Joe Kid Pt. 2
Joe Kid is maturing, growing up, and is becoming an all-around man – Joe Stud. His muscles have really developed, his body sculpted, and he is really a good looking dude. We read this in Genesis 39:6,
“Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”
You know the type, he has the face of Brad Pitt and the form of Superman. I guess you could say that he had it all going for him, the type who looks as good at the end of the day as he does at the start of the day. He is one of those real knock outs under any and all conditions. One of those types of whom we say in an admiring and disgusted sort of ways, “God must have thrown away the mold after He made Joe Kid.”
For most of us:
“ATTENTION IS EARNED BY ACTION AND ACCOMPLISHMENT.”
For Joe Kid:
“ATTENTION AUTOMATICALLY COMES BY SIMPLY BEING.”
For many of us:
“OUR APPEARANCE IS LIKE A STORY YOU LADIES
HAVE ALREADY HEARD.”
For Joe Kid:
“HIS APPEARANCE IS LIKE A STUNNING AND CAPTIVATING
STORY YOU NEVER HEARD AND WANT TO HEAR
AGAIN AND AGAIN.”
For most of us fellas:
“WE ARE LIKE AN OLDER TV THAT HAS TO WARM UP AT LEAST
FOR TWO MINUTES BEFORE GIRLS CAN SEE ANYTHING.”
For Joe Kid:
“HE IS LIKE A HIGH-TECH, HIGH DEFINITION, THREE DIMENSIONAL,
SURROUND SOUND IMAX MOVIE THAT INSTANTLY
ABSORBS THE VIEWERS.”
Many of us:
“IN THE MORNING LOOK LIKE A OLD BARN ON A DISMAL,
WINDSWEPT PRAIRIE.”
Joe Kid:
“THE MOMENT HE AWAKES LOOKS LIKE THE MOST MAJESTIC
PEAK IN A GLORIOUS RANGE OF MOUNTAINS.”
I think you get the picture – very handsome, personal charm, and animal cunning. You know, he is like a strong magnet to the opposite sex, and his drawing powers are strong. Every girl’s dream come true, and now that Joe Kid has grown up, he is every woman’s fairytale prince come to life for her viewing pleasure. Who cares that he is not Egyptian, for that only adds to the intrigue.
It all kind of reminds me of the lines spoken in the film “Field of Dreams,” when the ghost-baseball player asks Kevin Kostner the farmer, “Is this Heaven?’ I love the answer, “No, its Iowa.” As great and glorious as Iowa is, it is not Heaven. Just a tad different.
And so when we deal with Joe Kid during these three weeks, the women who see him might ask, “Is this a god?” The answer, “No, this is Joe Kid.” Just a tad different. Before we are through, “Joe Kid the Sex Symbol” will pale into insignificance in comparison to “Joe Kid a son of God.” Any other emphasis is only an amusing and frankly trite diversion. The human spirit majors in cosmotology while Holy Spirit majors in character. Human Plastic Surgeons rearrange people’s moles, while the Divine Heart Surgeon recreates human spirits.
We are going to discover a most remarkable Kid, Joe Kid, from the inside out, for that is really all that matters. Christ and Christianity are at the core:
“THE INSIDE STORY – THE INSIDE SCOOP – THE HEART
OF GOD AND MAN.”
That is why we read in Proverbs 4:23 KJV,
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the
issues of life.”
The Bible does not say:
“Keep thy bod with all diligence; for out of it are the
issues of life.”
Though I might add that an occasional bath on your part would be nice for the rest of us. But God saves us all from the lure of surface deception when He states in I Samuel 16:7,
“Man looks on the outward appearence, God looks on the heart.”
Welcome back to:
“JOE KID – FROM THE PIT TO THE POKEY TO THE PALACE.”
JOE KID POWERFULLY TEMPTED
Let’s see now who Joe Kid really is and what he is really like in a context that would undress thje best of men. Captain Potiphar is away from home a lot, in that he is Captain of King Pharaoh’s Secret-Service Corps. In short, he is a very busy man, and his life depends on protecting the King’s life. In short, it is an either do-or-die job, and as it is with all responsible husbands and providers, he would much rather do than die. So he neglects his wife to tend to his King.
So it is that Mrs. Potiphar gets very lonely, and she begins to notice Joe Stud, and for that matter how could she not. Joe Kid looks good even to a blind woman, while Mrs. Potiphar has 20-20 vision. She has a lot of time on her hands, and idleness is the devil’s workshop, and you can know for sure that in Potiphar’s house old Satan is, to quote Ceasar’s perverted son Commodus, “A busy little bee.” For we read in Exodus 39:7,
“And it came about after these events that his master’s wife
looked with desire at Joseph.”
You talk about the atmospheric alignment and potent pressure system for the “Perfect Storm.” Someone has said that ever since the Garden of Eden:
“FORBIDDEN FRUIT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY
A BAD JAM.”
Mrs. Potiphar is an attractive “Egyptian Female Canine In Heat,” and Joe Kid is the “Perfect Stray Male Canine Answer” to her desires. And there it is, all scripted for another riveting episode of “Desperate Housewives.” Mrs. Potiphar is pumping hormones faster than her body can absorb them.
Come now, back to Joe Kid and Mrs. Potiphar in “The Days of Our Lives.” Let’s get very real here for a moment. Joe Kid, now Joe Stud, is a hunk as women say today about his type. He has become a very virile young man, and he had to be blind as a bat not to notice all of the come-on glances from Mrs. Potiphar. He has seen every insecure reaction in her behavioral patterns. And what is more, he isn’t insensitive to such things, I can assure you.
Furthermore, this woman isn’t the least bit subtle. Not a friendly voice that says, “Joe Kid, come, come and have a seat next to me and let’s talk and get to know each other. After all, you have nothing better to do, and neither do I at the moment.” No, no, that would be pretty pale stuff for this Cleopatra of the Bedroom. This woman is not about Egyptian hospitality to promote tourism in Egypt. No Egyptian coffee and cookies’ chat time with Mrs. Potiphar. She is a real tigress, and therefore she more than invitingly says to Joe Kid in Genesis 39:7,
“Lie with me.”
Mrs. Potiphar is a microcosm of our world and American society in this regard:
“OUR SOCIETY FINDS IT HARD TO THINK OF ANY GOOD REASONS
FOR GETTING OUT OF BED, BUT FINDS IT MUCH EASIER TO
FIND REASONS TO CLIMB INTO BED.”
Well, there you go, a lust-feast spread out for you Joe Kid on Potiphar’s bed. There for the taking! It is amazing what classes you end up in in “The School of Life.” As in Joe Kid’s case, none of the courses in the “School of Life” are electives. They just seemed to be convened on the spot. Joe Kid has gone from a course on “Surviving Hatred in Deep Pits” to now an even tougher course on “Survival Lust in Sex Pits,” neither of them of his own choosing. These really are some of the toughest courses to spiritually and morally pass with flying colors in “The School of Life.”
THE REAL CULPRIT – LUST
Let’s not loose sight of some greater and more priority truths here, as I sense that we are inclined at this point to sympathize with Joe Kid in case he sexually succumbs. We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into sympathizing and in some cases empathizing with Joe Kid here. After all you say, “What’s a young fella to do, being seduced by this “PULSATING PIECE OF PASSIONATE PULCHRITUDE?” And again, “There is just so much a virile young man can take, for crying out loud.” And, “Even if Joe Kid goes down for the count, we should go easy on Joe Kid afer all that he has gone through.”
Oh, oh, do you see what you’re doing? Among other fatal mistakes:
“YOU ARE MAKING JOE KID THE HELPLESS PREY, AND MRS.
POTIPHAR THE INESCAPABLE PREDATOR.”
That is why the betrayed wife shoots her husband’s mistress. Of course, you may not shoot anyone, for God commands, “You Shall Not Murder.” But to set the record straight, you shot the wrong one. Forget that I said that. So, Mrs. Potiphar is Joe Kid’s problem, and now that you Xd her, the problem is gone. Wrong! A thousand times wrong! You are making seductive Mrs. Potiphar the Bod the issue, when the real issue is what is in Joe Kid’s heart! It is not the former that will decide the issue, it will be the latter. Hear me:
“IT IS NOT THE SEX BED OF MRS. POTIPHAR THAT WILL
DETERMINE THE OUTCOME, BUT THE SEED-BED
OF JOE KID’S HEART.”
I was counseling a married man who was having an affair, and he told me that the reason he was doing so was that he no longer felt the RUSH in his marriage, and that he absolutely needed the RUSH, quote-unquote. Oh yes, gotta feel the RUSH. First of all, I asked him to show me in the Bible the chapter and verse that says you may have sex outside of marriage when you determine that you and your marriage are RUSHLESS. Second, what kind of RUSH do you think Jesus Christ had when He went to the cross to suffer your Hell and my Hell? And for that matter, what kind of RUSH does He get putting up with you and I on a daily basis? Third, what you call RUSH is nothing more or less than LUST, and you wouldn’t know LOVE if you fell over it. Fourth, I knew that his wife is a beautiful, loving, selfless daughter of God, and an absolute treasure.
We read in James 1:14,
“But each one is tempted, when he is carried away
by his own lust.“
It does not say:
“But each one is tempted when he is carried away by the
Mrs. Potiphars of life.”
Wow! That’s a shocker for many! I thought that Mrs. Potiphar was the only TEMPTRESS, and that Joe Kid was the TEMPTED. However, this puts a whole new light on the subject here, and puts the kabaash on pointing the finger at Mrs. Potiphar. For according the James:
“WE ARE TEMPTED AND DRAWN AWAY BY OUR LUST,
AND NOT BY MRS. POTIPHAR’S LURE.”
Likewise:
“MRS. POTIPHAR IS BEING DRAWN TO SIN BY HER OWN
LUST, AND NOT BY JOE KID’S LURE.”
In Joe Kid’s case, if he goes down for the count, it will be the fire of lust in his heart, with Mrs. Potiphar fanning the flames. She is not the flame thrower, lust is, and she is only the fanner. It is the same with anger as another for instance. Oh, she made me so angry. No, she didn’t make you angry, she simply fanned the flames of anger that were already there. Or, as the old saying goes:
“IF SOMEONE GETS YOUR GOAT, IT ONLY PROVES THAT
YOU HAVE A GOAT TO BE GOTTEN.”
You know how inclined we are to pass the buck and play the blame game. Like:
“PARENTING WOULD BE MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL IF OUR
CHILDREN WE BETTER AT CHILDING.”
Or:
“HUSBANDING WOULD BE MARKED BY MUCH MORE FIDELITY
IF OUR WIVES WERE BETTER AT WIFING.”
Or:
“WIFING WOULD BE CHARACTERIZED BY MUCH MORE FIDELITY
IF OUR HUSBANDS WERE BETTER AT HUSBANDING.”
That of course is blowing smoke! Let me put it to you in ways that will help blow the smoke away. Like:
“WHEN A MARRIED MAN MORALLY FAILS, IT IS NOT THAT THE
MRS. POTIPHAR’S OF LIFE HAVE TRIUMPHED, BUT IT IS
THE FACT THAT THE JOE KIDS OF LIFE
HAVE SURRENDERED.”
Got it? Or again:
“WHEN WE SEXUALLY AND MORALLY FAIL, WE ARE NEVER
CONQUERED BY THE LURE FROM WITHOUT, BUT
WE YIELD TO THE ENFLAMED LUST WITHIN.”
Or again:
“THE FISH WILL NOT BITE ON THE BAIT UNLESS HE IS HUNGRY.“
Bam! Are you getting it? In short:
“A MORAL FORT IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NEVER
ULTIMATELY TAKEN BY FORCE, BUT BY FAILURE.”
So then, the real question here is not how well Mrs. Potiphar’s hook is baited, but how hungrily and lustfully Joe Kid will bite on it. Will he hunger for sexual sin or will he hunger for righteousness? Let’s get the hunger issue settled right up front, and if we don’t we and Joe Kid will not be in the Master’s camp, but we will be in the Master bedroom with Mrs. Potiphar.
THE TRAPPER’S TRAP READY TO SNAP
Joe Kid has gone from being stripped of his multi-colored coat that looked to his brothers like electric green, hot magenta, and shocking pink, to now being face to face with his foreign boss’s wife who is on fire with burning desire to strip off all her clothes for him. Two of Satan’s main specialties, “Violence and Sex!”
We already know that the Lord is with Joe Kid. We also know that there are for sure three in Potiphar’s house – God, Joe Kid, and Mrs. Potiphar. Is that all? No, I don’t think so. That is never the whole story in “The School of Life” where nothing is ever purely scholastic, but always a labratory class where we are Satan’s experiments. There were at least four in the house, namely, God, Mrs. Potiphar, Joe Kid, and Satan. Oh, Satan was there too? Without a doubt! Why do I say that? Simply because we can be sure of the following:
“WHEN WE SEE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE SO SEDUCTIVELY AND
AVAILABLE AND SO DESIROUS OF FUFULLING OUR FLESHLY
DESIRES, WE CAN SURELY CONCLUDE THAT MUCH
MORE THAN BLIND CHANCE SET THIS UP.”
Or again:
“WHEN WE SEE A TRAP SO SKILLFULLY AND POSITIONALLY SET,
WE MAY ALWAYS BE SURE THAT THERE IS SOMETHING OR
SOMEONE INTENDED TO BE CAUGHT, AND THAT THE
TRAPPER IS NOT FAR AWAY WHETHER HE CAN
OR CANNOT BE SEEN.”
And what is more, ole Slewfoot, ole Satan, knows how to set his traps, and in this case the ole wily trapper outdid himself. He has been doing it ever since the beginning of time, when he set a trap for Eve and Adam who both went for it, and lost their Paradise and their Purity before they had spent a day in either. But this one really gets:
“THE BEST TRAP OSCAR.”
I mean to tell you, this was a real beaut! There were vicious, very large, razor-sharp teeth on both jaws of the trap. What do I mean? It seemed like a WIN-WIN situation for Satan, and a LOSE-LOSE situation for Joe Kid. Think now:
“ON THE ONE HAND THERE WOULD BE THE WRATH OF
HIS BOSS THE HUSBAND IF JOE KID WENT
FOR THE BAIT.”
On the other hand:
“THERE WOULD BE THE WRATH OF THE BOSS’ WIFE
IF JOE KID REFUSED HER.”
Damed if you do, and damned if you don’t So Joe Kid, you might just as well get some sexual relief and pleasure before the inevitrable pain to come. What a genius trapper ole Satan is! I would swear he was wearing a coonskin cap, except for the fact that it would not go over his horns. Genius, impure genius that he makes it look like there is no way out but his way. I have had that happen to me more than once and so have you.
I am therefore gloriously saved by the awesome and victorious truth found for us in Psalm 91:3 about us, our Lord, and the trappers traps:
“FOR IT IS HE WHO DELIVERS YOU FROM THE SNARE
OF THE TRAPPER.”
He is the only One who can deliver us in this dilemma. Why do you think that He taught us to pray, “Our Father Who art in Heaven…deliver us from the evil one.” The remedy for not getting caught in Satan the Trapper’s traps is not first of all will power. You know, just will to say no!!! Easy bah jeesie! It doesn’tr work that way, for without the Lord we can do nothing. Our wills are powerless without Him. It reminds me of Mark Twain who once said:
“I CAN RESIST EVERYTHING EXCEPT TEMPTATION.”
Without the Lord, the trap will snap with you in it every time. Don’t leave home without Him, for without Him we are trapped animal meat. Don’t leave home or come home or live at home witnout Him. Without Him we are dead meat every time. He alone delivers us, and we must start each day and live each day with this prayer:
“IMMANUEL, GOD WITH ME, PLEASE GIVE ME VICTORY
OVER THE SATANICALLY SET TRAPS IN THIS
WORLD TODAY, AND LORD ONLY IF YOU
STAND WITH ME WILL I REAMING
STANDING WITH YOU.”
I love the story of the little boy in Sunday School who learned that day about Jesus going to a wedding and turning water into wine. His mother asked him when he got home what he learned in Sunday School that day. He said to his mother:
“IF YOU’RE GOING TO GET MARRIED, MAKE SURE
THAT JESUS IS THERE.”
Now listen to Psalm 124:7-8,
“Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of
the trapper;”
“the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.”
There is no trap too power for Jesus to keep us out of it, and no trap too powerful for Jesus to get us out of it. Hallelujah!
THE EXCUSER AND THE ACCUSER
Now listen even more carefully:
“JOE KID IS NOW A SOPHOMORE IN THE SCHOOL OF LIFE.”
He has already grudated some heavy schooling, and as it is with education, it tends to get tougher. And in God’s School of Life, which is packed with some very difficult non-electives, Satan will throw into the “Mrs. Potiphar Course” some really good sounding excuses. Befroe we get to them , remember this:
“WHEN SATAN TEMPTS US, HE IS ALWAYS THE EXCUSER
OF THE BRETHERN.”
But then:
“AFTER WE FALL TO HIS TEMPTATION, HE IS ALWAYS
THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHERN.”
But when he tempts, it comes with EXCUSES INCLUDED. Like, “Hey, come on, you have gone through so much, have a little fun, you owe it to yourself. After all, how much can a Joe Kid take?” Or, “After all, the boss’ wife likes you, and even the Egyptian (American) culture condones this sort of thing.” And, “You are a long ways from home, they will never find out, and your Dad thinks you are dead.” Again, “In ‘The School of Life‘ it is too hard to pass everything, and furthermore no one taught you about that back in the grades and high school.” And again, “Your brothers hated you, wanted to kill you, and sold you as a slave. At least Mrs. Potiphar shows that she really cares about you.”
And so on and so on. You see:
“IN THE SCHOOL OF LIFE, FOR MANY STUDENTS B.A. DOES NOT
STAND FOR BACHELOR OF ARTS, BUT FOR
BUILDER OF ALIBIS.”
Listen, whatever you do Joe or Jill Kid, don’t ever make excuses for yourself, whether it has to do with being tempted in sexing, lying, stealing, cheating, drinking, snorting, or murdering yourself or someone else. If you do, you for sure will not be able to see right and wrong in black and white, but only in a neutral, hazy gray. And when that happens, you and I are on our way to Mrs. Potiphar’s bedroom.
We soon learn that in the “Joe Kid Biography” suspense never lets up. More often than not, and whether we recognize it or not, over and over again we are standing with Joe Kid on the edge of a sheer cliff overlooking the Grand Canyon – beautiful but deadly. For you see, Mrs. Potiphar was not only inviting, but was a very insistent Egyptian “Desperate Housewife.” She kept coming on to Joe Kid day after day, as we read in Genesis 39:10,
“And it came about as she spoke to Joseph day after day
to lie beside her…”
JOE KID THE RIGHTEOUS
Joe Kid day after day encounters this throbbing temptress, and He does so no longer wearing his coat of many colors, but he is clothed in a seamless garment of moral integrity. Surely one would think that as wave after wave of this voluptuous woman’s desires slam against him, that one extra-big wave would finally knock him over and carry him away into her arms. For most men one twitch of her finger motioning for them to come to her would have done the job. But Joe Kid stands like an immovable rock of righteousness on the pounding shores of Mrs. Potiphar’s sensuality.
Then one day like every other day in this ongoing soap opera of “DAYS OF OUR LIVES,” we read the awesome and inspiring words of Genesis 39:8-9,
“But he (Joseph) refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Behold, with
me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in
the house, and has put all that he owns in my charge.”
“There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld
nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.
How then can I do this great evil and sin
against God?”
I don’t want to sound like some “Puritan Exegete” in the midst of all of this, and then again, I think I do. I do want to break down the words of Joe Kid in Genesis 39:9, and suck the juice out of those grapes for all they are worth, and they could fill many barrels. Listen again:
“How then can I do this great evil and sin against God?”
First of all, note Joe Kid’s words, “GREAT EVIL.” Joe Kid had to have an enourmously sensitive and healthy conscience! Why do I say that. Because this is one of the biggest set ups for lust to overrule most consciences. Hear it:
“A VITAL CONSCIENCE ALWAYS PRESENTS THE PUTRIDNESS
OF SIN AND STRIPS SIN OF ALL ITS PLEASURE.”
To the contrary:
“LUST ALWAYS PRESENTS IN VIVID HIGH DEFINITION THE
PLEASURES OF SIN, AND STRIPS SIN OF ALL
ITS PUTRIDNESS.”
No, no:
“LUST NEVER SAYS THAT THIS IS A GREAT EVIL.”
To the contrary:
“LUST SAYS, ‘GET A LOAD OF THAT WILL YOU!”
As matter of fact:
“LUST IS SO ALL-ALLURING AND ALL-ABSORBING, THAT IT
MAKES YOU COMMT ADULTERY IN YOUR HEART EVEN
BEFORE YOU COMMIT ADULTERY IN HER BED.:”
That is why Jesus says in Mathew 5:28,
“But I say unto you, that everone who looks on a woman to
lust for her has committed adultery with her
already in his heart.“
Sensuality always ingnites and inflames lust, as lust is fed by the senses. All of Joe Kid’s senses are filled with Mrs. Potiphar. And inflamed LUST says, “Surely, anything that delicious cannot be in any way distasteful or bad for you. Come on Joe Kid, sample as taste of it and you will taste how delectable it really is. Hear it:
“LUST HAS A WAY OF MAKING HELL LOOK AND
FEEL LIKE HEAVEN.”
If you will:
“LUST ALWAYS PRESENTS THE DELIGHTFULNESS OF SIN, AND
STRIPS IT OF ALL ITS DAMNABLENESS.”
Nathan Horwitt, a mushroom expert, tells us of a mushroom known as AMINITA PHALLOIDES, better known for us as MRS. AMINITA PHALLOIDES PORTIPHAR. It is the deadiest of all mushrooms, and wouldn’t you know it, it is also the most delicious. It poison is slow acting, and often the first and only symptom of the poisoning is communicated when the eater remarks, “Last night I ate the most delicious mushroom I have ever tasted,” and then he dies. The wages of sin is always death.
Second, Joe Kid obviously has an exceptionally strong, healtry, vibrant conscience to be able to call this luscious invitation A GREAT EVIL. Why? Because as a matter of fact, in case you haven’t noticed, LUST has in addition another mystical capability:
“LUST ALWAYS MAGNIFIES THE PLEASURE THAT IS IN SIN,
AND MAKES THE PLEASURE FAR LARGER THAN
THE PENALTY FOR SIN.“
If you will:
“LUST IS ALWAYS PARTLY AN ILLUSION THAT BLINDS
US TO SIN’S U LTIMATE DEADLY CONCLUSION.“
Lust magnifies sin into an unreal world of super-euphoria. Then afterwards the illusion evaporates – POOF – and you wake up with a hangover of guilt and shame which turns out not to be an illusion.
Third, where did Joe Kid in the eye of this sensual hurricane, get such a healthy conscience that could shout “EVIL,” let alone “GREAT EVIL.?” It is obvious that Joe Kid is in moral partnership with his righteous God, and that Joe Kid has a “Divine Code of Ethics” that is the rock solid backbone of his being that morally strenghtens everything about him and everything that he does. He in essence says, “My boss trusts me, and his confidence in me cannot and may not be broken. And no, no, no, a thousand times no, I can’t do this great evil against God.” Joe has some powerful negatives in his life. He has very strong “Divine Thou Shalt Nots” in the moral fabric of his soul.
Folks don’t much like negatives in the modern church anymore. Churchgoers today reject being told what they may and may not do. They instead want to be stimulated, tickled, petted, and pampered by feel good preachers. If Joe Kid would have been under much of today’s preaching, he would have thrown himself like a piece of fresh meat into the arms of this lioness’ frenzy. For you see:
“FEEL-GOOD THEOLOGIES AND FEEL-GOOD PREACHERS
STRENGTHEN SECULAR HUMANISM’S ‘IF IT
FEELS GOOD DO IT.’ “
Hear me, in this sexually obsessed age, and in situations like this, we better have some very strong “THOU SHALT NOTS” that will alone hold us steady. Why? Because it is too late to pray! The fact is:
“WHEN STANDING WASTE DEEP IN THE POUNDING SURF OF SENSUALITY,
AND JUMPING TO STAY ABOVE THE SWELLS, IT IS TOO
LATE TO SEEK DIVINE GUIDANCE AS TO WHAT
WE SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT DO.”
Rather, we must have a very strong moral code, some strong muscled-morality, some very good negatives built into our consciences. Joe Kid did! Joe Kid has some very powerful negatives built into his soul, and Mrs. Potiphar is catching the full frontal blast of those negative vibes such as “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery” and “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife.” Fact is:
“NO ONE CAN HAVE A STRONG, HEALTHY GOD-CONSIOUSNESS,
A STRONG ‘SENSUS DIVINITATUS,’ WITHOUT STRONG MORAL
NEGATIVES AS THE ESSENCE OF HIS GOD-AWARENESS.”
And again:
“BECAUSE GOD’S ‘NO’ WAS MORE REAL TO HIM THAN MRS.
POTIPHAR’S ‘YES,’ THE LORD WAS MORE REAL TO
JOE KID THAN THIS SEX-DRIVEN SIREN.”
You may not know this, but history reports about Martin Luther, that in his agonizing struggles to stand for the truth and against untruth in the face of fierce opposition in the Catholic Church, he was being tempted to kill himself. As a matter of fact, the temptation to commit suicide became so fierce, that he literally was struggling for his very life. He had no other way to defend himself against these satanic onslaughts, but by over and over again repeating to himself the Word of God in the sixth commandment, “Thou Shalt Do No Murder, Thou Shalt Do No Murder.” In short:
“THE ONLY WAY THAT MARTIN LUTHER COULD STAND AGAINST
THE FIERY DARTS OF SATAN WAS TO REMIND HIMSELF
AGAIN AND AGAIN OF THE WORD OF GOD
AGAINST SIN.”
So too, don’t miss what is going on here in Joe Kid’s life. Young Joe Kid is not only being lured but day by day hunted by Mrs. Potiphar who is dogging his ever step. He is literally being chased around the house by this sex demonness. It was not so much a sexual invitation as it was a sexual invasion seemingly without intermission. Now are we finally getting it? This is not so much a sexual test as it is an ongoing sexual attack on Joe Kid’s moral fiber.
Fourth, as this was taking place, as it would for anyone of us, feel it:
“THE CONTINUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HER BEAUTIFUL BODY
WERE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO TAKE CONTROL OF
HIS THOUGHTS AND IMAGINATIONS.”
Now then, what is going to block these images from totally taking over his mind and emotions? For Joe Kid, the very thought and mention of God was stronger than temptation at the height of the crisis. We read in Proverbs 18:10,
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous
runs into it and is safe.”
Just the mention of God’s name built a strong tower around Joe Kid that he could run into and barricade himself against Mrs. Potiphar.
But we must note how Joe Kid uses the name of God. He uses it in a rhetorical question, and his doing that is filled with meaning? Remember the question he asked of Mrs. Potiphar:
“How can I do this great evil and sin against God?”
The point being:
“NO ANSWER NEEDED. IT IS UNTHINKABLE THAT I SHOULD DO SUCH
AN EVIL THING AGAINST GOD. JUST THE THOUGHT OF DOING
IT REPULSES ME. COOL YOUR JETS MR. POTIPHAR, AND
TURN DOWN YOUR THERMOSTAT. NO WAY.”
HELL HAS NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED
Mrs. Potiphar however was sure that Joe Kid would succumb as easy as taking candy from a baby. But Joe Kid was not only moral, he was smart. At one point, when she is being devoured by her lust-thirst, she grabs Joe Kid by his clothing, fully expecting to pull him down powerless on top of her.
So Joe Kid does the only smart thing and makes a run for it, and in the process she grabs and rips off his now shapeless garment in her wild clutches. In short, Joe Kid, like a swimmer who knows that if he stays where he is, he will be no match for the riptide, so he swims for all he is worth to shore with all his might. I think that this is exactly what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote to Tim Kid in II Timothy 2:22,
“Free from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness.”
Point – Counter Point:
“WE MUST FIRST HAVE HEALTHY NEGATIVES BEFORE WE
CAN PURSUE HEALTHY POSTIVES.”
So, there she stands feeling like a loaf of stale bread thrown away. And very quickly passion turns to fury, lust turns to venom, for as the old saying goes:
“HELL HAS NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED.”
It was inconceivable to her that a former slave, mind you, would reject her favors, and worse still, that a delicious piece of feminine pulchritude like her would be rejected in her own home. Unthinkable! How terribly insulting and demeaning! That is the bitterest gall of all. Now if Joe Kid will not feel her pleasures, He will feel her pains.
Mrs. Furious Potiphar, no longer flushed with lust, but now white with rage, is now about to throw Joe Kid this time under an entire caravan of camels. She trumps up a story of attempted rape, and calls the other men servants of the house and tells them that Joe Kid had tried to sexually assault her. She went on to explain how she then screamed to the top of her voice, at which point Joe Kid ran out. She showed them Joe Kid’s garment as the proof.
I have been told that when you are being chased by a bear, it is best to run downhill because their short front legs and long hind legs put them off balance on the downslope. But I have also been told that when you are running from a tigress, it doesn’t make any difference whether you run downhill or uphill, she will overtake you and proceed to kill you. No matter how athletic or fast you may be, compared to a tigress like Mrs. Potiphar, you will appear chubby, slow-moving, and clumsy. In short, you are dead meat.
JOE KID – MORE ADVERSITY – WHY?
When Captain Potiphar comes home that evening, he is barely in the front gate, and the story begins to pour out to him how Joe Kid tried to seduce and rape his wife. Potiphar is incensed, and he throws Joe Kid into prison. So we read in Genesis 39:20,
“So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the
place where the king’s prisoner’s were confined,
and he was there in jail.”
Incredible:
“FROM THE PIT TO POTIPHAR’S HOUSE TO THE POKEY.”
You can’t be serious! Afraid so! But you said that the Lord is with Joseph. Yes I did!
Charlie Brown was talking to Schroeder one day, and Charlie was kind of in a slump. Said Schroeder, “Don’t be discouraged Charlie Brown. These early defeats in your life build character for later on in your life.” Charlie Brown asks, “For what later in my life?” Schroeder replies, “For more defeats.” Of course it was really a huge victory for Joe Kid, but jails never seem like victory celebrations.
Charlie Brown then goes to “Lucy’s Psychiatric Booth” for a second opinion. Lucy says, “Charlie Brown, adversity builds character, and without adversity we would never mature and face up to all of the things that are coming in his life.” Charlie again asks, “What things?” Lucy says, “More adversity.”
My goodness, Schroeder and Lucy sound exactly like the Apostle Paul’s pep talk in Romans 5:3-4,
“And not only this, but we also exult in tribulation, knowing that
tribulation brings about perseverance,”
“and perseverance, proven character; and proven character hope….”
Well there you have it. Fact:
“GOD’S PURPOSE IN LIFE IS NOT TO MAKE LIFE EASY,
BUT TO MAKE US STRONG IN THE LORD.”
Fact:
“GOD’S PURPOSE IN LIFE IS NOT TO MAKE US COMFORTABLE,
BUT TO MOLD US INTO GODLY CHARACTER.”
Joe Kid’s life, and the testimony of history, is that progress and development always come through trial. The strong water current down stream produces strong and healthy salmon when they finally get up stream. Or again, the stiff air current and the inaccessible cliffs eventually make for the beautiful, strong eagle. Amazing how that works.
You see, Joe Kid, you probably don’t understand this completely now, but try:
“THE GODLY LIFE IS NOT FIRST OF ALL WHAT GOD IS
GOING TO DO FOR YOU, BUT WHAT GOD IS
GOING TO DO IN YOU.”
Does that make sense? Or again:
“THE MIRACLE OF THE GODLY LIFE IS NOT FIRST OF ALL
WHO GOD IS GOING TO BE FOR YOU, BUT WHO
YOU ARE GOING TO BECOME FOR GOD.”
Of course, that is the whole point from the beginning, “God and His Godly Ones.” God is totally within His rights that His copies should be as close as possible to the Original. The design of the creation of man was to have God’s image stamped on us, not to have our image stamped on God. And it stands to reason that God alone can bring forth godliness, for He alone is God. Left to ourselves, all we humans can produce is humanness which isn’t that great to start with. I mean come on now:
“WHO EVER HEARD OF IMPERFECTION PRODUCING PERFECTION,
FINITENESS PRODUCING INFINITENESS, HUMANNESS
PRODUCING DIVINENESS.”
When it comes to godliness, we are way out of our league. There is only One producer of godliness, and that One is God. Listen:
“WHEN IT COMES TO GODLINESS, WHEN ARE WE GOING
TO LEARN TO LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONAL?”
And what is more, surely He alone Who knows what it is to be God, also alone knows how to produce godliness. One then should not be all that shocked that if being God transcends our understanding, so then the ways that God reproduces godliness in us must transcend our understanding too. To bring Joe Kid from fallen humanness to true godliness, we might sense from the beginning, is not going to be the easiest or even the usual trip, whether for him or for us.
For you see, God has to get rid of fallen humanness in all of us before he can reproduce His elevated godliness within us. Yes, now we are sensing already aren’t we, that there has to be a breaking down before there can a building up, a chiseling before a molding, a tearing apart before a putting back together, a humbling if there is to be an exalting. So it is that in Joe Kid’s life:
“JOE KID THE DOMINATOR MUST BECOME JOE KID THE DOMINATED,
AND JOE KID THE COLORFUL ONE MUST FIRST
BECOME JOE KID THE FADED ONE.”
That is the only way we can understand James 1:2-3 where we read these absolutely bizarre and baffling words:
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter
various trials,”
“knowing that the testing of your faith produces stedfastness….”
I know, we would like to say to God, “God, isn’t there a more respectable and enlightened way to accomplish all of this? Aren’t there better approaches? God, must you always deal in extremes like putting Joe Kid in a pit and now in a prison so that he can become what you want him to be. God, You are so radical in your dealings, like sending Your only Son to Hell that we might go with Him to Heaven. There must be better and easier ways around all of this to get us where you want us to be.”
I can hear God say in Isaiah 55:8,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are
your ways my ways.”
Boy you can say that again! So He does in Isaiah 55:9,
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Of course what we want it to be is easy and a snap. Just like I thought gardening and the like was kind of a nice passive pastime you know, an innocent and relaxed hobby. Yes, like plant the little dickens, water them and let ‘em do their thing. Boy oh boy was I wrong. Then I found out that there is that pain-in-the-neck stuff like weeding and pruning and debugging. As a matter of fact, I have even found that I had to do some transplanting of some of the more struggling plants and bushes to give them a new start. My passive hobby became a real piece of work.
Yes, and God doesn’t find us to be a passive pastime either or a nice little hobby. Yes, now are you getting it? And your intent in pruning, weeding and even transplanting was not to be destructive, but to be constructive, isn’t that true? So it is with God, only much more so when it comes to the even tougher spiritual and moral growth process in our lives:
“WITH HIS DIVINE PRUNING SHEERS, GOD HAS TO WOUND
US TO MAKE US HEALTHY, AND WITH HIS UPROOTING
GOD HAS TO EVEN TRANSPLANT US TO HELP
US GROW AND MATURE INTO HIS IMAGE.”
And behind all of it, God is like my Dad who told me that he disciplined me because He loved me so much. And his even more frustrating and baloney, at least so it seemed to me at the time, when he said as he spanked me:
“THIS HURTS ME MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU SON.’
Yet somehow I couldn’t get past his words, because he was crying when he tanned my hide. Then it was that I came to understand the heart of God overflowing with love for us in His stern dealing with us, when He says to us in Hebrews 12:6,
“For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and scourges
every son whom He receives.” Amen!
(JOE KID PT. 3 COMING SOON)
