Yesterday morning I had a dream that encouraged me that God loves and cares for me. Dreams are powerful—both dreams at night and the dreams in your heart. I shared about “The Power of Dreams” in my Periscope yesterday, which you can view at Katch.me/bethmjones.
I believe many times, God is the one who puts dreams and desires inside our hearts. We know that anything that violates God’s Word and His will is not from Him.
For example, if you’re married and you want that hot woman or man at work, you know that isn’t God’s will, because the Bible says God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) and one of the 10 commandments is to not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).
Your dreams and desires need to align with God’s Word, the Bible. God can even change your desires. Our friends Ron and Rhonda Hedrick with Global Community Outreach are missionaries in Guatamala. God began putting it on their hearts to take in orphans on the street to shelter, feed, and love them
Just yesterday, Rhonda posted a picture of Ron signing paper to buy a house in Guatamala, so they will have a safe, loving place for the children they are bringing into their home. Ron and Rhonda have one naturally-born son, Jeremiah, who is on the mission field with them. When they went to Guatamala, this wasn’t their plan—but it was God’s.
Maybe your dream is to be a published author. I believe if you want to write a book or have thought about it, there is a book inside you. There may be many books inside you!
A study shows that 81% of people say they want to write a book. But many never do. Sadly, they die with their book still inside them. Don’t let this be you! Write your book! (Obviously, I don’t agree with Joseph Epstein’s advice in the New York times article to not write it!)
The late leader, pastor, and author Myles Monroe, founder of Bahamas Faith Ministries, Myles Monroe International, and president of the International Leadership Training Institute, wrote:
“The wealthiest places in the world are not gold mines, diamond mines, or banks. The wealthiest place is the cemetery. There lies companies that were never started, masterpieces that were never painted…In the cemetery there is buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential. There is treasure within you that must come out. Don’t go to the grave with your treasure still within you.”
Don’t die with your book or your dreams still inside you. Monroe also said, “The poorest man (or woman) in the world is a man (woman) without a dream.”
I see this around me a lot. There are people I know who have given up hope and have no faith. They are depressed and no matter how much you try to encourage them that God has a good plan for their life (Jeremiah 29:11), they still mope around like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh.
Life and the enemy satan have battered them so much, that they just lie down and take whatever happens and no longer fight. They’ve stopped fulfilling their purpose and aren’t using their gifts for God. They’ve stopped dreaming. It breaks my heart and I’m sure it grieves God’s.
What is your dream? Are you fulfilling it?
If you want to write a book, write it! There’s still time this year. (Sign up for my writers’ virtual training, There’s Still Time, for just $25 with 4 videos, a downloadable PDF, and a downloadable checklist to help you write or finish your book THIS year! It all comes conveniently to you in your email inbox. You can do it!)
Maybe your dream isn’t writing a book. Maybe it’s to start speaking to share your heart message. I encourage you to use Periscope to speak. You can download the app on your iPhone or Android phone. It’s an amazing, free platform to build a global audience. (You can follow me on Periscope @bethmjones.)
Just pray, prepare a short message with 2 or 3 bullet points written out, and push that red broadcast button to have an instant audience. If you’re nervous about scoping, you can practice first with your phone’s video “selfie” feature or do a private scope with your mom, best friend, or as Periscope guru Mark Shaw (@markshaw) says, your goldfish or dog, lol.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. That’s actually the beauty and attraction of Periscope: it’s real, raw and authentic. Nobody relates to or wants perfect. Just start.
Maybe your dream is to be a coach. Start using private scopes on Periscope to coach for pay. Or use Skype or Free Conference Call for free tools to begin your coaching practice. You don’t need a certification to coach. I don’t have one, and I coach beginner speakers, authors, and entrepreneurs. (Find out more about my coaching here.)
Whatever your dream is, there’s a reason that it’s in your heart. If you have had dreams and the devil has stomped all over them like the people I know in my life, and if you have given up, ask God to restore your dream or give you a new one.
Jesus often rebuked his disciples for their unbelief. Remember the father in Mark 9:24 said, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!” God knows exactly where you’re at and understands. There’s no condemnation from Him. He wants to help you to have the greatest, most successful, blessed life possible.
That doesn’t always necessarily mean what we think or hope. It’s not always mansions, wealth, and travel to an exotic island. Sometimes God’s best includes hard times and struggles to produce character in us (Romans 5:4), so that we’ll come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)
I’ve been going through a difficult time the past several weeks. In times like that, it’s good to do self-examination and ask, “What is God trying to teach me through this? What is He wanting to produce in me?” He is the Potter and we are the clay. (Isaiah 64:8)
Dreams often come from God. Not only Satan but people will oppose your dreams, even the ones closest to you. Remember Joseph in the Bible. He had dreams of being great. In one of his dreams, his brothers’ bundles in the field circled around his bundle and bowed to it. In another, the sun, the moon, and the stars bowed down to him. These dreams angered his brothers and his father rebuked him. But the dreams were from God.
Joseph’s brothers secretly sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites after they threw him into a pit. Later Joseph was raised up by Pharoah to be in charge of Egypt, and saved his father and his brothers from starvation in the great famine, bringing them to Egypt to live in abundance.
Dreams are powerful. Dreams matter. Don’t let anyone steal or stomp on your dreams. Keep dreaming big because we serve a big God! Take one action step to fulfill your dream. Paint a picture. Make a piece of jewelry. Write a chapter on your book. Speak on a scope.
I am soon working on the second book in The Cinderella Story series, The Cinderella Story: The Power of Dreams. If you’re not already on my personal mailing list, sign up today at the top of the page on the right hand side so you’ll be first to hear about its release on Amazon.
“Today carve out a quiet interlude in which to dream, pen in hand. Only dreams can give birth to change.”–Sarah Ban Breathnach
