Treasured Ministries

Offering women a biblical solution for inner healing

Aliene

Authentic Alignment

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Hey, visionary you’re right where you need to be. Vision is God’s provision to pull us out of the past and propel us toward our purpose. But often in our excitement to build the vision, we can create our own plan, picture, and timetable with HOW the vision will come to pass. I did this and when my life turned out differently, I was devastated, confused, and depressed. But here’s what I learned God is not only the author of the vision he is the architect. His ways are different but oh so much more divine.

In today’s podcast, resting in your authentic alignment to live the abundant life.

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Soul Source of Courage

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Young Joseph caught the eye of Potiphar’s wife, and she sought after the handsome young servant. Instead of using her influence for good purposes, she wielded her power to satisfy her own desires.

How long had Joseph served in Potiphar’s house before she decided to seduce him? Was there intimidation in the inflection of her voice as she boldly invited Joseph to come to her bed?

Day after day, with persistence and manipulation, she did her best to wear Joseph down and gain control over him. But Joseph stood strong in the Lord. Finally, in an act of desperation, she grabbed Joseph’s arm, presumably to embrace him. But he squirmed out of his cloak and fled the house, leaving her embarrassed and wrathful.

With the cloak as her “evidence,” she crafted a lie to cover her shame. He had fully rejected her, and now he would pay. This time instead of being hurled into a pit, he was thrown into a prison. Although Potiphar’s wife was more powerful than Joseph, she was no match for the Dream Builder. God was with Joseph, and God is with you.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Whom Shall I Fear?

Potiphar’s wife may have been a young beauty, a physical peer to Joseph. If that were the case, I am sure Joseph’s body was crying out to give in, yet he refused. Or perhaps she was middle-aged or unattractive. Even so, from the world’s point of view his position and security were in her hands, but still Joseph refused.

This inspires me.

What was the source of his courage?

In two verses of Scripture we receive a life-changing revelation:

“How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. (Genesis 39:9–10 NIV)

While Potiphar’s wife was powerful, God’s influence in Joseph’s life was exponentially greater. Even though Joseph was afraid, he chose to do the right thing.

He was more afraid to sin by refusing God than he was to refuse Potiphar’s wife.

The world would have seen Potiphar and his wife as the source of Joseph’s success, but Joseph knew his real source. God was the source of his courage, his strength, and his convictions. He knew Potiphar’s wife was small compared with the God of Abraham. Joseph feared the Lord more than he feared people.

God Will Lift Us Up

God will rescue, restore, redeem. Joseph was not a victim. He humbled himself under God’s mighty hand, and in due time God lifted him up for his purpose (1 Peter 5:6–7). As Joseph sat in prison, it seemed that Potiphar’s wife was still in control. But the Dream Builder, in his own time and in his own way, rescued Joseph from prison. In one moment the Lord promoted Joseph to second in command in Egypt.

In one moment God can redeem what was lost in a lifetime.

Everything Joseph touched flourished. God gave him favor and success. Joseph knew that God was the source of his blessing, so he was free to serve God alone.

The problem is not with the people—it is with our perspective of people. People are not the source of your dream. Release your fear of people by changing your perspective of God. God is your source, brave heart.

Yahweh. God. The Lord is his name. King of Kings. Lord of Lords. He is a strong tower. A fortress. He is mighty to save. The winds and waves obey his commands. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8 NIV).

He is Lord over all, including your purpose. Onward!

The devotion you read today is taken from Dream Builder: a six-week study on Joseph and the Patriarchs from the Nourish Bible Study Series. Consider Dream Builder for your next Bible Study and find the courage to dream again.

Nourish Scripture: Genesis 39–41

Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

Answering Adversity

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There will always be haters, brave heart. Those people that want to hold you down because your dream threatens them. Are you expending mental energy on haters? Don’t waste your time. God has a solution for that and you’ve got a dream to dive into.

Want more? Join me for today’s Podcast.

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True Validation

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The Dream Builder builds the dreamer and the dream. Other people cannot validate your purpose. But often we look to people we can see to validate us and find ourselves on an endless, meaningless quest.

But you are God’s chosen treasure, designed for a unique purpose. Daily embrace this truth in the core of your heart and find freedom to become the woman God created you to be.

Joseph’s Bold Move

Joseph’s brothers, full of envy, could not validate Joseph—or his dream. When Joseph made a bold move describing his dream to his brothers, I believe he had a strong faith in God and was excited about his dream. But I also believe he hoped his bold announcement would prove to his brothers that he was valuable and significant.

Look, brothers! Your hateful words about me were wrong. God thinks I am special. One day you will bow down to me. I am important—you were wrong.

In contrast to Joseph’s brothers, his father, Jacob, loved him deeply. Because Joseph was the favorite, I found his father’s reaction to the dream fascinating. He did not validate Joseph—he rebuked him! Was there a part of Jacob that was afraid to let go of his beloved son? Would Joseph need him anymore? Was he afraid his son would fail? Was he disappointed in Joseph’s poor judgment in parading God’s plan before his brothers, who hated him?

Whatever the reason, when Joseph proclaimed God’s purpose for his life, neither his brothers, who detested him, nor his father, who adored him, validated his dream.

What people in your life are like Joseph’s brothers? So insecure in themselves that they cannot speak kind words to you.

If you look to them for value, you will always leave their presence feeling “less than.”

Look to the Dream Builder

Trying to change those who envy you is a losing battle. You cannot stop them from being jealous of you. That is their choice. But you can choose what voice you will listen to and how you will live.

What about the “Jacobs”—those people in our lives who love and give to us in amazing ways, as Jacob loved his son?

Others may love us greatly, but we cannot expect them to validate our worth. That is an unrealistic expectation that puts a severe strain on any relationship.

Don’t look to them. Don’t even look to your achievements. Look to the Dream Builder.

God’s gifts and call are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Those treasures inside you are yours for life. Your gifts are yours, but what you do with them is your gift back to God. Draw your validation from the Dream Builder, and from that place of abundance share your gifts with others and make a difference.

The devotion you read today is taken from Dream Builder: a six-week study on Joseph and the Patriarchs from the Nourish Bible Study Series. Consider Dream Builder for your next Bible Study and find the courage to dream again.

Nourish Scripture:  Genesis 37

Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

How to Create the Right Atmosphere to Cultivate Community

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Join in as Aliene interviews Janel Dinley, the founder of True Daughters. True Daughters provides a genuine and loving community for girls to know the love of Jesus and find their secure identity in Him. Listen as Janel shares how to create an atmosphere of love and acceptance to put others at ease inside of your small group.

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Redirection

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Like strong winds that detach dandelion seeds, pushing them to new ground to flourish, sometimes rejection can be God’s redirection to position us for our purpose.

Joseph experienced truth in his life.

God Redirected Joseph

Joseph is often remembered as one who wore a rainbow. Beautiful, multicolored brilliance cascaded over his shoulders and down his arms. His coat of many colors was a generous gift from Jacob, his father. It was also a flagrant display of this father’s favoritism toward his seventeen-year-old son. Putting on that glorious garment each morning must have reminded Joseph of his father’s great love. But the richly ornamented robe was also a thorn in the side of his eleven brothers, a constant reminder that Joseph was the favorite.

One night Joseph had a dream, and then another a few nights later. The dreams showed him in a position of power and greatness. He would become so great that even his brothers and his father would bow down to him. He told his family about the dreams, and the envy brewing in his brothers’ hearts finally spilled over.

They tossed Joseph into a pit.

The pit did not prevent Joseph’s dream from becoming a reality—God was with Joseph.

The pit put necessary boundaries in place for Joseph to be away from his family. His brothers hated him and could have potentially killed him if he had stayed around, because they had not dealt with their jealousy and envy. Joseph also needed to be away from his doting father to learn dependence on God. Because Jacob was so attentive to Joseph, the young man may not have been motivated to lean on the Dream Builder.

Sometimes we have to be pushed out of the nest, pruned, and even allowed to spend time in the pit to learn we can fly on the wings of the Holy Spirit (John 15:2). 

The pit also moved Joseph to a place where he would receive the provision necessary for his dream. At that time Egypt led the world in knowledge, medicine, and wealth. However, Egypt was a destination Joseph probably would have avoided because God had called his chosen people to Canaan. Also, Egypt was a reminder of negative history in Joseph’s family. Abraham had previously made two trips to Egypt, each time making poor choices that resulted in negative consequences (Genesis 12:10; 20:2). But the pit forced Joseph to move to Egypt, the place he needed to be.

God Had a Plan for Joseph, and He Has One for You

The brothers’ intent was evil, but the pit would propel Joseph into God’s purpose. Joseph’s betrayal by his brothers activated his adventure of living the dream God had given him.

That dream, after all, was not Joseph’s alone—it was also God’s dream. It was God who had created that dream in Joseph’s mind as he slept.

And when God designs a dream, he opens a door that no one can shut (Revelation 3:8; Acts 5:38–39).

God’s ways are so different from ours (Isaiah 55:8–9). Perhaps you don’t understand why you are in a particular place or situation—but God does! And he has a plan. If you have been rejected, shake the dust off your feet and trust that God is planting you somewhere you can bloom (Matthew 10:14).

The devotion you read today is taken from Dream Builder: a six-week study on Joseph and the Patriarchs from the Nourish Bible Study Series. Consider Dream Builder for your next Bible Study and find the courage to dream again.

Nourish Scripture: Acts 7:8–16; Psalm 105:16–22

Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

The Ultimate Test

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Has God called you to release something, someone or someplace? Is guilt, fear or familiarity causing you to clutch close instead cooperating with God to receive the greater blessing?  Life is on the other side of surrender.

In today’s podcast, taking your faith to a new level by courageously passing the test of surrender to capture God’s dream for you.

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Finding Your Purpose

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Just as God gave a dream to Joseph, God has a dream—a calling—for your life.

The Dream Builder wants every woman to walk through the door of her God-given dreams, but he may give each one a different path to follow. Sometimes when we look to another instead of the Author of our Soul, discerning our direction becomes difficult. Our breakthrough comes when we stop, listen, and follow God’s leading in our lives.

That’s why a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is so important: God’s dream is revealed through our relationship with him.

The Door to Joseph’s Dream

The door leading to Joseph’s dream had actually opened many years before, when God gave a vision and spoke a promise to Joseph’s great-grandfather Abraham. Joseph’s dream was part of the fulfillment of his great-grandfather’s dream.

Abram (later named Abraham) listened to God’s voice. Because he listened, he established a nation that would be a blessing to all people. Through Abraham’s descendants the Messiah would come and bring forgiveness and life to all who would join the family of faith. Although he made plenty of mistakes and missteps along the way, Abraham continued to listen to God, and God was faithful to build his dream through this man of faith.

The remarkable truth is that through faith in Christ, you are grafted into Abraham’s family (Romans 11:17). Joseph’s roots are not his alone—they also belong to all who believe in Jesus. You have a stake in your family heritage of faith. Part of your inheritance is the new covenant blessing of the Holy Spirit to lead you to the life you were created to live and give to others.

Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14)

The Holy Spirit lives inside every believer and speaks to us every day, everywhere. One primary way the Spirit speaks to us is through God’s written Word, which is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12). There is a relationship between God’s Word and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:17; John 1:1; 2 Timothy 3:16).

Finding Your Purpose by Following the Holy Spirit

As you keep in step with the Holy Spirit, you will find the pathway to God’s destiny for your life. Each step he gives you as your dream unfolds is like another thread in an unfolding tapestry of God’s design. The Lord spoke to Abraham in a vision. Jesus came to earth to dwell with humanity. A blessed truth of the new covenant is that the Holy Spirit can lead us to the life we were created to live and give to others.

When Abraham listened to the Lord, the experience was life changing. When you believe God will speak to you—not just to Abram or Joseph—it will be a turning point for you too.

Moment-by-moment choices will frame your world. Whom will you allow to write your story? Take the pen and place it in the Author’s hand by surrendering to his words so he can shape your soul.

You are blessed to be a blessing. God wants to plant a dream in your heart. This is your heritage; this is your future. It was Joseph’s story, and it is also your story. God is a Dream Builder, and he will lead you into your unique destiny as you listen to and follow the Holy Spirit.

The devotion you read today is taken from Dream Builder: a six-week study on Joseph and the Patriarchs from the Nourish Bible Study Series. Consider Dream Builder for your next Bible Study and find the courage to dream again.

Nourish Scripture:  Galatians 3:1–14

Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.