Care for Your Heart
About this series
As we return to Sunday meetings we realise that people may have become weary and lost some focus. So in our next series we hope to help people deal well with their internal space as well as grasp opportunities and return to ‘action.’ Of course, these two things are very closely connected as people always live out what is happening internally. By ‘heart’ the Bible means the core of a person’s being; the seat of emotion, desire, thought and decision. The biblical term ‘heart’ relates most closely to the modern idea of ‘mind’.
About this talk
Genesis 37-50
Growing up in a dysfunctional family, Joseph rose to prominence in Egypt because God had a plan that was being worked out despite the wickedness of his brothers. Between those two points, though, was a great deal of pain as he was betrayed by his brothers, wrongfully accused and imprisoned and then forgotten. His survival, which depended on keeping his heart in good shape, came from learning to trust God’s sovereignty, to forgive his brothers and to keep himself pure as he represented God wherever he was. His story is a positive application of the truth of Proverbs 4:23.
It’s inevitable that each of us will be tested through life; it’s not inevitable that we become bitter and twisted by those experiences.
The core of Joseph’s ability not to become bitter was his trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God. He endured mistreatment and delay with a patient confidence that God had not deserted him and was working his plan out.
Trusting God means holding to this truth even while we’re not seeing the outworking of it.
Forgiveness is key to a healthy heart. Imagine the difference in outcome if Joseph had become bitter.
However dysfunctional our background (or part of it) may be, God can work for good what was meant for harm.
If you have any questions about this talk, want to find out more about Citygate Church, or want to know more about what it means to be a Christian, please fill in our online Connect form at citygate.church/connect.
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