We're going to start with an attitude test. Everybody takes this test. Put your thumbs out. Show me your thumbs. Everybody, I want to see your thumbs. Okay, good. If you have a positive attitude, you put your thumb up. If you have a negative attitude to the word I'm going to say, you put your thumb down. If you have a very strong positive attitude, you put your thumb up-up. And if you have a very strong negative attitude, you put your thumb down-down. Do you got that? Alright. I’m going to give you some words. Here we go.
The first word is coffee. What do we got here? We have a lot of strong attitudes when it comes to coffee.
What about rude people? What do you think about that one? Rude people. Rude. Okay. Alright. Good.
What about roller coasters? How many of you are into roller coaster? Oh, we have a lot of people into roller coasters. Some of them really don't like roller coasters. Okay.
What about McDonald's? What do you think about McDonald's? Oh wow. We've got a lot of opinions about McDonald's. Alright. I think you like McDonald's because you own stock in McDonald's probably. Right? Frank, you're so funny.
Alright. What about worshipping at the Barn? What's your attitude? Oh, look at those. High thumbs up. Don't we love worship? It does amaze me how many positive things people say about the worship at the Barn. I appreciate that.
What about the people of Ambonia? I see you don't have an attitude about them. That’s because I just made that up. There are no people of Ambonia.
What if I told you this. The people of Ambonia hate children. What would your attitude be toward them? Oh, yes. Do you see attitudes in part come based on information and experience.
I want you to understand what an attitude is here because I am convinced that Joseph had an attitude. He had an attitude that drove him through life that allowed him to stay steady in the midst of the many trials that he experienced. In fact let me help you understand what an attitude is. An attitude is a belief that has emotion attached to it and ends with an action. Or has an action attached to it. So it's an emotion attached to a belief that leads to action. That's what an attitude is.
It ties belief and emotion together and produces actions. I think that's why the translators had a hard time translating Philippians 2:5. Let me show you the verse. I'm going to actually show you three translations of it. In Philippians 2:5 it says there in the ESV – Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. They translate it mind. But notice that when the NASB translators came along, they translated it – Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. And when then NIV translators came in they said – In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus Christ.
That's because the word (you can write this word down in your Bible if you're opened up to that passage) is phroneo. And the reason it's hard to translate this word is because it has both the idea of intellect and emotion together. So it's hard to exactly know how to translate it. So in Philippians, 1:7, in the previous chapter, Paul says to them – It is right for me to phroneo you. Some translators say it is right for me to feel this way about you. Other translators say – It is right for me to think this way about you. What is it? It's both. It brings them together. I think the best translation is an attitude because an attitude is emotion attached to a belief that leads to an action. And when we have the beliefs set properly, it allows our attitude to remain in this arrow fashion that takes us through life. That's what I imagine is taking place in the life of Joseph.
As I think through Joseph's life and I see how he seems to be rather even-keeled, even though he's experiencing a lot of challenges, he just has these beliefs that keep him going. He has this attitude about life that's strategic. I hope today as you listen to our story in Genesis 40-41 that you'll see the attitude that Joseph had, you'll be prompted to look at your own attitude, and tie in your own beliefs to where you're going so that your attitude about life can move you in the right direction. So today we're going to do an attitude check by looking at God's word and allowing it to reflect into our hearts so that we can see where are we in life and where do we need to make some changes so that our attitudes are going in the right direction.
Dig with me into Genesis 40. Let's look at this story. If you remember as we came into this story, Joseph was now in prison. He's in prison for something he didn't do. He was misunderstood, falsely accused, and Potiphar threw him into prison. That's where we pick up our story. In Genesis 40:1 it says – Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. Isn’t it amazing how God in His infinite wisdom brings people together? He brings people together strategically. They're divine appointments.
I like to tell young people that God has placed you in this family, with these parents, and these brothers and sisters for a reason. Often a young person will say, “Why?” Well, because I know you have an annoying brother. Maybe God has something very special planned for you, so He put this brother in your home for a reason. “Why?” Well, maybe you will work someday with an annoying person and you'll say, “Oh boy, I'm sure glad I have an annoying brother so I knew how to work with him.”
This idea is that God puts us together. I say to children, “Yeah I understand. Your dad has an anger problem. I got it. But God has placed you in this family for a reason, so you can learn how to work with someone like that. Can you remain under authority with someone who's angry? What can you do in the midst of that?” Just think about your workplace. God has brought those people to work with you for a purpose. The customers who come into your shop for a purpose. The people you go up to when you're going into a shop, you're there for a purpose that is this. God's infinite wisdom brings us together. We are all together here, not by accident. But our paths have come together today for a purpose. We don't always know what that purpose is. But they come together strategically. God is at work in His infinite wisdom to do that. Many of us will walk along together in the ministry of Calvary Chapel for some time. And then we'll separate for whatever reason that is, and we’ll continue on our path. But hopefully during the time we're together, we're impacting each other's lives because we know that God has brought us together.
So here Joseph is in prison. And these two guys now come alongside. They're in there. I think Joseph's attitude is whatever. I'm going to be faithful to the Lord. Whatever happens, I'm going to do what God wants me to do.
Verse 4 – The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody. So it's been a while now. Notice the emphasis there. There's been some time gone by, so he's gotten to know them a little bit, just like you get to know your coworkers. You've been with them for a little bit, before any kind of action takes place maybe. And notice what happens next.
Verse 5 – And one night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” That is an entry level question. That's a heart opening question. It's a question that invites someone to say something that allows them to open up their heart a little bit.
Surely you must have been in situations where you see someone, maybe a coworker that you’ve worked with for a while, and today they're just not right where they usually are. You say, “It looks like something's bothering you. What's going on?” Sometimes they'll just brush you off and say, “Oh nothing. Don't worry about it.” But other times they'll say, “Let me tell you what's going on in my life.”
It gives us an opportunity when someone does that to shine like a light. Jesus calls it this way – that we're like a light in the world. That Jesus is the light, but He's given us this light of the world that we represent to other people. And other people are in darkness, that is they're confused. And so when something happens in their lives that is confusing or disheartening or troubling or disappointing, and they're downcast, we say to them, “Hey, why are you downcast?” Because just maybe in this moment we can help take their problem into a biblical worldview, this beautiful biblical worldview and help them see the light in ways that they never were able to see it before.
“Why are your faces downcast today?” he says. Verse 8 says – They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Do you see what he's doing? He's introducing his biblical worldview. He's saying, “Well let me help you.” Okay. That's something that God very much cares about. That's something that God is very much interested in. Let me take your problem into the biblical worldview and let's see what God has to say about it.
He says – “Please tell them to me.” So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his cupbearer.” So let me show you when I take your problem and I put it into a biblical worldview, this is what it looks like. This is amazing. Here's what's going to happen to you. You're going back into this service.
Now, Joseph, as he saying this is thinking about himself. Here's a guy going back into Pharaoh’s service. Well maybe someone could get me out of this place where I'm in. Let's go on. Verse 14 says – Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. Notice he calls it a house at this point. And so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.” Don't you feel like life is a pit sometimes? I think that's what Joseph is feeling to a certain extent. Maybe he's referring to the pit that his brothers threw him into before he was sold into slavery. But maybe he's referring to this house that he lives in as the pit because he doesn't want to be there. And sometimes our lives are in the pit.
Joseph, even though his life is in the pit, has an attitude about life, has these beliefs about God, that his emotions trail the beliefs. They don't go in front of the beliefs. They trail the beliefs. You see, if we allow our emotions to go in front, then we go all over the place. The arrow can't fly straight. But if the beliefs are the center part of the arrow, then that arrow can fly straight and the emotions follow. Emotions are good, they're not bad. They just can't lead us. If we're led by emotions, we find ourselves all over the place and we really get to be unstable. So it's this belief, trailed by emotions with action on the front, and Joseph is right there.
But he's saying, “Would you please help me? Maybe I can get out of this pit that I'm in.”
Verse 16 – When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream.” Take my problem, put it into your worldview. What do you come up with? And so he says – “I had a dream; there were three cake baskets on my head, and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.” And Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days. In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you.” Not so good.
I just want to point out that sometimes when you take your life and you put it into a biblical worldview, you see you got a lot of problems. Things are not going so well for you when the light is shone into your life. What a motivation for us to see I got a problem here. I need to do something about this.
I don't want you to think that we as a church or the Bible portrays just have a positive attitude. Have a positive attitude about life and everything's going to be fine. No. The attitudes are based on specific beliefs that we see in scripture that drive us forward.
Let's go on. On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. Oh those are sad words. Here's a guy who had some hope probably, that maybe he would get a good word, and maybe he could advance out of this prison that he's in, out of the pit of his life. But nope. It's not going to happen. Joseph needs to stay straight. The beliefs that he has are going to guide him through the challenges of life, and he's going to move forward in his life.
But forgot him. So we don't want to stop there. Let's go to the next chapter. Genesis 41:1. After two whole years… Two whole years passed. Can you imagine? After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile. So now we’ve got some more dreams by Pharaoh. And so he's going to have these dreams that are going on and that God's going to speak to him. You know, God does speak through dreams sometimes. But I want to suggest that every time you have a dream you must submit it to the biblical worldview. You have to check it out with scripture. Make sure it fits into God's scheme of things. Because if you just start running off with a dream that you had, you might find yourself in trouble.
One man in his early twenties told his dad, “Look Dad, I found a car I want. It's a yellow convertible. I am so excited.”
Dad goes and checks this car and says, “This car's got a lot of problems. I'm not sure this is the best idea.”
“No, Dad. I really love this car. I want to buy this car.”
Dad says, “Okay. Would you just at least sleep on it one night before you make this,” hoping that his son would kind of think about it not be so emotionally tied into this.
So he said, “Okay, Dad. I will.” So regretfully (because he felt like maybe the car would get stolen, you know, sold away from him), he went to sleep and that night he had a dream. And in his dream, everything was yellow. So he woke up in the morning said, “Dad, I had a dream. Everything was yellow. This must be God's will. I'm going to buy the car.” So he did. He bought this yellow convertible. It turned out to be a lemon.
I would suggest that we can't always rely on dreams. We must submit them to this bigger picture of the biblical worldview. And that's what Joseph represents here in their lives.
Well, Pharaoh starts to have these dreams. Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin. Now I've got to tell you this word ugly is going to be mentioned a whole bunch of times. I think at least seven times. Ugly because this is a really ugly cow. He sees these cows and they are just certified ugly cows. Okay? Ugly and thin came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. He’s going, “Whoa.” You ever have that experience? You wake up in the night and you go, “Whoa, that was a dream. Man, I can hardly wait to get back to sleep and get rid of that one.” That's what happened. He wakes up in this dream and it's oh man. So he goes back to sleep again.
Verse 5 – And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. You ever had that experience where you wake up and go, “Oh, no. Was that real? Did that just happen or was that a dream?” It's so vivid and so upsetting to experience a dream sometime. And you never know. I mean, you wake up you go, “Oh I can't believe this.” This is really an intense dream that Pharaoh is experiencing and he is quite upset about it.
When my wife and I were first married, we had an electric blanket that we had in our bed. Now we needed an electric blanket. The reason we liked our electric blanket it was because it was dual control. We had a nice bed and then we could each control our own electric blanket because I'm the hot one in our family and Carrie’s rather cool. So when I'm in bed, I'm kicking off the blankets all the time and she's piling them on. So having dual controlled electric blanket was perfect for us. We really were looking forward to using this. So we set it all up and it worked great. Until one time Carrie decided it was time to change the sheets. So she changed the sheets and accidentally flipped the electric blanket upside down, put it on wrong. So now my controls are controlling her side and her controls are controlling my side. And we didn't know that. So we went to sleep. And we're sleeping. In the night I usually adjust my blanket a little bit. But it's feeling hot, so I'm turning it down a little bit (of course controlling her side) and she's feeling a little cool, so she's turning her side up (of course controlling my side). So I keep going and I finally turned mine all the way off, and she's turned hers all the way up, and our night is getting very bad. I'm dreaming about hell. I mean, it's just really tough. So finally I wake up and I go, “You know, something is definitely wrong here. This is not a dream. I need to do something about it.” We fixed the problem and then we were able to go back to sleep.
I think that's kind of what Pharaoh’s experiencing. Oh this is such a terrible dream. I need to do something about it. Let's see what he does.
It says in verse 8 – So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh. He went to the psychologist, he went to the psychiatrist, he went to the life coaches, he went to the counselors, he went to the self-help books, he went to the super videos on YouTube. He asked Mr. Google what they were. Nothing was working for him. He's doing all of these things to find out what's going on. Because people who are stuck in a darkness (that's how God describes it instead of a light), they can run around in the darkness and they can't figure out what's going on. What they need to do is take their problems into the light. When you take your problems into a biblical worldview, wow, things become much more clear when you find yourself there.
Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Oh no, I remember my offenses today.” I’m sure you’ve done that before. Oh no, I forgot. I was supposed to tell you this. “When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own interpretation. A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. And as he interpreted to us, so it came about. I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”
So let’s go on. Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. Out of the pit. Oh, wow, I thought it was a house. No, it was a pit for him. Because now he's being taken out of the pits finally. And he's moving from the pits into the palace here.
I just want to say there's going to be times in your life where you wish you could move to the palace, but you're going to have to be stuck in the pits. We know about Joseph because he moved to the palace. He became famous and he becomes part of scripture and so on. I'm convinced there are a lot of us who just live in the pits and we'll never get to the palace, but our attitude is what allows us to have joy in the midst of the struggle. We can’t say to ourself, “Oh, I'll feel better when I get to be in the palace.” Or “I'm going to have a better attitude when I get to be at the palace.” No. We have a better attitude right now in the midst of the pits of life. That's where we need to experience God and experience the fullness of all that God has for us.
And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” What do you think Joseph's going to say? No. He's going to say it's not me, okay? I'm not in your little worldview over here. I'm going to take your problems, and I'm going to bring them into the light of the biblical worldview and let's see what God has to say. This isn't about me.
Verse 16 – Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile. Seven cows, plump and attractive, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass. Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly. Do you see the word very? Very ugly. I’ve just got to tell you, you’re going to learn something about this Pharaoh. He gets a preview of what life would be like without the biblical worldview and it’s very ugly. I’ve just got to tell you that because there are some people who are following some dream that isn't the Lord's dream. They're following their own path. I’ve just got to tell you, life's going to get really ugly if you don't bring that into the biblical worldview. It's very ugly.
Listen to what else he says. Seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt. This is so ugly. It’s bad. And the thin, ugly cows ate up the first seven plump cows, but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as at the beginning. So these were very, very ugly cows. Then I awoke.
Verse 22 – I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good. Seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
You can stay in that world all you want, but no one's going to be able to explain it to you. If they don't have the biblical worldview they're not going to understand what's going on. Joseph represents that biblical worldview that you and I need. When life starts to feel chaotic, when we start getting upset about things that are going on, we need to step into this biblical worldview so that we can see more clearly how this fits into what God is doing. That doesn't mean we have all the answers, but we know what attitudes we should have so we can go through these things like an arrow.
Verse 25 – Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” Notice what Joseph's approach is. He doesn't say, “Well let me tell you what God is saying here.” He says, “God is speaking to you here. Pharaoh, God is speaking to you over here to draw you into something. Listen to this.” I think this is so powerful of a way to do evangelism. To say to someone, “Do you see what's happening here? God is using your bad dream here to speak to you. Will you listen to what God has to say?”
Verse 26 – The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.
Verse 28 – It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. Notice God is doing something in your life. Are you watching? What a great way to do evangelism. Don't just come to church and learn about God. No. God is working in your life right now in this situation. He's telling you what He's about to do. That's what he says.
There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land. This is the ugly part that he's getting a preview about.
You know, I wish that I could take a young person who's making a decision in their life (buy a car, get married, go to this place to work, even go to this college) and I say, “If I could just help you see what ugliness awaits for you if you're not careful.” Boy, wouldn't that be a privilege? That's the privilege that Pharaoh had.
And he says… Let me pick it up in verse 31. And the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe.
Verse 32 – And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. Let's do a tax on the people. The tax rate is going to be 20%. That’s what he’s going to say. We’re going to take a tax rate of 20%, take that food and put it into storehouses in every city.
Verse 35 – And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.
I want to suggest that we may not know about the seven years of famine that may be coming in our life. We might not know about the ugliness that might be there. But if you're experiencing plenty now, that is you’re experiencing some good times, now is the time to invest in your own attitudes, beliefs that you know about God so that you're ready for the bad times that come. That's what they're doing here. Take time and invest in this biblical worldview and understand what it's all about. So that when something bad comes, you know where to place it. It doesn't throw you off. You're able to continue to fly straight like an arrow because you know how to process this. Store up now for what yet may come, not just physically with grain, but store up in your own heart the understanding of who God is so that when something bad happens you're able to deal with it properly.
This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Verse 42 – Then Pharaoh… Notice what he does because these are the action steps. The attitude is going to end with action steps. Pharaoh has an attitude now toward Joseph and he's putting action with it. That's what takes place when you have an attitude. Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand (that is his ability to make decisions, to sign contracts, and so on) and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. He was in years past in bondage with chains around his arms. Now he's going to have this gold chain around his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.
Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah. We have no idea what that means. The funny thing is people try to translate this. It's an Egyptian bunch of letters, Egyptian words. Some say that this means (and you probably have a footnote that says something like) “dreamer of dreams” or “giver of life” or “savior of the world.” I mean so many different things come out of this that we don't know what it is. But anyway, he gives Joseph a name of honor, I think is what we can recognize from this. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Now you have to remember, back when he was sold into slavery we are told how old he was. Do you remember how old he was then? Seventeen. He was sold into slavery at seventeen, goes and works in Potiphar’s house as a teenager, gets then put into prison because of false accusations, is in prison for a long time before he gives these interpretations to the cupbearer and the baker, waits another two years. All totaling thirteen years of his life spent in a very difficult time before he gets up here to be in this special place.
And Joseph went out of the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.
Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Now, we're told about these two sons because he's going to name them. I think that there's a lesson here for us in the naming of these boys that he has. If you're trying to develop a biblical worldview, understand what God has to say, you're going to come to a passage in scripture that I'm going to tell you about in just a moment. But let's get the names of the kids. Verse 51 – Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house.
I think that's the first thing we need to do when Paul says – Forgetting what is behind, focusing on what is ahead, I strive to meet the calling that God has given me in Christ Jesus. Paul says the same thing. Putting things behind. If you're still trying to live in the past, and that's plaguing you, one of the things you want to do if there’s an attitude toward your past is you want to put it beside and put it behind. That's what Joseph does. He says, “I'm going to call this firstborn Manasseh. Every time I see him, I'm going to think forget.” He’s not forgetting his keys and other things. He’s forgetting about the past is what he's remembering here.
And then the name of the second (verse 52) is called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” I'm not going to think about the past. I'm thinking where God has taken me. What a beautiful attitude that produces inside of a person. He's demonstrating that in the naming of his children.
The seven years of plenty that occurred in the land of Egypt came to an end, (verse 54) and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands. Not just in Egypt, but in all the lands. But in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.
We know this is setting the stage, of course, for eleven men and their dad in the land of Israel who won't have enough food and they will have to go and find some. I won't spoil the story too much because I want you to come back next week and hear more of what God's going to do in that story.
But I do want you to have another attitude check with me for a moment. This time I don't want you to use your thumbs to demonstrate your response to your attitude to the things I'm going to mention. I want you to use your heart. Because your heart can help you to do this attitude check that is so important, I believe, for any of us.
So when I say words like ‘disappointment’ or ‘hardship’ or ‘annoying person’ or any of those things, if your attitude drags you down, maybe you need to focus on having an attitude towards some words like God. What is your attitude toward God? Do you believe God is real? Because when you believe that God is real then it’s is so much bigger. You recognize that God and all of his wisdom, all of His infinite sovereignty is directing the course of things in life and you go whoa. You say, “I wonder what God is doing here? I wonder what He’s doing in this situation?” We need to have an attitude, that belief that drives the arrow forward. Let our emotions follow along, but let's go forward with this belief that God is real and powerful.
What's your attitude toward Jesus Christ? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He was? He said – I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. There's only one worldview that's right, He's saying. That biblical worldview is the only one that's right. And He says that is Jesus Christ. You see, I think if we have an attitude toward Christ that He really is the Son of God, who He said He was, then we would be like the disciples. When Jesus is going along the Sea of Galilee, He says, “Follow me,” and they say, “Okay,” and they leave their nets and follow Jesus. I think every time you come and follow Jesus, you have to leave something behind. It's just what happens. That's the nature of discipleship. We say, “Okay, I'm going to let this thing go, this thing I thought was important, this thing I thought was a dream in my life, this thing I thought was valuable. I'm going to let that go. And I'm going to follow you because I know that Jesus Christ is who He said He was. My attitude toward Jesus Christ is right there. He's driving me.”
What is your attitude toward the Bible? Do you really believe that the Bible is the word of God? Because if you do believe that, then you're going to do what Psalm 1 says that he who delights in the law of the Lord meditates on it day and night. I'm so hungry for God's word I want to get into it. What does He have to say for me today? Because God speaks to us through the Bible, through His word. Wow. If we have the attitudes toward God and Jesus and the Bible, it opens the door to all these other things, these attitudes that we have inside of this biblical worldview. We all need that as we go forward.
Well I showed you a verse in Philippians 2:5. I want to take you to that verse. Because he's talking about the attitude. I don't know if you saw that, but it says… I emphasize word ‘attitude,’ but the verse basically says, have the same attitude that Christ had. And so you’ve got to be asking yourself, “Well what is that attitude anyway?” Well, the attitude it says in the next few verses of Philippians 2:6 and following is that He was humble, humble enough to die on a cross for us. Humble enough to be obedient—obedient to the point of death. That's what it says.
And then comes the word therefore. This is a very important word in scripture to see. Verse 12 starts with the word therefore. So because of all these things, let's apply it to our lives, Paul says. Notice what he says – Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Continue to go into that biblical worldview and allow God to work in into your heart and your life. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”
You’ve got to understand there's an ugly world over here. It's warped and perverted is what it's saying here. But it's an ugly world, as Pharaoh would describe it. And there's an ugly world out there that you don't have to be a part of because you can be part of this worldview that even if there are bad things happening, you can trust the Lord. You certainly can avoid a lot of the ugliness of life by making choices that are consistent with God's design.
Notice the next last part of this paragraph it says – Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Because now you're going to be the star that’s shining, you're going to be this one that's out there that other people are going to see. It's bright. Oh, look at that nice star out there. And people are going to come to you and you say, “You know, I'm having a problem. Got any idea?” Yeah, I'm not going to enter your world. Let me take you into a biblical worldview here. Let me take your problems into this worldview and let me help you understand what God is saying to you. He has something He wants to say to you.
That's what Joseph did with the cupbearer, with the baker, and with Pharaoh, because he wanted to help them understand what God was doing. “Let me take you into a biblical worldview. Let me show you what that looks like.” Wow, we all need that. Don't we?
This isn't just for people who are coming to Christ. But if today you don't know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, this is for you. You want to recognize that all of the things you're experiencing in life can be sorted out in this biblical worldview that you and I need. But even if we are Christians, we tend to move out of it or we don't get it all right. We need to be understanding more about what that looks like because it helps us form the beliefs, our emotions follow, and it drives us to the actions that we need in our lives. Amen? Amen.
Would you stand with me and let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, we ask that you would point out specific areas where our worldview is not as biblical as it should be. I know that some of those things are when we look at our lives, we find ourselves in debt and we find ourselves in trouble with the law, or we find ourselves in trouble with people. Those bad things, Lord, use them in our lives as mile markers to say, “Whoa, whoa, you need to think about something here.” Lord, give us the ability to trust you in everything. Expand our worldview of you so that we see how it incorporates every aspect of our life. We want to trust you this week. We want to follow you. Lord, would you make a shine so that others see that and they’ll want to understand more about how you are speaking to them and drawing them into this biblical worldview as well. We ask for your grace in our lives this week. We come before you now and just do business with you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
