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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - The Joseph Story (Part 2)

January 25, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - The Joseph Story (Part 2)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#WordofGod #Future #Determination #Blessing #Justification #Visions/Dreams #Rejection #Choices #Emotion #Dedication/Devotion #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - The Joseph Story (Part 2) | January 25, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world people are searching
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: i want to go back to the message we started last weekend.
  • 00:01:20.530 --> 00:01:24.167
  • We were looking at the joseph story.
  • 00:01:24.167 --> 00:01:26.769
  • And the harsh reality of joseph's life is it was brutal.
  • 00:01:26.769 --> 00:01:33.977
  • I mean, it was a series of crushing experiences.
  • 00:01:33.977 --> 00:01:39.282
  • You wouldn't wish the experiences of joseph's life on
  • 00:01:39.282 --> 00:01:42.452
  • Your worst enemy.
  • 00:01:42.452 --> 00:01:45.755
  • His family wasn't just broken, his family behaved with a
  • 00:01:45.755 --> 00:01:52.328
  • Wickedness that's difficult to describe.
  • 00:01:52.328 --> 00:01:56.032
  • But that wasn't the only event.
  • 00:01:56.032 --> 00:01:57.734
  • He went from that to betrayals and disappointments.
  • 00:01:57.734 --> 00:02:01.137
  • It was just a crushing story.
  • 00:02:01.137 --> 00:02:03.940
  • And yet joseph managed to not just endure it, he overcame it.
  • 00:02:03.940 --> 00:02:09.345
  • Thus the title of this particular session, "hated,
  • 00:02:09.345 --> 00:02:12.448
  • Rejected, and triumphant."
  • 00:02:12.448 --> 00:02:15.385
  • I don't believe when evil touches your life, it has the
  • 00:02:15.385 --> 00:02:17.754
  • Power to determine your future.
  • 00:02:17.754 --> 00:02:21.024
  • There is a greater power in the earth that work on our behalf if
  • 00:02:21.024 --> 00:02:24.194
  • We will cooperate with it.
  • 00:02:24.194 --> 00:02:26.429
  • And that's the message i wanna bring to you.
  • 00:02:26.429 --> 00:02:29.432
  • It's what i want to take the time we have and unpack in some
  • 00:02:29.432 --> 00:02:32.468
  • More detail.
  • 00:02:32.468 --> 00:02:33.803
  • Now, we have an uncertain journey through time.
  • 00:02:33.803 --> 00:02:38.975
  • It is inconsistently amazing.
  • 00:02:38.975 --> 00:02:42.412
  • There are challenges, it's halting, it's uncertain.
  • 00:02:42.412 --> 00:02:46.516
  • We all understand this.
  • 00:02:46.516 --> 00:02:47.850
  • You don't need me to help you parse this, life's difficult.
  • 00:02:47.850 --> 00:02:50.887
  • Evil exists.
  • 00:02:50.887 --> 00:02:52.989
  • Life arrives filled with disappointments.
  • 00:02:52.989 --> 00:02:55.925
  • People let you down, organizations let you down,
  • 00:02:55.925 --> 00:02:58.761
  • Churches and pastors let you down.
  • 00:02:58.761 --> 00:03:01.998
  • And it's real easy to arrive at a point, "well, i'm just not
  • 00:03:01.998 --> 00:03:03.967
  • Gonna get my hopes up because i don't want to get my hopes let
  • 00:03:03.967 --> 00:03:06.102
  • Down anymore."
  • 00:03:06.102 --> 00:03:08.171
  • And we kind of surrender to a defeatism.
  • 00:03:08.171 --> 00:03:12.108
  • I don't find that to be overly helpful.
  • 00:03:12.108 --> 00:03:14.711
  • I don't want us to be naive, but i want us to understand that god
  • 00:03:14.711 --> 00:03:19.315
  • Is a redeemer, that his faithfulness defines our future.
  • 00:03:19.315 --> 00:03:23.519
  • Look at 1 corinthians 1:9, "god, who has called you into
  • 00:03:23.519 --> 00:03:27.123
  • Fellowship with his son jesus christ our lord, is faithful."
  • 00:03:27.123 --> 00:03:33.830
  • And everything between those commas is an insertion.
  • 00:03:33.830 --> 00:03:38.368
  • The sentence is god is faithful.
  • 00:03:38.368 --> 00:03:42.405
  • The qualifier in that is this god who is faithful, well, he's
  • 00:03:42.405 --> 00:03:46.075
  • Called you into fellowship with his son, jesus christ, our lord,
  • 00:03:46.075 --> 00:03:51.447
  • And he'll be faithful in that.
  • 00:03:51.447 --> 00:03:53.883
  • He calls you into that relationship, and he'll be
  • 00:03:53.883 --> 00:03:56.719
  • Faithful in the administration of all that that means.
  • 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:01.524
  • God is faithful.
  • 00:04:01.524 --> 00:04:04.927
  • Folks, that sentence changes everything.
  • 00:04:04.927 --> 00:04:07.764
  • Now, we struggle with this because life is uncertain.
  • 00:04:07.764 --> 00:04:11.934
  • I really got awakened to this.
  • 00:04:11.934 --> 00:04:15.338
  • I heard my words more clearly because i heard your words.
  • 00:04:15.338 --> 00:04:20.043
  • I interact with a lot of people and one of the things i do is
  • 00:04:20.043 --> 00:04:22.312
  • Meet people who are newer to the church and i've done it
  • 00:04:22.312 --> 00:04:24.947
  • For years.
  • 00:04:24.947 --> 00:04:26.316
  • I've done the newcomers classes, it's had various additions and
  • 00:04:26.316 --> 00:04:27.950
  • Variations, but i meet those people all the time.
  • 00:04:27.950 --> 00:04:30.720
  • And in recent years, i meet them now from all over the country.
  • 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.223
  • And people will say to me, "you know, pastor, we've been
  • 00:04:34.223 --> 00:04:36.059
  • Listening to you online for the last 90--we haven't missed
  • 00:04:36.059 --> 00:04:40.496
  • A service.
  • 00:04:40.496 --> 00:04:41.864
  • Wednesday, saturday, and sunday. we've been watching online.
  • 00:04:41.864 --> 00:04:43.566
  • No matter where we are, we listen
  • 00:04:43.566 --> 00:04:45.301
  • And we really like what you have to say...so far."
  • 00:04:45.301 --> 00:04:52.775
  • Or how many people in the lobby are at a newcomers class and
  • 00:04:52.775 --> 00:04:54.944
  • They say, "pastor, we've been coming to the church.
  • 00:04:54.944 --> 00:04:56.279
  • We've been here for the last three weeks.
  • 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:57.647
  • Church is just amazing.
  • 00:04:57.647 --> 00:04:59.015
  • Our kids love it.
  • 00:04:59.015 --> 00:05:00.350
  • We've enjoyed the messages.
  • 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:01.684
  • We've really liked what's happening here at world
  • 00:05:01.684 --> 00:05:03.186
  • Outreach...so far."
  • 00:05:03.186 --> 00:05:06.522
  • You know, the first couple of times i heard it, i kind of
  • 00:05:06.522 --> 00:05:08.358
  • Shrugged it off, but by the time you hear about the 50th time,
  • 00:05:08.358 --> 00:05:11.494
  • You start to get a twitch..."so far."
  • 00:05:11.494 --> 00:05:19.535
  • Imagine if you used that definition in your life.
  • 00:05:19.535 --> 00:05:22.905
  • I want you to meet my wife, kathy.
  • 00:05:22.905 --> 00:05:30.446
  • She's been a great wife...
  • 00:05:30.446 --> 00:05:34.450
  • [congregation laughing]
  • 00:05:34.450 --> 00:05:36.452
  • Allen: so far.
  • 00:05:36.452 --> 00:05:38.688
  • See, that's just not a good idea, is it?
  • 00:05:38.688 --> 00:05:42.325
  • You're cringing for me, don't go home, don't go home, repent.
  • 00:05:42.325 --> 00:05:47.964
  • But what really caught my attention is i heard myself
  • 00:05:47.964 --> 00:05:51.501
  • Using that language.
  • 00:05:51.501 --> 00:05:54.937
  • "pastor, how are things going on the new construction project?"
  • 00:05:54.937 --> 00:05:58.775
  • Oh, god has been so faithful...so far.
  • 00:05:58.775 --> 00:06:10.253
  • I heard me tagging so many statements in my life about my
  • 00:06:14.424 --> 00:06:19.796
  • Relationship with god, with "so far."
  • 00:06:19.796 --> 00:06:24.167
  • I understood what it meant when the people were saying it to me.
  • 00:06:24.167 --> 00:06:26.302
  • "we're withholding, we're holding out.
  • 00:06:26.302 --> 00:06:28.905
  • We're not committing.
  • 00:06:28.905 --> 00:06:30.239
  • Look, we're not in here.
  • 00:06:30.239 --> 00:06:32.375
  • You know, we're not a part of this thing.
  • 00:06:32.375 --> 00:06:34.477
  • We're standing on the outside, going, 'can you meet all the
  • 00:06:34.477 --> 00:06:37.613
  • Needs that we can present to you in as diverse an array as we can
  • 00:06:37.613 --> 00:06:40.516
  • Find from the cradle to wherever, and we need--you need
  • 00:06:40.516 --> 00:06:45.822
  • To meet our expectations.
  • 00:06:45.822 --> 00:06:47.156
  • And if you'll continue to do that, maybe kind of, sort of,
  • 00:06:47.156 --> 00:06:51.594
  • Occasionally we'll affiliate with you...so far.'"
  • 00:06:51.594 --> 00:06:58.167
  • And that's what i was doing to the lord.
  • 00:06:58.167 --> 00:07:02.805
  • And i began to change.
  • 00:07:02.805 --> 00:07:05.408
  • I don't know that i've completely eliminated it from my
  • 00:07:05.408 --> 00:07:07.577
  • Vocabulary, but i'm working hard to eliminate it from my heart.
  • 00:07:07.577 --> 00:07:10.713
  • If i can get it out of my heart, it won't show up in my
  • 00:07:10.713 --> 00:07:12.715
  • Vocabulary anymore because i'm here to tell you, god
  • 00:07:12.715 --> 00:07:16.252
  • Is faithful.
  • 00:07:16.252 --> 00:07:18.554
  • If he didn't answer another prayer, god's been faithful in
  • 00:07:18.554 --> 00:07:23.826
  • My life.
  • 00:07:23.826 --> 00:07:25.294
  • And he is faithful; whether i can demonstrate it from my
  • 00:07:25.294 --> 00:07:28.197
  • Experience or not, it's a statement of reality.
  • 00:07:28.197 --> 00:07:30.366
  • God is faithful.
  • 00:07:30.366 --> 00:07:32.869
  • And you got to get that established in your heart.
  • 00:07:32.869 --> 00:07:36.973
  • I mean, you can church shop.
  • 00:07:36.973 --> 00:07:38.307
  • You know, i tell people the same thing.
  • 00:07:38.307 --> 00:07:39.675
  • You church shop as long as you need to, but at some point you
  • 00:07:39.675 --> 00:07:41.944
  • Gotta drive a stake in the ground and say, "i'm gonna be a
  • 00:07:41.944 --> 00:07:43.813
  • Part of this community and i'm gonna--complaining, and
  • 00:07:43.813 --> 00:07:47.350
  • Kvetching, and whining, and i'm gonna be a part of this
  • 00:07:47.350 --> 00:07:51.053
  • Community and we'll do our best to make it the best we can and
  • 00:07:51.053 --> 00:07:53.356
  • All the broken as we are together," because the most
  • 00:07:53.356 --> 00:07:55.925
  • Devastating thing you can do to your children is to spend your
  • 00:07:55.925 --> 00:07:58.094
  • Life complaining about church.
  • 00:07:58.094 --> 00:07:59.762
  • They will vote with their feet and walk away as soon as they
  • 00:07:59.762 --> 00:08:02.031
  • Have a chance.
  • 00:08:02.031 --> 00:08:06.669
  • And i'm not gonna complain about god, he's been good to me.
  • 00:08:06.669 --> 00:08:10.206
  • He has blessed my life, he's delivered me from darkness, he's
  • 00:08:10.206 --> 00:08:14.410
  • Justified and sanctified me.
  • 00:08:14.410 --> 00:08:17.413
  • There's no "so far."
  • 00:08:17.413 --> 00:08:18.748
  • And in joseph's case, i'm telling you he had some hurdles.
  • 00:08:18.748 --> 00:08:23.419
  • I meet too many people whose spiritual journey has been
  • 00:08:23.419 --> 00:08:26.188
  • Completely disrupted by the appearance of evil, by something
  • 00:08:26.188 --> 00:08:29.659
  • That's not fair or just or planned on, it's a
  • 00:08:29.659 --> 00:08:33.496
  • Disappointment, it's crushing, and they've been crushed.
  • 00:08:33.496 --> 00:08:40.236
  • And it's okay to have that initial response, but we can't
  • 00:08:40.236 --> 00:08:44.373
  • Welcome it.
  • 00:08:44.373 --> 00:08:45.741
  • We can't memorialize it.
  • 00:08:45.741 --> 00:08:48.044
  • We can't allow it to become the defining characteristic of our
  • 00:08:48.044 --> 00:08:50.947
  • Lives, or there would be no joseph story.
  • 00:08:50.947 --> 00:08:56.452
  • Joseph had a lot of generational baggage.
  • 00:08:56.452 --> 00:08:59.922
  • Plain language, he came from a really--he didn't come from a
  • 00:08:59.922 --> 00:09:02.158
  • Broken family, he came from a fractured family.
  • 00:09:02.158 --> 00:09:05.761
  • You know his dad, jacob?
  • 00:09:05.761 --> 00:09:08.998
  • And his dad's name meant deceiver.
  • 00:09:08.998 --> 00:09:12.868
  • When god calls your dad a deceiver, the momentum in your
  • 00:09:12.868 --> 00:09:18.441
  • Life's a little inconsistent.
  • 00:09:18.441 --> 00:09:25.014
  • In genesis 25:28,
  • 00:09:25.014 --> 00:09:31.020
  • This is what it says about joseph's--
  • 00:09:31.020 --> 00:09:35.491
  • The generation in front of him, "isaac, who had a taste for
  • 00:09:35.491 --> 00:09:37.727
  • Wild game, loved esau, but rebekah loved jacob."
  • 00:09:37.727 --> 00:09:44.834
  • His grandmother loved his dad.
  • 00:09:44.834 --> 00:09:47.603
  • His grandfather loved his uncle.
  • 00:09:47.603 --> 00:09:50.239
  • Gee, couldn't be any tension in that household.
  • 00:09:50.239 --> 00:09:53.242
  • No stress there.
  • 00:09:53.242 --> 00:09:54.977
  • And if that's not enough, in romans, it tells us this is what
  • 00:09:54.977 --> 00:09:57.713
  • God said, "jacob i loved, but esau i hated."
  • 00:09:57.713 --> 00:10:01.384
  • Even god got in on it.
  • 00:10:01.384 --> 00:10:04.887
  • I don't have the time to unpack that in any detail, but esau,
  • 00:10:04.887 --> 00:10:08.090
  • The oldest by a moment, didn't value his birthright, he took
  • 00:10:08.090 --> 00:10:13.295
  • The things of god and trivialized them.
  • 00:10:13.295 --> 00:10:15.731
  • He would trade them away for a meal when he was hungry.
  • 00:10:15.731 --> 00:10:19.402
  • And it seems to me the message is, because there's no--there's
  • 00:10:19.402 --> 00:10:21.771
  • Not some gross immorality pointed out or some great
  • 00:10:21.771 --> 00:10:25.074
  • Personal failure on assignment.
  • 00:10:25.074 --> 00:10:26.976
  • Esau simply didn't value the things of god.
  • 00:10:26.976 --> 00:10:30.246
  • And jacob, for all the things that he wasn't, he's a conniver
  • 00:10:30.246 --> 00:10:33.215
  • And a manipulator.
  • 00:10:33.215 --> 00:10:34.884
  • He's--literally, he's a twister.
  • 00:10:34.884 --> 00:10:38.087
  • That's the most literal translation.
  • 00:10:38.087 --> 00:10:39.455
  • He's a twister.
  • 00:10:39.455 --> 00:10:40.790
  • And jacob was a twister.
  • 00:10:40.790 --> 00:10:42.291
  • Joe's dad.
  • 00:10:42.291 --> 00:10:44.827
  • I mean, joseph comes from a messed up family system.
  • 00:10:44.827 --> 00:10:49.031
  • His brothers sold him as a slave because his dad was so broken,
  • 00:10:49.031 --> 00:10:52.368
  • His brothers hated him.
  • 00:10:52.368 --> 00:10:55.237
  • You have to have some outside spiritual forces for a family
  • 00:10:55.237 --> 00:10:58.107
  • System to get that broken.
  • 00:10:58.107 --> 00:11:02.745
  • They go back and tell his dad, "no, he was murdered by
  • 00:11:02.745 --> 00:11:04.780
  • Wild animals."
  • 00:11:04.780 --> 00:11:06.115
  • They sold him into a foreign country.
  • 00:11:06.115 --> 00:11:09.218
  • Now, i got brothers, we did some stuff.
  • 00:11:09.218 --> 00:11:13.055
  • I mean, i locked them in stalls in the barn.
  • 00:11:13.055 --> 00:11:16.992
  • I threw them out of the loft a time or two, they couldn't fly.
  • 00:11:16.992 --> 00:11:19.929
  • Who knew?
  • 00:11:19.929 --> 00:11:26.869
  • They bounce pretty good, but they don't fly worth a nickel.
  • 00:11:26.869 --> 00:11:31.974
  • But i don't think any of us ever thought we could sell
  • 00:11:31.974 --> 00:11:34.210
  • One another.
  • 00:11:34.210 --> 00:11:40.449
  • And then he gets to egypt and you know the story.
  • 00:11:40.449 --> 00:11:44.787
  • He's a slave in a household.
  • 00:11:44.787 --> 00:11:47.623
  • You really wouldn't have to know anything else.
  • 00:11:47.623 --> 00:11:49.024
  • You'd think, "well, he'd never recover from that."
  • 00:11:49.024 --> 00:11:51.761
  • You'd never be anything close to intact.
  • 00:11:51.761 --> 00:11:55.331
  • There be no peace in him, but he's intact enough that his
  • 00:11:55.331 --> 00:12:00.336
  • Master in egypt entrusts him with his whole household.
  • 00:12:00.336 --> 00:12:04.273
  • He has enough integrity of spirit, enough integrity of
  • 00:12:04.273 --> 00:12:07.009
  • Character that he's trusted with everything in a household in a
  • 00:12:07.009 --> 00:12:11.814
  • Foreign nation.
  • 00:12:11.814 --> 00:12:14.950
  • And the wife of his master tries to seduce him repeatedly over a
  • 00:12:14.950 --> 00:12:18.087
  • Long period of time.
  • 00:12:18.087 --> 00:12:19.488
  • Would've been very easy to have felt entitled to that.
  • 00:12:19.488 --> 00:12:23.626
  • There have been so many, you know, i have discovered that
  • 00:12:23.626 --> 00:12:26.362
  • If--if you don't guard your heart, when evil touches your
  • 00:12:26.362 --> 00:12:28.798
  • Life, you will take it for license to do evil yourself.
  • 00:12:28.798 --> 00:12:35.538
  • And joseph didn't do that.
  • 00:12:35.538 --> 00:12:38.374
  • He refused the advances.
  • 00:12:38.374 --> 00:12:39.775
  • And then when the lies were told about him, he lost his position.
  • 00:12:39.775 --> 00:12:43.045
  • He went from being a slave in a foreign country to a prison in a
  • 00:12:43.045 --> 00:12:46.081
  • Foreign country.
  • 00:12:46.081 --> 00:12:50.219
  • And while he was there, god blessed him.
  • 00:12:50.219 --> 00:12:51.987
  • He became the doer of everything that was done in the prison.
  • 00:12:51.987 --> 00:12:54.223
  • Folks, if you're the doer of everything that's done in the
  • 00:12:54.223 --> 00:12:56.258
  • Prison, you're still a doer in the prison.
  • 00:12:56.258 --> 00:13:01.764
  • And he interprets dreams for some of pharaoh's former
  • 00:13:01.764 --> 00:13:04.500
  • Servants, and they promised to help him because one of them,
  • 00:13:04.500 --> 00:13:07.570
  • Joseph says, "you'll be released," and he is released.
  • 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:09.805
  • The dream came--joseph's interpretation came true.
  • 00:13:09.805 --> 00:13:13.209
  • And the man promptly forgot joseph.
  • 00:13:13.209 --> 00:13:16.779
  • I mean, you'd think there's just no way anybody can persevere
  • 00:13:16.779 --> 00:13:19.582
  • Through all of that.
  • 00:13:19.582 --> 00:13:21.450
  • And joseph did until pharaoh has a dream.
  • 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:25.187
  • And then they come get joseph and he could have been sullen
  • 00:13:25.187 --> 00:13:27.523
  • And angry and bitter.
  • 00:13:27.523 --> 00:13:28.858
  • He could have been so many things.
  • 00:13:28.858 --> 00:13:31.293
  • And he honors god.
  • 00:13:31.293 --> 00:13:32.661
  • He said, "no, i can't interpret that dream, but my god can."
  • 00:13:32.661 --> 00:13:37.733
  • "are you kidding me?
  • 00:13:37.733 --> 00:13:39.068
  • The god that let me be sold into slavery, and the god that let me
  • 00:13:39.068 --> 00:13:42.004
  • Be lied about when i maintained some moral integrity, and the
  • 00:13:42.004 --> 00:13:45.541
  • God that let me languish in a prison?"
  • 00:13:45.541 --> 00:13:51.080
  • Thank god.
  • 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:55.351
  • Hated, rejected, and he's gonna become the governor of egypt.
  • 00:13:55.351 --> 00:14:04.960
  • I'd call that triumph.
  • 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:09.231
  • Allen: welcome to 2026. happy new year.
  • 00:14:13.068 --> 00:14:16.272
  • We've created a new book to help you.
  • 00:14:16.272 --> 00:14:17.773
  • It's called "turn up the light."
  • 00:14:17.773 --> 00:14:19.108
  • It's a devotional for the whole year.
  • 00:14:19.108 --> 00:14:20.743
  • It's a really simple idea.
  • 00:14:20.743 --> 00:14:22.077
  • I can join you for a cup of coffee in the morning.
  • 00:14:22.077 --> 00:14:24.914
  • We'll have a brief conversation with a spiritual principle
  • 00:14:24.914 --> 00:14:27.616
  • To start our day, a scripture verse, a prayer.
  • 00:14:27.616 --> 00:14:30.419
  • And then when you're tired of me,
  • 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:31.754
  • You can close the book.
  • 00:14:31.754 --> 00:14:33.255
  • It's perfect.
  • 00:14:33.255 --> 00:14:34.857
  • In all seriousness, we do wanna turn up the light.
  • 00:14:34.857 --> 00:14:37.293
  • Let's not rage against the darkness.
  • 00:14:37.293 --> 00:14:38.694
  • Let's invite god into the midst of this year
  • 00:14:38.694 --> 00:14:41.130
  • And then just see what he will do.
  • 00:14:41.130 --> 00:14:42.932
  • Female announcer: pastor allen's new devotional,
  • 00:14:42.932 --> 00:14:44.466
  • "turn up the light," is designed to equip you every single day
  • 00:14:44.466 --> 00:14:47.603
  • Of the year.
  • 00:14:47.603 --> 00:14:48.938
  • Inside, you'll find 365 short devotionals,
  • 00:14:48.938 --> 00:14:52.408
  • Each with a scripture, teaching, and a prayer.
  • 00:14:52.408 --> 00:14:55.477
  • As you begin this new year, don't rage against the darkness.
  • 00:14:55.477 --> 00:14:58.681
  • Instead, choose to turn up the light.
  • 00:14:58.681 --> 00:15:00.849
  • You can request this book when you donate $25 or more today
  • 00:15:00.849 --> 00:15:04.853
  • At allenjackson.com or by calling...
  • 00:15:04.853 --> 00:15:10.125
  • Announcer: we are committed to helping you grow in your faith
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  • And have tools for your journey no matter your schedule.
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  • Get daily encouragement and insight with pastor allen's
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  • Daily devotion right in your inbox.
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  • Jackson ministries.
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  • Allen: so, i want to use joseph as a model and we got just a
  • 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:46.128
  • Minute, so we're gonna buzz through this, hm, because i
  • 00:15:46.128 --> 00:15:52.468
  • Think it speaks to us.
  • 00:15:52.468 --> 00:15:53.836
  • Folks, our lives aren't perfect.
  • 00:15:53.836 --> 00:15:55.304
  • We sit in church and we clean up pretty good.
  • 00:15:55.304 --> 00:15:58.374
  • You know, for an hour or so, we can sit here and look like this
  • 00:15:58.374 --> 00:16:00.642
  • Is normal.
  • 00:16:00.642 --> 00:16:01.977
  • This isn't normal.
  • 00:16:01.977 --> 00:16:03.345
  • I know, because i can stand in the parking lot and watch
  • 00:16:03.345 --> 00:16:04.947
  • You leave.
  • 00:16:04.947 --> 00:16:06.315
  • Your true self comes out.
  • 00:16:06.315 --> 00:16:13.088
  • That's why i wait till you're all gone before i leave.
  • 00:16:13.088 --> 00:16:16.191
  • A little protection for me, but somehow god enabled joseph to
  • 00:16:16.191 --> 00:16:22.364
  • Maintain or have restored--the best label i knew was his
  • 00:16:22.364 --> 00:16:26.168
  • Emotional integrity.
  • 00:16:26.168 --> 00:16:27.536
  • There's some biblical directions we're giving that feed to our
  • 00:16:27.536 --> 00:16:31.273
  • Mental and emotional well-being, and they're really not options
  • 00:16:31.273 --> 00:16:35.310
  • If you want god's best.
  • 00:16:35.310 --> 00:16:37.713
  • Joseph had to forgive.
  • 00:16:37.713 --> 00:16:40.215
  • He had to forgive brothers, he had to forgive egyptians, he had
  • 00:16:40.215 --> 00:16:43.752
  • To forgive a lot of people.
  • 00:16:43.752 --> 00:16:46.055
  • Had to forgive his parents, had to forgive himself.
  • 00:16:46.055 --> 00:16:49.091
  • I mean, there was just a lot.
  • 00:16:49.091 --> 00:16:50.426
  • He had to forgive himself because if he hadn't shot his
  • 00:16:50.426 --> 00:16:52.261
  • Smart mouth off when he was a kid--
  • 00:16:52.261 --> 00:16:55.998
  • "oh god, if i could have been smarter."
  • 00:16:55.998 --> 00:16:59.435
  • I mean jesus said, "if you forgive men when they sin
  • 00:16:59.435 --> 00:17:01.503
  • Against you, your father will forgive you."
  • 00:17:01.503 --> 00:17:04.206
  • The next sentence, "if you don't forgive them, you don't
  • 00:17:04.206 --> 00:17:06.108
  • Get forgiven."
  • 00:17:06.108 --> 00:17:07.443
  • Forgiveness is not an option.
  • 00:17:07.443 --> 00:17:10.746
  • Some of you are harboring anger, and resentment, and bitterness,
  • 00:17:10.746 --> 00:17:13.482
  • And hatred, and what's done to--has been done to you is
  • 00:17:13.482 --> 00:17:16.518
  • Hateful and wicked and evil, but you'll never make a case so
  • 00:17:16.518 --> 00:17:20.122
  • Convincing that god will agree with you in your unforgiveness.
  • 00:17:20.122 --> 00:17:28.564
  • Forgiveness begins with a choice.
  • 00:17:28.564 --> 00:17:29.898
  • It's not an emotion.
  • 00:17:29.898 --> 00:17:31.266
  • You don't forgive because you feel like it.
  • 00:17:31.266 --> 00:17:33.635
  • You forgive because god told us to.
  • 00:17:33.635 --> 00:17:37.840
  • Joseph seems to just refuse to worry.
  • 00:17:37.840 --> 00:17:39.708
  • He could have been totally consumed.
  • 00:17:39.708 --> 00:17:41.043
  • "what'll i do? what'll happen to me?
  • 00:17:41.043 --> 00:17:42.678
  • How will i eat? oh, my life's devastated."
  • 00:17:42.678 --> 00:17:48.350
  • Somehow he managed to refuse that.
  • 00:17:48.350 --> 00:17:50.252
  • Peter said to cast all of our anxiety on god.
  • 00:17:50.252 --> 00:17:55.190
  • Some of you, your spiritual gift is worry.
  • 00:17:55.190 --> 00:18:00.963
  • Then you've wrapped it in church language.
  • 00:18:00.963 --> 00:18:03.632
  • You don't worry you have a burden.
  • 00:18:03.632 --> 00:18:07.102
  • I'm an intercessor.
  • 00:18:07.102 --> 00:18:09.638
  • Well, i believe in intercessors, but don't use language to hide
  • 00:18:09.638 --> 00:18:12.674
  • From the fact that your heart's overwhelmed with anxiety.
  • 00:18:12.674 --> 00:18:16.478
  • We live in an uncertain world.
  • 00:18:16.478 --> 00:18:18.680
  • The only certainty for our future is to know that god
  • 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:20.916
  • Is faithful.
  • 00:18:20.916 --> 00:18:22.684
  • If we're trying to secure our future with political agendas,
  • 00:18:22.684 --> 00:18:26.221
  • With economic agendas, with physical strength, with
  • 00:18:26.221 --> 00:18:29.491
  • Whatever, whatever--
  • 00:18:29.491 --> 00:18:31.994
  • Folks, take all your anxiety and give it to the lord.
  • 00:18:31.994 --> 00:18:34.062
  • "god, i trust your faithfulness that if the mountains shake and
  • 00:18:34.062 --> 00:18:39.134
  • Fall into the sea, you will be faithful in my life."
  • 00:18:39.134 --> 00:18:43.372
  • [congregation applauding]
  • 00:18:43.372 --> 00:18:46.008
  • Allen: i think joseph modeled that for us.
  • 00:18:46.008 --> 00:18:49.011
  • He overcame rejection time and time again.
  • 00:18:49.011 --> 00:18:53.015
  • You know, my--one of my greatest learnings about rejection is it
  • 00:18:53.015 --> 00:18:56.185
  • Comes to all of us, but it doesn't come as a
  • 00:18:56.185 --> 00:18:59.254
  • Singular event.
  • 00:18:59.254 --> 00:19:02.824
  • Most of us can describe a point in time where we suffered
  • 00:19:02.824 --> 00:19:05.360
  • Rejection and it derailed us.
  • 00:19:05.360 --> 00:19:08.564
  • And perhaps along your spiritual journey, you learned that you've
  • 00:19:08.564 --> 00:19:11.099
  • Been accepted by god through jesus, that you're not rejected.
  • 00:19:11.099 --> 00:19:16.872
  • And there's some healing that comes with that.
  • 00:19:16.872 --> 00:19:20.075
  • There's some deliverance that comes from a spirit of rejection
  • 00:19:20.075 --> 00:19:23.278
  • That causes you to feel like you're always standing on the
  • 00:19:23.278 --> 00:19:25.814
  • Outside, that you weren't given the instruction book that
  • 00:19:25.814 --> 00:19:28.317
  • Everybody else got.
  • 00:19:28.317 --> 00:19:30.986
  • But what i have come to realize is that rejection isn't a
  • 00:19:30.986 --> 00:19:33.989
  • Singular experience.
  • 00:19:33.989 --> 00:19:35.757
  • It follows you all the way through your journey, and we
  • 00:19:35.757 --> 00:19:37.960
  • Have to continue to overcome rejection.
  • 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:40.229
  • Joseph wasn't rejected once.
  • 00:19:40.229 --> 00:19:46.969
  • Paul--saul all of tarsus wasn't rejected in one city.
  • 00:19:46.969 --> 00:19:50.706
  • Jesus wasn't rejected one time.
  • 00:19:50.706 --> 00:19:53.976
  • Noah's message regarding the impending judgment of god wasn't
  • 00:19:53.976 --> 00:19:57.479
  • Rejected once.
  • 00:19:57.479 --> 00:20:01.550
  • That initial event when you recognize you've been accepted
  • 00:20:01.550 --> 00:20:04.620
  • In christ is to enable you to become an overcomer.
  • 00:20:04.620 --> 00:20:12.594
  • Joseph models it in such a remarkable way.
  • 00:20:12.594 --> 00:20:16.431
  • Joseph had to deal with his old carnal nature.
  • 00:20:16.431 --> 00:20:19.334
  • Colossians 3 says, "put to death whatever belongs to your earthly
  • 00:20:19.334 --> 00:20:22.537
  • Nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust."
  • 00:20:22.537 --> 00:20:25.741
  • Seems to me like joseph had to deal with that.
  • 00:20:25.741 --> 00:20:29.077
  • "i will not give license to those things."
  • 00:20:29.077 --> 00:20:31.246
  • Do you understand when we talked about lawlessness a moment ago
  • 00:20:31.246 --> 00:20:33.915
  • From matthew 24?
  • 00:20:33.915 --> 00:20:36.485
  • Wickedness, ungodliness, the setting aside of god's law.
  • 00:20:36.485 --> 00:20:40.255
  • Do you recognize the degree to which lawlessness we refuse to
  • 00:20:40.255 --> 00:20:44.860
  • Cooperate with the boundaries that god gives to us in
  • 00:20:44.860 --> 00:20:48.563
  • The church?
  • 00:20:48.563 --> 00:20:51.233
  • In our family systems, we don't want to talk about it.
  • 00:20:51.233 --> 00:20:56.305
  • "it's awkward, it's gonna bring tension, let the government deal
  • 00:20:56.305 --> 00:21:01.810
  • With it."
  • 00:21:01.810 --> 00:21:03.145
  • Folks, that's idolatry.
  • 00:21:03.145 --> 00:21:08.917
  • Joseph was hopeful even when he's under duress.
  • 00:21:08.917 --> 00:21:12.554
  • "i know i'm in this prison, but you're going to be restored to
  • 00:21:12.554 --> 00:21:16.491
  • Pharaoh's favor.
  • 00:21:16.491 --> 00:21:18.427
  • And when you're restored, remember me."
  • 00:21:18.427 --> 00:21:22.497
  • Wow, he's not angry or bitter.
  • 00:21:22.497 --> 00:21:31.139
  • It seems to me that joseph models for us the effort
  • 00:21:31.139 --> 00:21:33.575
  • Of faith.
  • 00:21:33.575 --> 00:21:35.277
  • So, i think we've thought of faith as like a--kind of like a
  • 00:21:35.277 --> 00:21:41.083
  • Little pixie dust, something that helps us get our way or
  • 00:21:41.083 --> 00:21:44.853
  • Gives us an advantage over something.
  • 00:21:44.853 --> 00:21:47.456
  • In my life experience, it seems to me that there's an effort of
  • 00:21:47.456 --> 00:21:51.526
  • Faith, a determination of faith, a perseverance in faith.
  • 00:21:51.526 --> 00:21:57.165
  • I choose to believe god, i choose to believe that what god
  • 00:21:57.165 --> 00:22:00.635
  • Has said will define my future.
  • 00:22:00.635 --> 00:22:02.804
  • In this moment, i may not feel like it, i may not have the
  • 00:22:02.804 --> 00:22:07.242
  • Experiences to suggest that's what's coming, but i believe
  • 00:22:07.242 --> 00:22:10.479
  • What god has said will happen in my life.
  • 00:22:10.479 --> 00:22:17.152
  • In john--i mean, in revelation 1:9, the apostle john, he's an
  • 00:22:17.152 --> 00:22:20.422
  • Old man, his peer group are all gone.
  • 00:22:20.422 --> 00:22:23.525
  • He's been arrested and isolated on an island.
  • 00:22:23.525 --> 00:22:27.028
  • And he said, "i, john, your brother and companion in the
  • 00:22:27.028 --> 00:22:29.564
  • Suffering and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are
  • 00:22:29.564 --> 00:22:32.968
  • Ours in jesus, was on the island of patmos because of the word of
  • 00:22:32.968 --> 00:22:38.173
  • God and the testimony of jesus."
  • 00:22:38.173 --> 00:22:42.911
  • "i'm a prisoner because of god's word and my testimony
  • 00:22:42.911 --> 00:22:45.947
  • For jesus."
  • 00:22:45.947 --> 00:22:47.983
  • But he identifies three things that he says makes us family in
  • 00:22:47.983 --> 00:22:52.220
  • The kingdom of god.
  • 00:22:52.220 --> 00:22:55.090
  • And it's a very--it's not the list i would have expected.
  • 00:22:55.090 --> 00:22:58.393
  • He said we are companions in suffering, in the kingdom, and
  • 00:22:58.393 --> 00:23:03.598
  • In the patient endurance that is ours in jesus.
  • 00:23:03.598 --> 00:23:08.703
  • How did joseph face hatred and rejection and become triumphant?
  • 00:23:08.703 --> 00:23:15.777
  • I believe he had to be willing to endure.
  • 00:23:15.777 --> 00:23:21.316
  • I don't pray for patience.
  • 00:23:21.316 --> 00:23:23.485
  • I pray for you to have patience.
  • 00:23:23.485 --> 00:23:26.121
  • I think maybe if i'm dwelling in the midst of the people with
  • 00:23:26.121 --> 00:23:28.256
  • Patience, i can be impatient, it'll be okay.
  • 00:23:28.256 --> 00:23:30.258
  • I don't know.
  • 00:23:30.258 --> 00:23:32.160
  • I'm not telling--but i'm telling you there are places in life
  • 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:35.363
  • Where god's timeline won't suit yours and you'll have to decide
  • 00:23:35.363 --> 00:23:39.601
  • To trust the lord.
  • 00:23:39.601 --> 00:23:42.070
  • "well, i don't know why."
  • 00:23:42.070 --> 00:23:43.438
  • I don't know why either.
  • 00:23:43.438 --> 00:23:45.040
  • I don't even pretend to know why.
  • 00:23:45.040 --> 00:23:47.642
  • Some things i think we'll have to wait for eternity to have the
  • 00:23:47.642 --> 00:23:50.579
  • Full perspective on.
  • 00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:55.317
  • Oh my, i got more outline.
  • 00:23:55.317 --> 00:23:58.720
  • It's all right.
  • 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:00.822
  • I want to close with a proclamation of faith.
  • 00:24:00.822 --> 00:24:05.694
  • We'll do the rest of this.
  • 00:24:05.694 --> 00:24:13.468
  • There's a mystery in the gospel.
  • 00:24:13.468 --> 00:24:17.739
  • Sometimes there's a mystery in my notes.
  • 00:24:17.739 --> 00:24:19.341
  • It's okay.
  • 00:24:19.341 --> 00:24:22.677
  • We've been making portions of this proclamation together for
  • 00:24:22.677 --> 00:24:25.780
  • More than a decade.
  • 00:24:25.780 --> 00:24:28.583
  • And i know that god gave it to us because the longer we walk
  • 00:24:28.583 --> 00:24:32.254
  • With it, the fresher it seems to become to me in the midst of
  • 00:24:32.254 --> 00:24:35.423
  • Our experiences.
  • 00:24:35.423 --> 00:24:37.492
  • And this is just the first stanza of it.
  • 00:24:37.492 --> 00:24:39.394
  • The proclamation is when we choose to say with our mouth
  • 00:24:39.394 --> 00:24:42.264
  • What god's word says about us.
  • 00:24:42.264 --> 00:24:44.699
  • It's a form of prayer.
  • 00:24:44.699 --> 00:24:46.067
  • It's a declaration.
  • 00:24:46.067 --> 00:24:47.836
  • So, i'm gonna ask you to stand with me.
  • 00:24:47.836 --> 00:24:49.170
  • We're gonna read it together.
  • 00:24:49.170 --> 00:24:50.539
  • If you're at home, you can read it with us.
  • 00:24:50.539 --> 00:24:59.714
  • Does it look familiar?
  • 00:24:59.714 --> 00:25:02.350
  • I hope so.
  • 00:25:02.350 --> 00:25:05.654
  • Let's read it together, "god has uniquely blessed us--the best is
  • 00:25:05.654 --> 00:25:09.791
  • Yet to come.
  • 00:25:09.791 --> 00:25:11.359
  • God has heard our prayers.
  • 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:13.495
  • God has healed our bodies.
  • 00:25:13.495 --> 00:25:15.830
  • God has restored our marriages.
  • 00:25:15.830 --> 00:25:18.400
  • God has protected our children.
  • 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:20.902
  • God has delivered us from oppression.
  • 00:25:20.902 --> 00:25:23.705
  • We live in a season of shaking.
  • 00:25:23.705 --> 00:25:26.374
  • God is shaking the earth.
  • 00:25:26.374 --> 00:25:28.577
  • He is restoring the jewish people and purifying his church.
  • 00:25:28.577 --> 00:25:33.315
  • If we look at the things which can be shaken we will be filled
  • 00:25:33.315 --> 00:25:37.752
  • With terror.
  • 00:25:37.752 --> 00:25:39.187
  • If we look at the eternal kingdom of our lord, we will be
  • 00:25:39.187 --> 00:25:43.425
  • Filled with anticipation.
  • 00:25:43.425 --> 00:25:45.827
  • Our determination as we gather today is to declare before one
  • 00:25:45.827 --> 00:25:51.199
  • Another & almighty god we will not stop."
  • 00:25:51.199 --> 00:25:56.471
  • Amen. god bless you.
  • 00:25:56.471 --> 00:26:04.679
  • Allen: how we begin our year, it matters.
  • 00:26:08.550 --> 00:26:11.019
  • So, we've created a tool to help you get the year off on the
  • 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:13.521
  • Right foot.
  • 00:26:13.521 --> 00:26:14.889
  • It's a devotional for this year.
  • 00:26:14.889 --> 00:26:16.224
  • We've taken our email demontionals that you're
  • 00:26:16.224 --> 00:26:18.493
  • Familiar with, and we've edited it into a book, 365 day
  • 00:26:18.493 --> 00:26:22.530
  • Devotional with a little short thought for the day, a scripture
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  • Verse, a prayer, just a little momentum for every day.
  • 00:26:25.634 --> 00:26:29.037
  • Let's start this year on purpose, inviting god's best
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  • Into our lives.
  • 00:26:32.774 --> 00:26:34.275
  • Many of you are familiar with those devotionals.
  • 00:26:34.275 --> 00:26:36.077
  • You get them in your inbox.
  • 00:26:36.077 --> 00:26:37.545
  • We want to give you a hard copy.
  • 00:26:37.545 --> 00:26:38.880
  • Maybe you get a second copy, share it with a friend, use it
  • 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.216
  • As a mission project this year.
  • 00:26:41.216 --> 00:26:43.184
  • Maybe take it to work, recruit somebody that you're
  • 00:26:43.184 --> 00:26:45.186
  • Working with.
  • 00:26:45.186 --> 00:26:46.521
  • It's a simple way to invite god into the beginning of your day
  • 00:26:46.521 --> 00:26:49.958
  • On purpose.
  • 00:26:49.958 --> 00:26:51.326
  • And if we do that, i believe the outcome will be
  • 00:26:51.326 --> 00:26:53.862
  • Truly significant.
  • 00:26:53.862 --> 00:26:55.463
  • God in the midst of whatever we're doing makes the
  • 00:26:55.463 --> 00:26:57.399
  • Outcomes better.
  • 00:26:57.399 --> 00:26:58.833
  • It's an exciting time.
  • 00:26:58.833 --> 00:27:00.201
  • I like the beginning of a new year, all the promise and the
  • 00:27:00.201 --> 00:27:02.170
  • Hope that that brings, let's put god in the center of it.
  • 00:27:02.170 --> 00:27:05.373
  • "turn up the lights," the name of the devotional, and i believe
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  • It'll do just that in your life.
  • 00:27:07.409 --> 00:27:27.362