Nurturing Your Dreams
Last week we looked at the Stealer of your dreams. He is the devil no matter what disguise he comes in, Jesus said,
A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy.
Its one thing to have a dream, its quite another to nourish that dream and work with the Holy Spirit to see it accomplished.
Moving on from last week many people asked for the Holy Spirit to revitalize their dream and help them pick up from the point of loosing it.
For those people I want to take this whole thing a step further this morning and teach on how to nurture your Spirit given dream.
Let’s look at a biblical character who had a dream and against all the odds saw it come to pass.
Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived, 2and this is the story of Jacob’s family.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, took care of the sheep and goats with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s concubines. He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.
3 Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleeves for him. 4When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner.
5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more. 6He said, “Listen to the dream I had. 7We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat, when my sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle round mine and bowed down to it.”
8 “Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?” his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them.
9 Then Joseph had another dream and said to his brothers, “I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”
10 He also told the dream to his father, and his father scolded him: “What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?” Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the whole matter Gen 37:1 GN
This young man had a dream that fulfilled all the hallmarks that we saw last week.
a. It was only partly understood by Joseph.
b.
c. It was so big as to be utterly improbable and bordering on the ridiculous.
No one here would deny that it came from the Holy Spirit.
Within a short time this is what happened to Joseph,
14 His father said, “Go and see if your brothers are safe and if the flock is all right; then come back and tell me.” So his father sent him on his way from the Valley of Hebron.
Joseph arrived at Shechem 15and was wandering about in the country when a man saw him and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 “I am looking for my brothers, who are taking care of their flock,” he answered. “Can you tell me where they are?”
17 The man said, “They have already left. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18 They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him. 19They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer. 20Come on now, let’s kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams.”
21 Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22“Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don’t hurt him.” He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father. 23When Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped off his long robe with full sleeves. 24Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry.
25 While they were eating, they suddenly saw a group of Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were loaded with spices and resins. 26Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder? 27Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won’t have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed, and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt Gen 47:14-28 GN
Now where was his dream? I wonder how he felt alone in the pit?
Later on we read,
Now the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, one of the king’s officers, who was the captain of the palace guard. The LORD was with Joseph and made him successful. He lived in the house of his Egyptian master, 3who saw that the LORD was with Joseph and had made him successful in everything he did. 4Potiphar was pleased with him and made him his personal servant; so he put him in charge of his house and everything he owned. 5From then on, because of Joseph the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian and everything that he had in his house and in his fields. 6Potiphar handed over everything he had to the care of Joseph and did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Joseph was well-built and good-looking, 7and after a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph and asked him to go to bed with her. 8He refused and said to her, “Look, my master does not have to concern himself with anything in the house, because I am here. He has put me in charge of everything he has. 9I have as much authority in this house as he has, and he has not kept back anything from me except you. How then could I do such an immoral thing and sin against God?” 10Although she asked Joseph day after day, he would not go to bed with her.
11 But one day when Joseph went into the house to do his work, none of the house servants was there. 12She caught him by his robe and said, “Come to bed with me.” But he escaped and ran outside, leaving his robe in her hand. 13When she saw that he had left his robe and had run out of the house, 14she called to her house servants and said, “Look at this! This Hebrew that my husband brought to the house is insulting us. He came into my room and tried to rape me, but I screamed as loud as I could. 15When he heard me scream, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me.”
16 She kept his robe with her until Joseph’s master came home. 17Then she told him the same story: “That Hebrew slave that you brought here came into my room and insulted me. 18But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me.”
19 Joseph’s master was furious 20and had Joseph arrested and put in the prison where the king’s prisoners were kept, and there he stayed. But the LORD was with Joseph and blessed him, so that the jailer was pleased with him. 22He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison. 23The jailer did not have to look after anything for which Joseph was responsible, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him succeed in everything he did. 39 1:23 GN
What good did his dream do him at this point in his life?
I suggest to you that in all his trials he had the memories of his dream, he did not desert his dream he nurtured it.
Perhaps this is what happened as he was in prison. Drama
Joseph did not loose his dream he nurtured it. What can we do to nurture our godly dreams?
What are your dreams?
Better health? Hang on to that dream and believe that God can heal you.
Dreams for your family members to come to know the Lord? Hang on to that dream and believe for it.
Dream of a better job or promotion. Hand onto that dream and work toward it with Gods help.
Dream of enough money to go round and have some to spare? Honour God in your giving and hang on to your dream, believe for enough.
Dream of an effective ministry? Hold on to the dream, pray and be faithful in what God has given you. In His own time He is more than able to bring it to pass.
Unspoken dreams bring them privately before the Lord and trust Him.
You see the key to nurturing your dreams is 3 fold,
1. Remember them.
Don’t allow the thief to take them from you.
8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. He remembered the dreams he had dreamt about them Gen 42:9
Today is remembrance Sunday when we remember (in a different way) those who have laid down their lives for us to be free.
Make every day a remembrance day for your dreams.
If you have a vision / dream then remember it, think about it, dwell on it, and keep it alive in your heart.
2. Be Positive about your dream.
This is not just positive thinking.
When you keep your dream alive in your heart you have the ability to feed it and help it become a reality. Adopt the three Cs
Commitment.
Make a positive personal commitment to the dream God has given you. Too many people “put it on the back burner” and wait and see what happens. Nothing will like that!
Control.
Keep your mind focused on your God given dreams and visions.
Challenge.
Be courageous about your dreams. Have a heart and mind to change and improve each day moving toward the reality of your dream. Be optimistic not pessimistic.
3. Be pregnant with your dream.
We all know what pregnancy means. It means excitement, expectation and a one way journey to new life.
A dream / vision from the Holy Spirit is an impartation of new life, we must work with the Lord in keeping it alive, nurturing it and carrying it full term.
Always remember “the dream giver is larger that your greatest dream” Invite the Holy Spirit into the equation and remember Jesus can do anything!
Sovereign LORD, you made the earth and the sky by your great power and might; nothing is too difficult for you Ger 32:17 GN
Jesus answered, “The things impossible for people are possible for God.” Luke 18:27 NCV
In closing this morning don’t let your dreams be stolen, deny the thief access to them. Feed them, keep them alive and nourish them, allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and circumstances to bring them to pass. You CAN live to them a reality.
I read this which is very fitting,
Joseph was a dreamer, and God used him mightily. How is God trying to use you?
Regardless of your circumstances, God is watching over you to make your dreams come to pass. Even though Joseph was sold into slavery, then, was falsely accused and sent to prison; God used his commitment to excellence and trust in the dream that God gave him to cause his dream to become a reality.
It's not your current circumstances that are important, it is your commitment to God and His vision for your life. God is bigger than anything that may stand in your way. Dream Big!
Oh Lord help us to dream big!
