The Un-Recognized Joseph.

                           Let us read in ACTS 20:35,"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive."

                          Here in the last part of the verse it says "It is more blessed to give than to receive".This words was said by Jesus,from this we have to understand this truth today it brings more blessing when we give than to receive.Have we ever prayed for others, have we ever thought of praying for a weak person, have we ever though of like this.We most of the time have thought like, my problem itself is big than others so how can i think of others?.So how many we in this day take a commitment that, Lord till now i have been a person of always receiving things like in prayer asking for pray for my family or asking for acceptance or asking for love from others.So from now let say that Lord from this i should not be person of receiving always but a person of giving.I didn't speak of money here that you have to give all things you have and should not accept anything from others but it is the heart that the Lord sees in us not the things what ever we give or how big it may be.That is why in 1 SAMUEL 16:7,But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”God always looks at the heart not the outward things that we do to look as if we are good,God examines our heart only.

                                   Let us see a person who gave to Jesus.Let us read MATTHEW 27:59,And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.In all four book in the New Testament disciples have written about this person called Joseph.We all know Joseph means he is person in the Old Testament or the foster father of Jesus that is it all we know but may not come to know of this person Joseph. About this person four disciples wrote they recorded certain things what Jesus did in this world that some small,small things with all that things they about this person Joseph.In last we can see he rolled the a stone and went away and that is all don't know what happen next or in the the upcoming.But God has seen this thing and recorded it.ISAIAH 53:9,And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence,and there was no deceit in his mouth.As we can see this was recorded before the coming of Messiah, this remember me always that God looks each and everything whether it is small or great he looks at ever thing in our life.

                                    Let us see what all four disciple have written about this person Joseph.In MATTHEW 27:57,When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. We can see he was one of the disciples of Jesus Chris as he had many and also a rich man. We should not think that all disciples was poor and very humble all types of people poor or rich all were his disciples.

                                      In MARK 15:43,Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.His was a council member that means he was a respectful person in the society because he was disciple of Jesus.Secondly we can see that he was waiting for the kingdom of God to come.Let us take this to our life are we looking for the kingdom of God to come or looking for worldly things.That kind of person always gather things for which will take him to heaven in his second coming of Jesus but are we like that. We can see Joseph was a person looking for God's kingdom to come.

                                       In LUKE 23:50,Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man.All the four disciples wrote different characteristics of this person Joseph.Here the disciple says he was a good and  righteous person.Look at the testimony he has got in the society how if we ask of us this society or in our own family what will they about us?

                                          In JOHN 19:38,After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.Here we can see he fear the Jewish people because they we against the Lord Jesus Christ.

                                          So looking at all this four only we can understand about the person Joseph.He was a respectful person in council,he was a disciple of Jesus, he was a good and righteous person and also he was a rich man. We can see that he has decided his tomb to where he should be buried after his death. I think before he was a disciple of Jesus Christ he would have thought, I was i who caught up to this position, it was in who make made it or it was of i who made it to the member of the council but after he listened to the word he was changed from his selfish things and followed Jesus.We can see that the tomb that was prepared for his own, he gave to Jesus to bury and can see he was afraid of the Jews but he arose and went to government of the Rome and asked to Pilate for the body of Christ.Where this come from the courage to speak to Pilate because all is nothing before God and in Bible it says in 1 JOHN 4:18,There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.He had perfect love towards God that made the fear drive out from him. This made him to speak to Pilate.

                             So we have the of giving because if we give we may lose it or we may not get back kit again.From now let us say that Lord i will give my time to lord not because i have to but out of love i am giving it to Lord like this Lord doesn't looks at the things that we give he looks at the heart of each and everyone many are looking out for love from someone but he the Lord himself gave his only begotten son for us, he gave all he had in him to us but we people are still looking out to receive more rather than to give back to the Lord. Jesus said "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

                                                             MAY GOD BLESS YOU

Thank You..,