Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for October 7, 2007
The First Billionaire, Joseph
This week, we are going back to our series on the millionaires of the Bible. This Sunday and next Sunday we are going to talk about Joseph and the prosperity secrets of his that you can use.
The name Joseph means "whom Jehovah will add to," and Joseph became the Bible's first billionaire. He has been described as "the man whose dreams came true." Joseph went from pit to palace, from rags to riches. He was totally unspoiled by immense wealth when it finally came to him.
Joseph has been described as "the cultured man." Certainly he was one of the most glamorous people of ancient times. Joseph led the "jet set" of the Old Testament!
Whereas the previously described men of Genesis became millionaires, Joseph became a billionaire as second in command of the wealthiest civilization of ancient times, Egypt - overnight! (Although Joseph became an "overnight success," he spent 20 years preparing for it.)
In the process of developing a "billionaire consciousness," he developed charm, culture, and refinement. He learned how to dress, how to entertain, and how to treat people properly. He had "flair." All of these qualities are helpful in developing a well-balanced prosperity consciousness.
In modern times, one of the world's leading billionaires recently confessed that the turning point from severe poverty to acquiring billions came for him when he bought his first tailored suit and began to associate with millionaires. By getting into their prosperous mental atmosphere, and learning from them how to dress, how to entertain and to treat people socially, he developed "flair" and style that led him to acquire millions. It is little wonder he later married one of the most famous and glamorous women of modern times. "Putting your best foot forward" is still a success secret fit for a future millionaire!
JOSEPH'S PROSPEROUS BACKGROUND
By going to Egypt, Joseph developed his prosperity consciousness in a way he never could have; had he remained in the Land of Canaan. In Egypt he was exposed to immense wealth and all that goes with it. It is little wonder he later declared, (Genesis 50:20) "Even though you intended to do harm to me [i.e. my banishment], God intended it for good."
Even when Joseph was a shepherd in Canaan, he was a cultured gentleman. He was taught by his father, Jacob, how to behave in the presence of princes and rulers. His good manners and education prepared him to rise quickly to a high position in Egypt.
All of the sons had been well brought up and trained by their father, Jacob, and their grandfather, Isaac. Even as children, they had often feasted with kings and princes. The Egyptians were amazed because they had not expected these desert men to know anything about good manners.
During the course of his life, Joseph used most of the basic prosperity principles employed by the earlier millionaires of Genesis: He practiced the prospering power of release, nonresistance, forgiveness, affirmation, picturing, recognition of God as the Source of his supply, and tithing.
Perhaps that is the reason he became a billionaire - not just a mere millionaire. In Catherine Ponder's gradual growth out of long-term poverty into a more abundant way of life, she has found that it is necessary to employ all of the prosperity methods that Joseph used so faithfully.
When people say, "Those prosperity laws you write about sound good, but they don't work for me," it is because - unlike Joseph - the doubters have not practiced prosperity's dynamic techniques consistently over a period of time. Joseph did, and got such remarkable results, that it should encourage you in the deliberate expansion of your own prosperity consciousness.
SPECIFIC SECRETS FOR GAINING ENORMOUS WEALTH
What was Joseph's specific secret for manifesting such enormous wealth? Joseph's name had prosperity significance. It meant "whom Jehovah will add to." Joseph symbolizes the ability to increase substance through deliberate constructive use of our imaging power. Joseph became a master of substance, and manifested it as vast wealth through the repeated use of one specific prosperity principle: the picturing of the mind!
Here is Joseph's greatest prosperity secret for you:
(1) Through the deliberate practice of appreciating the vast wealth he saw all around him in affluent Egypt, and
(2) through picturing vast wealth for himself, Joseph became a billionaire.
FROM $10,000 TO $100,000-A-YEAR INCOME - HOW SHE MAINTAINED IT
A businesswoman had gone from $10,000-a-year financial income to $100,000-a-year income after she began to make Prosperity Maps each year, placing the financial income that she desired on them.
Then one year after she had reached her $100,000 goal she neglected to make another Prosperity Map picturing her continued financial success. The results? Her income began to dwindle. She was baffled and frightened about this sudden turn of events, until she realized she was no longer picturing financial success. When she made a new Prosperity Map, picturing a $100,000-a-year financial income for herself, it again manifested for her. We will talk about how to make a Prosperity Map next week.
Like Abraham, the first millionaire, you should learn to manifest visible prosperity out of invisible substance, as symbolized by the barren land of Oanaan. Then, like Joseph, the first billionaire, you have to go a step further, and learn to manifest that invisible substance as lavish, visible abundance. Going to Egypt, where he was surrounded by extravagant wealth, helped Joseph to picture it for himself and to mentally accept it. Lavish abundance is a part of a well-balanced prosperity consciousness.
Remember that Joseph symbolizes the imagination - that powerful mental faculty that forms ideas first in the invisible substance of the universe - and then brings those ideas into visible form. The picturing power of the mind is one of the oldest devices known to man for getting what he wants. Joseph proved it.
As we will see, the experiences - that Joseph went through before he gained vast wealth symbolize the discipline you must experience in order to gain vast wealth, and to maintain it.
WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP QUIET ABOUT WHAT YOU PICTURE
In the Land of Oanaan, Joseph had been trained to be chief of the tribe and successor to his father. As such an heir, he wore a coat of many colors. This special attention from his father caused jealousy among Joseph's brothers.
When you begin to prosper, jealousy may be reflected toward you. If so, don't be surprised by it and don't respond to it. Protect yourself by declaring often, (1 Corinthians 13:4) "LOVE IS NOT ENVIOUS. THE PROSPERING TRUTH HAS SET ME FREE TO PROSPER."
Joseph dreamed of dominion when he seemed to have none. You should, too, but you must keep quiet about your dreams. Joseph was clairvoyant and had some prophetic dreams, but he made the mistake of innocently telling his dreams to his jealous brothers. (Genesis 37:10-11) "His father rebuked him, and his brothers were jealous of him." His brothers retaliated by selling him into Egyptian slavery.
Joseph's dreams were a prophecy of the great events that were to happen to him later. His dreams were also a prophecy of his attainment of a superior consciousness of universal substance. When he developed that consciousness, he would become an "overnight billionaire." To that billionaire consciousness his brothers were destined to come and ask for help. His billionaire consciousness was to save them and the entire ancient world from starvation!
So let's say that affirmation together, "LOVE IS NOT ENVIOUS. THE PROSPERING TRUTH HAS SET ME FREE TO PROSPER. "
HOW JOSEPH'S PROSPERITY CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDED IN EGYPT - HOW YOURS CAN, TOO
Ironically, Joseph's prosperity consciousness began expanding when his brothers sold him to some Arab traders who were on their way to Egypt. He was purchased for 20 shekels of silver-or between $12 and $15! It also seems ironic that his value went from about $15 to that of a billionaire after he was immersed in an atmosphere of lavish abundance and pictured it for himself.
In Egypt, Joseph began expanding his prosperity consciousness in an outer way. Joseph had come from the barren hill country of Canaan, across the sandy desert to the lush green lands of the Nile Delta, then into the teeming city of Tarius, also known as "Zoan."
Zoan was a wealthy dwelling-place of the kings and princes of Egypt. It symbolizes a rich, material state of consciousness - one in which all that man has pictured in the invisible realm of substance can then become tangible, visible supply. And this is what happened to Joseph:
There in that prosperous trading center of Tarius, Joseph saw for the first time every conceivable kind of merchandise: bolts of cloth, bundles of spices, baskets of luscious fruit, beautiful objects of copper and gold.
Also, the people looked and dressed differently in Egypt. These men were clean-shaven, not bearded like the men of Canaan. They wore cloth and linen, rather than skins. The more prosperous men wore neckbands of colored metal beads. They also rode in two-wheeled, horse-drawn chariots. This was all magnificence beyond Joseph's wildest dreams.
As previously mentioned, you have to become aware of prosperity, even lavish abundance, in an outer way in order to demonstrate it in your own life. This is one of the most valuable lessons to learn.
Catherine Ponder wrote, "I am certainly not in a position to compare my progress with that of the fabled Joseph. Yet I know that his prosperity methods work. When still living in one room in Alabama, I learned for the first time to bless and appreciate the wealth of the universe, and the success of other people."
She continues, "As I determined to accept nothing but the best in my own life, too, this decision led me out of that one room into a more prosperous way of life. That decision led to my first mink coat, to shopping at the famous Neiman-Marcus, then located only in Texas, and later to a then-coveted membership in the world famous Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California."
THE PROSPERITY LESSONS JOSEPH LEARNED FROM POTIPHAR
In Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, a handsome well dressed, clean-shaven man who was very important as Captain of Pharaoh's guard. As a man of such importance, he was very wealthy.
Joseph was driven away from the marketplace as a slave - but in one of those magnificent chariots to his new home - the elegant estate of his new master. As the overseer of Potiphar's house and estates, he became immersed in literal wealth, and the picturing power of his mind was absorbing every bit of it!
Joseph learned how to handle prosperity in an orderly way, with wisdom and good judgment, as overseer of Potiphar's estates. He was learning how properly to handle literal wealth. (Genesis 39:2) "The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man."
Like Joseph, you will probably find the most difficult experiences you have had to meet - the ones that have caused you to discipline yourself the most - in the long run prove the most valuable in the development of your character and of your prosperity consciousness.
Catherine Ponder writes, "Shortly after I was widowed and left with an infant son to support and rear alone, I "worked my way" through business school and became secretary to an educated lawyer. As his private secretary, I tried to keep up with his Phi Beta Kappa mentality. The training, discipline, and experience I received in how to think positively, how to handle large sums of money that were held in trust for his corporation clients, and how to meet the first important people I had ever had contact with - all proved of enormous value later when I became a writer, lecturer, and minister with a worldwide following."
THE PROSPERING POWER OF INJUSTICE
At the height of Joseph's success, as the overseer of Potiphar's estates, injustice struck. He was wrongly accused by Potiphar's wife, and sent to prison. This apparent injustice was a test of Joseph's expanding prosperity consciousness. Instead of fighting this apparent injustice and becoming embittered by it, Joseph took control of his thinking by becoming master of his prison experience. He knew that by mastering whatever situation he found himself in, he would learn from it, and then be freed from it in due time.
The keeper of the prison liked Joseph and committed all the prisoners to his care, so that he even prospered in prison: (Genesis 39:23) "Whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper."
Joseph could have compromised with Potiphar's wife, who was in a powerful position to help or hurt him. But Joseph intuitively knew that moral compromise was not necessary. (It never is.) He became far wealthier in his own right than Potiphar's wife could ever have helped him to become.
When Joseph did not fight for what had been taken from him he was given far more later, because he had developed the prosperity consciousness which could not be taken from him.
Here is one of the billionaire secrets you learn from Joseph: Instead of fretting about what can be taken from you, you should persevere in developing a prosperity consciousness that cannot be taken from you. When you have done this, no person, thing, or event can keep that from you which the universe has for you!
THE PROSPERING POWER OF DISCIPLINE
Joseph needed the quiet time that came to him in prison, away from the world, for further development of his imaging power. He needed this private time to gain an interior control of substance, to become non-resistant, adaptable, and flexible, so that he could continue to grow and expand. He knew that if he became rigid and said that things had to be a certain way, he would repel the substance of the universe from manifesting for him.
Also, Joseph had learned all he could by overseeing Potiphar's prosperity. He had outgrown that experience and needed to be freed from it. The act of apparent injustice that placed him in prison was actually a step forward.
Even in the dungeon, Joseph became master of it. He knew he must master those unwanted experiences and gain the good from them, rather than letting them master him.
When the chief servants of Pharaoh's household were imprisoned, Joseph interpreted their dreams: The royal cup-bearer was restored to favor as Joseph predicted. The royal baker was hanged as Joseph had foreseen.
When the royal cupbearer's life was saved, he promised to speak to the King about Joseph's unfair imprisonment, but he did not.
Instead of reacting to this further injustice, Joseph kept right on nonresistantly gaining control of his prison experiences. He kept on picturing better than the best he was then experiencing. If he had fought back, he would have dissipated his expanding prosperity consciousness. He would have had to start all over again in gathering universal substance together in the invisible and then in the visible realms. He would have had to start all over again in picturing it. There is prospering power in not fighting back!
TWO SECRETS FOR GETTING RESULTS THROUGH PICTURING
Joseph knew these secrets for getting results through picturing:
First: You draw the substance of the universe into definite form in the visible world through your definite pictures.
Second: If you hold on peacefully and confidently to what you are picturing, you will manifest it as visible results in your life. But if you get angry and resentful then universal substance evaporates, and you have to start all over again.
In the face of all this injustice, Joseph "kept his cool" because he knew he was being disciplined for greater things! One day, two years later, his nonresistance paid off. Pharaoh had a dream that all the wise men of Egypt could not interpret.
Suddenly the cupbearer to the King remembered Joseph. He was brought out of the dungeon. He interpreted the dreams as a prophecy of the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine that were coming to Egypt.
At this point, Joseph's troubles were over. A long period of severe discipline was ended, but it had been worth it.
SCRIPTURE: Genesis 50:20; 1 Corinthians 13:4; Genesis 37:10-11; Genesis 39:2; Genesis 39:23
REFERENCE: The Millionaires of Genesis by Catherine Ponder
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Last updated
October 8, 2007
