Gen 48:8 Then Jacob looked over at the two boys. “Are these your sons?” he asked.
Gen 48:9 “Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt.” And Jacob said, “Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them.”
1. God can’t__ bless__ what we won’t
.
- When we Bring What we have for God to bless. The objects of highest value.
- Proximaty “Bringing our lives within reach” You can have it all God
- we can only be anointed when we submit to the Lordship of the Holy Spirit
- families
- buisiness
- time
- talents
- treasure
Gen 48:10 Jacob was half blind because of his age and could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Jacob kissed and embraced them.
Gen 48:11 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!”
Gen 48:12 Joseph moved the boys, who were at their grandfather’s knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground.
Gen 48:13 Then he positioned the boys in front of Jacob. With his right hand he directed Ephraim toward Jacob’s left hand, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at Jacob’s right hand.Gen 48:14 But Jacob crossed his arms as he reached out to lay his hands on the boys’ heads. He put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger boy, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, though he was the firstborn.
2. We lay down our
before the Lord but He chooses where He lays his
.
What if God wants to bless what you least expect?
Ecc 11:6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. —ESV
Gen 48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked—the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day,
- God has been so good to me, NOT I have been so good to God. ( He was framing His success in the Goodness of God)
Gen 48:16 the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they preserve my name and the names of Abraham and Isaac. And may their descendants multiply greatly throughout the earth.”
Gen 48:17 But Joseph was upset when he saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head. So Joseph lifted it to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 “No, my father,” he said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
3. The blessed life begins when we
that God knows exactly what He’s blessing.
- we are easily tempted to try to manipulate God “you’re blessing it wrong”.
- The epic struggle of letting God be God.
- we try to get God to bless something He is obviously not blessing.
- God knows what He is doing.
Gen 48:19 But his father refused. “I know, my son; I know,” he replied. “Manasseh will also become a great people, but his younger brother will become even greater. And his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”
We don’t see the whole picture. We have to ask God to open our “heart eyes” so we can begin to walk in agreement and stop fighting for our own way.
Gen 48:20 So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Gen 48:21 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors.
Gen 48:22 And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.” —NLT1 Corinthians (NLT)
1Co 1:25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
1Co 1:26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.
- It is a challenge for every believer to remember where we came from.
- Our story is never Look what I’ve done for God, in stead it is look what God has done for me. (GRACE)
- God called us in the middle of our
- God calls us because of our
1Co 1:27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
1Co 1:28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, a*nd used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important*.
1Co 1:29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. —NLT