TRACKING THE BLOODLINE OF THE BLESSING OF THE LORD !

TRACKING THE BLOODLINE OF THE BLESSING OF THE LORD ! BEHOLD, THE DREAMER COMETH: everyone of Israel's children could have followed in his footsteps. They all could have walked in THE BLESSING. But, only one chose to do it--- the little guy named Joseph. From the time he was a child, Joseph believed he was BLESSED. The son of his father's old age, he has a special place in his daddy's heart. It's easy to imagine him walking around in the special coat Jacob had made him, happy, enjoying life and said, "I am BLESSED !" Many deer Christians use the same words, but do not really understand the full implication of the word BLESSED ! Such faith always delights the heart of God, but often aggravates others, and that was especially true in Joseph's case. His carefree confidence and his father's love for him so irritated his brothers that "they hated him, and could not speak peaceable onto him" (Genesis 37:4) no matter how much their fathers favoritism hurt their feelings, Joseph's brothers had no excuse for that kind of behavior. Though Joseph was the apple of their daddy's eye and had a special, rainbow colored coat and they didn't. Joseph was there little brother ! They should have loved him. Instead, they refuse to say a civil word to him. That, in itself, was bad enough. But when Joseph told his brothers about a dream he'd had that indicated God was planning to promote him, things got worse. He might have been wiser to keep the dream to himself--- but he was a teenage. Teenagers don't know much about keeping their mouths shut, so he said to them: Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood up right; and, behold, your sheaves stood around about, and made obeisanc to my sheaf. In his bretheren said to him, shalt thou indeed reign over us ? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us ? And they hated him the more for his dreams, and for his words (Genesis 37:6-8). That dream absolutely infuriated Joseph's brothers. From their perspective, he was just there little brother trying to lord it over them by claiming to hear from God. They weren't about to believe he had some kind of special spiritual insight. Relatives often feel that way when God starts to use someone in their family. I found that out for myself when I first went into the ministry. Joseph's brothers struggled with that fact. They couldn't itself the idea that God has called one of the youngest members of their family and was beginning to speak to him. The very thought of it made them more jealous than ever. They didn't realize God wasn't speaking to Joseph for his own benefit. He wanted to use that young man to minister to his family. He wanted to say something to them through him. They didn't have the written WORD the and couldn't just pick up the Bible and find out about God as we can. God was establishing Joseph as a prophet in their midst so He could manifest Himself to them on a regular basis. But, that never occurred to them. They just thought Joseph was an arrogant teenager who knew he was his father's favorite, so they were offended. It was one of the biggest mistakes they ever made. Had they been walking in any kind of humility toward God, or has used any spiritual sense, they would have said, "hey, we're all the seed of Abraham. We've all inherited THE BLESSING. Maybe God is trying to speak to us here and help us. Maybe there's a famine coming that we need to know about or something." That would have saved them a lot of trouble. How much better if they'd knelt down together and prayed, "Lord, what are You saying here through our little brother ? Thank you for BLESSING him. We love him. We're willing to receive What You want to say through him, so just speak on, Lord !" Think about the headache that would have said the. It would have opened the door for God to direct the family so that they wouldn't have had to go down to Egypt when the famine came. They would have been prepared. But they didn't do it. They didn't put any faith in God, in THE BLESSING, or in Joseph. Instead, they let their hatred intensify a murderous pitch. Joseph didn't react to their hostility the way you'd expect. When his father asked him to go out to check on his brothers who were tending the sheep in the fields, to make sure they were all right, he said, "Here I am. I'm ready to go." Most people would have said, "Forget about that ! After the way those heathens treated me, I'm not going to do anything for them. They can starve to death out there in the pasture as far as I'm concerned."