Origin Series

No Filter

Pt. 3 - Origin

In an age where things that are not real are promoted as reality it would serve to reason that in church, we would tell you to live with no filter since we are taught by our Savior to live authentic and genuine lives. However, I want to tell you that filters are an important and essential part of life.

Filters catch and hide flaws and impurities. They keep some things in and they keep some things out! A filter is essential if we are going to represent Christ. A filter is essential if we are going to live like Christ. I want to address the fact that many of us have no filters. We have lost some essential filters in our life that were designed to catch impurities, to help us look and act more like Jesus and to protect us. We need to check our filters!

Text: Genesis 37:23, 28; 50:14-15 (TLB), 50:18-20 (NIV), 2 Corinthians 2:11 (KJV)

When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat—his coat of many colors that he had on. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, and there was no water in it.

28 Then when the Midianite merchants passed by, they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

50:14-15 Then Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to the funeral of his father. But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers were frightened.

50:18-20 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

It’s my duty to make sure that Satan does not win even a small victory over us, for we don’t want to be naïve and then fall prey to his schemes.

I draw your attention to these accounts because I am convinced that too many of us (even those of us who have been saved for long periods of time) have lost an essential filter. Our ability to walk the right direction, choose the right paths and our ability to withstand attack is tied up in this filter.

In order for us to avoid not only frustration but mistakes . . .

We must have the Filter of Origin!

Joseph has this filter in place. He is mistreated badly by his own flesh and blood. Out of jealousy they debate whether or not to kill him. Instead, they fake his death and sell him into slavery. You thought you family has issues. They ship him off never expecting to see him again. Knowing that the life of slave would be brutal and possibly fatal they did it anyway. Then years later, due to a famine, they have to travel to Egypt to find food. Low and behold the man in charge of the food in Egypt is none other than their hated, despised, mistreated brother. They expect revenge and retaliation. They expect to be killed or at best to now find themselves in slavery as well. However, because Joseph has the filter of origin in place, he makes the now famous declaration . . . what you meant for harm, God meant for good.

He somehow had the ability to see past the pain, the wrong, the wounds inflicted by those who should have been looking out for him and have enough of this filter in place to be able to determine that this situation was actually God sent for him and his family. Then we read in 2 Corinthians the statement that Paul makes. He is talking about forgiving someone and at the end of his statement he says, "we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices/schemes/strategies." Ignorant not stupid. We are not supposed to lack understanding or knowledge.

Basically, what Paul was saying is that it is absolutely essential to have a filter of origin. In other words, we must filter everything that is happening in our lives with an eye for and an understanding of whether what is happening is God sent or enemy sent? What is the origin of this thing? This is true in a case like Joseph's which was painful, but we must have this understanding in every situation.

I can take you to accounts where there are good things happening and this filter is needed.

Balaam, in Numbers 22, is trying to make his way to the battle lines to prophecy a curse on the nation of Israel and his donkey keeps coming to a stop on the journey. The donkey finally lays down and Balaam beats the donkey for the third time and declares that if he had a sword, he would kill the donkey. Finally, God allows the donkey to speak, and he says . . . “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”