6 3 10 Men’s Breakfast and Lunch
1st and 10 Men – First Down – Dreams
6 3 10 HT Breakfast and Lunch
Genesis 37:5-11 NKJV
A study from the life of Joseph shows every single man various insights about the dreams in your life and heart.
The Bible is full of various character studies, the life of Joseph certainly examples for us a mirror to our own lives.
Genesis 37:5
Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
Genesis 37:6
So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
Genesis 37:7
There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
Genesis 37:8
And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Genesis 37:9
Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”
Genesis 37:10
So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”
Genesis 37:11
And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind. NKJV
Over the next few weeks we will look at the varios areas of the life of Joseph in an attempt to uncover some things in our own life. In the character study of Joseph we will see promotion and imprisonment; success and failure; betrayal and blessing; temptation and truth; beauty and brokenness; forgotten and faithfulness; dreams and detours.
Today in our first session that we call first down, we will look at the dreamer side of Joseph.
Joseph was a dreamer; he envisioned his life at a higher place in his future than it was in his present.
Dream quotes;
“All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~Walt Disney
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts.” ~Winston Churchill
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ~Thomas Edison
Three questions about your life today
1. When is the last time you dreamed?
2. What is the dream that lies within your heart?
3. What will it take to jump start the dreamer in you?
Thoughts on dreams
1. Dreams have crossroads –
• Victim or Victor – One thing for certain, when you dream you will face points in which you have to choose the victim road or the victor road.
2. Dreams have challenges –
• Fight or Flight – We were made to fight, ironically we always want it the easy way. Believe it or not we value a victory won higher than a forfeit from the other team. It’s the game, the struggle the chase that creates the quest for us.
3. Dreams have choices –
• Give up or Grind out – I think here of a football team, you have heard the phrase grind it out… coming from the Big Ten conference, I understand “Grind it Out” – this old school method has been quickly left in the dust by the newer run and shoot concepts however it did and does have its purpose.
Gods role in your dreams
1. Dreams are used to lead our lives to Gods place for us.
Genesis 45:4
And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
Genesis 45:5
But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. NKJV
2. Dreams enable us to see that God is sovereign
• Sovereignty has three basic legs;
o Ownership
o Authority
o Control
Psalm 135:5 For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
Psalm 135:6 Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places. NKJV
Psalm 103:19
The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all. NKJV
3. Dreams allow us to experience God’s providences
Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. ESV
When you think of the word providence – think of the word PROVISION – where God guides, he provides. God provides for and sustains the things He creates. Like a modern day version of Genesis chapter one, God places things in order of their need and power to sustain – he made the earth and all its content before he made man. So it will go with your, in His providential plan, He is often setting things in motion for latter needs that may not make a whole lot of sense right now.
Take away questions
1. How is God currently working in my life?
2. Am a confident in His Sovereignty and Providence?
3. What past challenges have created present provision in my life?
God often works slowly and even strangely, but He WORKS!