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SUNDAY SERVICE May 27, 2007 WHY? BECAUSE ALL THINGS WORKING TOGETHER
I've asked God why I've been sick for so many years--why
have I been unable to go out of my house? Two years ago,
after a fire struck, burning down my apartment and taking
the lives of my mother and my little kitten, I asked "why"?
Why did it happen? The thing is that through the years,
whenever I ask "why" I always come back to the same verse:
ALL THINGS TOGETHER MAKE BREAD: THE WHEAT AND THE HEAT
For instance, when you make bread, you put in flour, water, eggs, yeast, salt, sugar (whatever). None of these ingredients ALONE make bread or even faintly resemble bread. Yet, when you put them TOGETHER they do. But, not until you mix them together, put them in the oven, TURN THE HEAT ON, and bake them. The result is a loaf of bread that smells heavenly and tastes that way too. It is also very nourishing and, interestingly, God chose Bread to represent His Son, the Bread of Heaven.
God will take the ingredients of your life, mix them
together, heat them up and let them bake, and present YOU as
a "loaf of bread" that smells and tastes heavenly, that
nourishes others, and that represents His Son to the world.
Take that promise and make it your own---believe it and stand on it every day and it will make your life a lot easier.
‘ALL THINGS WORKING TOGETHER’ IS HOW DREAMS GET FULFILLED
JOSEPH, a man chosen to save his family and his people, had a dream as a boy: his bothers and even his father would bow down to him. But, he didn’t dream about how God would GET HIM TO HIS DREAM. He was on his way to the palace but the road to it included a plot, a pit and a prison.
Genesis 37 THE PLOT: 18And when they saw him far off, even before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. 19And they said one to another, See, here comes this dreamer and master of dreams.
THE PIT: 23When Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped him of his [distinctive] long garment which he was wearing; 24Then they took him and cast him into the [well-like] pit which was empty; there was no water in it.
THE PLOT: 27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites [and Midianites, these mixed Arabians who are approaching], and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers consented. 28Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] merchants were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. And they sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph [captive] into Egypt
THE PLOY: 31Then they took Joseph's [distinctive] long garment, killed a young goat, and dipped the garment in the blood; 32And they sent the garment to their father, saying, We have found this! Examine and decide whether it is your son's tunic or not.
GENESIS 39
THE POSITION: 1And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain and chief executioner of the [royal] guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
THE PROSPERITY: 2But the Lord was with Joseph, and he [though a slave] was a successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish and succeed in his hand. 4So Joseph pleased [Potiphar] and found favor in his sight, and he served him. And [his master] made him supervisor over his house and he put all that he had in his charge. 5From the time that he made him supervisor in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the Lord's blessing was on all that he had in the house and in the field.
THE PULL:7Then after a time his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me.
THE PURITY: 8But he refused and said to his master's wife, See here, with me in the house my master has concern about nothing; he has put all that he has in my care. 9He is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept anything from me except you, for you are his wife. How then can I do this great evil and sin against God? 10She spoke to Joseph day after day, but he did not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her.
THE PLOT: 11Then it happened about this time that Joseph went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the men of the house were indoors. 12And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out [of the house]. 13And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled away, 14She called to the men of her household and said to them, Behold, he [your master] has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock and insult us; he came in where I was to lie with me, and I screamed at the top of my voice. 15And when he heard me screaming and crying, he left his garment with me and fled and got out of the house. 16And she laid up his garment by her until his master came home. 17Then she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you brought among us came to me to mock and insult me.
THE PRISON: 19And when [Joseph's] master heard the words of his wife, saying to him, This is the way your servant treated me, his wrath was kindled. 20And Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the state prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison.
THE PROSPERITY IN PRISON: 21But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy and loving-kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. 22And the warden of the prison committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it. 23The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in [Joseph's] charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper.
GENESIS 40
THE PROVIDENCE IN PRISON: 1NOW SOME time later the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, Egypt's king2And Pharaoh was angry with his officers, the chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers. 3He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4And the captain of the guard put them in Joseph's charge, and he served them; and they continued in custody for some time.
THE PUZZLE: 6When Joseph came to them in the morning and looked at them, he saw that they were sad and depressed. 7So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were in custody with him in his master's house, Why do you look so dejected and sad today? 8And they said to him, We have dreamed dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me [your dreams], I pray you.
THE PLEA: 12And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 13Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will again put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, as when you were his butler. 14But think of me when it shall be well with you and show kindness, I beg of you, to me, and mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. 15For truly I was carried away from the land of the Hebrews by unlawful force, and here too I have done nothing for which they should put me into the dungeon.
THE POSTPONEMENT: 23But [even after all that] the chief butler gave no thought to Joseph, but forgot [all about] him.
GENESIS 41: 1AFTER TWO full years, Pharaoh dreamed that he stood by the river [Nile].
THE PROVIDENCE: 9Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, I remember my faults today. 10When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker, 11We dreamed a dream in the same night, he and I; we dreamed each of us according to [the significance of] the interpretation of his dream. 12And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard and chief executioner; and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them to us, to each man according to the significance of his dream. 13And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office [as chief butler], and the baker was hanged.
THE PROVIDENCE: 14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. But Joseph [first] shaved himself, changed his clothes, and made himself presentable; then he came into Pharaoh's presence.
THE PROBLEM: 15And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream and interpret it.
THE PROPHECY: 29Take note! Seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming. 30Then there will come seven years of hunger and famine, and [there will be so much want that] all the great abundance of the previous years will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and hunger (destitution, starvation) will exhaust (consume, finish) the land.
THE PLAN: 33So now let Pharaoh seek out and provide a man discreet, understanding, proficient, and wise and set him over the land of Egypt [as governor]. 34Let Pharaoh do this; then let him select and appoint officers over the land, and take one-fifth [of the produce] of the [whole] land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years [year by year]. 35And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and lay up grain under the direction and authority of Pharaoh, and let them retain food [in fortified granaries] in the cities. 36And that food shall be put in store for the country against the seven years of hunger and famine that are to come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not be ruined and cut off by the famine.
37And the plan seemed good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.
THE POWER: 38And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find this man's equal, a man in whom is the spirit of God? 39And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Forasmuch as [your] God has shown you all this, there is nobody as intelligent and discreet and understanding and wise as you are. 40You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word [with reverence, submission, and obedience]. Only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you are. 41Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.
THE PREDICAMENT: 53When the seven years of plenty were ended in the land of Egypt, 54The seven years of scarcity and famine began to come, as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all [the surrounding] lands, but in all of Egypt there was food.
GENESIS 42
THE PROVISION: 1NOW WHEN Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you look at one another? 2For, he said, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; get down there and buy [grain] for us, that we may live and not die. 3So ten of Joseph's brethren went to buy grain in Egypt.
GENESIS 45:
THE POSTERITY: 4And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And they did so. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt! 5But now, do not be distressed and disheartened or vexed and angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. 6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years more in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7God sent me before you to preserve for you a posterity and to continue a remnant on the earth, to save your lives by a great escape and save for you many survivors. 8So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
GENESIS 48
THE PORTION: 22Moreover, I have given to you [Joseph] one portion [Shechem, one mountain slope] more than any of your brethren, which I took [reclaiming it] out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.(B)
THE PROMISE: 22Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well (spring or fountain), whose branches run over the wall. 23Skilled archers have bitterly attacked and sorely worried him; they have shot at him and persecuted him. 24But his bow remained strong and steady and rested in the Strength that does not fail him, for the arms of his hands were made strong and active by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,(F) 25By the God of your father, Who will help you, and by the Almighty, Who will bless you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings lying in the deep beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26The blessings of your father [on you] are greater than the blessings of my forefathers [Abraham and Isaac on me] and are as lasting as the bounties of the eternal hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was the consecrated one and the one separated from his brethren and [the one who] is prince among them.
THE PURPOSE: 19And Joseph said to them, Fear not; for am I in the place of God? [Vengeance is His, not mine.] 20As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day.
LIKE JOSEPH, YOU HAVE A PURPOSE THAT YOU WERE CALLED TO. AND GOD WILL MAKE ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO YOUR GOOD BECAUSE YOU LOVE GOD AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO THAT PURPOSE.
SO, THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION “WHY?” IS BECAUSE GOD WILL USE THIS TO WORK FOR MY GOOD.
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