Recorded February 23, 2025, with Rhonda Harrison.

It's time for the Champions in Christ broadcast

with Rhonda Harrison on 1017 AFN. Good morning

and welcome to Champions in Christ. We're so

glad you joined us. This is the day the Lord

has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.

What a great day to be serving God. What a great

day to be living in. There's so much so much

going on in life so much victory to be had in

Christ and today we're going to talk about how

big God is and we're going to look at the life

of Joseph and Joseph is in the New is in the

Old Testament and his father was Jacob also named

Israel. And Jacob had 12 sons and one of them

was Joseph. He was the youngest and his mother

was Rachel. He was the first son from Rachel,

Jacob's wife. And although he was the youngest,

he was the first one of that wife. He actually

had another wife named Leah and we won't get

into all that. And he had others. But Joseph

is the one we're going to focus on. And Jacob

loved Joseph. He loved him above all his other

children. And he because he was the son that

he had during his old age. And so Joseph. Was

growing up and he was about 17 at the time and

he dreamed a dream and he told it to his brothers

and they hated him even more. They hated him.

First of all, because his father loved him more

than them and they knew it. You know, that's

never good favoritism in a family is never good

amongst the children. Excuse me, but in verse

4 chapter 37, it says what is? Brothers saw that

his father loved him more than them. They hated

him and could not speak friendly to him and Joseph

dreamed a dream and he told it to his brothers

and they hated him even more and he said to them

here this dream, which I've dreamed for behold.

We were binding sheaves out in the field and

my Shiva Rose and stood above. You all and your

sheaves were all around me and you bowed down

in respect to me boy that tick them off. You

know, they said not so, you know, they were they

were really bothered by that. And then he dreamed

another dream and told it to his brothers why

he kept telling his brothers. I don't know if

he's trying to aggravate them or if he was just

innocently sharing these dreams, but he talked

about how the suit sun and the moon and the 11

stars paid respect to him. And he also told it

to his dad and to his brothers and his father

rebuked him and said what is this dream that

you have dreamed shall I and your mother and

your brothers all bowed down ourselves to you

to the earth? And his brothers envied him, but

his father took notice of what he was saying

and the brothers went out to feed the flock and

Israel Jacob said to Joseph. Did you did your

brothers not go feed the flock? Then I will send

you to them and he said and he said to him here

I am and he went he said go I pray and be with

your brothers in the flocks and bring me word

again. So he sent him out. So the brothers are

out there tending to the sheep and and as Joseph

starts approaching verse 18, it says when they

saw him a far off before he came they conspired

against him to slay him. What? Yes, they were

planning to kill him. They were so mad and hated

him so much and envied him. They just wanted

to kill him and they said to one another. Oh,

here comes the dreamer. So come on now. Let's

go ahead and slay him and cast him into some

pit and we'll say that some evil beast devoured

him and we will see what becomes of his dreams

Ruben which was the oldest of the brothers. He

heard it and he delivered him out of their hands

and he said let us not kill him and Ruben said

shed no blood, but let's cast him in a pit in

the wilderness and lay no hand upon him that

that he might. get rescued out of their hands

to deliver him to the to our father again and

it came to pass when Joseph had come to his brothers.

They stripped him of his coat. He had a coat

of many colors that he wore all the time that

his dad made for him, but didn't make the others

brothers other brothers one which that was not

good because that caused him to hate him even

more again. And so Here they are. They strip

him of his coat. They took him and they threw

him in a pit and the pit was empty and there

was no water in it. And then they sat down to

eat bread and they lifted up their eyes and looked

and behold a company of ishmaelites came from

Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and

balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt

and Judah one of the brothers said to his other

brothers. What profit is it if we slay our brother

and conceal his blood? Come on, let's sell them

to the Ishmaelites. Let it not be upon our hand.

to be upon him for he is our brother in our flesh.

And so the other brothers, they were satisfied

with that. They said, OK, let's sell him. All

right. Now you've got a picture. This is a 17

year old kid and his brothers are completely

basically kicking him out of the family, wanted

to kill him. Now they're selling him into slavery.

You know, Joseph being of that young mind, he

had to just be broken and crying and pleading

and And so let's see what happens. So the Midianites

merchants, they came close to Joseph in the pit.

And guess what? They sold him for 20 pieces of

silver. And then the Ishmaelites took Joseph

into Egypt. So now the brothers have to go back

and tell their dad something. So Reuben returned

to the pit. Where Joseph was not and he rent

his clothes. He was in sorrow and he returned

to his brothers and said the child is not there.

Where should I go? And they took Joseph's coat

killed a goat put blood in it on it. I mean and

sent the coat and they brought it to their dad

and said we found this. We don't know what happened,

but I think this is your son's coat. Maybe an

evil beast got him. Well, Jacob or Israel, he

rent his clothes. He put on sackcloth and ashes,

which is what they did when they mourned back

then or fasted. And he was mourning for his son

so much for many, many days that all of his sons

and all of his daughters rose up, tried to comfort

him, but he refused to be comforted. He said,

Well, for I will go down to the grave mourning

my son's death. And he wept for him. The median

night sold him in Egypt to Potiphar. Potiphar

was an officer in Pharaoh's house. He was a captain

of the guard. But guess what? God was still with

him. God was with Joseph. You may feel like you've

been thrown in a pit. Maybe someone's abandoned

you. Maybe you're someone walked out on you.

Maybe your parents, maybe your your spouse, maybe

your siblings. Maybe you're a parent and your

kids walked out on you. whatever the case may

be, God has not left you. He's always there.

Reach out to him. Call out to him. He's always

available. And what happens, we're moving on

into chapter 38 now. He gets taken to Egypt and

there, He's in Egypt and he's working for Potiphar

and he finds favor and he becomes very prosperous

and he finds grace and favor. And so it's amazing

that he's working in Egypt now for Potiphar and

Potiphar Just really likes him and starts to

trust him and begins to trust him with everything.

He's over in Egypt, which Pharaoh had put him

in charge. And so he's trusting him with everything

and what happens is Potiphar's wife becomes a

problem, right? She starts to have eyes for Joseph

and it gets a little crazy. And so the wife begins

to try and seduce Joseph. Let's read chapter

39 verse 6 and he left all that he had in Joseph's

hand and this is talking about Potiphar and he

did not have odd except bread which he did eat

and Joseph was a good person and he was well

favored and it came to pass that his master's

wife came for eyes for Joseph and she said come

sleep with me, but he refused. and said to her

behold my master wants wants me nothing in this

house and he has committed all this into my hand

there is no greater house than this neither has

he kept anything from me and because you are

his wife how can i do such a wickedness and sin

against god he was so he loved god he wanted

his relationship right and he's saying to her

how can i sin against god you know that should

be our heart every time temptation comes, we

should think like Joseph did about the goodness

of God. And let me make another point while I'm

here, Joseph, all that hurt, all that rejection

from his family not seeing his dad, his brothers

get rid of him, he could have just wallowed in

pity and just crummy depression and went down,

down, down into a pit, but you don't have to

and thank God he didn't. He went ahead and made

the best of the situation. When you get dealt

lemons, make some lemonade and pass it out. That's

what he did. He even stood his ground with the

with Potiphar's wife, the captain of the guards

wife and said, no, I'm not sleeping with you.

I know the blessings I have and I how can I sin

against God? So he was he was really standing

his ground. Well. So he kept having to go day

by day verse 10. It came to pass as she spoke

to Joseph day by day and he heard not what she

said to lie with her or to be with her. He kept

just ignoring her. But it came to pass about

this time that Joseph went in the house to do

his business and there was no men in the house

at the time and she caught him the wife caught

him by his garment and said come sleep with me

and he left his garment in her hand and he ran

and he got out of there. Wow. What a man of God,

what a man of integrity. You know, that would

be so good to see this day and time that men

and women not yielding to their fleshly desires,

but they're standing with their integrity. Verse

13, it came to pass when she saw that he had

left his garment in her hand. and was fled forth.

Then she called into the men of her house and

said, Oh, he's brought you brought in this Hebrew

test to mock as he came in to try and lie with

me. And I cried with a loud voice. And when when

he heard me and I lived in my voice and cried,

he left the garment and fled. And she's like,

you know, crying like this has been some injustice

against her. So she's lying because he refused

to sleep with her. And she spoke to them about

it and guess what happened. He gets thrown into

prison verse 20 Joseph's Master Potiphar took

him put him into prison a place where the Kings

prisoners were bound and he was there and he's

in this jail. I'm telling you the Bible is so

good. I mean people like soap operas. They like

other books, but let me tell you there's some

real stories in here and Joseph life is such

a tremendous story because You know, he still

is distant from his family. He still does not

have favor with his family. And now because of

being framed by Potiphar's wife, he now has lost

favor and pop with Potiphar. But guess what?

The Lord is still with them. And I want to tell

you that today. The Lord is still with you. He

sees you. He is with you. He has chosen you.

You do not have to worry. He has chosen you.

So if he's chosen you, he's with you. He will

never leave you or forsake you. Not even in prison.

If you're in prison today and you can hear me,

God's never left you. He's right there with you.

And let's see what Joseph does. So Joseph is

in this prison. The keeper of the prison begins

to have favor on Joseph shows favor towards Joseph.

And so the prison keeper commits Joseph to all

the prisoners in the prison and whatever they

did. He was the doer of so he was helping the

keeper of the prison the favor just doesn't stop

the Bible says we have favor round about us like

a shield and as long as we stay with the Word

of God and keep doing what's right in the eyes

of God. He's got that favor is not going to leave

you. So no matter where you are he went from

a pit and he and he gets sold into Egypt has

favor then he gets thrown in prison which wasn't

his fault and he has favor. And so he's just

in prison, you know, trusting God. I'm sure he's

praying and talking to the Lord. The big thing,

too, you notice he's not holding unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness and bitterness will destroy you

from the inside out. It's not worth it. It doesn't

hurt the person that you have it towards. It

hurts you. So just let it go. Joseph let it go

and he kept going with his life. And so let's

see what happens. So while he was in there, The

king had sent his baker, his chief baker and

his chief butler to prison also because they

offended him. And when they offended him, they

went in and they met Joseph. And Joseph was in

jail and the captain of the guard charged him

with them and they continued. in a season in

prison together and while they were in there

both the butler and the baker they both dreamed

a dream but they didn't have the interpretation

and verse 6 of chapter 40 Joseph came in one

morning and looked upon them and and they were

sad and he said you know what's going on? Why

do you look so sad in verse 8? He says they said

we have dreamed a dream and there's no interpreter

and Joseph said to them do not interpretations

belong to God. Tell me and I will pray for you

and they told him the dream and then he begins

to tell him the dream each one of them the butler

and the Baker and Joseph goes to God and says

God and praise to God to get the interpretation

gets the interpretation. and begins to share

with them the interpretation and so as he shares

the interpretations he tells them because one

of them their dream ends up the baker ends up

dying he ends up being being murdered by by Pharaoh's

at Potiphar's and Pharaoh's. I'm sorry, not Potiphar

at Pharaoh's command. The other one gets let

go and restored to his place. And so he gives

those interpretations. But when the butler was

restored to his place, Joseph said, remember

me. Well, the butler didn't he forgot about him.

So again, here Joseph in the goodness of his

heart, praise gets their answers for them. One

of them gets restored and forgets all about Joseph.

But you know, there's a there's a scripture in

Psalms 105 19. It says until that time, the word

of the Lord tried him talking about Joseph. You

know, you may be in a situation. but the trying

of your faith keep believing God keep trusting

him no matter what it looks like God can be counted

on he is your rock he is your fortress he is

your stronghold in a time of trouble and he will

deliver you from all the afflictions of the righteous

always so just don't give up don't quit keep

pressing on because this is not the end of the

story just because this man forgot him God still

hasn't forgot Joseph and so Joseph continues

to be in prison. He ended up being in there about

two years since the dream and what happens is

Pharaoh has a dream and he gets really annoyed

that he doesn't know the interpretation so he

does in Genesis 41 8 calls the spirits calls

all the magicians of Egypt to call on the evil

spirits or the spirits they talk to to try and

interpret this dream. Well, that's when the butler

speaks up and says in verse 9 then spoke the

chief butler to Pharaoh. I do remember this what

this thing one day and he began to tell him how

he met. There's a man in prison named Joseph

and how he dreamed a dream and Joseph gave the

interpretation. And so as he's telling Pharaoh

this Pharaoh sent for Joseph and they brought

him in and they shaved and he had shaved his

head and all that and then Pharaoh begins to

tell him his dream and Joseph interprets Pharaoh's

dream and when he interprets Pharaoh's dream.

Pharaoh is blown away that he has interpreted

this dream. And so Pharaoh blesses him. gives

him he he begins to say he says in verse 41 Pharaoh

said unto Joseph see that I have set you over

all the land of Egypt and Pharaoh took off his

ring from his hand put it on Joseph's hand arrayed

himself and in fine linen and clothing and gold

chain around his neck and made him to sit in

the second chariot which which they had and bow

his knee everybody had to bow their knee to him

the only ruler over Joseph was Pharaoh. That's

amazing. So he went from the captain of the guard

in Egypt to Pharaoh's second man in charge of

all of Egypt. That is amazing, right? From the

pit to the palace. And all he had to do was stay

strong in God. Keep forgiving keep walking in

his integrity and look what happened. The story

continues to go on and he ends up getting his

his brothers have to come because there's it

becomes a famine in the land and Joseph is over

all of that and they have to come get food. and

it's a long story but in the end he gets restored

with his family as well and this family gets

blessed because of Joseph and Joseph had forgiven

his brothers and therefore the entire family

gets blessed and I say all this to say God knows

what you're going through and God does do the

work for you. He will provide favor. He will

try your faith, but let your faith come forth

as gold. And we're going to listen to a song

about God's greatness. And I'll come right back

to you on the other side. If you made it through

and it makes no sense That's how you know it

was him if you got a savior those prison doors

of bondage in your life. God did. If you're in

bondage today, whether it's in depression or

grief or addiction or alcoholism or pornography

or anything else that's got your mind bound your

physical body bound your emotions bound God can

deliver you the same way. He delivered Joseph

out of the pit, out of the prison, into the palace.

God has big plans for you and great plans for

you. Don't forget that. He says, I know the plans

I have towards you, plans to prosper you and

not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and

a future. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Well, if you

are not a child of God, the promises of God aren't

available to you yet. God's mercy is. So let's

grab a hold of his promises today. Let's become

born again. So pray this prayer with me. It's

a simple prayer and it's just acknowledging who

you are before God and who he is in you. So,

Father, in the name of Jesus, we come before

you. Just repeat this after me. Dear God, forgive

me of my sin. I am a sinner and you came and

you died on a cross to save me and to deliver

me out of bondage. And I give you my life. You're

my Lord and my savior. Thank you God in Jesus

name. If you prayed that prayer, You have just

been born again or you've just rededicated your

life to the Lord. And I want to pray for you

right now. Lord, in the name of Jesus, I thank

you for freedom. You said those that know the

truth, the truth will set them free and you are

the truth and they know you now. So in Jesus

name, be free. Get up and walk out of that bondage.

Change your thoughts, change your habits. God

is a faithful God and he loves you today. He

loves you today. And so I wanna say this to you.

God is there for you. Go to the word of God,

begin reading it. It's a great full of wonderful

promises from him. Start in the New Testament.

Go to church, a church that preaches the whole

word of God. And I'm gonna tell you, your life

will never look the same. You won't recognize

yourself in a year if you stay consistent. And

pray, talk to God. He loves you today. If you

need to contact us, you can contact us at championsinchrist3

at gmail .com. Championsinchrist3 at gmail .com.

We want you to go out and make it a great day.

And remember, God loves you, we love you, and

you are a Champion in Christ.