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KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE (when others say it’s dead).
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KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE (when others say it’s dead)
A father thought his son was dead, and although distance and captivity separated the son, his dream of a united family never died. After many years the dream came true, and father and son were reunited in a way that has inspired dreamers ever since. This is a true story.
We live in a day of dying dreams. Great projects that once looked promising now seem lost. The worldwide recession is a dream-killer. But as long as dreamers live their dreams cannot die.
Joseph was the son of a dreamer. His father Jacob had once dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. (Genesis, chapter 28) Joseph dreamed his family would bow down to him and told them his dream. His father saw its significance, but his brothers envied and hated him.
“Let’s kill the dreamer” his brothers said, “and see what will become of his dreams.” Can dreams survive the bad things that happen to dreamers? Joseph’s dream was tested by rejection, false accusation, and long imprisonment. Psalm 105:17-19
Jacob thought Joseph’s dream had died with his son, but it was still alive in Joseph. Years later, another dream would raise Joseph from prison to the position of prime minister. Jacob sorrowed for 17 years over the loss of his son, but the dreamer was not dead but alive, and his dream was about to become a reality.
IN THE SHOCK OF HIS LOSS JACOB HAD VOWED THAT LIFE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAINHe said, “I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning."(Genesis 37:33-35)
Jacob’s morbid words show that he had forgotten The God Factor that had earlier worked in his own life. He had no idea that God was preparing Joseph in Egypt, where the dream was still alive, in the dreamer.
JACOB POURED HIS LOVE INTO A SUBSTITUTE, HIS SON BENJAMIN His life became "bound up" in the life of Benjamin, his remaining son by Rachel. (Genesis 44:30)But there’s no substitute for what you loved most but lost.
Binding your life to what’s left will strip the future of its promise and the present of its full enjoyment. You must believe in the original dream. No substitute, however good, can replace that dream. Satisfaction comes when dreams come true.
THERE WAS AN EMPTY VOID BETWEEN THE PROMISE OF THE DREAM AND THE LOSS OF THE DREAMER Jacob had no idea of the future that God was preparing for his family in Egypt through his son.Joseph was God’s advance man. He was not a man before his time but a man before their time.
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO CONVINCE YOU THAT THE DREAM IS NOT DEAD? Jacob's personal grief numbed his hope. Only when the proof was too strong to deny did his spirit revive. (Genesis 45:25-28) Joseph was alive in Egypt and his dream had become a reality!
INHINDSIGHT JACOB SAW GOD'S FORESIGHTGod's plan extended far beyond Joseph to all nations! He made all things work together for Joseph and for his family’s ultimate good. (Genesis 45:5-8 & 50:20 & Romans 8:28)
When you think the dream is dead, you don’t see that God is making the good and the bad work together for your ultimate good. Joseph was sold into slavery, unjustly accused and thrown into prison. But then he was raised to the position of Prime Minister! Just because you can’t see what God is doing doesn’t mean He isn’t doing something. Believe that the dream is still alive…
The biggest enemy of the dream is inferiority: your acceptance of the hurtful comments made about you by those who despise you. No one can make you inferior; you make yourself inferior when you agree with your enemies. Reject these as lies! You are not what others say you are but who God says you are in Jesus Christ – a New Creation!
! Join the Dream Team: those in your church or community who do not believe the dream is dead, even when – especially when – everything around you says otherwise.