Focus: Joseph and God's Presence

Text: Gen.39:2

"And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian."

God's presence has no substitute for any man of destiny. Joseph had God's mandate upon his life. He says to his brothers, "And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance" - Gen.45:7.

And in Gen.50:20, he says, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, TO SAVE MUCH PEOPLE ALIVE."

The calling of God upon Joseph was to save lives and preserve a posterity for Israel, and for that, God was with him from day one.

In the house of Potiphar God was with him and prospered the works of his hands. As a matter of fact, the presence of God was so remarkably visible that his "master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand" - Gen.39:3. That is the efficacy of the presence of God. God is always in your life to fulfill a purpose and achieve a mandate.

Even in prison the presence of God was nonetheless real in the life of Joseph, for Moses wrote, "But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison."

Joseph enjoyed mercy and favor from the keeper of the prison because of the presence of God in his life.

In Genesis 39:23, we read that "the keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper."

Do you know that the presence of God is a necessity in the life of a Christian? You can't be a Christian by yourself; you need the empowering presence of God. It is in Him we live, move and have our being. Nothing can take the place of the indwelling and enabling presence of God in the life of a Christian.

You are the next Joseph; you exist in the earth to shine as light and win as many souls as possible into the kingdom of God. Life of holiness and success in ministry are not possible without the enabling presence of God in your life. Being a Christian and doing the work of a Christian totally requires the empowering presence of God. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter