Joseph 4: When Dreams Come True. (Genesis 40)

Bordeaux Church

This is the fourth sermon in our series, Joseph: Son, Slave, Saviour. It covers Genesis 40.

Unfortunately there was a problem with the recording, so the end of the sermon is written below.

For the third and most practical point:

1) Don't take your own dreams and life-goals too seriously.

We don't always know what's best for ourselves and what we set our hearts on can end in heartbreak - dreams can turn to nightmares. Think of the poor baker. Also God sometimes has other ideas for us that are far better than we imagined. I don't know exactly what Egyptian prisons were like, but I bet they were not like modern penitentiaries, with psychologists, training schemes and the goal of positive outcomes. Joseph was not exaggerating when he called it a dungeon or a hole. But wherever Joseph went, son, slave or prisoner, God was with him, and God's presence can turn a hole to a heaven. Still, we can well imagine that Joseph set his heart on getting his freedom once the butler spoke to Pharaoh. However, the butler forgot and Joseph had two more years to wait in the dungeon. But that was the exact way to accomplish God's goal for Joseph, to save the world from famine.

2) Do set your heart on God's goal for you.

If you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then God's goal is to make you like Him in your character, too, and to flood your heart with joy in his presence forever. The Bible tells us again and again that we become like what we worship. Idolise the models, icons and influencers of this world and the best you can become is like them, and in the end be dead like them, your name like theirs soon forgotten forever. Worship the Lord Jesus Christ and set him apart in your heart as Lord and you can become pure, holy and radiant with his glory everlasting, forever. God has greater things in mind for you than the dream job, the dream home, the dream spouse, the dream family. He made you for glory. Don't set your heart on anything less than that.