; selling him off as a slave, and languishing in prison - surely, the dream was finished.

But we see in Genesis chapters forty-two to forty-five, that this dream was accomplished. God fulfilled the dream: in God's time, in God's way, and in God's place. God fulfilled the dream.

Maybe, you have a dream, and you are losing hope in its chance of fulfillment. You have been through some circumstances, and you feel different. Now, some events have happened that have knocked your hope and brought you down to depression. How on earth can God fulfill that dream that he gave to you so many years ago? You are sitting around, wasting time, wasting your years, feeling like God is finished with you. You feel like there is nothing that can be done, and you are despondent. I want to encourage you with the story of Joseph: that an impossible dream is God's dream, and if it’s God's dream for you, then God will bring it to pass.

The author dreamed a dream many decades ago concerning The Pilgrim Band. God established a vision in my heart, confirming over time that