Hope Today 088 - A Journey With Joseph: Dealing with Temptation

A program of word and music featuring an eclectic mix of Christian music and teaching by Pastor Tom Cullen and Brian Evans.  Mac Wigfield starts the program with southern gospel classics.

Produced in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada.

Christian Artists featured are:

Signature Sound

Crist Family

Whisnants

Chris Rice

Reflections Trio

Brian Doerksen

Norton Hall Band

Hallal Music

Charles Offor

Matt Boswell and Matt Papa

Thank you for listening to HOPE TODAY. This is a program developed at Light & Life Programming, a registered charity. We are listener supported. If you would like to help with this ministry, donations can be made through our website at www.lightnlife.ca.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to this program of Hope Today. During this next hour, you will find encouragement as you listen to a wonderful mix of music and biblical teaching. Pastor Tom Cullen will continue looking into the life of Joseph, as found today in Genesis chapter 39. Today we learn about dealing with temptation in the life of a young Bible character who is an amazing, godly example. Listen for Pastor Tom in the moments ahead. As we prepare our hearts and minds for today's program, won't you sit back and listen to a few moments of great gospel musicians as Matt Wigfield?

Mac 0:45

And it's time for gospel music on Hope Today. We have quite a variety, I'm sure, of people who listen to the program. Glad that you're there. But if this day you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you can use the word savior with real meaning. Because Jesus is a savior. He is a savior who cares. Here's a song from Signature Sound.

song 1:10

When I can't trace the master's head, can I go on when I can't see his plan? Can I walk through the cold dark night? My faith I can, and here's the reason why I know I know my token if we could my broken heart dead. I don't mind.

SPEAKER_06 2:30

I can't forget, and there's the scarce of all that I regret.

song 2:44

My life was ruled in my own head.

SPEAKER_05 2:54

But fruit is love. I can begin again.

song 3:02

I know, I don't like to talk to me. I don't think to give me my troubles. I know I know my stay okay.

Mac 4:26

Well, life has its share of tempestuous seas, as the Chris family will tell us. Listen.

SPEAKER_12 5:35

Thou canst the ocean aw, boisterous waves oh they thy win when thou steest to the least deal. What dress thus did Jesus David me?

song 6:20

When I still reached the show, and not to break it off me. Jesus parent me.

Mac 7:28

But you know, if you're not a believer, you don't have a prayer. These are the wisdoms.

song 7:52

The savior is waiting to enter your heart. Why don't you let him come in? Where's that to keep you up? Why is your answer to time? Before you take one step toward the same for my friend, you'll find his arms open and white.

Tom 11:30

It's been said that temptations swirl around us every day, just looking for a place to land. And isn't it true? It seems we're always facing things, attitudes, and situations that call us to abandon what we believe to be good and holy and pure, and give in to an urge that will bring us fortune, power, or glory. In our study of the life of Joseph today, we will discover this very thing and see that he is able to overcome. Here is Chris Rice with It is Well with My Soul.

SPEAKER_10 12:04

When peace life sendeth my way.

Tom 17:59

So for you. In the midst of temptation, God will provide a way out. The reflections trio sing, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

unknown 18:11

What a friend we have in Jesus.

song 18:19

All our sins have preached to come in.

Tom 21:48

The Israeli Secret Service say that they can entrap any man or woman with one or some combination of three things money, power, or sexuality. But Joseph was able to. And firm in the face of the wrong temptation. How did he do it? He was ready. Joseph didn't need to stop and think about what he stood for, or who he supreme served, or how God called him to live. He was ready to call us in. He says in Genesis chapter 39, verse 9, how could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? Joseph called us in. James Boy says that in our battle against temptation, is an important starting point. Because one of the devil's tricks in his campaign to promote sin and limit godliness is to call sin something other than what it is. And make it less objectionable and perhaps even more desirable. Pride, for example, is reinterpreted as a self-esteem. Gluttony is called the good life. Coveting is trying to improve yourself or get ahead. Perversions, which are condemned so directly and fiercely in the Bible, are called an alternative lifestyle. Fornication is experimentation, and adultery is an attempt to cure a lackluster marriage. Listen, no matter what you call it, no matter how hard you try to cover it up and excuse it, sin is still a sin. Joseph was ready to face temptation for what it was rebellion against God, and contrary to everything he wants for us. Brian Dorkson sings of the holiness of God.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Kate was working with young women in West London, and it seems was actively involved in the Keswick Deeper Life Convention movement. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Keswick was the site of a series of meetings designed to promote more devotion to Christ. The desire of the believer is that as they mature in faith, their personality and character will take on more Christ-like qualities. Their devotion to Christ will strengthen their resolve to resist sin from gaining a foothold in their lives. The hymn must have been written prior to 1913 when it was first published in print form as a poem. The tune was later composed by Arthur Cyril Garden Bull. The text and tune were first included in the Golden Bell's hymnal in 1925. Kate Wilkinson died just three years later. Yet her hymn remains as a personal encouragement to prepare for our daily living by seeking the mind of Christ in our heart. As one of the six verses says, May I run the race before me strong and brave to face the foe. Looking only unto Jesus as I onward go. Won't you make this your prayer too? As Norton Hall Band sings, May the mind of Christ my Savior.

SPEAKER_11 31:29

May the mind of Christ my Savior live in me from day to day by his love and power controlling all I do and say. So that I try only through his house.

Tom 34:43

He didn't try to cover it up or excuse it. But he was also ready to see sin as an offense against God. He would agree with the words of Psalm 51, which reads, Against you, Lord, only you have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Joseph recognized that however great an offense his sin might be to other people, it was far more offensive to God. In a parable that Jesus tells, we see that this is the realization that the prodigal son comes to when he is in a distant land, and one day after feeding swine, he comes to his senses and says, I have not only sinned against my earthly father, but I have sinned against my heavenly father. Walt Whitman once said that there were times when he would like to go and live with the cattle. They were so placid and content, he said. Not one of them, he noticed with approval, lies awake at night and weep over its sin. That's the ideal. I'd say that our generation has done well, for there are few people who weep over their sin. Oh, how we need to recover the fact that when we sin, we slap God in Christ in the face. We push the crown of thorns down a little harder upon his head, we nail the nails into his hands with a little more force, and we raise our voices. Crucify, crucify. Our sins are against God. And because of those sins, he died. Joseph, when tempted, was ready to see that sin was against God, and as a result, he walked away from the temptation rather than bring shame upon the Lord whom he loved and who loved him. The result of the sound testified, I need thee every hour. There's another way to resist temptation. Just outright refuse. F. B. Meyer offers this advice. When temptation comes, refuse the first tiny thrill of it, lest it widen a breach big enough to admit the ocean. Remember that no temptation can master you unless you welcome it within. Perhaps that's why we read in Proverbs 4, Do not set your foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn from it and go on your way. We read in verse 10 of Genesis 39 that Joseph not only refused to go to bed with Oliver's wife, but he even refused to be with her. So many of us fall into sin because we allow ourselves to be where we know we will be tempted. Believe it or not, sometimes overcoming temptation is as easy as not allowing yourself to be in those places or situations where you know you will be tempted, or with those people whom you know will only lead you further from God rather than closer to him. In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Here's halal music with a wonderful prayer.

song 40:12

May the words of my mouths of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Be pleasing in your side, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Be pleasing in your side, O Lord. My rock and heart be demon. No one's at all seven. And make the bugs in.

Tom 42:20

Thanks so much for joining us on Hope Today. It is a truth that God calls us to turn away from temptation and to live a life of holiness, to revere Him, shun evil, seek peace, and call for justice. This is the way of God's people, empowered by the presence and life of Christ. So Charles Offer sings Thoughts to Live By.

SPEAKER_14 42:45

Revere God's glory from the rising sun. Shun evil of the evil one. Call for justice, call for justice, call for justice, right? Justice Call for justice, call for justice, call for justice, and the city.

SPEAKER_13 44:01

Filled with the spirit filled with the spirit Filled with the Spirit Give face to God Fill with the Spirit Fill with the Spirit Fill with the Spirit Give face to God Love love love love the Lord love love love with all your strength Love love with your heart and your soul do this you shall make Clothe yourself with compassion Clothe yourself in humility Cold yourself in kindness Cloth yourself in Cold yourself with compassion Cloth yourself in humility Cloth yourself in kindness Cloth yourself in Christ Lock love love the door Lock love with all your strength Lock love with your heart and soul Do it And you shall love love love the Lord Love love with all your strength Lock love with your heart and soul Do this And you shall live and you shall live and you shall live We've been talking about overcoming temptation But I want to talk to those of you who have fallen into temptation You need to know that God is gracious low to anger and abounding in love He is so gracious that He has provided a way for you to be forgiven Jesus to live on earth and be tempted in every way of temptation and all forgiveness we have thrown into the sea with a bottom for your art and they are many His mercy is more here's Matt Boswell and Matt Papa His mercy is more stronger than darkness knew every morning Our sins there are many His mercy is more wrongs we have done Omnished all known He counts not their stones thrown into a sea with a bottom more show Our sins they are many His mercy is more His mercy is more yes Mercy for me as we constantly But all the weakness The Volley's the Honey is Mercy His Merci Stronger Asim His Mercies More Sometimes we think that God will not forgive us for what we have done Be assured the Bible is clear if we will confess our sin God is faithful to forgive everyone and everything You ask him and you will see You may want to hear this program or a previous one again Or you may want to share a program with a friend You can do all that by visiting www.lifeanlife.ca Through the website you can also send Pastor Tom and our team a note.

SPEAKER_01 50:20

We would love to hear your story Hope today is produced at Straight Cast Studio. We look forward to being with you and your friends next time for another program of Hope. Until then, keep looking ahead. Jesus is coming again.