Turning God's dreams into reality

Dreams by their very nature are unrealistic. If you can remember any of your recent dreams they probably do not reflect real life. They often, in my experience, take a jumble of memories and recent experiences and mix them up into an interesting hotchpotch of events. If you are fortunate they may construct into a pleasant, even funny story and if not they may create a frightening nightmare.

I had an interesting dream last night. It involved a new photo album we had ordered from an online company and though it was full of our photos, one page was different in that instead of being just one photo it was a slideshow of photos as you might see on your computer. I was recounting the dream to my husband and commented on the absurdity of it when he remarked that it wasn’t completely foolish. He then outlined how it could become a reality. I was amazed.

It made me realise though that the dreams God gives us, though appearing unrealistic, are actually meant to become true. The great dreamer Joseph is a case in point. He was the 11^th son of Jacob, a fairly well to do shepherd but hardly born for the high life. He dreamt that he was out in the fields and his brothers’ sheaves of corn bowed down to his sheaf. He then dreamt that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to him, meaning his parents as well as his brothers. Unfortunately, being young and foolish he told his brothers and parents about his dreams and they were very unimpressed, so much so that Judah and the brothers had no difficulty selling Joseph to a travelling caravan of Midianites who took him off into a life of slavery and imprisonment in Egypt.

It was here though that he honed his dreaming and administrative skills so that when he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams he was confidently able to bring the word of the Lord to Pharaoh and save not just the nation but also his family. His original dreams were fulfilled but over 20 years later. God gave Joseph his dreams, not so he could brag about them to his brothers but to encourage him to persevere through the hard preparation years into his destiny.

In all the difficult circumstances of betrayal, lies, misjudgements, false imprisonment and rejection Joseph never lost sight of God. He was Joseph’s focus though I am sure there were times when Joseph dismissed his dreams as the vain imaginings of a young man. But God was working out his plans even in the midst of all the disappointments so that when the time came Joseph was ready, prepared by the events of his life.

We are often encouraged not to let go of our God given dreams, to stir them into life and this is important but of greater importance is to focus on the Lord in the good times, the bad times and the downright awful times. There may be occasions when our dreams seem like the vain imaginings of another era but with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, we can ask him to prepare us for the fulfilment of our dreams.

Our God dreams are meant to be fulfilled. They are not meant to be the unrealistic ramblings of our sleeping minds. God’s dreams come true. They are there to inspire us to persevere in all the seasons of our lives but fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12: 2) we will see our dreams become reality.  

Heaven - our real home

But our citizenship is in heaven Philippians 3: 20

Set your mind on things above not earthly things Colossians 3: 2

A couple of years ago, we were on our way home after a long journey round South Africa. We stopped for petrol just before the last leg of the journey – and the car broke down. Several hours later we were towed back the way we had come to a garage that could fix our car.

I cannot tell you how upset I felt about going away from home. I had been greatly anticipating getting back to our house, our things, the place where I feel most comfortable and at ease. Now not only were we not going home, we were driving in the completely opposite direction.

All of us are destined for our real home – heaven and if we have given our lives to the Lord Jesus, that is where we are going and we should look forward to it with great anticipation.  However the reality is that many Christians secretly believe that heaven will be boring; sitting around all day singing worship songs, maybe twanging a harp and hoping they can summon up enough enthusiasm to ‘worship the Lamb’.

Of course nothing could be further from the truth. As James Garlow says:

Take your deepest longings. Think of what you crave, what fills you with delight, joy you’ve never experienced but yearn for just the same. Remember your longing for home, for a lover of your soul, for the contented wholeness that leads you to the place you’ve never been yet can’t forget – the place where your every desire is satisfied more abundantly than you’ve ever dreamed. Heaven is that home.

That is the reality. The most wonderful thing is that we will be loved unconditionally, affirmed, appreciated and greatly valued just for who we are. Imagine that. No ulterior motives, no control, no manipulation, no rejection. Just pure love.

We will then be reunited with all the people we love starting with Jesus but including all our family and friends who have given themselves to serving the Lord. We will have eternity to get to know one another better but most of all to get to know Jesus and our loving heavenly Father and surely that will take eternity.

Out of that will flow the most awesome worship from hearts poured out in adoration to their Saviour and God.  Thousands upon thousands of voices raised in unity to honour and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Nothing boring about that.

In addition, we were created to look after the earth in all its amazing diversity and beauty and the new heavens and the new earth will be perfect just as God created them to be not tarnished in any way by sin. There will be opportunities of incredible magnitude to serve and work in a deeply satisfying way.  

Think of all the things you would love to do and then imagine all the endless possibilities with the kiss of heavenly perfection on them. That is just the start of the wonders of heaven which are far beyond my imagination either to think of let alone write about.

Best of all will be the deep sense of being home with the ones we love and who love us. We are but pilgrims in this present earth; our destination is heaven where all will be well because the Creator of all things resides there with his Creation – which includes you and me.

First posted in April 2014

He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobsen

I thought I would share with you something that I have read and re-read many times which I have found really helpful in my Christian walk - and I hope you do too. It is from He Loves Me by Wayne Jacobsen.

I used to be driven to do something great for God.  I volunteered for numerous opportunities and worked hard in the hopes that some book I was writing, some church I was planting, or some organization I was helping would accomplish great things for God.  While I think God used my misguided zeal in spite of myself, nothing I did ever rose to the level of my expectations.  Instead, my pursuits seemed to distract me from God, consume my life, and leave me stressed out or worn out.

I’m not driven anymore. I haven’t tried to do anything great for God in more than a decade, and yet I have seen him use my life in ways that always exceed my expectations.  What changed? I did, by his grace.

My desire to do something great for God served me far more than it ever did him. It kept me too busy to enjoy him and distracted me from the real ministry opportunities he brought across my path every day.

I used to start my day laying out my plans before God and seeking his blessing on them. How silly! Why would I want God to be the servant of my agenda? God’s plans for my day far exceed mine. I can almost hear him now as I awaken: “Wayne, I’m going to touch some people today. Do you want to come along?”

It’s amazing how gentle that is, but all the more powerful because it is.  I don’t have to go. God’s work won’t be thwarted by my lack of participation. He will touch people anyway, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. He does things I’ve never dreamed of and uses me in ways I could never conceive. His focus on touching people instead of managing programs has revolutionized my view of ministry. It requires no less diligence on my part but directs that diligence in far more fruitful endeavours.

If you’ve never known the joy of simply living in God’s acceptance instead of trying to earn it, your most exciting days in Christ are ahead of you. People who learn to live out of a genuine love relationship with the God of the universe will live in more power, more joy, and more righteousness than anyone motivated by fear of his judgment.

For your personal journey
Spend a few moments thinking what you are still counting in your relationship with God. Is it failures? Minutes in prayer?  Number of converts?  If you find yourself doing those things, ask God to help you receive what he has already given you. Stop doing anything that seeks to earn his love and learn to do what you do simply because you already have his love. This is quite a change of mind that only God’s Spirit can produce.