DCLM Higher Everyday 26 January 2024 — Road To Re-Unification – Part 1
Topic: Road To Re-Unification – Part 1
Text: Genesis 45:1-8
1Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
4And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
6For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Key Verse: “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence” (Genesis 45:3)
Message
“The evils that men do live after them,” says, William Shakespeare. The revered lord of the Egyptians, and second in command to Pharaoh, eventually disclosed his identity to his brethren as seen in today’s Bible text. He was the Joseph they hated, maltreated and sold into slavery. His brethren were shocked. According to Matthew Henry, “A guilty conscience needs no accuser or tormentor but itself.”
The lessons from Joseph’s story are: 1. we should not connive with anybody to do evil like Joseph’s brethren did. 2. Our God never fails to deliver the faithful ones in trouble. Joseph’s brothers thought all was over, that their concealed wickedness against their innocent brother had gone into oblivion. But the Omnipotent and Omniscient God overruled them. 3. Joseph showed his love for his father and his longing to reunite with him. 4. Joseph’s brethren were troubled because of their sin. It is a sign of remorse that leads to repentance for forgiveness and unification. Is your conscience troubled by a hidden sin? God knows about it all. To unite with God, repent and give your life to Jesus.
Quote: Remorse that leads to repentance
Challenge: God is eager to deliver His own from troubles.
Prayer for today: Deliver me from every trouble, Lord.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
