Divine Guidance
Gen 47:1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
Joseph undertook to be a guide to ensure the preservation of his brethren – and particularly their culture. You also need a guide, the Great Counselor to help you navigate through your Christian walk, now that you have known the Lord. Do not take a step without checking well from Him, what you should or not do. Let the Holy Spirit introduce you into situations. Leaning to your understanding in Egypt is dangerous. Already your ways are taboo to the culture in which you will now dwell. You may not appreciate the irritation you will cause although you mean well. You will need to be kept by Jehovah. Even your substance must be committed to Christ and your entire family. All must be submitted to God and yielded unto Him completely. Do not attempt to face Pharaoh alone, the outcome could be unpredictable.
We must learn to live by prayer. Prayer is our means of seeking a strategy from the Holy Spirit. Do not enter into a contract without checking? Do not do a deal without checking? Let the Spirit of Christ guide you every step of the way until you reach your goal – Heaven. Do not take for granted that in Goshen, the place of being called out, the place of separation – you are safe. You still need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and led appropriately. The plan of the Holy Spirit is to keep you in the world but separated from the evil in the world – somehow. This is no easy task – as the world culture is very compelling, forceful and all embracing. The worldview of modernism is very intelligent and logical. As soon as you are immersed through education, media etc. your mind is washed in another flood of a different nature. The seas of the world are tempestuous and full of rapids and hidden rocks…
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Christ keeps us from the evil that is in Egypt, giving us the word – the truth … to sanctify us through the truth that the world does not know. We are sanctified and kept not by a monastery-type isolation, but by knowing the word of God well. We are guided not by following gurus but mastery of the scriptures. How much of scriptures do you know? How many verses have been intuitively committed to your memory? How many Biblical thoughts have been stored in the crevices of your mind. You cannot be full of scripture and also full of worldliness … one must saturate your thoughts or the other will. Make a fresh commitment to study the word of God – day and night.
Song.
Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us – o’er the world’s tempestuous sea;
guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us, for we have no help but thee;
yet possessing every blessing, if our God our Father be.
Prayer: Lord, Help me to be separate. Amen
The Songs of Joseph is an integration of encouragement scriptural devotions, prayers and a compendium of songs of mercy, salvation, new beginnings and victory. We can expect as we trust and obey that our end will indeed be ultimately glorious because God works His marvellous agenda. Be blessed as you read and sing along, daily. Edited by Bolade Apampa
