Power Walk Ministries

Host (Male): Welcome to the Power Walk Ministries broadcast with author and speaker Pastor Paul Cannings.

Guest (Male): This conference has been life-changing. I've shared tears, I've shared prayer requests, and I've shared meaningful moments with people. We were able to talk about a myriad of topics related to apologetics, even through sexual ethics issues, and of course, we're going to discuss some youth items to help them grow their ministries.

The importance and the impact that fathers have in the home to their children. This was a transformative time even for me as a speaker because it challenged me to consider things even outside of my perspective. And trust me, it was a memorable moment that I will never forget.

Guest (Male): Well, you should come because we never stop learning. So a conference such as this one will just impact you so much that you will grow.

Guest (Male): I am so excited about the conference coming up April 23rd through the 25th. I really am ecstatic about it. Pastors have come together on a committee to help with the process moving forward. Excited about our first conference last year, but this conference this year is going to be greater. There are about 40 classes here. Let me give you a taste.

The pastor and deacons functioning under the leadership of Christ, a biblical approach to resolving conflict in the church, traits of successful biblical leadership, cultivating a healthy and productive team environment, overcoming the stagnation in the church, discipling leaders, dealing with how do we grow people and do evangelism at the same time.

Despite all the difficulties churches are facing, we can find a powerful, effective way forward. A lot of teachers are coming to teach. They're well-trained, well-educated, practicing these principles within their church. Come be a part of April 23rd through the 25th. Go to powerwalkministries.org, powerwalkministries.org, so that we could move forward together for God's glory. Look forward to seeing you. You will not be in any way disappointed at this conference.

Host (Male): Today we begin a new series on our broadcast titled Broken, Not Defeated, challenging us to respond to those complications in relationships in a Christ-like manner. Here's Pastor Cannings with the message Conflict - Don't Run.

Dr. Paul Cannings: If there's one thing that I'm confident that relationships would have, and that is conflict. Even the scriptures say that marriages would have trouble in First Corinthians chapter 7. So in relationships, even with Jesus Christ walking on earth, perfect, walking on water, doing great manifestations of supernatural power, there was conflict between him and Peter.

Obviously, Peter is always wrong, but there is conflict even between Paul and Barnabas. They are godly men, great men of God, committed to the scriptures, committed to carry out the mission of God on earth, no matter the suffering or no matter the sacrifices they had to make, but yet there was conflict. There is conflict throughout the scriptures.

There is conflict in marriages that are talked about with a man that God called righteous, Abraham, and his wife, Sarah. So when we come to the scriptures, we don't find every situation perfect. We find most situations to be dysfunctional or having troubles that God is using those situations to teach us through.

And one of those circumstances that God has placed before us is the story of Joseph. Because of so much that is taking place in our culture and our society today, the pressure and the stress that many marriages, relationships, as churches struggling to survive all these different things, businesses struggling to survive, business partners trying to make it all work.

We have to learn not to do what most people do when there is conflict, and that is run to a safe corner and say time out. When the Bible shows the opposite, the Bible shows that when there is conflict, when there are difficult situations that are taking place since we are on earth and we don't struggle between flesh and blood, we struggle with Satan working on different people.

If they choose to lie, Satan working on people if they choose to live in the flesh and follow the passions and the desires of the flesh. If they choose to live selfishly, if they choose to focus on what they need to gain out of the situation because they need to win, then Satan works in many ways in order to keep stirring conflict.

So if we don't learn to develop a commitment to work our way through conflict and grow through conflict, we will not come to the point where we get rid of the flesh and start living in the Spirit, who is our peace. Christ in conflict always addressed it. If you see Christ with the disciples, conflict, he addressed it.

Pharisees, Sadducees, high priest, he addressed it. Standing in front of Pilate, he addressed it. Peter, it's God's will. Don't cut anybody's ears off. Go about putting the ear back on, do what you got to do because it's the will of God. I will walk through the process and stay through conflict. We need to learn how to work through it, not away from it.

Many people have seen, grown up in families where people run from it. When there are marital issues, divorce. When there are family-related issues, people don't talk to one another. People tend to run. And the Bible is saying, no, no, no, this is where you grow. It's in the midst of conflict. I'm not talking about physical abuse here. That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about differences of opinion. I'm talking about bad experiences that have taken place in the past, but over time God has allowed those people to be in the same room and having to deal with the issues that was at hand and having to work through it. That's what we're dealing with here in Genesis chapter 42 when we're talking about Joseph and his brothers.

What we find here is that God has controlled the entire process of them having to come talk to one another. They wanted to get rid of Joseph because they didn't want to deal with him because he's a constant conflict. He's talking about them bowing to him. His father loves him more than he loves them.

He's a constant reminder of the lack of love that their father doesn't have for them. Constant reminder that even showcases that by coming to look for them in the very colored coat that represents the father's love. Not the smart move on Joseph's part. So they thought that they could get rid of the conflict.

God says, no, we're not going there. God uses what they choose to do for evil for good. Because Joseph followed through on what Paul would tell us in Romans chapter 8 verse 26, and that is all things work together for good to them that love the Lord and that would keep his commandments. What does that loving mean? To keep his commandments.

It works well for those people. Not just works well because we're Christians, it works well for those who would say to Potiphar's wife, I can't touch you because this is a sin against God. It's a person who would remember the dream and stay focused on doing what God has called them to do. It's a person who, in the midst of being in prison for something he didn't do, still did what God called him to do.

So when there was a conflict in his relationship with God, he trusted God and chose to do what God says that he needs to do. So instead of becoming angry that God is allowing these horrible things to take place in his life, to be on a slave market, people looking up under your lips and checking you like an animal, in spite of that, in spite of being left to die in a well.

And you would see the pain that he went through in that situation in verse 22 of chapter 42 of the book of Genesis. And Reuben answered saying, spake I not unto you saying, do not sin against the child, young boy, 15, 16, most people believe 16. And he would not hear. Therefore behold, also his blood is required. Why? Because Joseph was in such pain.

Verse 41 and they said to one another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul, his soul. It came from deep down inside of him when he besought us and we would not listen. Therefore is this distress come upon us? So in this story, as they reflect, they help us to understand the pain that Joseph went through.

When he is crying out and hollering to them and he's in distress, it's a word that literally means the person is overwhelmed. They're emotionally stressed out. They're seeing a situation that could cause them to die. They feel hopeless. That's Joseph. That's why he's saying it came from his soul. Joseph was in all of this pain, but in spite of all of this pain, Joseph never turned around and used that against God.

So when the conflict arose between him and God, Joseph still trusted God, he still believed in God, he still obeyed God, he still did what God wanted him to do. So now God turns around his obedience for good. And when the butler and the cupbearer came down into that prison, Joseph was let out.

And when Joseph was let out, within a day, Joseph is now made second in command to Pharaoh. Why? God has given Pharaoh a dream and he's allowed Joseph to be a dreamer that goes to a land of dreamers. So Joseph became accustomed to interpreting dreams and understanding who interpreted the dreams, that is God.

So when Joseph continued to walk with God, continued to surrender to God, no matter what experiences he goes through, stood before Pharaoh, he says, this dream comes from God, my interpretation comes from God. And Joseph continued commitment to God despite the stressful, difficult, painful circumstances he was going through to become second in command.

And God allowed it that a drought came in fulfillment to the dream the Pharaoh, so his brothers were forced to come. In an agrarian society where if you have a famine, there's a huge issue, so they're forced by the circumstances God created to come talk. You've allowed the circumstances in the marriage to not get any better.

God, you've allowed this. Now what are you calling for me to be in this situation that could be a job where there are enemies, to grow and learn from. So now, Lord, that's my Bible study, that's my devotion, to be able to function in, so whether the lions are in the den or not, you are finding a person who's being refined like pure gold to be able to serve you and to bring glory to your name.

So I become a part of the cloud of witnesses that can help them to keep running their race. As James chapter 1 verse 2 through 4 would say, God allows these things to take place in life to teach us perseverance, to bring us to a point of maturity to become all he sees us to be. And when God brings conflict back to us, we are ready to manage the pain that we still feel.

Joseph cried and cried. Joseph will come from one pain to another pain because the pain of his struggle was constantly still with him, but he stayed focused on how he works his way through. And as a result of that, we have a nation that's born in Egypt to move forward with God's plan because God found a faithful man who did not run from conflict. Joseph was willing to walk by faith and not by sight.

Whether it's a situation where sometimes people divorce but one of the children get real sick, now they have to talk. Sometimes God has a way of bringing it back that you think you went to another church only for the person to join that church. Sometimes you think you went to another job only for that same boss to show up in a different situation, but the same circumstances there because God is saying, I want you to learn to grow, to test my commitment to you.

When we face conflict, we're running to the person who refines us to become better because of the conflict. So the end of the day, with all the conflict Paul faced, he says, it's no longer I live, it is Christ that lives in me. So as we go through in this series of messages, I pray that we will grow in all the situations that God will allow us to face to be better, not bitter. Stay focused.

Host (Male): Amen, Dr. Cannings. It's our commitment to God that will enable us to respond to others as Christ did. Please log on to powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org.

You can also call us at 281-260-7402. Once again, our web address is powerwalkministries.org. And now remember to focus not on running away from conflicts, but running to God who wants to refine us through them.