Living the Dream

Genesis 37:19 NASB95

19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer!

What do others say when they see you coming?

Something is off with your walk with Christ if nobody says, “Here comes the dreamer” when they see you, when they think of you, when they hear you speak

When you walk with God, big plans, big ideas, exceptional expectations, grandiose designs for life, are a natural result

Remember God’s Word in Ephesians 3:19 says that he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

and we have Scriptures like, We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us

Somebody should say, “Here comes the dreamer!”

Even if I am going to be mocked, let it be because I believed in something big

My first encouragement is to don’t stop having God sized dreams

dreams from God that are improbable, in the seemingly impossible

Don’t be stopped by the “too’s”

it’s too big

it’s too late

it’s too early

it will cost too much money

you’re too young, old, uneducated, inexperienced,

Genesis 37:20 NASB95

20 “Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!”

So God sent me to tell you that you are already living that dream

And you are unaware of it because you have forgotten that there is a difference between having a dream and living the dream

When you have a dream, it’s an easy start

Just like in natural dreams are easy, just lay down and go to sleep

Spiritually, God just drops inspiration into your thoughts

But when you live the dream, the start can be rough

many times it starts off so rough that we get thrown off

want to Go back to school but your everyday bills are at an all time high

as soon as you Join church and commit your life to God, your problems seem to multiply

Start a business, and a partner backs out at the last minute

Reach out to bring family together and they all get mad at you

When you live the dream, the dream can start off rough

Good news is that the rough start is the start

That rough start is God working!

The beginning of Joseph’s dreams coming true started with, “Come let’s kill him”

But without that start, his dreams would have never come true

Some of you are facing people who don’t like you, trying to block you, trying to stop you, don’t believe in you

And you consider them as obstacles in your way

but they are not actually obstacles, they are not roadblocks to your dream

They are facilitators to your dream, helping your dream along

They are actually dream starters

God is using them to push you towards your dream

Some of you are facing situation you don’t like, circumstances out of your control, problems that are weighing you down, but these things are not dream stoppers but dream starters

God is using those problems to push you towards your dream

In order for Joseph’s dreams to come true, God had to get Joseph to Egypt . . . so God pushed Joseph to Egypt using his brothers.

They should have said, come now, let’s make sure that his dreams come true and that we all bow down before him

Cause if they had never been betrayed Joseph, he would have never been a slave

If he had never been a slave, he would have never had chance to be lied on

If he had never been lied on, he would have never been to jail

If he had never been to jail, he would have never met the cup bearer

If he had never met the cupbearer, he would have never met pharaoh

If he had never met pharaoh, he would have never been given charge over all Egypt

If he had never been given charge over all Egypt, his brothers would have never come to him in the end and bowed down

We’ve got to learn to ID things correctly: Oh, that’s not a dream ender, that’s a dream starter; not a dream blocker, but facilitator

Do you think Joseph felt that his dream was starting? No, he begged them to let him out of the pit; if he had understood how God works, he would have relaxed in the pit

Some of you need to relax in the pit

“I’m ok, just waiting on my ride” . . .dream mobile

If we would only reflect on how God made all things work together for our good in the past

It was when they cut your water off, that’s when some of you said, “I ain’t living like this anymore” . . .I’m going to that training class, school – dream starter

It was when they mistreated you at job, that you left your comfort zone and found a better job – dream starter

Look for a new job - dream starter

Or it was when nobody was hiring and you were forced to start your own business - dream starter

It was when that no good rascal left you, that you finally began to live – dream starter

For my family it was when were living in the hood, in a small house, and the rats were so fat that they couldn’t even run, my wife was so angry and frustrated that she stepped on the tail of one and waited till I got home to kill it - dream starter

Got so disgusted that we found our faith to believe in better living condition

Been living in 2 story in decent neighborhood ever since

Instead of complaining, you ought to tell your problems, “Thank you for the push”

Tough times – thank you for the push

hard times, people talking about you

Keep pushing, you’re pushing me in the right direction, my dream is getting closer!

Just a commercial: Remember to do right in the hard times.

And don’t be discouraged if you are paid evil for your good

Don’t be dismayed if bad goes to worse

Joseph told Potiphar’s wife that he could not sin against God.

And that made Potiphar’s wife so angry that she lied on him

And he went from being a slave to a convict

But that lie, pushed him . . . to his next appointment

God sent me to tell some of you to Understand that when you live the dream, things take time

When you have a dream you just pass from scene to scene

Valley to the mountain and to the sea, then you wake up

But dreams only happen fast in your sleep

But when you live a dream, things take some time

you have to go through the valley, climb up and over the mountain, and swim across the sea and those things take time

Dreams are never in the next room, just down the hallway, never next door, never just down the street

You’ll have to spend time at some places you don’t want to be,

go through things you didn’t plan on going through

Joseph had to spend several years as a slave, several years in prison, and seven years working for Pharaoh preparing for the famine, before his dream came true,

The pathway can get so long and rough, that you can forget you even had a dream

Genesis 42:9 teaches that when Joseph saw his brothers for the first time is when he remembered his dreams

He had been through so much that he forgot his dreams

So be encouraged that the dream is still on schedule

So don’t give up along the way, don’t give in

Dreams have to worked out, lived out

They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength

Eventually you are going to mount up with wings as

Eventually you will run and not be weary, walk and

He may not come when you want him, but He’s always on

Expect him

Planned

God sent me to tell some of you that you must understand that part of having a dream is God preparing people for the dream

Most times that involves preparing us and those around us

When the story of Joseph starts, he is not a hard worker, he was just a tattle tell, and he was proud

his only skills were telling on people, and running his mouth too much

but As a slave

He became humble

he learned to be a hard worker and not just walk around with a fancy coat

he learned how to supervise

In prison

He expanded his supervisory skills

He learned to be concerned about the welfare of others

The Bible says that Joseph saw how sad the baker and cup bearer looked and helped them

He learned that he could interpret dreams, spiritual gift

By the time he met pharaoh, Joseph was fully prepared

Had lost pride and gained humbleness

He had plenty of experience supervising

He was ready to interpret the dreams of Pharoah

He learned not to run his mouth and learned what to say

when his family came and they had to meet Pharaoh

He instructed them on what to say, don’t tell everything

Psalms 105 17 says “Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 They bruised his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar. 19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.

Joseph’s brothers had gone through some preparation too

By the time they saw Joseph again

They admitted that what they did was wrong

They were willing to sacrifice themselves for each other

Went from resenting their father Jacob for his faults to loving their dad through his faults.

More than going through a trial, you are on trial . . .to see if you are ready for the dream

When you are on trial you have to be careful how you look, react to what happens in court . . . looking all said

You have to testify right . . .I shall not be moved, run on and see what the end’s gonna be

You have to honor the judge . . .rise and give him praise! Even in tough times

Jesus also had a dream, an inspired by God dream

And Jesus lived the dream

the dream was kind of like Joseph’s dream. In this dream, knees were also bowing

but in this dream, it wasn’t just eleven, it wasn’t just 13 but it was every knee

and not only were knees bowing, but tongues were confessing that He was Lord

But his dream had a rough start

Born to a poor mother and stepfather

Born in a manger, not even a decent bed

At around 2 years old, his family had to run for their lives

When they returned, they came back to a little no name town named Nazareth

Now that’s a rough start, but those were dream starters

Because the Scriptures had to be fulfilled for him to be the Messiah

And his dream took time

He just didn’t start off preaching or working miracles

He had to wait until the age of 30

He had to go through a temptation experience in the wilderness, then he had to be baptized

Then he had to walk the dusty roads of the Holy land teaching and preaching, many nights no place to lay his head, he spend nights on boats driven and tossed by the waves

And his good was repaid with evil: though he taught like never before, though he healed the sick

People didn’t believe, kicked him out of their towns, trying to stone him, haters trying to make him look bad

And like Joseph’s brothers, sometimes those closest to him didn’t believe . . .even the disciples doubted and left him

But he did not give up on the dream the Father had put in Him

Because he knew it would take some time, and the road would not be easy

But then the dream went from bad to worse and turned into a nightmare

Got so bad, that Jesus almost gave up on the dream

Father not my will but thy will be done

They whipped him but he was living of the dream

They mocked him but he was living of the dream

They nailed him to a tree

Pierced him in his side

Laid him in the tomb – even in death living the dream

You see, those Pharisees were not dream stoppers but the dream starters

Just like Genesis 50 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Cause on the third day, he rose with all power in heaven and in earth in his hand, just like he dreamed it, just like he said

You see Joseph was sent to Egypt to make preparation for his family

That where Joseph was, his family could be also

And he had everything set up for them

And Jesus did the same thing,

For Jesus said In my father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you and I go to prepare a place for you, and If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also

And when he comes back, and we see his face

Then the last part of the dream will finally come to pass

every knee shall bow . . . . even joseph

and just like Joseph took care of his family

Jesus is going to take care of us

The Bible says there will be a new heaven and a new earth

The bible says there will be mansions and streets paved with God

The bible says there will be living water coming from the throne

The bible says there will be new fruit every month

The bible says the leaves of the trees will be for the healing of the nations

The bible says That God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and there will be no more death, neither sorry, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for those former things are passed away

Now that’s a dream! Sho’nuff dream

Now I need to live my dream out and You need to live your dream out

God sent me by to tell some: You dream is not really about you

When it is God inspired, your dream is about God and his plans

It’s all about You being a blessing to others, you being the answer to a prayer

Your dream will make other people’s dreams come true

Joseph thought his dream was about him being the big boss man, but in fact it was all about saving his family, saving the nation of Israel, thus saving the promise to Abraham, moving God’s plan forward to bring us Jesus!

His dream was about be a blessing to us in 2015!

God inspire us today!

Some of you already have a dream from God, and you know it

In your spirit you know that God will use your life to impact the lives of many

at my job, school, community, city, even the world

Despite all the drama among your relatives, you dream that your whole family will be saved and become a testimony of what God can do

You dream of having a thriving business bringing in money for you and others

You dream of obtaining a certain level of education or training despite all the obstacles in your way

Achieving more than anyone else has ever done or thought of in your field

Dreaming that God will Change what was unchangeable, heal what was incurable, do the impossible

Dreaming of Powerful, wonderful, and Beautiful testimonies for God

And you are waiting for that dream to start