Joseph: Born to Overcome

“Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:4

This passage reveals some tips from the example of Joseph, the stand-in father of Jesus and husband of Mary. These mannerisms will help you to nurture an overcoming life for years to come.

Read Matthew 1:1-25

Urghhh…not the Christmas story again! I am tired of the Christmas story. Turn off Jingle Bell’s and Silent Night please, I have a headache. It’s January 1, 2020 for crying out loud. Hangovers rule this day for most of humankind. I’ve taken down the Christmas lights, chopped up the Christmas tree for firewood and returned most of gifts for what I really wanted. The Virgin Mary, the blue-collar Joseph, the sophisticated wise-men, the surly shepherds, and the smelly manger animals are neatly wrapped in and sentenced to solitary confinement again in the attic like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape. You might be saying, “enough with last year, I’m ready to lose weight, to exercise, to stop drinking, cussing and smoking. “ I promise I promise” I won’t do that stuff ever again. I want to know my future, enough with the past. I get it …it’s a bit anticlimactic to revisit the glorious Incarnate Son of God, Jesus the Jewish Child Messiah after you stayed up to watch the Times Square Ball drop. I rather listen to the Top Ten Songs of 2019 then the raw unrehearsed song of angels celebrating the virgin birth of the long awaited “seed” that would save us from our sins and crush the head of Satan, our chief adversary and Ultimate Hater.
Christmas if we are not careful can lull us to sleep. We sleep from overeating, materialism, the sorrow of broken family relationships. 

Depression can sweep in like a toxic cloud robbing us of the joyful and peaceful atmosphere of the First Advent. Then all of a sudden it’s New Year and we wake up like Peter groggily and grumpily swinging swords of RESOLUTION to stop this that or the other.

We often start our OVERCOMING resolutions without much thought or REVELATION on the things that matter to us the most.

Thank God for Joseph who stops us in our tracks and begs the observation, “seems like a different kind of dude, man.”

OK…so I’ll keep it focused on one simple narrative, the way Joseph treated Mary…the way of a man with a virgin. 

Proverbs 30:18-19:
“There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the air
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.”

As we observe Joseph we get a glimpse of someone or something so ‘other-worldly’ yet of this world. If Joseph can do something WONDERFUL so can I!

Joseph is the patron saint of how to handle something or someone born of God. The Scripture declares, “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” As you enter the New Year 2020 what do you have inside of you that is born of God? Possibly the year 2019 did not turn out to be defined by victory but more or less by failure? Maybe you did not handle some situations or relationships in a healthy manner? Maybe you are carrying a dream, a vision for ministry of some type to be realized? Perhaps you are trying to break free from debilitating sin and Jesus is your only hope to set you free? 

Since we are human, not being sure how everything is going to unfold is normal. But like Joseph, we must realize…how we treat or steward the word and promises of God will determine the future quality of life and the  fulfillment of God’s will for you. 

You can be an OVERCOMER IN 2020!  You are born of God, and whatever or whomever is born of God’s Spirit is destined to OVERCOME this world! The manner or way that Joseph handled his situation with Mary is an example of how we should steward the gifts of God in our lives. Joseph is a picture of how we can manage a promise of God until it comes to fruition.

Six Proven Principles of being an OVERCOMER:

“Overcome” is the Greek word Nike. Therefore, to OVERCOME implies a battle. We must subdue the enemies of our faith. Whatever is born of God is born into a battle. We must build the mentality of an overcomer with God’s word and the stories of faith found in the Scripture.

Overcome Principle #1:  Read Matthew 1:1-17: Genes Matter but You Don’t Have to Wear Them.

The genealogy of Joseph was far from perfect. Spend some time reading the story of some of Joseph’s ancestors. The gene pool was filled with some pretty bad apples. Some of those ‘fathers’ were considered bad kings who did “what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Rehoboam, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon). All the kings were clearly mixtures though some had better report cards than others. 

We must recognize the battle of Nature vs. Nurture.  We are sinners by nature in Adam and we are now saints by nature in Christ… BORN AGAIN.   In addition, We are being nurtured by the word and Spirit of God…and our flesh is being nurtured by the world, the flesh and the devil.  Therefore, it is imperative that we “pick up and carry  our cross daily and follow Jesus”.  The CROSS puts to death or sinful nature and the RESURRECTION of Jesus brings to life and to the forefront His divine nature in us to OVERCOME sin, the world and the devil. 

For example, Josiah rules so well that it is said “He did right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left… Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers” (2 Chron.34:2,33). On the other hand Josiah’s grandfather Manasseh and father Amon were horrible kings. Amon was murdered by his servants and Josiah installed at the age of eight as king of Judah. The epitaph of Manasseh and Amon was “He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel… 9 Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel… He (Amon) did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. 23 Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done, but Amon multiplied guilt.” Mannaseh and Amon ruled for 57 years prior to Josiah. If there was ever a case for genetic disposition to kick in for the worse, it was Josiah.

Look at the women or the mothers in this genealogy. Tamar, the spurned daughter-in-law of Judah, who disguised herself as a temple prostitute. Rahab the prostitute, Ruth the widowed Moabite and Bathsheba the wife of Uriah whom David murdered to cover up his adultery are all mentioned by Matthew the former Jewish traitor and Roman IRS agent.  

Joseph had many excuses in his gene pool to be a rebel. He could have justified all kinds of destructive behavior, but he chose to not wear the JEANS of his ancestors but identify with the PRESENT word of the Lord and overcome the world of failure and fear. The critical concluding genealogical narrative is found in verse 16…Joseph was fathered by Jacob and the husband of Mary, BUT HE IS NOT MENTIONED AS THE FATHER OF JESUS. Jesus was born of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit (v20). This is the critical point of the Gospel. Jesus was born in “the likeness of sinful flesh” but he was NOT conceived in sin and born in iniquity. Mary was a Virgin Mother. Jesus was the Second Adam and He would OVERCOME the temptations that Adam failed in!  Hallelujah!!!! 
Imitate the Faith not the Failure of those whom you love and respect in your family.  Overcomers Sin Less not More.

Overcomer’s Principle #2: Overcomers Respect the Gestation Period and Handle with Care (Matt.1:18-19)

I remember a Scripture my wife Cheri received when she was pregnant with our first son Jeffrey. She got a Scripture that talked about how the Lord leads with gentleness those who are with child. We were making a major move from NorCal to SoCal to attend Fuller Theological Seminary. We had a word from God to attend Fuller, $300, a Ford Pinto and a temporary place to stay. I was far from the perfect husband and father but the Lord Himself always managed to fulfill that promise to Cheri.  As I observe Joseph in this story, I am struck with WONDER how seemingly gracefully he walked with Mary. Clearly, she could have been stoned for her seeming adultery.  A ‘betrothal’ was as binding as marriage and required two witnesses to dissolve the betrothal.  Engagements today are non-binding and require no legal judgement to dissolve.

  The period of engagement preceding marriage; betrothal was a binding contract established between two families and sealed by the exchange of gifts. During this period the couple did not live together; sexual relations with each other at this stage was regarded as equivalent to adultery.  Betrothal describes the relationship between God and his people and between Jesus Christ and the church” (Dictionary of Bible Themes). 

Joseph by God’s grace and warning obeyed the messenger to identify with Mary as his wife not to bring her to a public arena to condemn her. 
Joseph chose grace over disgrace! 

Choose Grace Over Condemnation! 
Overcomer’s  Pick up the Cross to Carry NOT Stones to Throw. 
You Can’t Carry Two Stone Tablets and the Cross at the same time.

Overcomer’s Principle #3: Know Scripture (Matt.1:22-23) 

The Holy Writings enable us to be properly oriented when we are faced with life decisions and challenges. Matthew was writing his gospel to Messianic Jews. He wanted to show how Jesus came to fulfill the promises of the Law and the Prophets. The Scripture is the Sword of the Spirit to fight our battles against evil forces bent on our destruction. The backdrop of this entire story is a cosmic battle between Satan, the adversary and Accuser of the Brethren. Revelation 12 reveals the nature of our warfare when we are born of God. We must wield the Sword of the Spirit to overcome the power of sin, Satan and this world system,

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

Overcomer’s Principle #4:  Recognize the Supernatural Presence of God and Obey His Will (Matt.1:20-24)

Joseph was visited by an angel in his sleep. He was given very specific instructions to not put Mary away secretly, to take Mary as his wife and to name the Child Jesus. Joseph woke from his sleep and obeyed the commands of the angel of the Lord.  Your entire life can pivot for the best with a supernatural visitation of God. In JR Tolkien’s, Lord of the Rings,  Bilbo Baggins and Frodo both allowed their lives to be interrupted by the visit of Gandalf the Gray.  An epic adventure unfolded once they left the comfort of their hobbit hole and sedate life.  Several times when I least expected, the Lord showed up in my life to communicate a critical truth or a word of direction or encouragement.  On one particular occasion, He gave me a dream to warn me I was moving in the wrong direction in my heart. I did not heed the dream and destruction followed. Thankfully, He countered this destruction with restoration through the encouragement of Scripture, forgiveness, dreams, visions and fellowship. 

Pay close attention to the voice God. The burning bush can happen anytime and anywhere!

Overcomer’s Principle #5:  Defer Pleasure to Embrace the Way of Jesus (Matt.1:25)

This is a tough truth to obey in love.  Joseph knew that Mary was a Virgin not only with Child, but she would give birth to the Child AS A VIRGIN. Joseph did not have a sexual relationship with Mary until after she gave birth to Jesus. Joseph took Mary as his wife by shortening the betrothal and getting married. Overcomer’s know how to moderate desires and bring them under subjection to the Spirit of God. I am not suggesting Joseph’s desire to be intimate with his wife was sinful. Sexuality is God-given and to be enjoyed in marriage. The greater truth is found in the principle of “Yielding” the members of our body to be instruments of peace, love, and joy in the midst of strife, passion, appetite, war, violence and sorrow can be very difficult.

The Scripture in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 declares:
“For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Overcomer’s Principle #6:  Stay Current with the Holy Spirit through Humility & Repentance. 

The Book of\][[[[[[[[[ Revelation teaches that continual disposition of OVERCOMER’S is REPENTANCE. Jesus speaks to each of the Seven Churches calling them to Repentance and to be Overcomer’s. May the way Joseph treated Mary and managed the Christ Child become our example of keeping ourselves from the temporary sinful pleasures offered by this world. This world wants to defile us with a false gospel and lead us astray. Like Joseph we must simply focus and devote ourselves to Jesus Christ.  As we look to Him and Hope in Him , this Hope “purifies us as He Himself is pure.

“ See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3