Impact Week Seventeen

Review

Last week we talked about Ananias and Sapphira. These two were living during the time of the church’s early beginnings, along with Peter and the other disciples of Jesus. If you’ll recall, at that time, the church was meeting each other’s needs as they came up, by the people giving what they had. It was more of an offering than what we would call tithing today. Ananias and Sapphira sold their property, but decided to give just a portion of what they had made from it. But when they brought their offering to the church, they allowed the church to believe that they had sacrificed it all. As a result, they found themselves dead on the floor.

I want to stress that it wasn’t that they didn’t give everything. God doesn’t require us to give everything we have; He asks for ten percent of our income. Considering everything we have is because of Him and His provision, ten percent isn’t much to give up. It can seem difficult to give when we have so little, and especially so when we are in difficult times financially. But God promises to provide for everything we could ever have need of. So while they could have given ten percent and been fine, they decided to let everyone believe they were giving it all. It was their deception that was the problem.

Remember that whatever you do, don’t do it so someone will glorify you or think highly of you. We live for an audience of One and only One. Forget what your family and friends think. The only One you should be seeking praise from is God. And what we do in secret is seen by Him and we will reap a reward, both here on earth, and in heaven.

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” What a wonderful promise!

Background

Most of us have read at least a portion of Genesis and have more than likely heard of Joseph. Some may have watched “Joseph: Prince of Egypt” (though I have not personally). Regardless, Joseph is certainly a key figure in Genesis. We won’t cover much of his life, but this is a good segment.

At this point, Joseph has been sold by his brothers into slavery. God was with him though, and he has been bought by Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials.

Reading: Genesis 39

End

Assuming you have read or heard about Joseph before, you know that he had many ups and downs. He faced certain death, slavery, and now prison. But in his most dire of circumstances, it is clear, not only by the wording, but by Joseph’s reaction, that God was with him and placed His favor on Joseph. Regardless of the situation, Joseph was brought out of it.

Let’s take a moment to examine the situation. Joseph was a servant in the house of Potiphar. He was in charge of everything that went on in the house, save for the food. I guess that was too important to his master. At some point while working, the wife has finally taken notice of Joseph’s studly features. I don’t know what she said to him specifically, because frankly, if the only thing some woman said to me was “Come to bed with me!”, I would have refused her flat out as well. Most women are not quite so blunt and are usually more seductive. But regardless of what she said, Joseph was smart enough to refuse her demands.

Just like most women of the world, she didn’t give up. She was persistent. The enemy is just as persistent in our lives. He doesn’t give up, he doesn’t stop tempting us just because we overcame it in the past. There is something I would like to highlight in verse ten:

Genesis 39:10 “And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” [Emphasis mine]

Notice that Joseph put as much distance between himself and the woman as he could. That’s a huge principal we should put into practice in our own lives. If your biggest struggle is drugs, then hang out with people who don’t do drugs, and quit hanging out with friends who do. If it’s stealing, don’t walk into the store alone. If it’s cursing, again, lose the friends who do that and find some new ones. And if you should find yourself in Joseph’s shoes sometime (and it’s not that far fetched even in junior high), turn away from her, heck, run away. Don’t even go near her. If you allow yourself to entertain the thought of being with her, you are setting yourself up for a fall.

Proverbs 5:8 “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house”

The context of that verse is that it is a warning against the adulterous woman.

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

If you choose to make a stand for righteousness and integrity as Joseph did, you can be sure that you will face temptation. Each of us has a certain area of our life in which we are more susceptible to temptation.

We need to make a statement to ourselves and to the enemy. Choose for yourself what you are going to do when you face your toughest temptation. For me personally, I resonate with Job’s statement:

Job 31:1 "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.”

When I see an ad on television or on the internet, I’ve made the decision to look away. I distance myself from a fall as much as possible. That doesn’t mean that I won’t face that temptation anyway (just as Joseph did that fateful day), but I can sure cut down a lot of problems by taking a spoonful of common sense. Be wise and do the same – stay away from the street of the adulterous woman (or whatever your struggle is).

Make a decision here and now that you will respond by defeating the temptation. If you are resolved in your heart and mind to stand against sin, you will be a lot more likely to refuse the temptation when you encounter it. And the good news is, the more you refuse it, the easier it will be the next time you are faced with it to defeat it then as well. That doesn’t mean you are immune to sin; we are fully human and we are imperfect. But don’t anticipate failure either.

Let me make something else clear. It is not a sin to be tempted. Every man, woman and child faces a temptation of sorts. Even Jesus, who was perfect, was tempted (See Matthew 4). It is what you choose to do when faced with it that defines sin. Do not entertain the thought or the presence of sin. Either turn away from it, or remove it from your thought pattern.

Memory Verse: Proverbs 5:8

“Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house”