Esau was a man of poor morals. He did not value the precious place that he had as the first born son of Isaac. His birthright meant that he would have been in the genealogy of the Messiah. He sold it for immediate gratification. He was profane. I looked that word up in the dictionary. It had a different meaning when the Bible was written. It meant that he made holy things common. Esau only repented in a very limited sense. He had tears because of what he had lost, maybe because he was feeling sorry for himself, not because he truly was one with God. The spirit of repentance means to be one with God. True repentance is wanting to be one in spirit with God. David showed true repentance in Psalm 51. He acknowledged his sin and begged to be forgiven.

Romans 8:14 gives the exact number of the children of God who will be in heaven. Did you know that the Bible gives the exact number? "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." That many. Even the Old Testament tells of many who were led by the Spirit of God.

I Peter 1:10-11, "The prophets...prophesied of the grace that should come unto you...the Spirit of Christ which was in them did testify beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. They testified of the suffering of Christ."

I have been thinking of some in the Old Testament who were led by the Spirit of God. From the beginning of time, the only hope any man could ever have was because of Jesus. That is why Moses and Elias were encouraging Jesus to go through with it on the Mount of Transfiguration. Their salvation depended on it, too.

I have been looking a little at the life of Joseph from Genesis 37. His life was Christlike. He had the Spirit of Christ. It says that his brothers hated him and could not speak peaceably with him. They had thoughts of hatred. Thoughts are the cost of an attitude. Our attitude affects our spirit. When a vessel that is filled with water is bumped, it spills out water. When we are bumped, what spills out of us is what is there inside of us. Our spirit. It is our reaction. Be careful what our attitude is. Be careful of our thoughts. They affect our spirit.

The brothers were doing wrong things, thinking it was fine because their father didn't know. That is a terrible sin. It can never help us to serve God. Sometimes we only repent because we are caught. That time is the hardest to have true repentance. We have tears because we are caught, not because we are convicted of our sin. Not because we want to be one with the Spirit of God. It is true that the father was unwise to show favouritism to Joseph but the fault was with the brothers. They had hatred in their hearts. Hatred in our hearts will spill out. Deal with it early.

Further down in Genesis 37, it speaks of the dream that God gave Joseph. That dream was to happen a long time in the future. God's plan for Joseph became a reality because Joseph was willing. What do you think Joseph was thinking when he was sold into Egypt by his brothers? I think he was in touch with his Father in heaven even then. He didn't have what we can call a "pity party?" Do you know what that is? It is when we sit around thinking, "Poor me, why me?" Joseph didn't do that. Joseph was one that God could trust. Joseph didn't ask why he was in Egypt. He didn't ask why he was a slave. To be a slave was worse than to be dead.

Genesis 39:2, "And the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man." The Lord was with him in his experience. The Lord was with him. Verse 6 says Joseph was a goodly man and well favoured. You know, it is one thing to be faithful and loyal and true when we are high up and everything is going well. But it is another thing entirely to keep the same spirit when we are brought low. He was thrown into jail because he did right. He could have wondered if it was worth it. But he knew God was faithful. His trust in God was manifest in those experiences. In that low dungeon, Joseph was again put into a place of responsibility. He was a man who could be easily lifted up. He could be trusted. When the Lord looks down on us, does he see the same thing whether we are in the lowest place or in the highest place? Are we true when tested? Because Joseph was true to God, he went back into the dungeon. Be one with the harmony of the Spirit of God so that God can trust us.

Then he was forgotten. It is never easy to be forgotten. We don't know how long Joseph was in prison. It might have been many years. But he was spending time with God. There is no other way he could have done what God had planned for him. Some experiences are very hard to take. Humility is not just taking the lowest place. It is possible to take pride in taking the lowest place. Proud of our humility. But true humility is taking the place God has planned for us and feeling it is my place.

Shortly after, Joseph was brought out of prison and quickly made Lord of everything in the country. He went from the lowest place to the highest place. He could handle that because God was with him. God could trust him with that. It didn't go to his head. How do we deal with our thoughts whether we are in the lowest place or the highest place? Could God trust us?

Psalm 39:3, "My heart was hot within me, while I was musing (or thinking) the fire burned, then spake I with my tongue." David was thinking how frail he was. He knew his thoughts were a fire. The fire burns. We need to go to the Lord for help with our thoughts. That is how the same mind can be in us that was also in Christ Jesus.