JOSEPH'S COURSE & OURSELVES | |
“So it was not you who sent me here, but God.”
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“I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God.
Genesis 45:4-8
“On which day is God happier, the day of your physical birth or the day when you are born as God’s son or daughter to live and love in the infinite world? Why am I saying this? Unless you are liberated from the fear of death, you cannot establish a relationship with God.” SMM, 116:172, January 1, 1982.
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Greetings!
Richard Panzer gave the sermon last Sunday on the topic, “Joseph’s Course & Ourselves.” He read from Genesis chapter 37 which describes aged Jacob’s beloved son, Joseph, who as a 17-year-old boy tending sheep, was having prophetic dreams, but was also hated by his older brothers because he was tattling about their corruption and his words which described their bowing down to him.
One day they conspired to kill him. They threw him into a pit. Instead of killing him, they decided to sell him as a slave to a traveling band of Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. The brothers told their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.
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In Egypt, Joseph became an overseer of the home and estate of Potifar, the captain of the guard, who saw that the “Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. But Potifar’s wife lusted after him. After he refused her advances she accused him of trying to rape her. He was put in prison for several years.
What lessons can we learn from Joseph’s course? When God gives a promise or blessing, we will always be tested. He could have given in to Potifar’s wife’s advances, but he followed his conscience. He was put into prison for doing the right thing. He could have become resentful. Satan was whispering in his ear, “your brothers were going to kill you and then sold you as a slave. God has abandoned you! No one cares about you. Give up!”
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50+ HOURS EXHAUSTING GIANT PIECE (Queen helped me lots with color coordination)!
This piece depicts the holy birth of True Father where his mother had the dream with the two white Imperial dragons coming down from Heaven as a sign and harbinger of the Returning Lord, Maitreya Buddha, Mahdi, The Righteous One, being born.
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Joseph was put in charge of the prisoners. It’s clear that he continued to maintain his faith and trust in God. He interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer of the Pharoah and of the baker, who were both in prison, that the cupbearer would live and be restored to his position, but the baker would be executed. Some commentators estimate that Joseph spent as many as ten years in the prison.
When the Pharoah had disturbing dreams about 7 fat cows and then 7 starving cows and no one was able to decipher it, the cupbearer remembered that Joseph correctly interpreted his dream and told the Pharoah.
Joseph interpreted the Pharoah’s dream, saying that it meant there will be 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of drought and famine. Pharoah put him in charge of the nation, second only to himself. Under Joseph’s leadership for 7 years Egypt taxed and stored 20% of the grain grown in the nation. When the years of famine arrived, there was ample food for the Egyptians as well as for other people living in nearby areas.
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Back in Canaan, the drought was leading to food shortages, so Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy wheat. Genesis 45 describes the moving scene where Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, reassuring them that he has no hatred towards them for their murderous actions, but his entire course was intended by God so that Joseph could be used to save many lives, most especially to keep their extended family alive, the lineage of the chosen people to whom the Messiah would be sent.
Richard showed a photo of Hyung Jin Nim, Yeonah Nim, Kook Jin Nim, and Chie Nim playing a yute game from about 20 years ago. That was a more hopeful, innocent time. They had no inkling that their own mother would reject many of Father’s words and teachings and create her new Only Begotten Daughter theology. They had no idea that they would have to go through Joseph’s course of rejection and persecution if they wanted to uphold and honor True Father’s life and teachings.
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True Father had absolute confidence because he knew the reality of God and the spirit world. As he said, “Where is the spirit world? Is it outside your body, or does it come inside your body? It penetrates even inside your body. You are walking around with the spirit world on your shoulders; you are carrying it and holding it wherever you go. Can you get away from it? Impossible. That is why my heart is always confident wherever I go, and opposition cannot affect me.” SMM (162:116, March 30, 1987)
Father also taught that unless we go beyond our fear of death, we cannot establish a relationship with God. “On which day is God happier, the day of your physical birth or the day when you are born as God’s son or daughter to live and love in the infinite world? Why am I saying this? Unless you are liberated from the fear of death, you cannot establish a relationship with God.” SMM (116:172, January 1, 1982)
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Richard finished the service by showing two videos about Near Death Experiences (NDE). One involving a scholar who had analyzed more than 500 such cases. The other about the Dark Side of NDE’s involving a testimony from atheist professor Howard Storm about being tortured and being dragged towards hell before he felt compelled to pray to God, which drove the evil spirits away.
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May God bless you and your families!
Sincerely,
Richard
Richard A. Panzer, Ph.D., President
World Peace and Unification Sanctuary - USA
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