Seeing that whatever Happens to us is for Good and Paying the Price to Enjoy Christ

If we realize that we’re here for God’s purpose and we love the Lord, we believers in Christ will know that all things work together for good, even when others intend to do evil to us; instead of seeking revenge on others, we will comfort them and we will seek to remain in the enjoyment of Christ, paying the highest price to enjoy Christ to the uttermost. Hallelujah!

As believers in Christ, we are those who seek the Lord in love, and we consider that we’re here for God’s purpose; therefore, all the things that are happening to us are not for our own personal benefit but for God’s benefit, and when God is satisfied, we are also satisfied.

In dealing with others, therefore, we will not seek the things that are best for us; rather, we are sober toward them, living a calm life full of discernment, even full of love toward others.

This week we have been enjoying and prayerfully considering the life of Joseph in Genesis, and how he represents the reigning aspect of the mature life. Jacob, his father, went through many dealings and processes in order to be transformed and eventually matured.

The reigning aspect of Jacob’s mature life is Joseph. With Joseph we don’t see any struggle, striving, or fighting; no matter what happens, Joseph remains calm, and he did not fight back.

Jacob was not like that; he fought back, he was a supplanter, and he experienced many hardships and painful things because of his disposition.

But with Joseph, we see a mature person who, though he was young, lived in a way of being governed by the heavenly dreams he had, and he had God’s presence wherever he was.

When he was in the house of Potiphar, serving him, he had God’s presence; then, when he was put in prison and remained there for many years, he still had God’s presence.

He didn’t try to escape from prison nor did he hire a lawyer to present his case to the supreme authority of the land; he simply remained where God put him and did his best, being one with the Lord.

What a wonderful pattern Joseph was to us!

Later when he was raised to the throne, ruling over the whole land of Egypt, he did not seek to revenge on his brothers or the ones who caused him evil.

Rather, he ruled in a proper way, and God was with him in all things.

He was the most powerful person in the land not only because he had the ring of the Pharaoh and his sceptre, but even more, because he did not do things that he was able to do, in order to be kind to others and rule over them in a proper way.

The reality of what Joseph was and experienced is the Lord Jesus who is now the Spirit in our spirit; when we exercise our spirit, we can live Christ in such a wonderful way, as seen in the life of Joseph.

We are here for God’s Purpose, and Whatever Happens to us is for Good, though Others Intend it for Evil

One of the most touching moments in Joseph’s story is in Gen. 50:20 where Joseph told his brothers, Even though you intended evil against me, God intended it for good, to do as it is this day, to preserve alive a numerous people. Wow!

This sounds very much like what Paul said in Rom. 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Joseph’s realization was that it was God who sent him to Egypt; it was his brothers who hated him, wanted to do evil to him, and sold him in slavery, but God was the One in control, and He sent him to Egypt (Gen. 45:5, 7; 50:19-21; cf. 41:51-52). Wow!

Joseph loved God and trusted in God; therefore, he was assured that whatever happened to him was for good.

This is not to be naive and then lucky; this is to realize that we’re here for God’s purpose, so whatever happens to us is for good, even though others intend it for evil.

If we realize we’re here for God’s purpose, we will be clear concerning all the things happening to us.

Though some around us may offend us or do things to cause harm or evil to us, we know that all things work together for good.

Even more, if we see that whatever happens to us is for good for us and for God’s people, we will be willing to forgive those who have offended us.

If we refuse to forgive others, we are shortsighted; we only see the offense before us and we only feel the pain the situation causes us.

But if we look to the Lord and realize we’re here for His purpose, we will see that all things work together for good, and we will be willing to forgive others.

If we see into the depth of what God has done, if we realize what God is doing in us, we will never seek revenge; rather, we will be willing to forgive those who have offended us.

Again, this is not to be naive or to ignore things and people because somehow things turned out for good; this is to see that God is sovereign in all things, and because we love God and we’re here for God’s purpose, He works out all things together for good.

Joseph realized this. He not only did not punish his brothers or did evil to them in return for what they did to him, but he forgave them, he supported them, and he comforted them (Gen. 50:15-21).

His brothers could not forget what they had done to him, and they were afraid that, after their father dies, Joseph would do something to get revenge.

When Joseph heard of this, he wept, for he had no thought of rendering evil to them.

He realized that he was not in the place of God but rather, he was under God’s sovereignty, and in all these things God turned everything to good, though his brothers intended it for evil.

What a spirit he had! What a heart he had!

In ourselves, in our natural man with our natural being, we seek revenge on others, and even if we feel that someone wants to do evil to us or looks at us in a particular way, we are offended and treasure that offense. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we exercise our spirit and look to the Lord again and again, for in ourselves, it’s impossible to be a Christian.

Only Christ who is the life-giving Spirit can live in us to live the Christian life. It may seem that our situation and our case is impossible, but God specializes in impossible cases.

The Spirit with our spirit can be a Christian, and the Spirit joined to our spirit can be an overcomer.

When we turn to our spirit and set our mind on our spirit, coming to the word of God and allowing the word to divide our soul from our spirit (Heb. 4:12), we will realize that all things work together for good to us and to God’s people, even though some may intend to do evil to us.

Others may do things to us to put us in “prison” and we may remain in this “prison” for a long time; if we realize we’re here for God’s purpose, we will see that whatever happens to us is for good for us and for God’s people.

Just as everything that Joseph went through was for good for him and for his whole household, including his father and his brothers, so everything that happens to us is for good for us and for the house of God.

Even if others offend us, we need to consider that whatever they do to us is of God, not of them.

We need to take everything that happens to us as of God, and all our offenses will be over.

If we remain in our offenses, treasure our offenses, and not let go of what others have done to us, we will not be able to comfort others or supply them with Christ, and we will be cut off from the enjoyment of Christ.

All the saints are part of the kingdom of God, and we need to have an excellent spirit to see that whatever happens to us is for God’s purpose, even for God to gain something more in us and in the church for the building up of the church.

If we see this, we will not seek to get revenge neither will we render evil to others for the evil they have done to us; rather, we will realize that it is all of God, and we will be filled with the enjoyment of Christ in our daily life, even overflow with Christ to others for their supply.

Lord Jesus, thank You for calling us for Your purpose. We love You, Lord. Grant us to realize that all things work for good to us, for we love You and are called according to Your purpose. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to contact You and live one spirit with You. We do not want to live in the self or in our natural man. We do not look at what others do to offend us or cause evil to us; we look to You, Lord, for You cause all things to work for good for us and for Your people. Amen, Lord, grant us to be one spirit with You today. We acknowledge that in ourselves we cannot live the Christian life and we cannot be an overcomer. We bring You all our offenses and hurt feelings. We take You as our life and person. Live in us today. Keep us enjoying You in spirit. May we be those who rather comfort others and minister Christ to them instead of seeking revenge or trying to return evil to the evil they have done to us. We love You, Lord Jesus!

Paying the Highest Price by Handing Ourselves to the Lord to Enjoy the Best Portion of Christ

The result or issue of Joseph’s sufferings and denying of himself was that he gained the riches and the authority to distribute the riches to everyone else (Gen. 47:14-23).

He denied himself to the uttermost and did not revenge on others but considered that whatever happened to him was of God for his good, and he kept speaking the vision that God gave him.

The result was that he was enthroned and was given the riches of the life supply for him and for those around him.

After the seven years of plentifulness, there were seven years of severe drought and no food; in Egypt under Joseph, however, there was plenty of food.

So both the people of Egypt and those around the area came to Joseph to get food, and they paid an increasingly higher price in order to get food.

First, they had to pay their money, then their livestock, and then their land, and they got the food.

Eventually, they gave themselves for the food, and they received plenty of grain – even grain for sowing.

Money represents convenience, livestock signifies the means of living, and land represents resources.

The Lord Jesus is the real Joseph, and He has rich storehouses of grace and life supply for us to partake of and enjoy.

However, in order for us to receive the supply today, when there’s such a drought and famine around us, we need to pay the price.

If we would receive the life supply from the Lord as the Dispenser, we must give Him our convenience, our means of livelihood, and our resources.

The more we give to the Lord, the more life supply we will receive from Him.

Ultimately, in order for us to receive the best portion from the Lord, including food for satisfaction and seed to produce something for others (Gen. 47:23), we need to hand ourselves, every part of our being, over to Him (Lev. 1:4).

God doesn’t want only our convenience, our means of living, and our resources; He wants to gain our whole being.

Because we need Him, we need His rich supply, and we need to have food for ourselves and for others, we come to the Lord again and again.

The higher the price we pay, the more supply we gain from Him.

The higher the price we pay to gain the supply, the better is the supply of life we receive from the Lord.

When we pay the highest price by handing ourselves over to the Lord, handing over every part of our being to Him, we enjoy the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ.

Before we hand over ourselves, we need to hand over everything we have.

Little by little, as we enjoy the Lord, we pay a higher price to enjoy Him in a deeper and higher way.

We will give the Lord our convenience, our resources, and eventually even ourselves.

Every part of our being will be given to Him for His purpose and use, and we will enjoy the highest portion of Christ.

This is our experience today. This is what Paul experienced, and this is what we also experienced.

Paul gave himself with all he was and had to the Lord, and he enjoyed the highest and best portion of Christ.

Even in prison, when everything around him seemed to limit him, press him, and constrain him, he still enjoyed the highest portion of Christ.

May we be those who pay the price, even pay the highest price by handing over every part of our being to the Lord so that we may enjoy the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ. Amen!

When the Lord Jesus comes back, the whole earth will be under Christ as the unique landlord and all resources will be under Christ as the unique banker.

All the land will belong to Christ, and everything we have and are will be His.

We will simply enjoy Christ – we will be enjoyers, for everything we have is the Lord’s and everything He is, is ours.

Today may we be willing to pay the highest price to gain the highest enjoyment of Christ so that in the next age we would enjoy the top portion of Christ in the kingdom!

The universal blessing on Joseph consummates in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth, in which everything will be new as a blessing to Christ and His believers (Gen. 49:25-26; Deut. 33:13-16; Rev. 21:5).

Only God is new, and anything that is kept away from God is old, but everything that comes back to God is new (2 Cor. 5:17).

For us to be renewed means that we come back to God and have something of God put into us so that we are mingled with God and become one with God for the Body life (4:16; Rom. 12:1-2).

The secret of receiving God as our blessing of newness is to bring everything to God and let Him get into everything.

The universal blessing on Joseph means that blessing is everywhere (Eph. 5:20; 1 Thes. 5:16-18).

Our praises turn everything of the curse of the fall into a blessing. Amen, praise the Lord!

Lord Jesus, we want to enjoy You more and more. We want to partake of the best portion of the enjoyment of Christ. We need Your supply day by day. We come to You, Lord, and we give You our convenience, our resources, and our means of livelihood. We want to gain more of You. Grant us our portion of grace for today. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You to enjoy the top portion of Christ. We hand ourselves, every part of our being, to You so that we may gain more of what You are. May we be willing to pay the highest price today so that we may have the highest enjoyment of Christ! Hallelujah, Christ is the One who has all the riches, and we can come to Him and give ourselves to Him to enjoy Him and partake of Him! Amen, Lord, make us the top enjoyers of Christ. We want to enjoy You more and more day by day!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msgs. 120, 104-105, 108, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Enjoyment of Christ and our Growth in Life unto Maturity (2023 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 5, entitled, The Reigning Aspect of the Mature Life Seen in the Life of Joseph.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – 7 Ways to Gain Christ as Your Enjoyment Every Day, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The Spirit with our spirit: the secret of the believers’ experience of God’s salvation in life, article by David Yoon in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – New Jerusalem is the Consummation of All God’s Newness in the Bible, article via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Romans 8:28 says, “All things work together for good to those who love God.” In other words, when God works, it is possible for us to receive the good, and it is also possible for us not to receive the good. Read more via, New Believers Series: Discipline of the Holy Spirit, The #20, Chapter 1, by Watchman Nee.
  – Allowing Christ the Preeminence for the Advance of God’s Move Today, via, Living to Him.
  – Realizing the sufficient grace of the Lord, a portion from, Enjoying the Riches of Christ for the Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – Life-study of Genesis radio broadcast – recommending listening to the episodes related to Joseph’s life.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – And we know that all things work together for good / To those who love God, / Those called according to His purpose. / For who shall separate us from the love of Christ? / In all things we more than conquer through Him who loved us. / Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, / Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Scripture song)
  – Not by gain our life is measured, / But by what we’ve lost ’tis scored; / ’Tis not how much wine is drunken, / But how much has been outpoured. / For the strength of love e’er standeth / In the sacrifice we bear; / He who has the greatest suff’ring / Ever has the most to share. / He who treats himself severely / Is the best for God to gain; / He who hurts himself most dearly / Most can comfort those in pain. / He who suffering never beareth / Is but empty “sounding brass”; / He who self-life never spareth / Has the joys which all surpass. (Hymns #635 stanzas 15-16)
  – When tender joys to me are known, / I render thanks to Thee alone; / I know my cup is filled by Thee; / Thy will is mine, whate’er it be. / Thus calmly do I face my lot, / Accept it, Lord, and doubt Thee not; / Lo! all things work for good to me; / Thy will is mine, whate’er it be. (Hymns #673 stanzas 3-4)