Consider Your Storehouse

The Shocking Message



These weekly devotionals I will be posting come from and are copyright to Pam Iannello, my pastor's late wife who went home to be with the Lord on June 18, 2008. They were written by a Godly lady for other ladies young and old so that their walk with the Lord may be strengthened.

Used with permission from New Beginnings Baptist Church.


Learning how to face our family problems through an in-depth study of the troubled home of Joseph.




This devotion is part of the "Family Problems" series.



Before we move on to Genesis chapter 42 in our continued study of the life of Joseph, I want to take the time today to review chapter 41. In looking back on all the various events that have taken place so far, how would you describe Joseph's eleven-year climb to the top? What have you personally learned from Joseph's path of success? What can we, as Christians, learn from Joseph's plan to guide Egypt through the years of abundance and famine? One of the sweetest things about studying the Word of God is that the Holy Spirit can take scripture and minister to each one of us in a specific and personal way though we are all reading the same blessed words! It would be a shame for us to read these holy and historical accounts of saints gone by without listening hearts, amen? As I personally look back, what stood out most of all to me in chapter 41 is summed up in verse 56:

And Joseph opened all the storehouses....

I would have like to have been there at that very moment! Can you visualize what effect this act must have had on these famished people as they witnessed the abundance of food to be had? Can you imagine how Joseph must have felt in knowing that he could supply more than sufficient help for the hunger pains these people were experiencing? But yet, there was to be a cost put before them all before they could ever taste of the provisions…

Let's consider for a moment the meaning of the word "storehouse". As you know this word is a compound word, one word made up of two words. 'Store' is defined as: to furnish, to supply, to replenish; to stock against a future time. In a general sense, 'house' is defined as: a building or shed intended to use as a habitation or shelter, a dwelling place. Putting the two words together, we get a combined look at the picture this word paints for us in scripture today... 'Storehouse' means: a building for keeping grain or goods of any kind, a place for keeping treasures or supplies.

Amos 3:10
For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

Ladies, in looking back on Genesis chapter 41, I want each of you to consider your storehouses today. Are you doing right? Do you have anything put away for the purpose and intent of furnishing, supplying or replenishing others? As Pharaoh pointed hungry, suffering people in Joseph's direction for help, could others point hunger-stricken people in your direction for assistance? Are you as prepared as Joseph was to meet the needs of thousands if necessary? Could you wisely guide others through years of abundance as well as famine? Would you be as willing as Joseph was to share your abundance? If the doors of your storehouses were thrown open before a lost and dying world today, what exactly would spill out before the people's waiting eyes? You must consider the contents for God's hand is upon our storehouses today - one way or another. He has the power to make us either plenteous or void altogether of prosperity. We must therefore soberly regard every choice we make. We block God's blessings by our own disobedience… However, it is the Lord's delight to bless His faithful children! Have your choices caused you to store up sin that would bring God's wrath upon your life?

Deut. 28:15-20
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

Yes, God's children must avoid the practice of vile sins and live out righteousness and in turn receive God's blessing! Just as Joseph charged the people for the food they came for, there is going to be a cost to you and me; there is a price to pay should we desire God's blessing upon our lives. We must hearken diligently to God's voice if we would avoid the threat of the loss of prosperity…

Deut. 28:2-6
And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

Our storehouses are actually a picture of the depth of our relationship with the Lord. Joseph's storehouses were full of wholesome, satisfying foods because his relationship with the Lord was pure and profound. What a pity today that so many of God's people live shallow Christian lives and not at all to the glory of God! Ladies, it is imperative that you and I are storing away treasures with which to furnish empty people, with which to supply hurting hearts, with which to replenish struggling souls - found in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Joseph willingly and widely opened the doors of his storehouses because his sufficiency was rooted in the Lord. He had no fear of running out of grace to help in time of need no matter how many came to him…

Psalm 33:7
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

Yes, we've taken some time to review Genesis chapter 41 today, but we must often review our own lives too. What is the status of your walk with the Lord right now? Are you busy filling storehouse after storehouse with the richness of the treasures you've found in Christ or have you only barely filled one? How many people beside yourself are you prepared to feed spiritually? Are there any storehouse doors you've kept locked to man because of your unwillingness to open yourself up to people? What's been dwelling inside of you all these years? More than just a few wretched crumbs, I hope…

God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2003 Meet Ms. Pam

Other Rise and Shine Devotionals
New Beginnings Baptist Church Website