Momentum - Learning to Overcome the Evil Aimed at You, Part 2

What do you do when life is just flat out unfair. I mean it's evil, it's wrong. You've been betrayed and gossiped about people have why they stolen. I mean you just save yourself God this is so unfair and it hurts. How do you move on how you will get to talk about three specific biblical steps that God will give you that will help you in your situation today statement welcome to this Wednesday edition of living on the good with tripping, Living on the Edge features the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram's daily discipleship program Monday through today. Chip wraps up our current series with a final look at one of his favorite benefit. Joseph, one of the most amazing things about Joseph is that he continue to trust God's plan and God's goodness even when he had every reason to feel anger, betrayed and helpless already do that.

How can we do that we feel angry, betrayed, helpless. That's what Chip is going to talk about today with the conclusion of his message from Genesis chapters 37 through 50. Learning how to overcome the evil and now here's Chip Hebrews 1036 my chop at your notes just for you have need of endurance, so that once you've done the will of God, you might receive his promise if need of endurance who Paul Menell is the word used in James one. You have need you to produce under hoopoe means to be under Menell under great stress and pressure you have need to hang in there, the pressure and the stress I can't make it as a single parent one more that I can't make it this job one more day and let you get up and you do it as you do it as you do it as you do it as you do it you get stronger and stronger and stronger and see what happens as God changes you were always asking God to change the stuff out there that we can't control, and God's primary commitment is he'll change you in the midst of it will change me and so he grew and he forgave and he moved on while it raises the question Joseph I would like to learn how to do that. What what what was the dynamic. It's one thing to to read that and say great.

Joseph did it. What was the secret I like to suggest that Joseph's secret to overcome evil involves something he knew something he did and something he refused to do so in all of that 13 years and all the trail injustice abandonment there something he knew more and actually I don't.

This is going to come right out in the text because he's going to meet his brothers and they can have a number of situations and he's got testimonies going to put gold in their bags and he's going to give them the grain and he's gonna hide his identity. Never he doesn't do it to punish them, but he wants to test them. He wants to bring them to the point where they realize what they've done and how they sinned against God, and the date they come clean with the whole deal and we pick up the story here in chapter 45 and this is what he knew nothing comes into our lives by accident circle the word by accident in your notes tell you what you start believing that your attitude will change. In Italy, to a great change in behavior. Nothing comes into our lives by accident.

It is either decreed or allowed by who and all wise sovereign God for our good.

There is evil in the world.

God has given us this tremendous gift of free will. People can choose to do good. They can choose to do evil, but their evil can't ruin your life but there's evil in the world and God either decreed knowing his plan for you or he allowed it, and he's been orchestrated in a way for your good to say that God is all wise mean he brings about the best possible ends by the best possible means. For the most possible people.

The longest possible time. The classic definition of the wisdom of God and he's good. He wants to bring your best and the word sovereign just means he's an overall absolute control of all the events of all the circumstances. God knows all things actual and is all things possible. And so what you see is that God has a good big plan for for each of our lives in the little plans of some who intend to harm us are then refashioned by God to fulfill his big good plan. Joseph actively believed that God's sovereign control of all circumstances were meant for good. At some point in time. You just need to write down the phrase when you when you're dealing with your rock. They meant it for evil God meant it for good. God meant it for good. God meant it for good. Some of the evil that has come at you made you go to a different state. Go to a different job you'll if you can begin to trace you realize that if that evil hadn't happened, I would've done this instead of that, but while I landed here.

That's where I met my wife or that's that's when I realize I was a lot better this I took this job instead of that job. Notice what it says here in Genesis 45, Joseph is talking to his brothers. He says now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you for two years now. There's been famine in the land for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping, but God sent me ahead of you.

Why, to preserve you for a remnant on the earth, and to save your lives by great deliverance.

So then it was not you who sent me here.

We start to get a pattern here, it was not you it was not you.

God sent me here in the notice, he exalted him.

He made me father to Pharaoh. Lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Here's the application. Therefore, I am never a can you fill it in. Never does mean it doesn't hurt. The lien is not hard doesn't mean it's really difficult you are never a victim. I am never a victim. I can't play the poor me card. Now it doesn't excuse the person's evil. It never makes it right.

But if I can survive and thrive and resist and wait and grow.

God will do what works all things together for the good to those that love them to those that are called according to his purpose and I will tell you that when you meet people instead of the adversity and the betrayal and the abuse and the lies that it makes him instead of breaks them. I will tell you what they do not have a victim mentality. They do not have the world owes me. They do not have. If this wouldn't happen that I would be here, and if only that would've happened. Some people live with this mindset, their entire life. I got a raw deal and somebody owes to make my life work out. It can be very subtle and by the way, that type of mindset that type of personality produces an emotional response that produces the kind of person that other people don't like to be around. And so become self-fulfilling. Oh poor me I mean you trying help the old poor means for a while and after a while they just wear you out what all the students we start avoiding is a part of it is you gonna face those things at some point time you have to be angry at the person basically Joseph that God was in control that I like it now was prison fun. Absolutely not falsely accused by reputation, but at the end of that. He says he sent me here there little evil plans don't have the power to ruin God's big good plan for your life unless you let it.

So that's what he knew.

The second thing is something he did he bless those who curse them. Chapter 45. As you look down it says. Now hurry back to my father and say to him.

This is what your son Joseph says God has made me Lord of all Egypt. While let's like that dream came true God was faithful to his promise come down to me. Don't delay, you shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me, you, your children and grandchildren your flocks and your herds, all that you have now listen to this blessing. I will provide for you there because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise, you and your household and all you belong, will become destitute. You can see for yourselves and so can my brother Benjamin that it is really high, who in speaking to you. Tell my father about all the honor accorded to me in Egypt and about everything you've seen and bring my father down here nothing nothing about this. This is not a fairyland story. Joseph chose to willfully bless the very brothers who rejected now that part where I said you need to pray and ask God to have your heart be open right right about now you need to ask him to keep it open, because if you want to get rid of your rock. You get a first believe that God really is in control and is good. And second, you can have to bless the person who will you committed to provide for them, their children, their grandchildren. Romans chapter 12 verse 14. Bless those who curse you, bless and curse not. It's a command not a suggestion, do not be of verse 21 fax Romans 1214 here sort of the book and opening and verse 21 is the ending, who go on to say, never be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. When we want to pay back when we get back evil. It's like fire comes to us.

We try and put out the fire with the gas hose and it just like drinking poison and thinking the other person's going to die. He got it yet, a blossom, the application is I will do good to those who hurt me in a safe and appropriate way and I add that the do good.

I don't know what to look like I'll give you a couple suggestions and by a safe and appropriate way.

If your father abused you. If you been sexually abused. If you been in a marriage where the person was violent. This application is not. I think I'll go visit dad or have my ex-boyfriend who beat me up over for dinner. On another note there's very very clear boundaries, but in a safe and appropriate way. How could you bless how in some way, could you do good for the person who brought this on you.

I was with a guy not heard his story's override in the car. We played some golf and then really go to this restaurant.

He drove me and so we were alone. I said Bruce Mena for this amazing story. And so pretty messed up life pretty messy bad bad divorce, lots of anger. Lots of back and forth to one another, alienated kids lying about one another on and on and on erucic 41, gets his life.

Early right with the Lord. I mean animosity at levels that you put some of you don't have to imagine but messy, difficult, painful, ugly, ugly divorce kids separated over it. Will Bruce come to Christ begins to grow spiritually a really put some roots down remarries after period of time and his wife out of all this instead of it making her and breaks her. She goes through all the money he pays alimony, pays an extra two years of that squanders all the money and is almost destitute, and now his kids are grown and they get married and the daughter-in-law's talking to his new wife. He's been married. Now another 20 years basically are singing a week. We think you know bring an end up having her live with us and he may now he did before the law. I mean to give her lots of money paid all the stuff paid two extra years. He didn't have to. And no matter what she's to, she's out of money again and he's his like I did my part. I went over and above and his wife that he remarried very, very strong Christian and they've been through lots of counseling repair with the kids and and he said his his wife came in, so I think we need to do something for your ex-wife. I think we need to buy a home for her and then get it where she will always have a place to live.

Provide for her. The rest of her life. He said I looked at my wife like she was on drugs and he get then he said I would give her all the reasons why that was such a stupid idea what I've already done in a, came back to this. Bless those and they said I symbol what was a turning point because he eventually did it and he did it in a way where she picked out the house he did it in a way where it could be protected where you know can be resold, and she couldn't mess up.

She would have a place to live the rest of her life had the kids help her pick it out whole 9 yards.

But I mean totally no control took the hands often I symbol what what moves you to do that well. My wife said to me, how can you say you love your kids if you not willing to help the mother and he said you know I did the legal thing and I did the thing that I never did before God is that I never dealt with my the depth of my sin in the marriage. The depth of what I really blew it. I mean I have for God's forgiveness and asked for hers, but it was still after all these years, and he said after we did that. He said it was like God opened the hardness of her heart, and there was a restitution and forgiveness after 20 some years to last Thanksgiving we had all of my family all my children and my ex-wife. My ex-wife known his last five years has become friends, and I'm not saying this is I'm talking about the power of blessing and doing good to those that don't deserve it.

And there's been restoration and when it got all done. It was like in all the control issues that happen. She said when they signed all the papers and she had it. She came to them. She said you know you might want this.

Because if I'm out of town. She gave him the key to their new house, so that anytime you guys need to use the help she can. Jesus said, you've heard it said love your neighbor and hate your enemy's but I say to you, forgive your enemies and pray for those who desperately use you for what good is it if you love those who love you don't even the pagans and the unbelievers do that, but you're never more like your heavenly father who causes it took the sun to shine in the rain to fall on both the evil and the good, and so he says love your enemies and pray for them, do good to them that you might be like literally, it's that you might be sons of your father in heaven.

The Hebrew term.

The idea of you have family likeness. When you do good for those who have done evil. Finally, he refused to do something and what he refused to do was take revenge story picks up in Genesis chapter 50 it says when Joseph's brother saw that the father was dead. They said what if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did it so they sent word to Joseph saying to us like, hey, let's make up something that dad told us.

Your father left these instructions before he died. This is what he's to say to Joseph I ask you to forgive your brothers and the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly now, please forgive the sins of your servants of God and of your father when their message came to Joseph.

He wept his brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves. They said but Joseph said to them, don't be afraid I'm in the place of God you intended to harm me, the God intended it for good to accomplish what you now see being done, the saving of many lives.

So then don't be afraid I will provide for you and your children and he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. He forgave them from the heart. He had, he could pay back.

He could finally he refused to take revenge. And here's the application and this is a big one for you. For me, I will choose to forgive or release those who hurt me from the retribution they deserve, because Christ has done that for me.

When Jesus was teaching on prayer. He said what he said forgive, if you forgive them. So I will forgive you. I had to major biggest betrayals of my adult life and I mean I will tell you talk about a rock. I was so I was livid. I was so angry and I and I will tell you what what happens for some of you pleased with me is when this happens when an unbeliever does it. It hurts really badly. When you're betrayed or falsely accused of something from a fellow Christian that you trust me in a C disk U kit company, I mean we ate together, we were brothers.

We were and I will tell you what God will call you to do is what you review most of you turn to the back page, so I'll get there might as well catch up. There's three specific things you need to do to get rid of this rock number one. Choose to forgive the person who hurt you. It's just a choice.

You forgive it's an act.

The process is forgiving and I'll tell you how to do that in just a minute and when you go through this process over a period of time. Some of take me a couple years, but you choose to forgive and then you begin to pray for that person you start to bless that person and you don't feel like it and then you will find one day you hear something good about them and before you can think of how you should respond. You have an immediate positive response and you realize the grace of God is completely change your heart. Second thing you need to do is begin praying daily for the person to bless the person who hurt you about like you don't feel like it in my prayers usually start like this. Dear God, help them see how wrong they were back then, dear God bring circumstances in the lives of the really repent and see how they really are mirror our and then as I get with God. It moves to God. Would you give a great marriage gouge home be a great dad guy would you bless the work of their hands God. Would you be merciful. Please don't give them what they were deserve because God I don't want to get what I deserve. That was the breakthrough for me when I looked in my heart. I looked at my side of any issues. I just thought, oh God, please don't give me when I was super honest, I had a brother who got next to me during my hardest times and he said ship.

I want you to list everything that you need to own in every attitude or action or speech that was a part of that betrayal and he said you take that before God and I did and as I looked at a I so focused on what they did, minimize what I did when I saw that I said oh God, be merciful to me a sinner. The third thing is then as you pray for him every day for the next three days to one act of kindness this week that person hurt you if possible. If they're dead you can't do that, but you can write him a letter and forgive them if they've abused you, or it's not safe.

You can keep clear boundaries, but you could anonymously do something that would bring something positive into their life that they would never know came from you where you can final thought about his teaching, but if you're just joining us, you're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram chips message. Learning how to overcome the evil interview is from his series momentum how to ignite your faith from the base camp of Romans 12 ship leaves this Old Testament track. Exploring the lives of some of the most famous men of the Bible from Abraham and Joseph to Moses and Daniel chip helps us appreciate how these men of faith lived out the practicalities of true spirituality and with continual encouragement. Chip fires the momentum of our own faith journey. No momentum is one of those series you're going to want to keep handy you listen to from time to time because these lessons from Chip are well worth revisiting for your convenience, you'll find all of the discounted momentum resources on our website for pricing and ordering information. Just go to LivingontheEdge.org or were always happy to talk with you when you give us a call at 1-888-333-6003. Now here's chip I'll be right back in just a minute but I want to remind you that this is the very last day of the series. So if you been thinking or intending to get the series or you thought that boy. I know a friend that really needs to listen to this or study.

This let me encourage you get it today. Don't delay, turn that good intention to action. And of course you can go online and download the study notes for free and I really bless someone and help them grow. If you listen for more than one or two the messages you realize this really is the Old Testament biographical characters that really demonstrate the Romans 12 lifestyle right. We looked at Moses, Jonathan, David, Joseph, and so what I want you to know is this is like Romans 12 with clothes on.

But if you want to really dig deeper. There is a book that we offer here Living on the Edge called true spirituality how to become Romans 12 Christian if you want to take these pictures and go to the core of the teaching of the New Testament and how to be a Christian that relives like a Christian. True spirituality is the resource that I think will really help you. We have several ways for you to get your arms around all of this.

Romans 12 material momentum series resources are all discounted and all of the series resources for true spirituality are also discounted.

We believe so strongly in the Romans 12 journey we wanted to make them as easy as possible for you to get so the audio the video versions and the book are all discounted for a limited time for specific pricing and ordering information on either true spirituality or momentum. Just go online to LivingontheEdge.org or if you prefer us a call at 1888333600310 with some final thoughts from today's talk. Here's chip as we close today's message and also close a series I want to just go over because this is very sensitive.

In fact, I spent five chapters talking very specifically in the book on this because this is a toughie but let me give you the top three things the steps that I believe God will have us take that we can be free. Number one. Choose to forgive the person or persons that have hurt you and it's a choice we talked about that that you need to do it if you don't procrastinate on this when you don't have to feel a bit you choose the second begin praying daily for God to bless that person who hurt you.

The next 30 days it's as just a choice. You just unit we already taught it, but let me just encourage would you be willing to do it right their name down somewhere or their initials. If you don't want some else to see it and begin praying God's blessing and then third one act of kindness if possible this week and if it needs to be anonymous, so there's no contact absolutely. But do something that I mean is so Christlike. I mean it's a father forgive them. They know not what they do and and that's the mercy part and then at some grace.

You actually give them exactly what they don't deserve, and in so doing free your soul and allow you to be like Christ. I had a lady after this right me a letter that was really touching and she said my dad has been dead for well over 20 years and I've been a prisoner for the last 20 years and after this message, I went home on a Sunday afternoon and I sat down and I wrote him that letter and I wrote out all the things he did. It was abuse issue, both sexual and physical, and this little girl and live with this all these years and her father finally died.

She's a grown woman now and live with all the pain and chaos that came out of that and she said I wrote him a letter and I named what he did and then one by one. I forgave him and I sealed that letter and she said God freed me.

I long for that for you choose to let go and forgive choose to pray and bless them, and if possible choose an act of kindness. Bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not. Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. As we wrap up today's program. I want to say thank you to those who make this broadcast possible through your generous financial support. Your gifts help us create programs purchase airtime and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians.

If you've been blessed by the ministry of Living on the Edge. Would you consider sending a gift today. You can call us at 1-888-333-6003, or if you prefer, donate online at http://livingontheedge.org while I hope you'll join us again tomorrow is chip begins a new series authentic how to be a Christian without being religious. Until then, this is Dave Drewry saying thanks for listening to today's edition of living on the