God Speaks in Your Heart
Type of Event: Worship Service: Sermon only
Date Recorded: 20 May, 2007
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 
Topics: The Lord / God
Description: "Then they said to one another, 'Here comes that dreamer!'" (Gen. 37:19)
The Lord gives us dreams and stirs our affections for spiritual things, and for good reasons; we therefore must learn to trust Him and to dream with Him.
Think back to the life dreams of your childhood. Some may have been silly, but some were noble at their core. Where did they come from? And what happened to them? Sometimes our dreams are torn up by others, and sometimes we talk ourselves out of believing in them.
All of our thoughts and affections are spiritual in origin. Some come from heaven, some from hell. The Lord is constantly flowing into our hearts to inspire and motivate us to do good things. Without the hopes and plans for the future that come from His influence, we would never strive to be better people.
In the Word, Joseph and his brothers represent different parts of our minds. Joseph (and his little brother Benjamin) are the deepest, highest parts of us that receive the Lord's love and wisdom. The older brothers represent the more external parts of us that are necessary for daily life. Often, our external mind attacks our inner Joseph, especially when the Lord fills us with thoughts and affections that require us to change our lives in some dramatic way.
As with Joseph, though, the Lord continues to guide and inspire us even when it seems that we have sold our inmost self into slavery. Even when we are trapped in the external concerns of the world, like Joseph in Egypt we will be protected and lead so that it all leads to good, if we permit Him to do so.
So learn to discern which of your thoughts and affections are from heaven, so you can honor the Lord's inspiration when you find it in your heart.
To see that this is true, read Genesis 37 and Divine Providence 287, and then listen to the full audio version of this sermon.
It is archived at TheoBlog.com, and also available through www.PittsburghNewChurch.org, www.NewChurch.org, and the Apple iTunes Store.
References: Gen. 37; DP 287.
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