Thought for Monday, February 27 2012

February 27, 2012

Be All That God Believes You Can Be

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.  And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.  And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.  And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand..

Genesis  5:1-4

Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did.  And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

2 Chronicles 26:3-5

Quote of the Day

“To be yourself [In Christ] in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – A Chinese Proverb

Today’s Thoughts and Insights

 To be ‘All that you can be’ in life – depends less on relying on who you are and what you are capable of – as it does in allowing God to live through you and thus allowing Him to make you all He believes you can be.

Joseph, in the passage above had been beaten up by his brothers, stripped of his clothes and sold into slavery: and then resold.  Most of us would have given up by this point.  But Joseph was the best He could be in the house of His master and it brought him recognition and position.  And then Potiphar’s wife in a fit of lustful rage; after being shunned by Joseph when she attempted to seduce him; lied about him and got him thrown into prison.  Yet still Joseph stayed true to his God and by so doing was made an assistant to the Captain of the Guard.  The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might have said, finds Joseph interpreting a King’s dream and being put in a position of authority, second only to the King himself.

Had Joseph turned away from God and had he rebelled against what he knew God would have expected from Him – things could have ended much differently for Joseph.

The moral of this story is:  when we stay true to God and allow Him to perfect His will in us great things can happen.  God sees potential in each of us that we never see in ourselves.   Sadly often we don’t give God enough authority and control over our thoughts and deeds to allow His plans to be fully realized and to allow the potential He sees to become actualized reality.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  But we must first allow Him to be our complete source of strength.

Nothing is impossible with God, but so many times we forget to let God be the total factor and sum of all the variables in our life.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live up to God’s expectations for us?  For in truth, God does not expect anything from us that He is not willing, capable and available to ensure will happen if we will only let Him.

Are you ready to be all that God believes you can be? 

Today’s Prayer

Father you are awesome and amazing and so insightful and glorious.  And I know that I fall far short of the potential that You can see in me.  Forgive me for the times I try to succeed in my own strength, power or intellect and help me to overcome my arrogance, pride and conceit and help me to be humble and more reliant and dependent on you.

“Make the most of yourself [In Christ], for that is all there is of you [that will last the test of time].”

-          Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Word of God speak, pour down like rain…”

- from ‘Word of God Speak’ by Mercy Me