Dad Leads Us to Our Dreams

OPENING

Previously we talked about how our dad leads us to new beginnings, second chances

That our dad leads us to faithfulness and responsibility

Today I’m gonna talk to you about dreams

Dad Leads Us to Our Dreams

Our heavenly Father gives us these dreams

Let me just point out that the word “dream” has two description in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

First it said, a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep

And secondly it said, a strongly desired goal or purpose

The Hebrew word for it is “yă-hălōm” (חלם) pronounced as ha-lam, that means “to become strong”

The word was use 78 times in 66 verses of the NIV

And the Easton Bible Dictionary said, God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to them. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob, Laban and Joseph… So, today we will talk about Joseph

Now we know that dreams means two different things, it is “our desire” to be strong, to be better

And it is what God frequently use to communicate His will to us

It is so easy to miss the God-given dream because of our strong will to pursue “our own” dreams

When we were young, typically, dads will ask us, when you grow up, what would you like to become?

And they coaches us how we may pursue those dreams

We are resolved and dead serious about achieving our dreams

Before I offer my personal history about my dreams, why don’t you go ahead and ask your seat mate

Do you have a dream?

And tell your other seat mate, “wake up before it turns to nightmare”

My Dream

My childhood dream

From my very young age my dream was to become a Pilot and I carried on with that dream as I grew older

It was never my dream to become a Pastor

In 1983 I was trying to come over here in the US to go to college and hopefully join the Air Force

My understanding at that time was, if you want to fly to join the Air Force, later I realized that every branch of the military has their own fleet of aircrafts

I passed all the admission tests and requirements, I was to attend Miramar College because my sponsor was my elder sister Lina and bother-in-law Renato who lives here in Rancho Penasquitos

The final step was to get my student visa, but I was denied. Man! It felt like heaven and earth fell on me

I was on board an LRT going home from the US embassy, that was 35 years ago but the memory is still very vivid in my mind.

I felt that was the end of my dream, that was when my dream to fly died

On the same year, I flew to Nagoya, Japan to join 3 of my siblings to work there.. I started as a janitor..

While I was in Japan in 1986, the movie Topgun was shown

That movie re-ignited my dream to fly

That movie re-ignited my dream to fly, I came home to the Philippines after working for only 1 year in Japan

That was the year when the peaceful revolution restored democracy in my native land, an election was called by the then President Cory Aquino

My Father ran for Vice Governor. In the heat of his campaign, he was assassinated and died on August 8, 1987.

When my father died in 1987, I took my inheritance money and put the cash in a big suitcase and bought myself a single-engine 4-seater airplane

In 1989 I finished my flying course at Airlink International Aviation School in Pasay City, Philippines

I flew for few years but I didn’t make it to any airlines

Again, that dream died

I tried to come here

Many years and many career changed after, I dreamt of becoming a congressman, and by God’s miracle, I made it to congress

While I was there, my childhood dream saw another chance to becoming a reality

I’ve gotten so close to the first family, and through my friend Mikey Arroyo, the First Gentleman would always lend me one of their helicopters

So I took advantage of that to hone my flying skills

While I was in congress, I’ll go home to Isabela flying one of the first family’s helicopters (show flying photo)

But that career took it’s downturn and again killed my dream to fly

So, I thought that was it… I am a failure…

The history of Joseph the Dreamer resembles what actually happened to me

Well, obviously, it was not Joseph dream to become a pilot, but his was a the “other kind of dream”

Mine was a strongly desired goal or purpose

But Joseph’s was a God-given dream

Let’s take a look at the accounts of Joseph’s dream and see what we can learn from them

TEXT: Dad Leads Us to Our Dreams

First, let me tell you something about who Joseph is

He is among the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) by his wife Rachel

He was the most loved son of Jacob

After being able to interpret the Pharoah’s dream, he was appointed to be the top official in Egypt during the time of famine

He was thrown to a ditch, sold to a merchant which in turn was sold to an Egyptian officer named Potiphar

Potiphar’s wife had a crush on Joseph that she wanted him to have sexual intercourse with her

But Joseph is a person of integrity so he refused, that of course disappointed Potiphar’s wife, so she falsely accused Joseph of forcing her to bed, After Potiphar learned about this, without trial, Joseph was thrown to Jail

After offending their master, the king’s cupbearer and the baker was also also put in the same prison where Joseph was

One morning, Joseph interpreted their dreams, that the cupbearer will be restored to his position, while the chief baker will be impaled

And these became true during the Pharoah’s birthday

A couple of years after, it was the Pharoah who had a dream that no one can interpret

The cupbearer told the Pharoah about Joseph, so Pharaoh sent for Joseph

Joseph interpreted the Pharoah’s dreams and he was put in charge of the whole land of Egypt at the age of 30

Later on in his reign as the ruler of Egypt, there was famine in Canaan, for that reason, they were forced to come to Egypt for survival and that was when Joseph’s dream when He was 17 years old came true, that his family will bow down on him

Now, let us glean on his dreams

Genesis 37:1–11 NIV

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Three Things That We Can Learn From Joseph’s Dreams

God Given Dreams Are Big and Beyond Me

Genesis 37:9 NIV

9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

Not Everyone Will Like God’s Plan For Me

Genesis 387:10

Genesis 37:10 NIV

10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

God Fulfills His Plan For Me In His Time

Genesis 41:46 NIV

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt.

Genesis 50:18 NIV

18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

Genesis

Take note that when Joseph received his dreams from God, he was only 17 years old and they only become a reality when he was 30

The Lord operates in a timetable different from yours

1 Day for the Lord is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8)

CLOSING:

Now I told you about my dream, we talked about Joseph’s dreams, let’s talk about your dreams

Turn to the person next to you and ask

What is your dream in life?

Our dreams may be influenced by our human fathers

They may be motivated by the people around us

The things that we see and hope to acquire

Our thoughts and desires to live comfortable lives

All of these can make it very easy for us to miss our God-given dream, our God-given purpose

We must be very very kin to listen from God and discover His dreams and purposes for each of us

While we do this, remember that…

God Given Dreams Are Big and Beyond Me

Not Everyone Will Like God’s Plan For Me

God Fulfills His Plan For Me In His Time

PRAYER: