The 3 P's of Promise

Gen 37:6-8 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: (7) For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. (8) And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Gen 45:4-8 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. (5) Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. (6) For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. (7) And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (8) So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Growing up, every child or young person has a dream of what they will eventually be, do, or experience as they mature. It is really a neat thing to see these same youth, with their face lit up and a gleam in their eye, express what they perceive will be reality in their near futures. Unfortunately, reality dictated by the devil, a sinful atmosphere in life, and the cares of life become dream-stealers to those who once held a promise and a dream in their heart!

What separates those who accept the robbery of their dreams / promises from those who simply will not quit holding on to them, is what the scriptures acknowledge as faith! Many in the church have been victims of spiritual "robbery" in that, they have gotten used to living beneath their God-given privileges of a life of victory, joy, and spiritual happiness! They have instead settled for fear, bitterness, and weakness of committment! What we need is a baptism of Promise in our life! The scripture bears out that some held on to their faith regardless of circumstance!

When referring to faith, there are others that we look to that confirm to us about perfect faith, abundant faith, and consistent faith.
We acknowledge Abraham’s Perfect faith of simply going when he did not know where he was going!
We acknowledge Elijah & Elisha of the abundant faith exercised in the Book of the Kings!
We acknowledge Samuel for his consistent faith as he learned at an early age of the faithfulness of Jehovah God until the end of his life!
We even acknowledge Job somewhat of his enduring faith that helped him to not charge God foolishly through his trials!
But, we would be remiss to not acknowledge Joseph of his tested faith that began with a dream! This preferred son of his father, Jacob, over 11 other sons, became the chosen by Jehovah God to be a surrogate savior for the Jews in the future! All because of a dream that God gave Joseph!

We know the story, but what caused Joseph the most problems was not that he was chosen...or that God even gave him a dream, it was the fact that he believed it so much, he was willing to speak it by faith to his brethren! And that, was what caused the 'dream-stealers' to get working against the dream!
Let me be clear, the Hebrew definition of the word, "Dream"…means to "make something that is small… plump"! To make something small into reality or fact by enlarging it"!  In other words, the word "dream" is synonymous for Promise! A dream can be anything ever sent from God to you that looks beyond the natural into the supernatural!

THE 1st P....THE PIT- The place of trial that makes you second guess the dream!


Even though Joseph had a dream, he was wet behind the ears...inexperienced. All he had was the 'end-result', but what he didn't have was the what, how, and why of attaining the dream! This is the time where faith kicks in and sustains us while we languish in the pit of trial!
Most likely, he may have thought he had all the answers…because well...he was chosen, right??
News-flash!!! Just because we have a dream does not mean that we won't have to visit a pit along on our way to dream fulfillment! Joseph learned to trust, because he didn’t have any choice! The dream was out of his mind at this point!

THE 2nd P.... THE PRISON– The place where you doubt God’s timing, ability, and calling and wonder if the dream is even real or not!?!

The next transition to dream fulfillment came when Joseph was sold into slavery into Potiphar's house. When Potiphar's wife lied on Joseph, he was thrown into prison! Understand, he was wrongfully put here by another through no fault of his own! He had been doing right, and STILL got punished! Can anybody relate here??
The dream may have been postponed…but what was he learning here? He learned patience. While he was focused on his life, God was still enacting the dream in his life!
The prison was a testing place for promise! A proving ground for his faith! It was a place of frustrating doubt because he knew where he was supposed to be (Potiphars house) but was bound literally by what others said about him! Notice, the Prison sometimes becomes the burial ground for promise! Faith usually dies right before the last "P"!

THE 3rd P....THE PALACE – The confirmation and the commitment!


The Palace became realized when the time in the Pit and Prison was faithfully navigated! It should be understood....blessings delayed are not always blessing denied! Joseph had to endure the PIT and the PRISON, before he experienced the PALACE!

To those of you who have a dream...be faithful through your Pit or Prison experience, and the remainder of your life will be spent living in the Palace! Also known as the place of your dream fulfillment!!!!

The Difference between the "WHY" of God and the "WAY" of God

Alright, let me go ahead and say it right at the beginning of this blog....sometimes God don't make any sense!?!
Try as I might, there are just some things that I will never understand about God! That doesn't make my statement blasphemous, it just is simple truth. Humanity sometimes reconcile their spiritual confusion by saying things such as "God works in mysterious ways” and it somehow puts our trials in an "Oh well" category and totally miss what God may be trying do in an individual's faith!

Here is what I come up with...we as children of God struggle with the "WHY" of God, when in reality, we should be seeking the "WAY" of God!

I have reconciled awhile ago that there are some things that I will never know!
All together now in a collective response....ARRGGHH!

As I write this, I cannot, nor will I attempt to understand the purpose or direction that God takes us towards understanding Him more completely, but what I can tell you is that His intention for us is not to struggle for divine direction, but achieve divine revelation….of who God is!!! We don’t know the causes to what and why God does His business, but I can tell you that the effects should be more of a revelation of WHO He is in our lives!

We question God on why negative things have to happen to us, when in reality, God maybe revealing Himself through a way that, while inconveniencing us, reveals to us His Way for our lives! It's easier to question than to wait! Easier to receive the short-term answer than the long-term revelation and blessing!!!

In St. John 11, the Bible tells of a familiar story of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus, who was on his deathbed. Verse 5 tells that Jesus loved this family dearly and while Lazarus laid sick unto death, Mary & Martha sought out Jesus in the next town. They wanted Him to come and heal their brother! However, Jesus had a seemingly curious statement in verses 14 & 15! He said, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad….for the intent that ye may believe”. Mary & Martha went home to watch their brother die, because their friend and Savior did not come when they wanted Him!

Now, believe me when I say, that would not have made a lot of sense to me either if I was Mary or Martha, but we see later that God was doing something else for a greater good! You see, Jesus could've come when they wanted Him to come and healed Lazarus and would have been bound by His relationship to just heal Lazarus! BUT they would have only known Him in a more limited way comparatively to what He actually did when bringing Lazarus back from the dead!
During the waiting on God to arrive, the question in their mind was..."Why God?", but after Jesus stood at the tomb and called forth a dead Lazarus, their mindset was illuminated to the "Way of God"! In other words, doctors can heal, but there is only one who can give life!?!
What am I saying? I'm saying that they received a deeper understanding and revelation of who He was, rather than what He could do for them!

It was Thomas when told of Jesus’ appearing after the Crucifixion that said, “I wont believe until I see and feel the wounds in His hands and feet” Why did he say that? He said it because he couldn’t wrap his natural thinking around a miraculous happening like His Resurrection. In other words, Thomas didn’t understand the "hows" and the "whys". Jesus appeared for the express purpose of showing Thomas that… just because you cannot perceive it does not make it unreal! When Thomas became acquainted with the wounds of Jesus by touching, it was then that he had a revelation...“My Lord and my God”!!!
Did ya hear that? Thomas found out who Jesus was when he became acquainted with suffering!

Listen to a few scriptures that remind us that understanding the Whys of God are not as important as the Ways of God…!!!

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” The word, “Patience” is interpreted as “constancy” or “hope”

1 Corinthians 10: 9-13 “ Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. (10) Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. (11) Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (12) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” The MOST powerful aspect of that scripture is the reminder that God is FAITHFUL!!!

If we could ever understand this concept of revelation through struggle, we might be able to adjust our mindset that God may be revealing himself in a deeper way!!!
How do I know Him as a healer, if He never heals me!
How do I know Him as a Savior, if He never saved me!
How do I know Him as my God, if I never allow Him to be?
In other words, how do I learn the "Way of God" without first experiencing the "Why of God"?