SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

Faithful with Much

Words of Faith Final

Faithful with Much
Words of Faith 7-20-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><<><

Genesis 41
[46] Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. [47] During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. [48] Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. [49] Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
[50] Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. [51] Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." [52] The second son he named Ephraim and said, "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
[53] The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, [54] and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. [55] When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph and do what he tells you."
[56] When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. [57] And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.

Can you imagine a time of such abundance when farmers stopped counting the crops? That much abundance in a modern economy would ruin the commodities markets. But Joseph knew this was the plan of God. For seven years, he gathered and stored the immeasurable abundance of crops.
Despite his sudden success, Joseph did not abandon his Israelite heritage. He gave his two sons characteristically Hebrew names. Manasseh means "forget." "It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household." The birth of this precious son helped Joseph forget the misery of his separation from his family and the pain caused by his brothers.
Ephraim means fruitful. "It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." Joseph never forgot that the Lord God had made him fruitful and given him such success out of a terrible circumstance.
The wisdom revealed to Joseph also bore fruit. The seven good years were followed by seven years of severe famine. The Egyptians and people in other countries also went to buy grain from the storehouses throughout Egypt. We might say that Joseph had cornered the grain futures market. But remember, it was not economic shrewdness but God's revelation to Joseph that brought him such remarkable success.
There are many things we might learn from this text. Interestingly, in times of abundance we tend to forget. We forget to count as carefully. We become frivolous with abundance. We fail to save. We don't need a dramatic revelation to know that harder times are likely to come. But we often miss that. We assume that the future will always be abundant.
We also tend to forget about God when things are abundant. Studies show that American giving to church and charity goes down during times of abundance and up during economic hardship. Interesting, isn't it?
Even during an economic downturn, Americans today have more wealth than most of the world and more than any other historical period in U.S. history. Yet charitable giving today is lower per capita than during the Great Depression.
Joseph gives us a tremendous example to follow! Remember God. Listen to God. Understand the times in which we live. Plan carefully, knowing that all blessings come from God alone. Never forget that He alone gives us respite from our times of misery. Never forget that blessing and fruitfulness come from Him for a purpose. Listen and carefully steward all of the blessings that God entrusts to you. He has a purpose in mind.

Father God, make me into the faithful steward You desire me to be. Keep me ever mindful that You have given me relief from the pain of life. You are my strength and my song. Keep me ever alert that every blessing I enjoy comes from You. Give me wisdom to carefully steward and manage every blessing You entrust to me. In Jesus' name.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.