12-4-2021 West Palm Beach 7th Day BAPTIST Pastor Garfield “The Mind of Love” Genesis 40;1-15

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12-4-2021 West Palm Beach 7^th Day BAPTIST Pastor Garfield “The Mind of Love” Genesis 40;1-15

 

In the world there is turmoil, violence and death. There has to be a mindset in us to display the Love of God. It has to be a special mindset to love the people who are unlovable. Yes we have people like that. It takes the love of God for us to do like Matthew 5 says, to love our enemies. Brothers and sisters it is not natural for us to love but it is more natural for us to be angry and hate. Jesus is calling on us to love our enemies.

The mind is the part of you that thinks and feels and leads you into consciousness of thought and feeling. The mind of love is about thinking, feeling and experiencing the world through the lenses of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you are depending on yourselves then you will never have the mind of love.  Depending on your feelings, pain and experiences won’t get you the mind of love. Brothers and sisters we should have the mind of Christ. The mind that will humble us and put the focus on others and not on ourselves. Jesus, while He was being crucified, focused on those crucifying Him. He said forgive them Lord for they know not what they have done. This is the perfect example of loving your enemy.

The mindset of love is certainly not easy but we are called to do this by the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters I want to remind you that if we are to love, the truth is that we are to be distributors of that which God has given us. God has given you love and that is why you are still alive. God has given you love and that is why you are not dead. God has given you love and that is why you can worship Him and praise Him today. Your responsibility is to distribute that which God has given you. You need to be good stewards.

Stewardship is how we distribute and use what God has blessed us with. The reality is that many of us will say that as a Christian steward, we really don’t have much to give. But I want to remind you that a Christian steward by definition is one who orders his or her entire life according to the commandments of God. We must be reminded that nothing we have, we own.  Everything we have, our lives, our complexion, our height, our bodies, our financial resources, our husbands, our wives, our cars, our education belongs to God. Brothers and sisters the mind of love is with the understanding that only God knows perfect Love. This being the case then having the mind of love means you understand who God is.

Very often we are expecting others to love us. But they don’t know who God is. We get very disappointed and discouraged when they don’t love us. But if you are a child of God, you have an obligation to let them know that you are a Christian by your love. Even if the man has a gun pointed at you to take your life, you should respond from a position of love. Love means forgiveness and redemption. Love means to take the focus off of yourselves. We have a wonderful example of someone who understood the idea of stewardship and having the mind of love. Looking at Genesis 40 we will understand how we can order our lives based on the example of Joseph.

Joseph had eleven brothers and one sister. His life was to be one of peace and pleasure but he had pain, he had prison and he had poverty. Many of us are saying that we are a child of God so why are we experiencing this high level of discomfort? If you are not sure of whether you are coming or going and you are disappointed with where you are then remember that God is in control. God has a plan. You may not know what it is but God is doing something brand new. Watch and see that it will begin to spring up. Joseph was the favorite of his father.  Sometimes we don’t realize that we are favorites of our God as well. Because you are favorites, you are going to become targets of the enemy. Many times we don’t realize this either.

Because of him being the favorite, Joseph was hated by his brothers. He was thrown into a pit then later thrown into slavery. Then eventually he was thrown into prison. That is where we will pick up today with Joseph in prison. Brothers and sisters many of you today are having experiences where you feel you are not in control of your lives. This is a form of prison. You feel that you are not free to act the way you want to. You feel limited and this is a form of prison. I want to remind you that Jesus Christ is a great redeemer. Jesus can open every prison door and you shall be set free in Jesus’s Name! There is no weapon formed against you that shall prosper. There is noting that satan can do to you that God has not allowed him to do. Understand that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. We are treasures of God that stand supreme and nothing can happen to us that our God does not allow.

Joseph was in prison and the text explains to us that there were two men. These two men worked for the king as butler/cupbearer and baker. They had displeased the king so they were thrown into prison with Joseph. Joseph was asked to take care of them. Can you imagine being in prison with the disappointments. I could not even take care of myself. Understand that the weaker you are and the more frustrated you are, the more you need to focus on others. If you have the mind of love, it will become natural for you to spend time with others. Remember that we were given 24 hours of everyday of our lives. Understand that with this 24 hours, even when you are sleeping, you are using time. Time doesn’t stand still, brothers and sisters. The Bible says we should work while it is day because night comes when no man can work. It is not the literal day and night but it is saying that there will come a time where you will not be able to witness to anybody. The day it’s talking about is when you are able to be up and talking to others. When you can’t speak with others that is regarded as night.

Being with the mind of Christ and the mind of love, there are three examples I want to take out of Joseph’s experience with the cupbearer and the baker.

 

1)     Expressions of Care:  Even in Joseph’s situation he still cared for people. Verse 6. Joseph saw that the two men were sad. We can be so consumed with ourselves that we don’t see what others look like: the cab driver, the other drivers on the road. We should be expressing expressions of care. It starts by me slowing down, looking at you in your face and trying to be a part of your solution. Expressions of care requires time and love. Joseph asked them why did they look sad and to tell him what was wrong. Expressions of caring means that when you step away from that person, they are a new woman or man and their situation is better. They feel that they matter.

 

2)     Words of Counsel: Verse 8. They told Joseph of their dreams and that they could not interpret them. Joseph said don’t interpretations come from God and to tell him their dreams. Joseph was saying that there is a God who is superior to us and all things. Joseph was also saying that there is a God that we all should rely on. God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory. God has power and authority everywhere and in anything. No matter your level of education, God can use you to advise a king. The ones who have their minds stayed on God are the ones God uses. God is the answer for every problem you can ever have. Since we know God, we have words of counsel.

 

3)     Actions of Service:   This requires your time and gift from God.  Brothers and sisters, after Joseph heard the dreams, with the encouragement from God, he was able to interpret the dreams. In verse 12 Joseph said the interpretation to the cupbearer. He said he would be restored to his position with the king. The point is that Joseph had the gift to interpret dreams. God put him in the prison so he could interpret some dreams. Wherever God has placed you, it is because He knows that He has equipped you to act based on what is needed. So if you are in a position and you are not acting then you are being poor stewards to God.

Expressions of care should not be limited to your loved ones but be for every person on the face of the earth. Words of counsel is about sharing your God. You have a personal experience with God so you can share Him with others. Actions of service is about carrying out that which God has gifted you with. I believe that many of us can have the mind of love if we just slow down and express care to others.

 

AMEN