Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,
but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
– Ephesians 6:4
God doesn’t desire us to be parents who provoke our children. That’s not God’s way. That’s not what He desires for us.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.– Colossians 3:21 (ESV)
God wants us to encourage our children. He wants us doing opposite of discouraging. We discourage our children when we provoke them. They are left discouraged when act in such a manner that is outside of God’s desire for us.
The idea and image of Papa being a rolling stone or an aloof hustler or hood who cared more for the streets than he did for his own family brings to mind much of the ghetto folklore of Donald Goines, Iceberg Slim and Chester Himes. We hear a lot of clinical talk that labels people as part of dysfunctional families or broken homes, but we have to wonder what else contributes to children living broken lives that lead to them becoming broken adults. It has to bug us and at least get under some part of our skin when we hear about mother’s who murder their own toddlers or daddies who molest and destroy the innocence of their own precious gifts from God.
The recent Penn State child sex scandal involved a father figure in Jerry Sandusky. We learn that men like Sandusky have a rapport with the young and impressionable due to their influence and the time that they commit to sharing with countless young men through sports. It resembles the trust of catholic school youth abused by pedophilic priests who abused their trust and disgraced what many throughout the world view as an honored position. We have positions of power, whether we are the parents or parental figures for young people of the generation behind us. Let us never forget that. We make a difference by what we do and how we act. Let us act in a manner that makes a real difference.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. – Psalm 68:5 (NIV)
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. – James 1:27 (NASB)
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight,
but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. – Romans 2:13 (NIV)
The last word in 
is 
. It seems appropriate that this book of 
would end in such a place. Right after the death of Joseph, one of the final figures of the first book of 
ends right there 
.
Think about 
and 
Joseph and his kinsmen stayed in Goshen in Egypt. 
. God had shown Joseph favor in Egypt. Perhaps, as believers, we need to see where are the places that God has helped us to reunite with family and friends. We need to rethink about 
. 
. 
walk of faith. Thank God for leading you through this far to your Egypt.
Joseph’s brothers feared him. In fact, they believed that Joseph would take revenge on them and seek payback for all that they had done to him. They even discussed it and sent word to Joseph via messenger. 
. He stated that he did not seek to harm them, even though they had harmed him. He shared that God used their evil intentions to accomplish 
. In fact, Joseph showed his brothers mercy on more than one occasion. He said that he was in the place of God, in a position to either harm them or help them. He chose to help them instead of seeking revenge upon them and exercising his authority as an Egyptian governmental official.
. Do you have an opportunity to show mercy at work or home? 
for 
in dealing with those who wrong you.
.
Joseph went to bury Jacob 
as he had sworn to his father, but 
bury an old man who had lived to see his “dead” son alive again. They went on their way to Canaan to fulfill the promise of a son to his dying father. They went on the journey to the land of Canaan to help Joseph bury his father. 
The other brothers might have lived in Goshen and herded sheep, but Pharaoh’s people knew Joseph. They may not have ever heard of Jacob or any of his sons, but they surely knew of Joseph. Their paths may have never crossed any other Hebrew during those days, but they surely had some direct or indirect encounter on some level with Joseph. The Egyptians went to Canaan with Joseph for the sake of Joseph, not Jacob or anyone else.
as well as a snapshot of each one’s future. 
a blessing for each one. The Scriptures say that he blessed them, “blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.” He offered each son what he needed based upon what he knew and understood.
and 
. His sage advice was different for me than it was for my cousins. We all probably thought he was 
, but once I got older I realized what he was doing. he was preparing each of us for the way we would have to walk in this world and face the realities of everything in our lives. For those of us who needed to become leaders, he pushed us to do our best and be our best. He even forced us to do more hard labor than the others. I had thought he was being mean and unfair, but I recognize how much he was humbling us. 
, his very own sons.
In the land of 
, Joseph’s family was better off for the time being than they had been 
. Based upon how God had favored Joseph, his family was able to benefit. They were blessed based upon Joseph’s favor and blessing.
helped his father and his family. 
. What if you used your blessing to bless others? What if you used your favor to grant others favor? Imagine how much of a blessing that would be for others.
. However, Joseph’s dream did not just benefit and bless Joseph. The Bible makes it obvious that Joseph did not simply sit in 
. 
. 
. He obviously could have let his family live without any contact or consideration, still being okay with it as many Christians do so daily. 
. No, that is not the path that Joseph took. He did not allow it to harden him. He did not allow it to turn him sour.
He forgave. He gave to his father and his family.
Look at Joseph. The Bible doesn’t say he had to 
to get ready to forgive. It doesn’t say that he needed to 
to prepare to forgive. He showed his forgiveness. He said it. He demonstrated it. He did it.