Pastor Max Wilkins
September 15, 2002 - W0237

Everyone has dreams. What was your dream when you were a kid? Being a movie star or a dancer? A great quarterback or astronaut? Do you remember your dreams? Sadly, most people want to stomp our dreams out of us. Others believe that when we grow up, we have to give up our dreams. Not true!

Through the prophet Joel, God tells us this, ìIn the last days I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreamsî (Joel 2:28) This passage of Scripture has many different meanings and applications for our lives. At the very least, we can assume this: If our ìold men will dream dreams,î then God does not intend for us to stop dreaming just because we grow old. He wants us to dream for the length of our entire lives! And not just dream, but to live out those dreams!

Q1: What was your dream as a kid? What is your dream now?

Q2: How are you living out your dream, or, how do you plan to begin living it out?

Thereís a story of one dreamer in the Bible that encourages us in many ways: Joseph. Joseph began dreaming early. He had such vivid, prophetic dreams that he began to brag about them to his family. In one dream he saw them as bundles of wheat that all bowed down to him. In another he saw them as the sun, the moon and 11 stars (he had 11 older brothers) and they all bowed down to him again.

Well, of course, his 11 big brothers didnít appreciate this at all. In fact, Godís Word says they ìhated him.î One day it got so bad that they finally couldnít stand it: ìëHere comes that dreamer!í they said to each other. ëCome now, letís kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then weíll see what comes of his dreamíî (Gen. 37:19-20).

This is how most of the world reacts to our dreams. Although you may not be killed for your dreams, it may happen. The family of Martin Luther King would confirm that itís possible to die for your dreams. Regardless, in most cases, you will need to pay a price for your dream. In Josephís case they did not kill him. Instead they threw him in a cistern and sold him into slavery. Sometimes your own family, even your friends will stand in the way of your dreams.

I remember when I was a little kid about 7 years old. My family and I were driving by Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 101^st Airborne. That particular day, the 101^st Airborne was doing drills out in a field and they were skydiving. As I saw the sky filled with these parachutes, I decided that I wanted to do that. Now fast forward to when I was 18. I was talking to my friend, John, whose father had been with the 101^st Airborne. John was telling me about how he used to sport parachute. I told him, ìYou know what? I always wanted to do that! I always wanted to jump out of airplanes!î

John replied, ìNo, you didnít. You just want to talk about it. You donít want to do it because there is nothing stopping you. If you wanted to do it, you would just do it.î Well, that made me mad! I remember seeing a flyer on a telephone pole advertising a sport parachute club. The next Saturday morning I got up before dawn and went and learned to jump out of airplanes.

God has placed and will continue to place dreams within your lifeóGodly dreams. Jumping out of the airplane was not a Godly dream. It was just a thing that I cooked up and you will cook up all kinds of crazy things in your own life. God has dreams, or assignments, for your life. His assignment for you will always include serving God and serving others. Itís one way to know if it is from God or if is just something you cooked up.

Q3: What is a Godly dream you have? What is your ìGod assignmentî?

HOW CAN WE LIVE OUT GODíS DREAMS FOR OUR LIVES?

Every person can live the dreams God has for them by following a few simple steps. Itís similar to what I had to do to jump out of an airplane: sit in the door, then stand on the wing, and finally, go! Let me explainÖ

I.                   SIT IN THE DOOR. GET A GOD-SIZED PERSPECTIVE.

When I was learning to jump out of airplanes the first step was to ìsit in the door;î  we had to sit in the open door of the flying plane. The view was phenomenal! It felt like you were sitting in heaven and you could see forever. The difference from our regular view, standing on earth, was what I would call ìGod-sized.î

Joseph had a God-sized perspective. There was no human way that Joseph could see himself rising up to be lord over his family, let alone over his country (as he later did when he became ruler over Egypt). And yet he dreamed bigger than life. God gave him a glimpse of the God-sized destiny He had prepared for Joseph. And Joseph began to dream. 

God will not give you a tiny dream. Godís dreams will always require His participation to fulfill it. What can you do to receive God-sized dreams?

1. Enlarge Your Horizons.

To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. (Dan. 1:17 NIV)

Like Joseph, Daniel was another man who was gifted with God-sized dreams. Why? Because God filled him with all knowledge. God didnít just ìzapî him with knowledge. God gave him an inquisitive mind, a desire to learn and grasp the greater things of this world. Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego studied literature and the works of society. Some of us need to broaden our horizons a bit. If the last book youíve read is ìTV Guideî then this includes you! God canít put a God-sized dream into a tiny little vessel. Expand your horizons and watch God fill it to whatever size youíre willing to grow to.

2. Be Dependably Faithful.

The second key to receiving God-sized dreams is to simply be dependable and faithful. Joseph was faithful from the beginning. ìJoseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his fatherís wives, and he brought their father a bad report about themî (Gen. 37:2 NIV). Josephís father knew that of all his sons, he could trust Joseph because he was dependably faithful.

God has great dreams to place within your life, but you must be faithful and dependable enough to receive it. He will not place the dream in your life until He knows you can be entrusted with that dream. Develop a character that is dependably faithful.

ìHis master replied, ëWell done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your masterís happiness!íî (Mt. 25:21)

Q4: How trustworthy are you? How faithful are you? How good is your word? Can people take it to the bank? Does your family know that they can rely on you?

The first step in living out Godís dreams for our lives is to ìsit in the door,î get a God-sized perspective. Do so by enlarging your horizons and becoming dependably faithful. Once youíve taken this first critical step, youíre now ready for step twoÖ

II.                STAND ON THE WING: DREAM BIG, START SMALL.

Many of us start off with humble beginnings. We think itís almost impossible to accomplish God-sized dreams from where we stand. But itís important to start from wherever you stand. Joseph started off in a cistern, his first step was as a slave. Yet God gave him a vision to be a great leader. He didnít pout or rebel, he got busy and served his new master. ìThe Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian masterî (Gen. 39:2).

God brings His dreams to reality in your life one small step at a time. The first step is the most important. Too many dreams fail because the first step is never taken. You must take it! But there are forces out there working to kill your dreams before theyíre ever born.

      Two Dream Killers:

1. Fear

Every dream comes with a nightmare. Nightmares are the enemyís attempt to sow fear into your life. The enemy knows you donít have to give up your dreams. You just have to have the spirit of fear to make you too afraid to step into them. Jesus warns us of the incredible danger of being paralyzed by fear: ìThen the man who had received one talent came. ëMaster,í he said, ëI knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.íî (Mt. 25:24-25) This man didnít fulfill his destiny because he was too afraid. What a tragedy!

This is not to say that we will never be afraid. In fact, God never told us not to be afraid. He simply tells us to have courage. Courage means confronting your fear head-on and taking a step into that fear in spite of the fear. Itís the only way to live out your dreams. Fear comes straight from the enemy and will cause you to miss Godís dreams for your life. God did not give you the spirit of fear. He gave us the spirit of boldness. Thatís the only way to overcome the dream-killer of fear.

Q5: Whatís your greatest fear? Is it blocking you from realizing Godís dream for your life? How can you begin to overcome it?

2. Impatience

The second dream-killer is impatience, when we refuse to wait for Godís timing and rush to grab at His promises. Joseph was 17 years old when he received his dream from God and it was 30 years later before he finally saw that dream realized. If your dream is truly a Godly dream, then you donít have to force it. God will make His dreams become reality in your life if you just remain faithful.

These twoófear and impatienceómake a dream-killing combination that can wipe out the greatest of Godís dreams for our lives. Donít let them! Instead choose to dream big and start small. Then youíll have taken the second step closer to fulfilling Godís dream for you. The third and final step is just as critical:

III.             GO: RELEASE CONTROL AND TRUST GOD.

At some point, you have to let go of the dream because if you pursue your dream you wonít always get there. If the dream comes from God, He is showing you a picture of your assignmentñyour future. Then what God wants you to do is focus on becoming the person that can fulfill that dream.

Our goal ultimately in life is to serveóto serve God and to serve others. Thatís where we start. If the dream is from God, we get to that dream by being a servant. Some Christians think it is inappropriate to seek greatness. Jesus never said it was wrong to want to be great. If fact He told us how. He said, ìIf you want to be the greatest of all, become the greatest servant of all.î No matter how big your dream is, it never removes your responsibility to serve.

God may have given you a grand vision for your life, but it begins with servingóserving God and others. There is no substitute. Joseph served in prison on the way to His dream: ìBut while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done thereî (Gen. 39:20-22 NIV).

Donít work on your dream. Work on your character and let God take care of the dream. God can only build His dreams in your life if you build the kind of character necessary to receive that dream. God wants to give you the desires of your heart, if you delight yourself in Him. Go for it!

Q6: What characteristics are necessary to receive Godís dream?

Final Q: What are the desires of your heart? How does this factor into the dream, or ìGod assignment,î He has for you?

Thanks to first-time volunteer, Terry Sawyer! Thanks for your prayers, our ministry is growingJ!