Once, near my home, a row of beautiful trees was brought down by a storm. Speaking about this, someone knowledgeable about trees told me that the probable reason why the trees could not withstand the storm was that the water table was too high –too near the surface –so the trees had not needed to put their roots down deep to find water. Later, when thinking about this, I looked again at the article I had read about the vines in the Napa Valley, California, and came across this: ‘Drought stretches the natural vine’s root. As long as there is abundant water on the surface the root feeds there, but drought sends the taproot deep in search of moisture and water. The more frequent and severe the droughts, the deeper the taproot grows.’ This is nature through which our Lord God Almighty often talks to us in things of reality! In a similar way, when the things of this world on which we may have been relying fail us, we are challenged to send our roots down deeper in search of spiritual nourishment but often instead of us to make efforts to send our roots of spiritual and physical intelligence deeper down to the Centre Who is God in His Holy Spirit which is the very form that we gain from God today, we waste all the time doing things that does not profit us anything, too bad! We can either find sustenance in the superficial things of life –those of the world around us –or seek to send our spiritual roots downwards to draw from the abundant waters provided by God, which start to flow when we give our lives to Him in the Holy Spirit. Is there a spiritual drought in your life at this moment? Many of you reading these lines may feel spiritually jaded or worn out because you are drawing from the waters found on the surface of life and there is little moisture left. It is important to remember that no matter what happens in life, you always have a choice: you can attempt to find what you need to sustain you in the things of this world, or seek to send your roots down deeper into God to sustain life in you. What or which will you choose to do today? Remember that it is life that is sustained with roots in God that enjoys cares for the things of this world! The Igbos will tell you that O bu onye di Ndu ga eri aku! Again aku uwa enwegi ihe obu! King Solomon made us to know that everything in this world is vanity upon vanity! So let us put up all efforts in life to keep chasing and seeking the things of the Kingdom of God through His Holy Spirit instead of wasting all our time in the things of this world! Come to think of it the Word of our Lord God said, what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and loose his soul!

Now let us read Genesis 49:22-26; 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well (spring or fountain), whose branches run over the wall. 23 Skilled archers have bitterly attacked and sorely worried him; they have shot at him and persecuted him. 24 But his bow remained strong and steady and rested in the Strength that does not fail him, for the arms of his hands were made strong and active by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 By the God of your father, Who will help you, and by the Almighty, Who will bless you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings lying in the deep beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of your father [on you] are greater than the blessings of my forefathers [Abraham and Isaac on me] and are as lasting as the bounties of the eternal hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was the consecrated one and the one separated from his brethren and [the one who] is prince among them.

Genesis 49:22-26 speaks of Joseph's blessing, portraying him as a "fruitful bough," resilient even in the face of adversity, and emphasizes God's provision and strength in his life. This passage encourages believers to find strength in God's hand during trials, and to cultivate a fruitful life through faith and trust with requisite effort. Genesis 49:22-24; 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well (spring or fountain), whose branches run over the wall. 23 Skilled archers have bitterly attacked and sorely worried him; they have shot at him and persecuted him. 24 But his bow remained strong and steady and rested in the Strength that does not fail him, for the arms of his hands were made strong and active by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, Joseph; Joseph endured a difficult life and this is exactly how we are required to endure being in Christ. Described as “archers” in this passage, Joseph faced arrows of persecution from his own siblings–they plotted to murder him, then they settled for selling him into slavery instead of killing him. So he was separated from his family, while he served as a slave in Egypt. Then he was falsely accused of rape by Potiphar’s wife, after which, he was tossed into a dungeon–for years. Do you see that tossing faithful blessed sons of God, sons in whom God deposited so much blessing for them to be a blessing to other of their people into dungeons or dangerous prisons did not start today, Lucifer and his human agents always use it to either try to delay or hinder God’s moves but they always fail because our God is faithful and will do exactly what He says He will do! Lord Jesus; Lord Jesus was another who was committed to living His life God’s way on earth in a way to teach earth humans how God wants life to be lived on earth, no matter what arrows flew in His direction. He loved people, all people, including promiscuous women, prostitutes, and thieves–even when it brought brutal criticism. Although on the surface He looked as ordinary as anyone else, He healed, and helped so many, it was impossible to write all His deeds down according to John 21:25. And though He did all these things, things no one else could do, He never bragged nor boasted of them as many of us wrongly used to do! The religious leadership of His day hated Him. Over and over they tried to catch Him in a verbal ambush, but Christ answered so cleverly and completely they eventually stopped trying. Several times they tried to kill Him, but they couldn’t until His time came when He had finished exemplifying how life should be lived on earth. His dream was to make a way for us to go to heaven, but it meant He had to die. He did it anyway to also exemplify that unlike the belief of many people, life does not end here on earth, there is a continuity of life after death. You might be asking yourself, “How? How did Joseph and Lord Jesus live this way?” The source of power for both Joseph and Lord Jesus is revealed by Jacob in our text. They were both able to live the way they did “because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel…” Who is God Almighty, Who is Lord Jesus Christ! All it requires to be able to live life on earth like Him is just truly and faithfully believe in Him by getting acquainted with His Word and living them daily in the midst of your fellow human being.

You have access to that same source of power that enabled Joseph and Lord Jesus to live their lives which you know. Those decisions you’ve made the last few years that haven’t worked out for you? The ones that made you say, “Yea but…” “Yea but she seemed like such a nice girl.” “I know but he was so good to my five year old daughter.” “Yes but she was so much fun to party with.” Did you try to notice many things in all these sentences, there is a ‘Yea But…’, it is a kind of decisional statements that misleads because right in them are elements of misdirected love and misdirected sympathy, love and sympathy that are not necessary in the real sense of it, Lord Jesus is telling us that we have to be very careful! And it’s true; sometimes it can seem difficult to figure out who someone is until you finally get below the surface or spend some time living with the person. But you’d like to have the power to choose a partner who’s solid, stable, reliable–right? You’d like to avoid a relationship with the girl who will eventually cheat on you, or the spouse who will one day prioritize getting drunk or high, over you (and over everything else in life). Have you ever noticed how some people seem to have an instinct for entering into solid relationships? There’s usually a power behind that sustained Joseph and Lord Jesus Christ. The same power behind Joseph and Lord Jesus is always available; all you require is to get deeply rooted into that power by living a life that enables the Holy Spirit to come into you! That power is Lord God Almighty, Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ–and you have access to Him if you believe in and rely on Him as He requested. Believe in God and also believe in Me, He said! Different Life–Different Outcomes; The ones who tend to have the power of positive relationships are the same ones who study the life of Christ in the Bible. They’re the same ones who pray. They’re the same ones who go to Church and hang out with others who also seek Lord Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, and in prayer. You have access to the same power, but you have to go to the same place these people go, to get it. So do it. Do what they do. Hang with the people they hang with. Do it for your son, do it for your daughter, do it for your parents, and for all the others who love you, and care about you. When you enter into one of those relationships that take you down, of course, it doesn’t hurt just you. When you go down, their hearts break. If you go to where the power is, you can enjoy a different life. In the end, more was written of Joseph than of any other son of Jacob’s. He was blessed as were future generations descended from Joseph. We saw in previous posts about Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, how future generations can pay a price for wrong behavior engaged in the present. But blessings for future generations are possible too. Joseph is an example of this–he was one who tapped into God’s power and committed to living his life God’s way–no matter what was thrown at him. The result was spectacular blessing. Ultimately both Joseph and Lord Jesus became the Savior of Jacob’s family Israel. And the greater than Joseph, Lord Jesus, became the Savior of much more. They were both shot at and hated, yet both have no sin recorded in Scripture. They both tapped into God’s power. You too can tap into God’s power! Speaking of Joseph, Jacob said: 25 By the God of your father, Who will help you, and by the Almighty, Who will bless you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings lying in the deep beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of your father [on you] are greater than the blessings of my forefathers [Abraham and Isaac on me] and are as lasting as the bounties of the eternal hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was the consecrated one and the one separated from his brethren and [the one who] is prince among them. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph. Today we have people who are blessed as Joseph and they are working for humanity’s freedom, safety and care but the rest are only busy chasing worldliness, let us change and do the right thing which is what our God wants from us!