Psalm 20
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. Selah May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. O Lord, save the king! Answer us when we call!
Romans 8:31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gen 41:1
When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream:
Gen 40:20
Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
Gen 41:9-14
Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged." So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
We are lifted along with the saints who have gone before us. Who were they?
Joseph was brought from nearly the lowest position of brothers to the highest by the symbol of a multicolored coat. He was lifted out of a pit where he had been placed to die. He was lifted out of a jail where he should never have been. He was lifted out of obscurity as a Hebrew and given the second highest authority in all of Egypt only Pharaoh the king was above him.
Adam was lifted from the dust to become a man. Enoch was lifted from this life without tasting death. Abraham was lifted from a foreign land to the promised land. Isaac was lifted out of being sacrificed. Jacob was lifted up from being a Hebrew to being the Father of Israel. Noah and his family were lifted above the flood. Moses was lifted out of a basket in the Nile river to become royalty in Pharaoh’s palace. Joshua was lifted form military spy to Jericho wall destroyer. Jonah was lifted out of the whale. Daniel was lifted out of the lion’s den. Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego were lifted out of the fiery furnace. Job was lifted out of losing everything. Dry bones were lifted to life. Rahab was lifted from prostitute to security for she and her family. David was lifted from Shepherd to King. Nehemiah was lifted from Cupbearer in a foreign land to the master rebuilder of the walls of Jerusalem. Saul was lifted from persecutor to Paul the apostle. Peter was lifted out of the water. Zaccheaus was lifted out of selfishness to generosity. A woman was lifted out of 12 years of bleeding to fully restored health. The lame man of Capernaum was lifted off his mat and began to walk. The Woman at well was lifted from multiple marriages to Evangelist for her community. The woman caught in adultery was lifted form sin to righteousness. The son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of the centurion, and Lazarus, the friend of Jesus were all lifted from death to life.
Jesus was lifted off the cross and placed in a sealed tomb. Jesus was lifted out of that sealed tomb to resurrected life. Jesus was lifted from earth to the glory of heaven, seated at the right hand of the throne of God. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.”
From the Heart,
Pastor Jeff Cooper
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