Fighting the Urge

Intro

Good morning everyone and Happy Easter! I am so excited to be teaching here this morning on this very amazing day that celebrate Jesus resurrection. Guys I love Easter because of this reason and I hope that you guys do as well but unfortunately we wont be talking about that today for our lesson rather we will be continuing in our Joseph series. but before we hop in today lets open with a word of prayer

PRAY

Word

Genesis 39 ESV

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 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. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

God is with You

Walking with God will lead to temptation

Temptation is not a sin but rather a test

God is with you

You see this point right here is something that we talk about a lot in church especially the fact that God is with us or omnipresent. But how many times do we actually take time to soak in this fact. In this passage we see in verses 1-3 really hit on the significance of the Lord being with Joseph. Joseph had been through the ringer so to speak and i think it is important to recognize that God through it all was still with him and never left him. so much so that Josephs master recognizes it and God actually blesses the house Joseph serves in. if you were Joseph i guarantee that you would be ecstatic that God was actually blessing you after all of the trouble you had been through. God is with you always just like with Joseph but obviously isn't where the story ends. rather we see a turn for the worst when Potiphars wife steps into the picture. this brings us to our second point.

2. Walking with God will lead to temptation

We see that Joseph had been walking with God found favor with God and was blessed by God but still we see him getting tempted. Why? well i think the answer to this lies in the very text that we read and that is that evil dosnt want to see us succeed. Joseph by all means was succeeding in a time that he probably shouldn't have. after all he was a Hebrew working in Egypt at a masters house and was in charge of everything. That was not something that happened all to often back then. But still Joseph prospered and still God was blessing him. this is wear we hit a problem Potiphars wife. as we read she approached Joseph after seeing that he was good looking and asked him to lie with her. something that is sinful. Joseph I can imagine is perplexed and probably shocked. She continues to hound him and she finally one day grabs his robe and flees. Temptation is inevitable at some point in life even in the best of times. Jesus was tempted which goes to show how universal it is. When we walk faithfully with God following him with all of ourselves we will eventually find ourselves being tempted. this quote is one from a pastor that i listened to recently on this subject and he states it very clearly and gets the point across perfectly and that is that Temptation is something that shows us that we are following God. think of it like this if your not on the right path the enemy isn't going to try and put you on the right one again but rather they will sit back and watch on the other hand if your walking the path they are most likely going to try and knock you off of the path.

3. Temptation is not a sin but rather a Test

their is an old saying that says God wont test you beyond what you can handle. well i think that this is totally wrong and it has to do with this point. God wants us to lean on him all of the time that why he allows us to be tempted. Yet i think that we lose focus of this because we are to worried about ourselves and what we can endure and not on the blatant fact that God is all we need. If we lean on God we can endure any temptation. i want to go back and remind you guys that temptation isn’t sin. i think that as we start to absorb the fact that temptation is a common occurrence and that it isn't a sin we can start to see that we need to prepare ourselves for it almost like a solider prepares for battle and so as we look at applying this passage to our lives i want to look at the armor of God in Eph. 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10–20 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Temptation can grow our spiritual muscles

You cant avoid temptation but you can overcome it.

Joseph was following after God and therefore was able to flee temptation in the same way we are to be following God because of the great power it will bring us in the times of temptation.

Joseph in this passage could not have been able to flee if it wasn't for him following God to the fullest.

God will allow us to be tested in ways that will stretch us and push us because he wants us to fully lean on him. God allows us to face this not because he hates us but because he loves us and desires to have a stronger relationship with us.