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Joseph's Subtle Mixed Motives Dealt With , Genesis 40
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Feb 19, 2025
Joseph’s account has been used in many sermons. Recently, my pastor has been preaching a series on it that I’ve truly enjoyed- especially how he paralleled Joseph and Jesus. I’ve also heard other preachers who have described this account as some type of fairy tale almost comparable to Drake’s started from the bottom song. Joseph was the apple of his father’s eye. Not only was he favored and loved by his father, but he also had preeminence over his brothers. And as if that wasn’t enough, Joseph was also highly favored by God who had planted some dreams in his heart. His brothers were so infuriated by him that they devised an evil plan that landed him as a slave in Egypt. Joseph had to endure a lot of hardship, and as he was going through it, we learn how God was shaping him for a heavenly purpose. There is a specific account that I want to zero in on today. It is recorded for us in chapter 40. Joseph exuded subtle mixed motives and pride that God eventually dealt with.
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hello good morning this is taiva
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types.com and
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last night right around like 2 30 in the
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morning i got up
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and i was just laying in bed couldn't go
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back to sleep i was just laying there
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and i was just thinking about a whole
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bunch of stuff
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i just couldn't sleep so and
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while i was laying in bed on joseph uh
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story came to my mind
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and i just wanted to share a couple of
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things that i believe
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uh was impressed on me last night
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especially actually
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i thought about it before i never got a
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chance to like actually put
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a quick um study on it so this morning i
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just felt like
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i needed to do it so i went this morning
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and got on my computer and
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typed something real quick and i wanted
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to share it so basically on joseph
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story and his account has been used in
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like many sermons
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and recently my pastor has been
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preaching his series on joseph
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and i've truly enjoyed it because he
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parallels on joseph and jesus
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and in scripture you see that a lot
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where god gives us a picture of
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who jesus was going to be like and what
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jesus was going to do
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by using old um testament figures
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in this case it's joseph we've seen him
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with the life of elijah
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elisha there's a lot of prototypes like
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that so
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i've also heard preachers who have
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described this account
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as some type of um fairy tale almost
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comparable to
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drake's uh song we started from the
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bottom
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so i don't like those kind of preaching
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where they just want to use
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uh joseph's story to kind of make this
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point of hey
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don't worry you start from the bottom
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you're going to get on top just like
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joseph
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that is not what the scripture preaches
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and i stay away from that kind of
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messages
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now if you know about joseph he was the
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on the apple of his father's eye jacob
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was his father
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and not only was he highly favored by
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his father but his father also loved him
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more
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and he almost had like preeminence over
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his brothers even though he was
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he was probably um one of the youngest
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joseph had another brother benjamin so
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joseph was
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the youngest at a time so and as if that
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wasn't enough
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joseph was also highly favored by god
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and god gave him a lot of dreams
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and his brothers like joseph supporters
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were infuriated by the dreams
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so they devised a plane to kill him
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and they didn't kill him but they ended
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up selling him to
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to to egyptians and he ended up in
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slavery in egypt
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and he had to endure like a lot of
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hardship and as he was going through it
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we learned how god was shaping him for a
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heavenly purpose
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so there's a specific account that i
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want to zeroing on today
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and is recorded for us in chapter 40
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because in that account
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you can kind of see that joseph exudes
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some kind of subtle
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mixed motives and pride and god
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eventually dealt with it now i
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this was really critical because i'm
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like man am i
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interpreting the scripture the right way
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or am i seeing things through it that is
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not there
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like i wanted to be careful but i
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believe uh there was some type of
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uh pride issue and some kind of sort of
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uh mixed motives and self-centeredness
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that god dealt with in chapter 40.
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so what i'm going to do is i'm going to
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read chapter 40 and show you exactly
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where that is so let's go to chapter 40
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of
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genesis so this is when uh joseph
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is in prison because he's like he's
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falsely falsely accused
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and he's thrown into jail and this is
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what happens we're just gonna read verse
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one through eight so some time after
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this
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the cup bearer of the king of egypt and
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his baker
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committed an offence against their lord
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the king of egypt
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and pharaoh was angry with his two
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officers
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the chief got better and the chief baker
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and he put them in custody
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in the house of the captain of the god
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in the prison
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where joseph was confined now the
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captain of the god
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appointed joseph to be with them and he
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attended them
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they continued for some time in custody
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and one night they both dreamed
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they caught bearer and the baker of the
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king of egypt who were in confront who
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were confined in the prison
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each his own dream and each dream with
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its own
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interpretation when joseph came to them
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in the morning
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he saw that they were troubled so he
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asked him
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he asked pharaohs or officers who were
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with him in custody
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in his master's house why are your faces
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down cast today and they said to him
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we have had dreams and there is no one
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to interpret them and joseph said
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to them do not interpretations
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belong to god please tell them
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to me so we're going to keep reading
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i'm just going to pick up from verse 14
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and 15. so basically joseph
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he interprets the dreams and this is
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what he says in verses 14 and 15.
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only remember me when it is well with
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you and please do me the kindness to
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mention me to pharaoh
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and so get me out of this house for i
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was indeed
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stolen out of the land of the hebrews
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and here also i've done nothing
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that they should put me into the pit so
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this is what i want to zero in on we
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also
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we're also going to look at chapter 41
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but for now i just want to stop here for
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a second
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so basically when you read genesis 40
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verse 1 8 and verses 14 to 15.
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like in verse 8 there's something that's
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important listen to the sentence
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they said to him we have had dreams and
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there is
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no one to interpret the dreams and
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joseph said to them
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do not interpretations belong to god
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please
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tell them to me so at first glance it
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seems as if joseph is giving glory to
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god
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and i'm sure he truly meant those words
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but right along those words is a subtle
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pride attitude let's take a look at the
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structure of this the last sentence if
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you look at the structure of the last
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sentence right
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he says do not interpretations belong to
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god
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please tell them to me so joseph he
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acknowledges that interpretations belong
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to god
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and we know that these two men they were
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pagans so they did not know the god
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that joseph was mentioning so they had
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no idea who yahweh was
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okay they didn't know so he follows that
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sentence with
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please tell them to me again
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he just said interpretations belong to
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god
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and then he follows that sentence with
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please tell them to me
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so what do you think these two men are
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thinking like the
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chief got better than the chief baker so
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joseph just mentions the fact that
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interpretations belong to god
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and he follows that sentence and that
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statement will please tell them to me
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so basically joseph is almost directing
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the attention
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to himself it's very subtle it almost
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sounds as if he's talking with a double
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tongue
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okay and and then people do that today
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he affirms that interpretations belong
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to god
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but then he follows the statement with
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an emphasis on himself
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so people do that today like well
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meaning believers i mean people who sing
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you know people don't know how to sing
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sometimes they know how to preach they
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teach
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and they say all glory be to god but
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under that is a hidden sense of
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i really want you to see me kind of like
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and people do that today like
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we all do it i'm not gonna say i didn't
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do it we all self-inflated we all want
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to be seen
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we all have that and that's because of
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our adamic sinful nature there's this
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sense in which even though we are saying
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that we are giving glory to god
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there is a sense in which we want our
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glory to be ours
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and this is man's plague adam and eve
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gave us that nature because we want to
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be like do my god
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okay so and that's the residue of the
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adamic nature so
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to these two egyptians joseph might have
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appeared as a demi god
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okay and verse 14 and 15 really revealed
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joseph's
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mixed motives like he gives the
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interpretation and follows the
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interpretation with
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look out for me once you get out
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basically he tells the chicago better
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once you get out please don't forget me
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mention me into pharaoh because i don't
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want to be
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i don't i don't want to be here i want
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to leave and this is how the world
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operates now i'm not saying that it was
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wrong for joseph to ask for a favor
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because we have to
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because god tells us sometimes to do
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that but
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was the lord pleased with joseph's
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request i don't know if he was
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he almost he almost seems as if joseph
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used god
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to try to get out of prison so i doubt
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that the lord was pleased with that
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request
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okay and this is a very tough scripture
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to interpret but
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it is clear that joseph had mixed
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motives
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because if he had left the prison maybe
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he would have had a chance to go back to
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to his father's house
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and maybe that's not what god wanted
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this is not what god wanted because god
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wanted him to stay there for a purpose
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god had another purpose for him a
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heavenly purpose
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god sent him therefore purpose so being
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released
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now would have meant jeopardizing god's
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purpose so it was more important for god
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to keep him in prison
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so joseph's attitude in the beginning
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was kind of mixed there was a little bit
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of
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yes i'm going to interpret your dream
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song because god gives me those
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he gave me that gift but at the same
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time i'm trying to look out for myself a
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little bit so there's a subtle
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uh attitude of like pride and also mixed
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motive so i want to juxtapose jesus
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response in in chapter 40
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and i'm gonna tell you what he did in
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chapter 41. you will see the difference
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there
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so this will make more sense to you now
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if you go to chapter 41
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right which we will see in a minute so
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if you go to 41
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um these two years have passed and
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joseph
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is still in prison after two years and
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pharaoh has a dream
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and there's no one to interpret the
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dream so he
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goes out and his chief got better
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remembers that joseph was able to
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interpret the dreams
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and and then so he mentions on joseph to
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pharaoh so let's read from
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verse nine and we're gonna go all the
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way to um
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verses 15. so then the chief got better
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said to pharaoh
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i remember my offenses today so he
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acknowledges that he was wrong
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when pharaoh was angry with his servants
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and put me put me and the chief bacon in
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custody in the house of the captain of
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the god
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we dreamed on the same night he and i
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each having a dream
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with his own interpretation a young
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hebrew was there with us
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a servant of the covenant of the god
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when we told him
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he interpreted our dreams to us giving
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an interpretation to each man
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according to his dream and as he
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interpreted to us
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so he came about i was restored to my
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office and the baker was hanged
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then pharaoh sent and called joseph and
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they quickly brought him out of the pit
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and when he had shaved himself and
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changed his clothes
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he came in before pharaoh and pharaoh
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said to joseph
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i've had a dream and there is no one who
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can interpret it
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i've heard he said of you that when you
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hear a dream
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you can interpret it
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and joseph answered pharaoh it is not
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in me god will give
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pharaoh a favorable answer
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now you see there is like a subtle shift
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there
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okay in chapter 40 joseph goes from god
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to himself
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but in chapter 41 he goes from himself
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to god
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based on pharaoh's pharaoh's response we
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see how the cult bearer
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viewed joseph in the cupbearer's eye
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joseph had the power to interpret dreams
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this is why joseph said
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i've heard this is why pharaoh said i've
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heard it said of you
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when you hear a dream that you can
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interpret it so according to the cop
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better
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joseph is the one doing the interpreting
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because joseph has this
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ability to interpret dreams so they
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caught better view joseph i said my god
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some kind of fortune teller
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because he had the ability to interpret
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dreams
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and this is because joseph in chapter 40
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he made it seems as if
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he was the one doing the interpreting
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remember what he said
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do not interpretations belong to god
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tell me your dreams
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so joseph put the emphasis on himself so
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therefore
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the cop better viewed him as a person
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that has the capability
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of interpreting dreams he did not see
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god
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behind joseph he saw joseph and that's
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all he saw
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so so i believe god dealt with joseph's
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pride and sorrow
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and mixed motives and you can see the
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shift in his response now when pharaoh
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says
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to joseph i've heard he said of you that
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when you hear a dream you can interpret
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it
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joseph says it is not in me it is not in
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me
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but god will give pharaoh a favorable
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answer so joseph basically tells pharaoh
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i can't do it now he's he gives the
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right response
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it's god that does it through me so he
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gave glory to himself while mentioning
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god in chapter 40
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but in chapter 41 he gives full glory
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to god when pharaoh wants to give glory
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to him so basically there's a shift
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there you see like in in chapter 40
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he basically mentioned god and turned
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the attention to himself but in chapter
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41
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pharaoh tries to turn their attention to
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joseph though jesus says no no
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no no not me but god this is the proper
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attitude okay in chapter 40
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he wanted to use god for his freedom but
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in 41
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god used him for his glory so there's a
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shift in emphasis you can kind of see
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that
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in chapter 40 joseph was only worried
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about hey i need to get out of prison
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because i might want to go back home in
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chapter 41
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god says no i'm going to get you out of
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prison for my purposes
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so in chapter 41 it's all about the
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purposes of god in chapter 40 it was
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about joseph's own purposes
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and god wouldn't have it you see if you
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go what can we learn from this this is
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important
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in in hebrews 12 verse 3 through 11
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we learn something very important i want
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to read that because this is what joseph
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went through listen to what hebrews
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hebrews 12 verse 3 to 11 says
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do not grow wary consider him who
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endured from sinners
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such hostility against himself so that
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you may not grow weary or faint-hearted
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in your struggle against
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sin you have not yet resisted to the
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point of shedding your own blood
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and have you forgotten the exhortation
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that addresses you as sons
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my son do not regard lightly
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the discipline of the lord nor be wary
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when reproved by him
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for the lord disciplines the one he
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loves and chastises
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every son whom he receives it is for
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discipline that you have to endure
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god is treating you as sons for what son
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is there
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whom his father does not discipline if
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you are left without discipline
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in which all have participated then you
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are illegitimate children
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and not sons beside these we've had
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earthly fathers who disciplined us and
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we respected them
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shall we not much more be subject to the
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father of spirits and leave
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for they disciplined us for a short time
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as it seemed
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best to them but he disciplines us for
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our good
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that we may share his holiness
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for the moment all discipline seems
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painful
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rather than pleasant but later he yields
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to peaceful fruit of righteousness to
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those who have been trained
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by it so this is what joseph was going
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through
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see god discipline those whom he loves
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we need to examine our motives
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and sometimes the reason why we are
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where we are we are in our lives is
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because our motives are impure
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okay if you don't have pure motives god
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is going to expose it and god is going
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to deal with it because he loves you as
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a son he's going to discipline you
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and scripture says that without faith
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it's impossible to please god
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because faith comes by hearing hearing
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by the word of god
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this is romans 10 verse 17. so
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man according to jesus shall not live by
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bread alone but by every word
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that receives from the mouth of god so
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when our motives are pure
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then our request will be aligned with
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the plan of god
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see in in chapter 40 joseph's motives
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were not pure
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he was also looking up for himself he
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wasn't looking for the purposes of god
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so god did not answer that request
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just yet he had to work on joseph he had
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to change his right
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his heart attitude he had to change
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joseph from
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focusing on himself to focusing on the
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plan of god and i'm going through it
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right now in my life i've been
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frustrated for like almost like
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15 years trying to figure out what to do
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with a lot of different things
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and somewhere somehow i know that the
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reason why
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god has not answered some of my prayers
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is because
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my motives are impure there is still
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self-centeredness there is still a sense
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in which
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i'm looking out for myself i want this
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to be about me
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and i'm almost trying to use god for
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that purpose i may mention god in the
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process
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but really it's all about me and god has
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to weed us
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with with us out of the attitude he has
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to take it away he cannot
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do that and god will not exalt prideful
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attitude
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because he humbles those whom he loves
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okay
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god hates the proud but gives grace to
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the humble
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so god is not about fulfilling my
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selfish
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motives and my selfish plans is about
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fulfilling his purposes and in the
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process he
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disciplines us like scripture says no
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discipline is pleasant at a time
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but later it leads to a harvest of
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righteousness for those that have been
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trained by it so this is what god is
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doing
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when you're going through a hard time
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like this scripture says
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do not lose heart because god is
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discipline you
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as a son and we read that in james 1
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consider a pure joy whenever you face
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trials of many kinds
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because the testing of your faith
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produces perseverance
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and perseverance must work is called so
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that you may be mature and complete
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lacking in nothing joseph had to change
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there had to be a change in his focus
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they had to be changing his attitude
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he was all about a little bit about
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himself i'm not going to say that joseph
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was selfish
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but there was still a seed of that
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mixed motive there that god had to
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change and this is the same with us
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listen to what philippians 2 verse 3 11
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says we need to learn from jesus
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listen to what the scripture says about
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jesus in philippians 2
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verse 3-11 do nothing
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from selfish ambition or conceit
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but in humility count others
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more significant than yourself yet
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yourselves
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let each of you not only look to his own
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interests
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but to also but also to the interests of
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others
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have this mind among yourself which is
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yours in christ
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jesus who though he was in the form of
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god
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did not count equality with god a thing
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to be grasped
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but emptied himself by taking the form
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of his servant being born in the
19:18
likeness of men
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and being found in human form he humbled
19:22
himself by becoming obedient to the
19:23
point of death
19:24
even death on the cross therefore
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god has highly exalted him and bestowed
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on him the name that is above
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every name so that at the name of jesus
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every initial bow in heaven and on earth
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and under the earth and every tongue
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confess that jesus christ is lord
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to the glory of god the father
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you can kind of see jesus
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the son of god co-equal consubstantial
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with the father
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god of god comes and empties himself
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doesn't mean that he lost his attribute
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meaning he concealed his glory
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okay he still he was still very god he
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had he was still god
20:10
and man at the same time he was truly
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god and truly man
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okay comes and humbles himself
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and he doesn't look out for his own
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interest but not only for like
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this is what we have to be like this is
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not we can do that
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this is why it is only possible by the
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holy spirit because the kind of
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life jesus lived was truly devoted to
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god and his purposes
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jesus was not it was not about himself
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he came to fulfill
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his father's will this is why he said
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somewhere
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my food is to do the will of him who
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sent me this is the kind of dedication
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that god wants
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for us and we cannot do that apart from
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the spirit of god
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and god disciplines us in the process
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when we are con
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because we are still living in the
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sinful nature there's still a
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residue of it even though we've been
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saved there is still that struggle
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between the sinful nature
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and the spiritual nature the the nature
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that we have
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inherited as a result of jesus's work on
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the cross there's still that struggle in
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galatians 5 we read about it
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that they're opposed to one another okay
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so we have to leave by the spirit so we
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do not gratify the
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the desires of the sinful nature and
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joseph had to go through it and we are
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also going to have to go through it like
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i told you i'm going through it right
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now
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it's not easy but i think it is the best
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thing that can happen when god
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is disciplining you do not lose heart
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enjoy it because it is for a good
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purpose for the glory of god
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and for your good because in the process
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god is trying to change you so that you
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can be like him
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in the sense that you can share in his
21:44
holiness he wants to make us holy
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he wants to set us apart and this is
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what he is doing in our lives
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all right so have a wonderful day and
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i'll see you next time