Thurs.’s Devo - From the Prison to the Palace

Read: Genesis 39:41-16; Matthew 12:46-13:23; Psalm 17:1-15; Proves 3:33-35 Everywhere Joseph went he had the favor of man and God. He had been his father’s favorite, Potiphar’s favorite and soon became Pharoah’s favorite. No doubt he was a favorite in jail for people to open up and share their dreams with him. Satan hates God’s favorites and does everything he can to discourage and depress what God wants to do in them. God turned all the efforts of Satan for good for Joseph. Joseph got wrongly accused of raping Potiphar’s wife and thrown in prison. He was elevated to head person in the king’s royal prison. Two of Pharaoh’s closest men got thrown in prison for attempting a coup on the king. The cup bearer and the baker must have been accused of trying to poison the king because both had access to the king’s food and drink. Their dreams ratted them out. The baker was guilty while the cup bearer was innocent. In three days, just like Daniel had predicted, their judgment day came and the baker was impaled and the cupbearer was restored to his position. He was suppose to remember Joseph and get him out of jail but instead forgot all about him. God was preserving Joseph for a special moment when he would need him to save a nation. That moment came when the Pharaoh had a dream. Then the cup-bearer remembered Joseph and he was brought before the king. Every time Joseph was questioned about dreams he was sure to give God the credit for his interpretation. The world has their dream interpretation but God’s is the right one. In Matthew Jesus gave a parable we have come to know as the Seed and the Sower. In the parable there was a sower of seed who scattered his seed along the highway, on stony places, among thorns and in good ground. The seed scattered in the first three places were devoured, scorched and choked by their environment. The third seed scattered in good ground brought forth fruit at different degrees. Jesus explained the parable to his disciples later. He reminded them of Isaiah’s prophecy about this generation, “By hearing they will not hear, and will not understand, and seeing they will see but not perceive.” This prophecy summed up the people of Jesus’ time. Because their hearts were hard and closed, it affected the way they heard and saw things. The parable exposed four types of people. They received his teachings with varying degrees of understanding and belief. The only ones who could keep his teachings were the last ones whose hearts were ready and hungry enough to receive it. They were the ones who would bring forth fruit for the kingdom of God. May our hearts be fertile and ready to receive all the seed you scatter our way today. Open our hearts, eyes, ears and understanding to perceive your presence, your voice and your heart.