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CURRENT RADIO SERIES Dare to Believe   CURRENT TV SERIES Dare to Believe

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace…. --1 Peter 4:10 I know the word steward may sound like one of those words you only hear in church. But really, a steward is just someone who’s been entrusted with something valuable. And as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given you and me something very precious to take care of. Those things include our lives and bodies…our influence…our children…our time…the spiritual gifts God has given us…and our possessions. But I want to focus today on the responsibility we have to be good stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This includes guarding the purity of the Gospel in a culture that sees all truth as relative. Jude 3 and 4 tell us, “contend for the faith…for certain people have crept in unnoticed…who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” But being a good steward of the Gospel also means giving it away as well. Paul tells us in Romans 1:14 and 15, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” So today, I want to challenge you…as a believer in Jesus…to both guard and to give away the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you will, you will indeed be a good steward of His Gospel! You have the responsibility to be a good steward of the Gospel.

Believing God Is Working

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 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. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”
Genesis 50:19–21

The sufferings that Joseph endured because of the wrong actions of others is more than most of us will ever experience. His brothers hated him because he was their father’s favorite son, and they decided to sell him into slavery only because it was more profitable than murder. Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison. Even Pharaoh’s butler, whom Joseph helped and befriended in the prison, failed to keep his promise to help until years had passed.
How did Joseph maintain a right spirit and a close relationship with God despite all that injustice? Joseph believed that God was working. I’m sure he didn’t understand why things happened the way they did. There must have been moments when he questioned what was going on and if things would ever get better. But through it all, Joseph maintained his faith. It was so strong that he was even willing to forgive those who had done him wrong when vengeance was in his power. Later, Joseph issued a wonderful declaration (Genesis 50:19–21) that showed he saw God at work even in the dark times of his life.
When we struggle with unjust treatment by others, with difficult circumstances that come through no fault of our own, it is easy to forget that none of these things take God by surprise. He is able to use the very worst things that happen for our good and to equip us to do good for others as well.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

God will never forsake you, never forget where you are, and never fail to keep His promises to you.