What's Your Dream? (1) 09 Jun 2010'He dreamed still another dream...' Genesis 37:9When it comes to dreams, Joseph teaches us two important principles: 1) Keep your dream alive! The story's told of a couple who loved mushrooms and bought several pounds of them from a roadside vendor. They made mushroom omelettes, mushroom salad, mushroom soup, and even concocted a mushroom dessert. Their cat gobbled up the leftover mushrooms. Later the lady went into her kitchen and found the cat lying on the floor, gasping for breath. She immediately phoned the vet who said they'd probably gotten some poisoned toadstools and advised they go to the hospital. After having their stomachs pumped the couple came home expecting to see their cat lying lifeless on the floor. Instead the cat was in the corner with a brand new litter of kittens. What they thought were death pains were just birth pains! When it seems that your dream is gasping its last breath, keep believing God; you're closer to giving birth than you've ever been. 2) Dream again, only bigger! Joseph dreamed a second dream, an even bigger one! '"...This time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me..."' (Genesis 37:9 NKJV). If you've abandoned your dream because of discouragement, rise up and reclaim it. If you've already fulfilled it, ask God for a bigger one. You say, 'But the challenge looks too big for me.' It's not too big for God, you'll never out-dream Him. In His Word He asks, 'Is anything too hard for the Lord?...' (Genesis 18:14). You may die with your dream on the drawing board or under construction or left to be completed by another, but you must seek God and dream again!
What's Your Dream? (2) 10 Jun 2010'...The butler and the baker of the king...had a dream...' Genesis 40:5When you have a dream: 1) You must cultivate the companionship of other dreamers. By interpreting the dreams of the butler and the baker, Joseph was introduced to Pharaoh, who also had a dream, one that changed Joseph's life. So build relationships with people who also have a dream, who strengthen your faith and shape you into the right person. '...Iron sharpens iron...so a man sharpens...his friend' (Proverbs 27:17 NKJV). 2) You must be both forgetful and fruitful. Your willingness to forgive and forget sets you free from the past; your willingness to try something new opens the door to the future. '...Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead' (Philippians 3:13 NKJV). 'Forgetting' and 'reaching' call for sequential action: forget, then reach! What you refuse to get over, you'll live under. What you refuse to forget, you'll drag like a ball and chain through life. 'But I've tried to forget and I can't.' God will help you! 'Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: 'For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house.' And the name of the second he called Ephraim: '"...For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction'' (Genesis 41:51-52 NKJV). Note the words 'God has caused.' God can help you to get over it and move on. 'Does that mean I won't be able to recall the event?' No, that's amnesia. It means you won't want to recall it. God will give you the ability to reframe it, glean wisdom, and become successful because of it. |
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