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But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Joseph was made ruler of Egypt after being sold into slavery. When we have trouble and difficulty, we should look to the Lord for strength, and take strength in Him.
[Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee...
When I meet with adversity, I'll strengthen myself in the Lord. Then I can find help and blessing in the Lord, like the Lord helped Joseph and abundantly blessed him.
Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
The part of this verse that says worship God,
is inspiring to me. It reminds me of how we ought to be bowing down to the Lord and worshiping Him.
Throughout the Bible, kneeling down, or even "falling down" in front of Lord, is associated with worshiping the Lord. I'll make sure that my heart is bowing down to the Lord when I worship Him, and, sometimes, I'll physically kneel down to Him too.
these words are faithful
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Instead of being full of care about things, we should pray and let God know our requests about everything, remembering to give Him thanks. We shouldn't be worried and upset so that we murmur and dispute, but we should rejoice in the Lord and think about good things.
v8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
We shouldn't have confidence in the flesh, thinking we're righteous because we've kept the law. We shouldn't think we've already gotten to where we need to be, but we should continually press on.
v1aFinally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord...
Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Do we realize that there's actually this verse in the Bible that teaches that we should do everything that we do, without disputing?
v3[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
If we were of one accord and one mind like this, we wouldn't be disputing about things.
And [one] told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
I saw that even if we're weary and tired, we should strengthen ourselves to do what the Lord wants us to do, and bless other people.
When I'm tempted to be lazy because I'm tired, I'll wake myself up and work hard, anyway, on the work that the Lord wants me to do.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
It is striking that one category of these sinners is the fearful.
We should make sure to not be fearful. I think that being fearful comes from being unbelieving.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
I've been going through Philippians in my personal time with the Lord. Here is my paraphrase of this verse (not what the verse said, by what I think about it:)
Don't be terrified about anything by your enemies. If you are not, then that is an obvious sign to them that they are headed for destruction; but to you it is an obvious sign that you are headed for salvation--and that is salvation of God.
When I encounter troubles and spiritual enemies, instead of being fearful, I'll remember and trust in the Lord.
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
We should be so brave to preach the gospel, that we don't fear suffering or even death.
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
In this passage, I see that men (like elders and overseers), should be apt to teach and preach the truth (v3). We should preach because there's a need for it, even because of evil men (v10-16), even evil men who seduce others (v11).
I'll put effort into preparing for preaching, and into sharing preaching and teaching with the Lord's people.
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether [he be] bond or free.
If we're under the authority of someone who we think might not give us a completely fair reward for our work, we should still do the best work we can, for the Lord, anyway, because it is ultimately the Lord who will reward us.
Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
It would be a great blessing to be part of the first resurrection and the millennial reign. The martyrs who were killed for their witness and for not worshiping the beast, will receive this privilege.
v4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Righteous living today can help us be ready to be faithful, in case we are martyrs one day.
The way I'll work on living faithfully and doing what's right today, looking forward to the millennial kingdom in that day, is by singing hymns of praise to the Lord when I have a chance.
Ephesians 5:19Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
One way we can walk as children of light
(From v8) is to sing hymns all the time. That's also a way to encourage ourselves and cheer ourselves up. So, let's remember to be doing that.
It doesn't always have to be out loud and in public. It says, to yourselves
and in your heart to the Lord,
so we could, for example, sing hymns when were by ourselves driving in a car, instead of listening to the radio or just letting our minds wander.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
We really need to be faithful to the services the Lord has given us to do, (preaching, for example,) because there's great reward in that, and we'll really miss out if we don't.
v17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
We shouldn't be like unbelievers, deluded by sinful pleasures and vain wastes of time, like too much of a focus on entertaining ourselves. Let's walk worthy of our calling, instead of walking in vanity.
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Preparing a message to share with the Lord's people is one of the things I know the Lord wants me to do, but I haven't been making the time to get it done.
I'll make the time to prepare for preaching.
Preach the word
do the work of an evangelist
I have fought a good fight
And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What [is] your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants [are] shepherds, both we, [and] also our fathers.
Being shepherds is kind of like being Christians. It was despised by the people around them. Like Joseph's brothers admitted that they were shepherds, even though it was an abomination to the Egyptians, we should be bold to admit that we're Christians and to preach the gospel. When Joseph’s brothers admitted they were shepherds, it worked out so they got a better place.
I'll be bold to preach the gospel at my university.
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
All creatures must worship and praise the Lord. This verse calls for praise from all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
We should fear the Lord and be His servants, and all of us should worship and praise Him like in these verses.
I'll work on praising the Lord on other days, besides just at worship on Sunday morning.
worship God
the supper of the great God
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
The Lord has the power to do not just what we ask, but way, way more then we can even imagine. That promise should provoke us to ask for great things in righteousness, and to pray much more for the things we ask for.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
The first part of this verse says, For men shall be lovers of their own selves.
That really stuck out to me last time I read this.
What do we think about when we get up in the morning? Just how we'll get to work or school and enrich our lives? How we'll buy some nice product for ourselves, or enhance our car or computer?
How about when we pray? Now don't get me wrong, it's a perfectly good thing for us to pray for ourselves sometimes. But we should naturally be thinking about other people and their needs when we pray. It shouldn't be a weariness to think about and pray for anybody other than ourselves.
I've been noticing that too many of my prayers have become introverted. When I pray, I'll really think about other people, and also pray for them more.
I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up [again]: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
Like Israel into Egypt, the Lord has sent His people the Church into the world. We're not here to stay, because He's coming one day to take us out before he destroys the world. But while we're here, He promises to be with us and do great things for us.
v3And he said, I [am] God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
When trouble happens, I'll pray to the Lord for help, remember his promises, and trust that He is good.
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God(v4b)
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof(v5a)
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