TO CHEW ON: "So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, 'It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace'" - Genesis 41:16
Joseph had no illusions about where he got his unusual wisdom and insight into dreams. "It is not in me," he told Pharaoh plainly. "God will give Pharaoh an answer."
He reminds me of another dream interpreter. The young exile Daniel had a similar ability to interpret dreams. When he came before King Nebuchadnezzar to not only interpret his dream but to tell him what he had dreamed in the first place, Daniel too reflected the glory back to God:
"...There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days..." Daniel 2:28.
When we experience success, how easy it is to accept praises and compliments never giving a thought or word to deflecting the glory back to God. Let's follow the example of Joseph, making it very clear that God is the source of any wisdom, or insight or special skill. Let's give Him the glory and not take it for ourselves.
PRAYER: Dear God, please forgive me for accepting praise for myself when it rightfully belongs to You. Help me to habitually give You glory for the abilities and successes You have made possible. Amen.
MORE: God delights in His glory
"...God's own glory is uppermost in His own affections. In everything He does, His purpose is to preserve and display that glory. To say that His own glory is uppermost in His own affections means that He puts a greater value on it than on anything else. He delights in His glory above all things. ...
This is the same as saying: He loves Himself infinitely. Or He Himself is uppermost in His own affections. A moment's reflection reveals the inexorable justice of this fact. God would be unrighteous (just as we would) if He valued anything more than what is supremely valuable. But He Himself is supremely valuable. If He did not take infinite delight in the worth of His own glory, He would be unrighteous. For it is right to take delight in a person in proportion to the excellence of that person's glory" - John Piper, Desiring God, p. 41-43.
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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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