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The sovereign God of Israel was intimately involved in
Joseph’s life. He guided him. He gave him facility in the Egyptian language. On
top of all that, He gave him favor in the eyes of Potiphar. Clearly, God was the
secret of Joseph’s success. Luck had nothing to do with it. [24]
By now in his life Joseph’s God had become more real to him
than anything or anyone else on earth. He was in a private chamber, perfectly
safe with the master’s wife, who had set him up for this desired moment of
lustful pleasure. He was a handsome young bachelor. They were alone. It would
have been the most natural thing in the world to yield. But Joseph said that
this is a great evil, a heinous sin against his God. And so he walked away. [28]
Our human ways are based on what seems fair. We firmly believe that when someone
does what is right, rewards and blessings result. When someone does what is
wrong, there are serious consequences, even punishment. But that’s our way, not
necessarily God’s way. At least not immediately. He’s been known to allow unfair
treatment to occur in the lives of some absolutely innocent folks—for reasons
far more profound and deep than they or we could have imagined. [39]
Having a contagious, positive attitude toward God does not
mean living unrealistically where you tell everybody nice, upbeat things all the
time, whether they are true or not. I believe in thinking positively, but I
don’t believe in phony baloney. I believe in thinking positively, because I
believe that’s the only way Christians really think aright, as we see things
through Christ’s eyes. But that’s not the same as thinking unrealistically or
living in a dream world or saying something to someone just to make them feel
good. [48]
It
is not our behavior on Sunday morning that demonstrates the depth of our
Christian faith to the world. It’s the way we behave at our work, on the job.
You ask a person who works alongside you or under you or over you or on the same
team about your Christianity and that person will not talk about life on Sunday.
That person will talk about what you are like to work with or to work for, day
after day after day, all week long. [170]
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