1. The Joseph Calling Genesis 37-50

2. Genesis 50:20 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.

3. The Story of Joseph

4. Good and Bad Routine  Favorite Son – Good  Rejected by Brothers – Bad  Dreamer – Good  Insensitive – Bad  Slavery – Bad  Potiphar’s Palace – Good  Falsely Accused – Bad  Goes to Jail – Good and Bad

5. Good and Bad Routine  Interpreter – Good  Forgotten – Bad  Remember – Good  Second in Command – Better!  Joseph’s Story is a Story of Perseverance.

6. Spiritual Boot Camp

7. Moses  Exodus 2  40 years  The desert experience was God’s way of maturing Moses for leadership.  Numbers 12:3

8. Joseph  Joseph’s spiritual boot camp was 13 years long and required a separation from his former life.  At the age of 30, Joseph was one of the youngest rulers in history, and God could not afford to have a man in this position with any pride.

9. Bob Mumford “Beware of any Christian leader who does not walk with a limp.”

10. Four Tests God took Joseph through four unique tests. I believe that Joseph was required to pass each one successfully before he qualified for the next. When he passed the last one, he was finally elevated for the call that God ultimately had on his life.

11. Test #1  Joseph’s first test involved his family’s rejection. (Genesis 37)  Bitterness and Betrayal are Two of the Most Difficult Tests in Life.  A.W. Tozer, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.”

12. King David It is not an enemy who taunts me— I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me— I could have hidden from them. Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend. What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God. (Psalm 55:12-14)

13. Test #2  The second test for Joseph was in the area of moral purity.  Potiphar's Wife – Genesis 39:1-17  Reaction – “He fled”

14. Test #3  The third test for Joseph was perseverance.  Prison Experience was a Difficult Season for Joseph.  Proverbs 13:12 – “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.”

15. Test #4  After 13 years of slavery and imprisonment, Joseph was finally freed from prison and elevated to the second highest position in Egypt.  Joseph Passed the Test of Stewardship  Romans 6:4 “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”