Overflow – Part I
Study Text: Genesis 39:1-6
Key Verse: Genesis 39:5 – "And it came to pass from the time that he
had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD
blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the LORD
was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field."
Have you ever heard the term "Pyramid Scam?" This is a concept in
which one person (at the top of the pyramid) makes more money by getting others
to work under him/her (at the bottom). This practice has been deemed illegal by
the U.S. government because of its unfairness; those at the bottom of the
pyramid benefit very little or not all. Now this worldly system probably tried
to mimic its heavenly counter-part [God’s Blessings] which was set up before
man even had a concept of money. However, the major difference between the
world’s system and God’s system is that God’s system allows everyone at every
level to benefit abundantly.
This week we look at Joseph who was sold as a slave by his brothers (Gen.
37:28) and then sold a second time to Potiphar, an Egyptian (Gen 37:36 &
Gen 39:1). Now even as a slave, the Lord was with Joseph and He prospered him.
How? By blessing Joseph to live in his master’s house (2nd). This is a great
blessing for any slave, yet there were even more blessings of prosperity
granted to Joseph. This should teach us that if God can prosper a man WHILE HE
IS A SLAVE then surely he can prosper us in our current conditions.
Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph because everything Joseph did,
the Lord made it prosper (3rd). Because of this, Joseph found favor in
Potiphar’s sight and Potiphar made him his attendant (right-hand man). Now
Potiphar probably thought, "I’ve got this servant who is soooo anointed
that the Lord is prospering anything he does. How can I use this knowledge to work
for me?" The solution that Potiphar came up with was to put Joseph in
charge of EVERYTHING he owned (4th). Now it sounds like Potiphar is trying to
set himself up to receive an "overflow" blessing. Well that’s exactly
what he received.
The fifth verse states, "And it came to pass from the time that he had
made him [Joseph] overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the
LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake." In other words, as
soon as Potiphar handed over everything to Joseph, his household, the
field–basically everything–got blessed.
So now Potiphar is blessed abundantly and the sixth verse tells us that
Potiphar continued to leave Joseph in charge of everything — "If it ain’t
broke don’t fix it." Joseph’s anointing had everything running so smoothly
that Potiphar’s only concern was breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now that’s
blessed!
We all are similar to Potiphar because we all want to prosper; however, most
of us can’t imagine a person coming into our lives and blessing us this abundantly.
As a witness to this divine system, I will share our testimony regarding such
an incident and give you steps to receive such blessings:
(1) Follow The Anointed One and His Anointed
Veronica and I wanted to prosper just as you want to prosper. We have to
confess that the explosion of this ministry (which has tripled) is the result
an "overflow" of anointing. A person in our lives received a
"multiple" anointing on her life and shared her experience with us.
Just like Potiphar, once we saw the Lord working mightily through His anointed
servant we said, "Hey Lord, Give us some of that!" and this ministry
along with everything else has taken off. Prosperity has been flowing in every
area and there is still much more to come. Now we are trying to share that same
anointing with anyone who has the desire to prosper so that they may have Life
and have it to the Full!
(2) Forsake Pride
Sometimes we destroy our blessings! The number one culprit is usually pride.
We may say, "I don’t need anyone running my show; I can run my own
show." Yet, the "show" is just that — a show. All hell is
bustin’ loose because pride won’t let you take advice or step aside. Sure, we
pray to the Lord for help but when He sends it we refuse it because it wasn’t
exactly HOW we wanted it (Read 2Kings 5:9-19, the story of how Naaman was
healed of leprosy only after he let go of his pride). Veronica and I never
imagined that the Lord would have us do some of the things we have done. But we
didn’t waste time debating or offering our suggestions; we just submitted and
watched the results. We should all submit to God’s will, God’s word & God’s
way. These three things will definitely help us forsake pride.
(3) Forget What The World Thinks
Once you get to the new level, you may be deemed as "strange" but
that’s fine. 1 Peter 2:11 tells us to be "strangers in this world, to
abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul" (NIV). And yes,
to the world (this includes family members), God’s anointed are some strange
folk. The world can’t understand the anointed ones. The world is puzzled and
says, "They get these jobs when no jobs are available! We never see them
begging for bread! They never seem to let things get them down? We just don’t
understand these things?" For instance, the people in our neighborhood may
have thought it strange that almost every day after work for three months
Veronica and I walked around our house and peeked in the windows. They didn’t
understand that we were praying over our house and calling "those things
which be not as though they were" ( Romans 4:17). This came as advice from
that anointed person we mentioned earlier. Now we’re no longer on the outside
looking in; WE ARE IN, praise God!!! God was blessing; God is blessing; God is
going to continue to bless. Potiphar understood this principle and got with the
program.
Today, if you’re not "with the program" then I urge you to
"get with it." Keep in mind that we are vessels and God can pour out
so many blessings that we won’t even have enough room to store them all (Malachi
3:10). Potiphar recognized God’s favor upon Joseph’s life, so he tapped into
that overflow by turning everything he owned over to Joseph (God’s system).
However, what if Potiphar would have moved beyond Joseph’s overflow and
attempted to "tap" the Source for himself? He would have experienced
his own overflow and would have been able to bless someone other than himself
[Lord willing, we will discuss this next week]. God blesses others to bless us.
Catch the overflow, but don’t stop there. Get to know the One who pours out the
blessings so that you, too, can have an overflow which will be a blessing unto
others.
