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Joseph: Portrait of a Winner, Part 3

Leading the Way / Michael Youssef
The Truth Network Radio
January 22, 2025 12:00 am

Joseph: Portrait of a Winner, Part 3

Leading the Way / Michael Youssef

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January 22, 2025 12:00 am

In this 9-part series, Joseph: Portrait of a Winner, Michael Youssef shows you how God defines a winner through the turbulent life of Joseph. Using nine character qualities, Dr. Youssef leads you to the truth that will help you live a life of a true winner -- God's type of winner!

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Hi, my name is Randall. I recognize Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, the Son of the living God, and that I can do all things in Him. I wanted to reach out to Michael and just say thank you to him for his work in Jesus, and I'm really appreciative of his voice and just very thankful for the message that's there. Dr. Yusef would like to hear your story as well. He's always so blessed to hear how God is using His voice to reach into the hearts and the lives of people all around the world. So if you'd like to share a testimony that might be used on the air sometime in the future, we encourage you to call 877-941-7934. Just follow the prompts when you get there.

Again, that's 877-941-7934. Thank you for joining devoted listeners across six continents for this episode of Leading the Way Audio with Dr. Michael Yusef. Up next, dig into this real-life storyline right from the pages of the Bible.

You ready? Angry brothers sell their brother to slave traders. The brother now serves in the house of a high government official after some unique events bring trust and power from leaders. Now, the story takes a wild twist when this man is banished to prison due to a false accusation of sexual assault on the wife of the highest government official in the land.

It was like an epic movie, doesn't it? Well, up next on Leading the Way, Dr. Michael Yusef offers practical lessons from this movie-like true story for us today. He offers ways to live a life close and clean with God, to choose to face the many temptations of life with integrity. The life of Joseph up next on this episode of Leading the Way. Today, as we continue to look at the life of Joseph, I will see in the life of this young man, we see how he kept his dream, how he kept his trust and how he kept his faith. Turn with me please for the Old Testament reading of Genesis 39 and you'll see why this man turned out to be a giant leader, a great leader. Following from the last message, Joseph now is sold to General Potiphar.

General Potiphar at this time was occupying the position of being the director of the Egyptian FBI. Now I have a problem with that kind of a job. One mistake and your head is chopped off.

But look at it. Joseph moves from being a favored son to being a lowly slave. He moved from being a privileged son to being an unprivileged servant. Joseph moves from being the heir apparent to all of his father's empire and now he is no less than a slave with no rights whatsoever.

Except for one thing, a little phrase. It's in verse 2. God was with Joseph, therefore, it's a purpose clause. He was with Joseph, therefore the result of the consequences of being with Joseph is that Joseph was successful. Therefore he was successful. And because of that, Joseph had more power than the Pharaoh of Egypt. Joseph had more peace of heart and peace of mind than all the noblemen of the land of Egypt.

Because of that, Joseph was successful because God was with him. Successful in the eyes of whom you may ask? In the eyes of God.

The rest of the Egyptian society, God on your life, he was a loser. He was a winner as far as heaven was concerned, regardless of what the Egyptian society thought of him. And make no mistake about it, when you are a success in God's book, which matter the most, when you are a winner in God's eyes, sooner or later the world will take note of it.

Now it might take longer than you like, it might be more painful than you like, but ultimately you will be honored because that's God's promise. Well it wasn't long before General Potiphar began to notice Joseph's faithfulness. He noticed his honesty, he noticed his integrity, he noticed his diligence, he noticed his hard work, he noticed all about Joseph and he made him in charge of his household. Now for you who live in the West that means this. It means that he paid the bills and he did the shopping and he drove the kids to school.

Some of you are saying, wow. He oversaw the gardeners, the cooks, the cleaners, he oversaw everything that has taken place in the household. But some of you when you look at this you might be tempted to say, wow, you know how is the heir apparent, the privileged son, now is working as a servant, doing all the menial tasks, carrying on the orders of Potiphar.

But all what you've missed is this. Joseph was in the place of preparation. Joseph was in the school of preparation.

The eight to ten years expand of time, we don't know exactly, between eight and ten years that Joseph spent in Potiphar's household as in charge, as a steward in charge, he was there as a training school, was not wasting time. He was being prepared to learn how the Egyptian aristocracy lives because that's what he's going to be in a few years time. You see David was put in Saul's palace, why? Because a shepherd boy need to have opportunity to learn of how kings live because that's what he's going to be. Moses was put in Pharaoh's palace, why?

So he can learn all about it. It's a preparation for God's leadership upon him later on. Who else could have looked to Pharaoh in the eye? A mere slave, not in your life and he say, let my people go. It's because God put Moses there and he trained him.

He understood the Egyptian language, he understood the customs, he understood the fears, he understood their hopes, he understood their feelings, he knew how to talk to a Pharaoh. God's preparation is always important. You might not think so, but it is.

Now Joseph is in the place of the preparation. I want to ask you this question. Do you feel trapped in your job? Do you feel trapped in your profession? Do you ever feel as if, well, I wish I do something else? Do you feel trapped in your school? Do you feel trapped in your studies?

Don't. Because where you are right now is a time of preparation for the next step that God has already ordered for you. Even the toughest pain in this life is a mere preparation for the glorious life of heaven. Until you learn how to rule here, you won't know how to rule in the galaxies. And that is why the Apostle Paul in Romans 8, he looks at the suffering of this world and he said, when I consider the suffering of this present age, I find it not worthy to be compared with the glories that are about to be revealed. Amen?

All places of preparation can be tough. But you see, God does not waste experiences in our lives. He does not. And the management training that Joseph was acquiring in Potiphar's household was going to come handy later on. Potiphar trusted Joseph. He trusted him completely. So much so that he signed over a power of attorney to him. He can sign his checkbooks.

He can do the deposits and the withdrawal from the bank. Because Joseph was successful. Because Joseph had God's favor.

Please listen to me. When you have God's favor, when you have God's blessing, when you are a success in heaven's eyes, God will bless your neighbors. He will bless your friends. He will bless your relatives. He will bless your business associates. He will bless all of those who are associated with you because of you. And that is why Paul said in Corinthians that the unbelieving spouse is sanctified in the believing spouse.

And that is why he said that the unbelieving children are sanctified in their believing parents. And God in his economy, when he begins to bring someone to the kingdom from a family, he has a plan for the whole family. God works for the whole family. He loves the whole family.

He wants the whole family. He makes covenants with family. What about brother Potiphar? Well, wasn't quite brother, but General Potiphar must have been the epitome of a workaholic. The moment he found somebody take all the worries of work of the house and the household activities, he just handed it to him and he got busy working. I mean the moment this politician on the rise felt that he's being freed from all the household activities, he wrapped himself at his work and he got busy.

But you know what he has done? In so doing, he left behind an unfulfilled and an empty wife. Well, what about Joseph?

Look at verse 6 of 39, Genesis 39 verse 6. He said Joseph was well built and handsome. Now I got news for you. Most of us fellows, we would rather have half of those two pronouncements, those two descriptions.

I think we settled for half of a half. In the vernacular of today's language that means he was a real stud. What Joseph was doing during his spare time, he was going down to Pyramid Body Works and he was pumping iron.

And guess what? Mrs. Potiphar noticed him. Now Joseph was about between 25 and 27 years of age at that time. I'll tell you something about Egyptian society at the time of Joseph. Egyptian women of Joseph's day had a great deal of freedom.

In addition, there was generally moral laxity in the society, which is a good formula for sexual promiscuity. Well, Mrs. Potiphar noticed this hunk of a guy hanging around and she zeroed onto him like a laser beam. She puts on her feminine charm.

She gets herself all dolled up. Mrs. Potiphar tried once and Joseph said no. She tried twice and Joseph said no.

She tried a third time, Joseph said no, until it became an obsession with her. Now I don't want you to think that Joseph was made of metal or clay. He was a rugged, healthy individual. And no doubt he was flattered. No doubt he was tempted. No doubt it flattered his ego.

It served to his pride. No doubt he thought through the many months, and that's what the Scripture said, she continued on for a long time. Through the many months that she was trying to entice him and trying to seduce him, it probably said well, maybe this is my ticket to a higher promotion. And maybe that is how God wants me to get my dreams fulfilled. No doubt he probably thought to himself or said, I'm not living at home anymore.

Do what the Egyptians do. No doubt Joseph thought, well, this woman must really think I'm something. And it probably crossed his mind that letting her get away would be an easy way out of her predicament.

After all, having a happy boss's wife may have a happy boss. But Joseph refused all the kinds of rationalizations that are running rampant in our society. Instead he emphatically said no once and a hundred times. Did you know that this is the beginning of Just Say No campaign?

And while I'm at it, this was actually the first sexual harassment on the job ever recorded in history. Listen to what Joseph said. Verse 9. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?

Look where his heart is. It's not me and my need and how I fulfill my need. God help us. We need more politicians like Joseph, not like Ahab and Jezebel.

We need more church leaders like Joseph, not like Judas Iscariot. Now the church hierarchy is coming up with this pronouncement on sex. That sex is not a gift, but it's a right to be fully expressed and enjoyed by any two persons as long as they are in a loving, committed, meaningful relationship.

Trash. Now, parents, please listen to me. I don't preach to you, I preach to us.

I'm a believed parent like the rest of you. What we need to teach our children. What we need to commend our children for. What we need to praise in our children. Not their looks, not their outward appearances, but the moral strength.

Jacob and Rachel have done something right with Joseph. They taught him right. They strengthened his will. We need to instill in our children strength of the will. You heard about the strong will child?

Well, I was one, thank God. We want the children to have strong will in the right places. In the right places. We need to teach our children to defy the culture. We need to teach our children how to swim upstream. We need to teach our children how to stand up and be counted. We need to teach our children how to be winners for God and for themselves. How did Joseph win this battle?

Three things, jot them down if you're writing. First, by keeping his dream. A godly vision, a godly dream must surely include sexual purity. Joseph knew that God gave him a dream. And the only way God is going to fulfill his dream is going to be God's way. Joseph knew that shortcuts might sound good. That shortcuts may feel good but they will never bring about the fulfillment of your God given dream.

Single people, please listen to me. I have a word from the Lord for you. I don't do that very often as you know. God knows the depth of the temptations you face. God understand the enormous pressures that you are under. But don't give up those dreams. Hold on to them tenaciously. Don't sell those dreams for a mess of body.

Don't compromise your standard. God is able to fulfill your dreams and he will. Secondly, Joseph won the battle by keeping the trust, verses 8 and 9. He said, how can I do such a wicked thing? How can I betray my master's trust? He made me responsible for everything. He withheld nothing from me except you. You are his wife. What loyalty.

What sensitivity. What trusteeship. You know this is a principle. This moral principle is just at the heart of loyalty and faithfulness in marriage.

And Joseph knew that. To commit adultery is to break the commitment and to betray the trust of the spouse whom God has given you. Psychiatrist Frank Pittman who bemoans the light heartedness by which we treat adultery said, infidelity is a breach of trust, a betrayal of a relationship.

It's a breaking of an agreement. Someone said that there is no difference between breaking and entering and stealing and breaking the marriage vows. And Joseph was not going to be a party to this. Thirdly, Joseph won by keeping the faith. Joseph knew that sin, any sin is primarily a sin against God. David said, against you have I sinned.

It is a sin against the individual whom you injured but it is primarily a sin against God. And Joseph knew that. You know when I was a youngster going to Sunday school, the very few times I concentrated on the Sunday school lesson, I was about the third grade and I remember the Sunday school teacher, I remember as if yesterday, I remember him telling us what is an Egyptian myth about Joseph.

Actually I didn't know that. I thought it was in the Bible until I of course started theology and I realized that this was a common myth in Egypt and he described it this way. He said, Mrs. Potiphar took a sheet and she went to the statue of the god of the Egyptians that's in his house. Every household had a god, statue of the god and she covered him. And she said, okay Joseph now you can come to bed with me. God can't see us. And Joseph looked at her and said, no, no, no Mrs. Potiphar you don't understand.

He said, my god sees all things. So Joseph said no once. He said no twice. He said no a hundred times.

Finally when she pushed him in a corner he ran. You know it is somewhat easier to say no the first time. It's a little more difficult the second time.

It's a more difficult the third time. Any temptation of any kind. Any temptation of any kind. But Joseph understood what the Apostle Paul told Timothy to nearly 2,000 years later. That when it comes to temptation the only answer is not to negotiate with it, is not to discuss it, is not to have a prayer meeting about it.

The only answer is to run. Had David put on his Nike's and went out to the Jerusalem park and went around the block few times he probably would have avoided the trap that Bathsheba was sitting for him. And in running Joseph left his coat behind. You notice this is his second coat now. Second time he loses his coat.

Someone said it's better to lose your coat and keep your character than to lose your character and keep your coat. Now those who think that the price of purity is too high they don't understand the real cost of impurity. Now there's a very important principle, biblical principle here.

Please listen carefully. The Bible tells us that we must resist the devil and flee from temptation. What do you know some Christians do?

They reverse the formula. They try to resist temptation and then they flee from the devil and then they fall in both counts. When it comes to temptation, run.

Don't discuss it, run. Joseph wins the battle by running. He loses his coat but he keeps his character. Well the rest of the story is predictable.

Mrs. Potter for now is left holding the coat. The sting of such obvious rejection ignited her fury. And I'm told that hell has no fury like a woman scorned. That's a quote.

Just in case some of you don't realize that. Frustrated, embarrassed and angry her passion gives way to hostility. Now her thirst for romance gives way to thirst for revenge. And Joseph ends up in the prison. Not the common prison. This is kind of a White House prison for the White House staffers who misbehave.

Don't you wish? It wasn't in Pharaoh's palace. It's a dungeon down on the bottom in the basement. What is Joseph thinking about this point in prison? Here we go again.

Stay tuned. I'll talk about this in the next message. As I bring this message to conclusion I want to tell you this. The man who made it possible for me and for you to read the Bible in English, the man who translated the Bible in English, his name is William Tyndale. When William Tyndale was thrown into the prison because he translated the New Testament he was devastated. Not because he was going to be killed. That was the last and the least of his worries. He was in anguish because he's about to die and he has not finished the translation of the Old Testament into English. Next time you open your Bible don't take it for granted. Somebody lost their life so you can read it in English.

He wrote to friends saying the following words. He said the day of my execution has not yet been set and winter is coming. Bring me a warm cap. Something to patch my leggings.

A woolen shirt above all. Bring me my Hebrew Old Testament. Christians we don't know what it is to suffer for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that we don't. I doubt it personally but I pray that we don't. If we stand up and be counted we can reverse the tide. But I want to tell you this. You can be absolutely certain of this. That you will suffer when you say no.

You will not be very popular when you know how to say no. But as far as heaven is concerned you are a winner. Thank you for listening to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef. Do keep in mind that Leading the Way is listener supported. That means that Dr. Yusef and the team rely on God's provision through God's people to spread the message of the gospel.

Become a key part of the movement that's changing lives for eternity when you call us at 866-626-4356 or go to ltw.org. In a day when so many preachers are saying that we need to ditch the Old Testament. We need to give up the Old Testament. I'm going to show you in this book how to read the Bible. That the two Old and New Testament are interrelated. You cannot have one without the other.

One does not make sense without the other. And so I hope you're going to read that book and you're going to apply it to your life. It will strengthen your faith and your trust in the Word of God. Get your copy of How to Read the Bible on the way to your home today from Leading the Way. Start at ltw.org or call and speak with a ministry representative at 866-626-4356. Well that's it for today but I do hope you'll listen to the next episode in Dr. Yousef's challenging series coming your way on the next Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yousef passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-23 01:20:38 / 2025-01-23 01:29:08 / 9

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