DREAM BIG, START SMALL

DREAM BIG, START SMALL "1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, 2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” 4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven." Nehemiah 1:1-4. The people of Jerusalem were in a depressing situation. More than 150 years before the time of Nehemiah, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonia armies had invaded Judah and carried many of the people into captivity. Though some had returned to Jerusalem but the city's walls were still down. An ancient city without walls was wide open to be attacked by rampaging enemies. The walls helped to protect the people, their households, and blessings. Walls stood as a formidable barrier between those in the city and their enemies. Walls provided security. Walls serve as shield. The walls provided defence and cover. A broken wall makes an individual, family, church, city, or a nation, to be exposed to the strike of the enemies, "He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent." Ecclesiastes 10:8. While Nehemiah was faithfully doing his job in the palace of King Artexerxes, he received a heart-breaking news of the condition of Jerusalem. In spite of the efforts of Zerubbabel and later of Ezra to rebuild the city, the walls were in disrepair and the inhabitants were fearful and discouraged. Nehemiah was deeply troubled because of the news! He wept because the need stirred his soul. Nehemiah was so moved by this burden that he began to pray. God puts a burning desire into his heart and this burden motivated him to do something about the situation. He took a small step of faith and went to the king to share his burden for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The vision inspires action. The vision drove him to a prolonged period of prayer and action. Nehemiah 1:4. And the rebuilding of the walls was completed in 52 days. "Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry." Habakkuk 2:2-3. Visions are like seeds. It takes time to take root, and time to grow. Every vision must go through time of maturity. Maturity requires time. Every vision requires patience! The time of waiting allow us to discern between our ideas and God's ideas. This time of waiting enable us a chance to examine our emotions and motives. Moses had a vision of delivering the children of Israel from Egypt. He took things into his own hands, and killed an Egyptian. This led to forty years of exile. His vision was godly but the timing was wrong. "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;" Philippians 1:6. Don't be in a hurry! Wait for God's timing! If you move too soon, you end up killing the vision. Allow God to grow you into your vision so that you can be ready to carry it out successfully. Nehemiah's vision began as a burden and a concern Visions often begins with the inability to accept things the way they are. It is formed in the hearts of those who are dissatisfied with the situation of things. Vision begins with hearing or seeing things that gets your attention. Visions are prophetic. Its something that bothers you about the way things are or the way things are headed. Vision begins as a problem that needs to be fixed. Vision projects a clear image of a possible future. It generates zeal, passion, and enthusiasm to move forward. Has God put something in your heart that deeply interest, bothers or concerns you? It could be a vision He has put in your heart! Your vision may be a new ministry, a business idea, a strategy or an approach. It could be a potential album or book, or side business to supplement your wealth and create jobs. VISION BEGINS WITH A DREAM: Every vision starts with a dream. A clear vision empowers you to pursue your dreams and achieve your goals. Visions are about hopes, and aspirations. Every vision begins with dreaming. The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, defines dream as “a strongly desired goal or purpose; something that fully satisfies a wish.” Dreams are also series of images, events or feelings that happen in your mind while you're asleep. A dream is a picture of the future planted in your spirit by God. It is a picture of who you should be and what you should do. A dream give us something worthwhile to aim at. It is a compass, telling us where to go. Dreams are goals that fire our heart and saturate our soul with joy at the very thought of them. A dream is like a magnet that pulls us toward itself. It is a vehicle of success. A dream captures our heart and spirit. It ignites our imagination and fills us with hope. Dreams sharpen our destiny. It gives direction. God wants every one of us to have a dream. He can also revive dead and forgotten dreams. We're all created for a purpose. Discovering who you are and what you’re supposed to be doing is a great breakthrough. The discovery of your God-given dream will inspire and motivate you to be the best. When you discover and pursue your dreams, you bless your generation and the generations to come. Your dreams could be the seed of restoration, and deliverance to your family or your community. With your dreams you can rewrite the negative history of your family. Yet, not every dream or idea is from God! Some people discover their dreams in a blaze of insight after working in an area for years. Some receive theirs during a time of prayer and fasting. Some people are motivated by an event from their past. Some as a burden. Sometimes a dream is only a picture or an image. Sometimes God may give us a dream in bits. And as we take small steps in faith, He will fill in the gaps. Every godly dream must be bigger than you! If you can do it without God's help, then you are not dreaming big enough. Your dream should be so big that it makes you temporarily weak in the knees, and makes you cry out to God for help, guidance and direction. Every divine dream is like a magnet; it won't leave you alone you pursue it. Your dreams must be built on the Word of God. Your dreams should bring glory to God. Finally, your dreams should be a solution! Does it fill a need? If so, you can be sure that dream is from God. WHAT THEN, ARE THE STEPS TO FULFILLING OUR DREAMS: 1. Examine your motives. A motive is the underlying reason for any action. Proverbs 16:2. It is your motive in any endeavour that keeps you going even in the face of challenges. Motive reveals your heart! Our motives need to be constantly examined. God sees both our actions and our motives; He judges us based on our motives. Jeremiah 17:9-10. Pride, anger, revenge, selfishness, a sense of entitlement, or the desire for praise must not be the motives for our actions. Proverbs 21:2. Here are some specific questions to help in evaluating our motives: If no one ever knows what I am doing, would I still do it? If there was no reward for doing this, would I still do it? Would I gladly take a junior position if God asked me to? Am I doing this for the praise of others or how it makes me feel? If I had to suffer for continuing what God has called me to do, would I continue? If others misunderstand or criticize my actions, will I stop? If those whom I am serving never show appreciation or repay me in any way, will I still do it? Do I judge my success or failure based on my commitment to what God has asked me to do, or how I compare with others? 2. Have a divine encounter. Encounters are God’s means of introducing Himself to us in a personal way so that we can know Him and ourselves better. Sometimes a divine encounter happen in the place of prayer, devotion and worship. They can happen quietly; and also with a lot of manifestation. Divine encounter reveals to us something about God. It reveals to us something about ourselves. Prophet Isaiah saw his sinful state when he encountered God. Isaiah 6:1-8. It is a life and destiny changing experience. Moses had an encounter with God in the desert. Nehemiah spent time seeking God's face after receiving a burden for the restoration of Jerusalem's walls. Most people in the Bible attained great feats and broke new grounds after experiencing life changing divine encounters. Get alone with God and spend time in His presence. Psalm 46:10. Turn off every distraction. 3. Pray and pray some more. The link between dreams and prayer is an important one. Nehemiah prayed before approaching the king for blessings to pursue his visions. He prayed different prayers. He began his prayer by recognizing God’s holiness. He asked God to hear and listen to his prayers. Nehemiah confessed his sin. And then he asked God for help. Nehemiah 1:11. Start praying today! Ask for God's mercy. Pray for direction. Pray that God would remove the obstacles. Pray about your dreams. Ask God to show you His heart about the situation. Pray for spiritual wisdom and discernment. Pour out your heart to God. Include Him in your plans. Ask God to give you success. 4. Listen to God. Often we miss the presence of God because we don’t allow ourselves any time for quietness. If we really want to hear from God, we will have to be intentional about shutting out all distractions. Today, take a moment and sit quietly before the Lord so that you may hear Him. Be sure to confirm its the Lord speaking before you continue. Young believers should get confirmation from their spiritual mentors or leaders. 5. Learn to wait. Waiting is to desire something you don’t have. Its to put your plans on hold in anticipation of a direction or instruction before proceeding. Waiting is to pause. Its to remain stationary in readiness for what's to come. You may be in that waiting season now. You may be growing impatient because it seems so long. Waiting time is never wasted time. Wait for God to mature the dream in your heart. Wait on the Lord patiently and expectantly. Taking a step outside of God’s timing will cause you to slip and fall. Psalm 27:14; Isaiah 40:29-31. Your visions will manifest when God determines the time is right. Don't rush it. Please be patient. 6. Write down your dreams. Habakkuk 2:2. If we don’t write down the vision, then we can quickly forget it. But it takes a committed effort to take the time to write and a determined effort to implement it. A written dream give us proper directions on what we need to do to get to our desired destination. It also give us the inspiration and motivation we need to push through in the face of difficulties. Writing help us to not forget. So the next time you have an idea, write it down. Use your smart phone, iPad, journal, or a notebook; write down the things God says to you and the vision He gives you. 7. Develop a plan. Nehemiah spent time formulating a plan of action. As you're waiting, you can begin to ask God to show you what to do. You can begin to do your homework. What steps could you prepare to fulfil God’s dreams for your life? Without a plan, you won’t be ready when the time comes. Develop a plan of action. Write it down and talk it over with God. Plan a strategy and timeline. A strategy that will specifies what actions to take in order to advance towards your dreams. If your vision is to have your own home, your strategy should be how to earn or save the money to buy one. Be realistic about timing and consider all factors that could work for or against you. In as much as you plan, you must also follow God's plans for your life. 8. Study God’s Word. The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. The Bible is God's instructional manual for everyone. If you want to discover your dreams, go for the word of God. Jesus discover His destiny from the book of Isaiah 61, Luke 4:16-20. Everything you need to know about your life's dream is wrapped up in the Word of God. When you study the Word, God opens your eyes to see His purpose. He shows you visions of His plans and purpose for your life. Read and study the Word of God. Commit a certain amount of time each day to read. Add to your time as your hunger increases. Commit to read one chapter a day. James 1:22-25. 9. Seek godly counsel. Sharing dreams is biblical. Genesis 41. But be wise about whom you share your dreams with. 10. Confront fear, failure and frustration. Fear: Every dream requires a man or woman who has the courage to act on it. You must conquer your fear of people, fear of rejection, fear of failure, and fear of the unknown. Isaiah 41:10. When you're afraid, you never act so you cut off your chance of success. Fear will keep you from stepping out and doing something new or something different. It is often the root reason for failure. Fear limits. You cannot live the abundant life Christ brought when you are imprisoned by fear. The best way to conquer your fear is to repeatedly force yourself to face whatever it is you’re afraid of. What you refuse to confront you cannot conquer! Overcome your fear. Failure: Everyone wants to succeed. Yet failure is common to all. Many never rise from the pit of failures because they hold onto the failures of the past. Fearful of failing again, they hesitate to risk trying again. Yet you cannot go forward if you keep holding onto yesterday. You cannot start a new project if you're still holding onto the last failure. You cannot take a step forward in life if you're still holding on to the failure of yesterday. You cannot think of the future if you do not forget the past. The worst failure of life is failure to try. Proverbs 24:16. Arise and try again. Frustration: The meaning of frustration is: feeling discouragement, anger, and annoyance because of unresolved problems or unfulfilled goals, desires, or needs. There are going to be disappointments and frustrations in life. We all face different frustrations. Therefore, keep your focus on God and His promises. Pray for greater faith. Be thankful in all things. There's always a blessing in the tough times. Ask Paul and Silas. Acts 16:25. Ask the peace of God today. Stay focused. Learn to be still. You must refuse to be distracted or deterred from your dreams. 11. Have unconditional faith in God. Faith is a weapon and an essential companion to every believer who wants to fulfil his or her dreams. The faith to believe, to keep on believing, even when days, weeks, months or even years have gone by since we started to believe for a certain thing that we knew God had promised. Every dream require unconditional faith in God to push it to fulfilment. Faith can turn every godly dreams into reality. It is a spiritual force that converts what we desire to what we possess. 12. Avoid Procrastination. Has God given you a dream and you are waiting for confirmation? Then hold on! Has He spoken clearly and you've confirmed the dreams? Then what are you waiting for? Decide today to do something with your dreams. Let go of procrastination. Stop wishing and start acting. Don’t allow fear, doubt, and procrastination to prevent you from going where God has led you to go. 13. Build a supportive team. The walls around Jerusalem needed repair. Nehemiah alone couldn't do it. He needed to work with a united group of people in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, and to fight off enemies. Nehemiah 4:14-16. When challenges comes, teams either fall apart or become stronger together. No dream can be accomplished alone. It takes the hearts and hands of many people working in harmony to see it come to pass. Proverbs 27:17. We must pay attention to the people we meet along the way. Everyone who comes into our life serves a role and a purpose. Are there people, family members, friends or others, affected by the change you are about to make in life? Bring them in! Stay around people that will keep your dream and destiny alive. Luke 1:41-44. 14. You must never, ever give up! Simply having a dream does not fulfil it; you must work to materialize your vision. You will experience bumps along the way and encounter people who will try to keep you from succeeding, but you must not allow yourself to be intimidated. Remember that you are on a mission to achieve something special, and God's with you. Work on your motivation daily. 15. Never repeat old mistakes. Philippians 3:13. Do not allow wounds of the past to sabotage your dreams. Look to God, and He will open doors of opportunity and give you the ability to fulfil what He has planned for you. 16. Take the first step. What often makes taking the first step so difficult, is that when we have to start something, we have to let something else go. We have to give up what we are familiar with to take the first step toward our dreams and destiny. We have to step away from our fears and start something new. START SMALL: In beginning small, you may fall just as every child fell at different stages of life in an attempt to move. All men fall but only few rise from their fall. You can rise from your fall! Start now! God does not blame us for falling but for not rising again from the fall. Your dreams may look impossible to achieve but with faith you can do it. Start small. Most people do not succeed not because they tried and failed, but because they have never tried at all. Some never go beyond dreaming; and for some the hardest part is starting. But God wants us to start. It is in smallness that He teaches us faithfulness. The moment we commit to do small things faithfully is the time that God starts to make them big. Don’t wait for supporters just take a step and supporters will be sent to follow you. When God is on your side, success is a certainty! THERE WILL BE OPPOSITIONS: Just as Nehemiah faced opposition, so will we. There will always be those who doubt and discourage us. Every dream shall be tested before they come to manifestation! The enemy will try at all cost to sabotage your dreams. Hence you must be prepared. The enemy will mock and ridicule you, trying to make you stand down from your dreams. Oppositions can come in the form of people, places or things. Distraction is one of the enemies strongest weapons against us. But you must not given in to it. Do not allow the lies of mockers and doubters influence your faith in God and your dreams. Pray for discernment. Put on the full armour of God each and every day. The God who helped Nehemiah fulfil his dream is still alive today. He will help you, too! “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." Joel 2:28-30. Are you pursuing your dreams? When God gives us a dream, He not only supplies the provision, but He actually goes ahead of us to prepare a way for us to accomplish it. Exodus 23:20; Matthew 11:10; Isaiah 45:2-3. Psalm 37:5. Remember, He is a promise keeper! If He has given you a dream and called you to fulfil it, you can be sure that He will bring it to pass at the right time. You just stay faithful! And if you have abandoned your dreams because of discouragement, the time has come to rise up and claim it now. It’s time to come out of hiding and obscurity! The body of Christ has been waiting on what God has deposited in you. This generation and the coming generations are waiting for you. Keep your dream alive. Obey the vision God has given to you. Expect and prepare for oppositions. Pray with a heart of passion and urgency. Dream big! If you're ready to give your life to Jesus say this now: “LORD Jesus, I come to you now. I know I am a sinner, please forgive me my sins. With my mouth, I confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and I believe that God the Father raised Him from the dead. I accept You as the LORD of my life. Change my heart from a heart of stone, give me a heart of flesh. Help me to obey You; fill me with Your Holy Spirit and write my name in the Book of life in Jesus Mighty Name I pray. PRAYER POINTS: 1. O Lord, restore me to Your original design for my life, in Jesus name. 2. I receive the spirit of excellence, in Jesus name. 3. I shall not be removed from my divine agenda, in Jesus name. 4. Father, make a way for me where there is no way, in Jesus name. 5. I enter into my prophetic destiny, in Jesus name. 6. O God, increase my appetite for Your Word, in Jesus name. 7. Father, reveal to me secrets I need to know about my life, in Jesus name. 8. My Father, empower me to exceed the expectations of men in this generation, in Jesus name. 9. I refuse to give up, my dream shall come to pass, in Jesus name. 10. Holy Spirit, reveal to me more information about my dreams and destiny, in Jesus name. 11. O Lord, bring me closer to all the people that will assist me to succeed, in Jesus name. 12. Father, I thank you for answering my prayers, in Jesus name.