Spiritual warfare is real and our adversary is real.

But Christ is stronger and has won the ultimate victory!

Therefore, we should; we must; and we can stand strong by putting on the full armor of God!

There is a call in this text to "stay salty":

Minister in His name; nor for our fame.

Avoid jealousy; rejoice with other ministries

Be careful to cause no one to sin.

Ruthlessly cut out sin in our lives.

Followers of Christ are called to be servants.

Servanthood is foundational to being a Christian.

Being a servant leads to a rise in the grace of humility.

Jesus in this text asks "life's most important question" - "Who do you say that I am?"

Most important because:

It's about the most important person.

It's personal.

It's Eternal.

It impacts our lives every day.  Determines what or who is Lord of our lives.

We don't like to be put on hold!

So What do we do when God seems to put us on hold?

We do what the Syrophoenician woman did; we ask and keep asking; we trust and keep trusting!

God has a plan

We are called to obey God instead of the culture around us.

God's promises are trustworthy

Jesus' encounter with the Pharisees and Scribes revealed that they were concerned with the external.  But the problem they and all of us have is internal; it's a heart problem.

A problem that only Jesus can solve!

God is in the business of making things right.

Not only was God working out his eternal purposes through Joseph and his brothers, but God was also reconciling Joseph to his brothers.

But Joseph and his brothers had to do their part.  The brothers had to come to some level of remorse.  And Joseph as the authority figure and the one sinned against had to come to a place of forgiveness; and he did!  He went above and beyond!

What about us?  How are we making things right with one another?

Through it all the Lord was with Joseph, even when he couldn't see it.

Likewise, the Lord is with us.  The hard part for us is that it is in His time!

Joseph's Big Dreams were part of God's plan for Joseph and through it all God was working out His plans.

However, the dreams only fueled his brothers' envy.

We see here a practical warning to guard against envy and to understand that every one of us are children of God.  The "playing field" is level at the foot of the cross!