Genesis 38 - 40 (25th Jan) - Kelvin

GENESIS 38
The sons of Judah were evil in the eyes of the Lord and were put to death. Judah himself had sinned against the Lord too when he visited a prostitute after the death of his wife. He did not know that the prostitute was his daughter-in-law and when everything was revealed eventually, he paid a heavy price for a lesson learnt and I can sense his guilt and shame for what he had done.
Therefore, brothers & sisters, “Be watchful over yourselves because the evil one is always out there waiting to shame us and strike us down.”

GENESIS 39 & 40
Joseph was deeply blessed by the Lord even though he was rejected and sent away by his own brothers. The Lord’s favor was with him and even Potiphar can see it himself and decided to entrust all his things to Joseph. Unfortunately, Joseph was tested on his faithfulness to God and despite withstanding all the temptations set by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph was persecuted for his righteousness by the evil plans set by Potiphar’s wife.

Thanks be to God that even when in prison, Joseph found favor in the eyes of the prison warden and was again, entrusted with everything possible. Can you imagine yourself serving your sentence in the prison and the warden becomes your friend and asked you to take care of every matter and allow you to do anything you want in the prison? I think I would not feel as though I am a prisoner but a staff of the prison instead!

God’s anointing was also with Joseph. He was able to interpret the dreams by 2 of the inmates and what amazed me here was when Joseph daringly told the chief baker that he was going to die in 3 days with birds feeding on his flesh. Such was the level of negativity in the words of Joseph but he knew it was not from him but from God! The Lord says to those of you who have the fear of releasing word but if you know that it is from the Lord, do not be afraid to say it to your brothers & sisters in Christ.

Lastly, I have a summary verse for these 3 chapters. It is found in
Matthew 5:10 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of their righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The Lord wants us to endure hardships along the way in our journey with Him and do what is right even when the world is against us.