Discovering Your God-Given Dream

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A message is on the life of Joseph and we're simply calling you your life a dictionary and here I'm going in life. And it is good to know, isn't it, that God has a plan, a purpose for all of our lives. And of these dreams that He places in our hearts that become the very definition of our lives. Our dreams define our lives. And when the Spirit of God is at work in us then not only will young men but old men as well will dream great dreams. We must never ever stop dreaming the dreams of God after Him. Joseph was a dreamer. And because of his dreams he was hated by his brothers and ultimately spent years in isolation and yet his dreams were fulfilled even as God told him they would be. And in the 37th chapter of Genesis beginning at verse 5 we read, Now Joseph had a dream and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. And he said to them, Hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold we were binding sheaves in the field and behold my sheaf arose and stood upright and behold your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us?

Or are you indeed to rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, Behold I have dreamed another dream. Behold the sun, the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.

But when he told it to his father and to his brothers his father rebuked him and said to him, now pause right here and look at the question that the father asked Joseph because this is the question I want to ask you. What is this dream that you have dreamed? What is this dream that you have dreamed?

Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you? And the brothers were jealous of him but his father kept the saying in mind. His father would never forget the dreams that God gave Joseph for one day just as God had promised and predicted through these dreams to Joseph the entire family would bow down in the presence of Joseph who would rise to power, the pinnacle of power as ultimately the Prime Minister of Egypt second in command to only Pharaoh himself. But it all began with these dreams. Now we don't need to romanticize or fantasize regarding dreams.

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about dream a little dream with me. These were God given dreams. These dreams were divine revelation given by God to Joseph.

God revealed Himself and Joseph's future in these dreams. So the way that we're defining dream today as we talk about how to discover your God given dream is a dream is your mental picture in life, your mental picture of life. Or better said it is a God given vision for your future.

A God given vision for your future. Dreams are not just for artists and sculptors, the kind of people we consider maybe dreamers. But dreams are for everyone, young and old, rich and poor. Whatever your background, whatever you do dreams are for doctors and lawyers and teachers and students. They're dreams for all of us. And you can never imagine what God could do with your life if you would be accessible to Him and available to Him and His dreams. I'm not talking about hype here or the whole cliché thing of dream a great dream.

It's much more than that. It is discovering the dream that God has for you, your life, the plan of God for your life. Because this is the only way to live, this is the way to define your life, your dreams. Erwin McManus writes this, the bigger people dream the bigger they tend to live. I like that.

I like it a lot. The bigger people dream the bigger they tend to live. You don't want to get to the end of your life and look back and wonder what happened. You don't want to look back on your life and with regrets and think what could I have done if I had only followed God's plan, God's dream for my life.

God wants to do in you and through you so much more than you could imagine. There was a young man by the name of Dwight Lyman Moody. He came to Christ, led to Christ by a shoe salesman in Chicago. He was just getting started in his Christian life and he was beginning to preach and he went to a conference and he heard a man say, the world has yet to see what God could do with one man totally consecrated to him. And young Moody said in his heart that day, by God's grace I will be that man. God raised this young man up to be one of the most powerful evangelists in the history of the Christian faith.

He had a dream. I went to see the movie Billy the early years. It's the story of Billy Graham in the early years of his life and you know I would recommend it. It's not a great movie as great movies go but it's a great story about young Billy Graham and how his faith was solidified and strengthened those early days. In reading his autobiography, Just As I Am, I read the story of Billy Graham coming down the stairs of the University, Wheaton University there while he was a college student.

This was the first time his wife-to-be Ruth had ever seen him. She was the daughter of missionaries from China and she was in the United States studying there at Wheaton College. And she saw Billy Graham bounding down the stairs with a gleam in his eye, his heart you know obviously just ignited with the flame and the fire of his passion for the world and she said, there's a young man who knows where he's going.

I'd like to get to know a young man like that. She ultimately became Mrs. Billy Graham. But it's a wonderful story of how as a young man God put it in his heart to reach the world with the Gospel. And I'm telling you as a young man, a young woman, or the most elderly senior in this room today that God still has a plan, a dream, a purpose in your life and He will provide everything that you need. And that your dream will give you a sense of significance in life, security in life, strength in your life. Because your dreams are your God-ordained destiny. Your dreams that come from God are your God-ordained destiny and your dreams will become your destiny if you will discover them and live them. Your dreams are a vision of what your life can become for God. So what's your dream?

Back to the question that the Father asked His Son. What is this dream that you have dreamed? I know this, you will not accomplish all you dare to dream if you don't dream. Because if you don't dream, you will accomplish very little in your life. It's your dreams that wake you up and keep you up. Have you ever been awakened by a dream, maybe even startled by a dream in the night? Well the dreams that God gives us, wake us up and keep us up. These are not daydreams.

These are the dreams that produce motivation and direction and inspiration and anticipation in your life. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Discovering Your God-given Dream, Part 1. Slow down and soak up the sacred meaning that's at the heart of the holiday season with Dr. Wes Hawkins, 25-day Christmas devotional, The Christmas Code.

You'll see the birth of Jesus with fresh eyes as you take time to rest and rejoice in what really makes this season so special. The Christmas Code is our way to thank you for your gift to PowerPoint. So call today to get your copy of The Christmas Code when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. That's PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store or give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, Discovering Your God-given Dream, Part 1. Now this is going to be a two-part message as to how you can discover your God-given dream.

And the first point is this, understand your own uniqueness. Joseph wore this coat of many colors. It signified his uniqueness, his distinctiveness in this family.

He was a part of a dysfunctional family, a disgraceful family in many ways. And yet Joseph stood out. And because he was the favored son of his father, he was given this mosaic kind of coat. It was a multicolor, maybe a patchwork kind of coat of many colors. And he wore this coat and of course it was driving his brothers crazy that he was wearing this coat because it reminded them of this young man's uniqueness and the favor that he had with his father.

And not only did he have this coat, but he had these dreams that God gave him. Favored by the Father, given unique and supernatural dreams from God, you are also as a child of God unique. Unique in all of the world. Of the five to six billion people that live on this planet and the millions and millions, billions of others who have lived past and who will live future in eternity past to eternity future, you are unique in all the world.

Now that sounds so clichéd, I know. But it's true. God knew you and formed you in your mother's womb. This is why we believe so strongly in the sanctity of life. That life begins not in conception but in the heart and mind of God. And that God has known us and knitted us in our mother's womb.

And life is precious to God. And in a throwaway society, you need to remember that you are created by God to do something great for His glory. You say, I don't do much great. I'm in a small place doing a small thing. Then you do a small thing in a small place in a great way for the glory of God.

Dream dreams. You are a child of God. God has planted the seeds of greatness in your life. And you have everything you need in life to fulfill God's plan, God's purpose in you. You are one of a kind.

So why would you try to be anyone else? These brothers had a hard time with Joseph because of their envy and because of their jealousy of his dreams. Now, granted, Joseph was sort of fueling this jealousy a little bit. I mean, you can see Joseph, you know, he's prating around in his jacket, you know, thinking he's too sexy for his shirt and, and he's got these, he's got these dreams. And, and, and God had to spend a lot of time.

By the way, if God gives you a dream, if God gives you a dream, it's a good idea not to share it with fools. Because these brothers were carnal, empty, callous men who didn't have a clue as to what God was doing in Joseph's life. And so God had to spend a great deal of time getting Joseph ready, getting some of these edges, getting some of this immaturity, getting some of the ego knocked off of him and thus the whole scheme and plan of God and moving him to Egypt and so on. But having said that, Joseph had a very healthy self-image.

And that's so important. Because in conscious and in unconscious ways, the way you view yourself will determine your dreams and thus your destiny. I'm talking about your desires, your attitudes, your opinions, your character, the way you live your life. It's all lived through the grid of the way you view yourself. So many people have a distorted concept of self. And it affects, again, consciously and unconsciously every decision they make, every desire they have, every dream that is in their hearts, the way you view yourself. It affects marriages, parenting, being a child of everything that you do, the way you perform on your job. Now psychologists or psychiatrists like to talk about low self-esteem or high self-esteem.

I prefer to talk about a healthy self-esteem or an unhealthy self-esteem. You know the Bible addresses this subject. Turn over to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 begins with those great verses regarding presenting our bodies as living sacrifices unto God. But then it goes on to describe how God can use each one of us because of our uniqueness and the spiritual gifts that God has given each one of us. So verse 3 of Romans chapter 12 says this about how we look at ourselves. For by the grace given to me, I say to every one of you, do not think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function, so we through many are one body in Christ and individually having been members of one another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.

He's using the illustration of a body functioning together and every part has a perfect function. So every member of the body is vitally connected and God has given us grace. God has given each one of us these gifts in life in order that we may function together in the body of Christ. So we are to come and looking at ourselves not with a sinful exaggeration, let no man think more highly of himself than he ought, but with sober evaluation according to the faith that God has given you. That is the dreams, the faith, the heart, the desires, the hope, the future that God has given you. So you come to yourself not with a higher estimate of yourself than you should, but with a proper evaluation and understand who you are. Listen to me, you are a child of God, given gifts by God, you are full of promise, you have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.

As I said, formed in your mother's womb, now a gifted child, the Holy Spirit lives in you. You were made for a mission on earth. God has given you a dream in your heart. Never give up on that dream. For some, your dreams have died, or your dreams have disappointed you and you've almost stopped dreaming.

Don't do that. Don't give up on what God put in your heart to do for him. Joseph's brothers despised him and his dreams. Too often we let others talk us out of our dreams, downsize our dreams. But Joseph refused to listen to these men.

Why? Because he listened to God. Don't you dare listen to what somebody else says about you, or somebody else says about what God's going to do with you. You listen to God because the proper image of self, the healthy image of self, is to view yourself as God views you. To see yourself in the mirror of the Word of God.

You are blessed beyond measure. You are created and created in Christ Jesus as His workmanship. And God has a plan and a purpose that He's given to you all the days of your life. And from a biblical perspective, God has something for you to do for His glory. The next time we're together we're going to be talking about how to dream these dreams and how can you know that a dream comes from God.

But suffice it to say, if your dream comes from God, your dream will be fulfilled. The Lord God is a sun and a shield, Psalm 84-11. The Lord bestows favor and honor and no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. You want to know how valuable you are? Look at the cross. Look at the cross.

Because there Jesus died for you, the love of God embracing you. How do you determine what is valuable and what is not valuable? This whole thing in the economy today is in regard to valuation. What is your house worth? What is your bank account worth?

What are your stocks worth? And how do you get through the sub-primes and all the rest because everyone is trying to find the bottom, they say. And to figure out what things are worth. So how do you know what you're worth? Well, the Bible says we were all sub-prime. We all fall short of the, of the glory of God and the value that God has placed upon us. But God loved us and sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us, to rise again that we could have eternal life. And therefore, if you want to value what you are worth, look at Jesus dying for you on the cross.

The one who paid it all for you. You are worth the blood of God's dear and darling Son. That's how much you are worth. That's how valuable you are to God. And you're valuable to God not because of anything you have done, but because of what He has done. God doesn't love you because you're valuable. You're valuable because God loves you.

Because you are loved like this. Favored by the Father. You've been brought into the family of God and now God wants to give you some dreams about your life, about your home, your family, your marriage, your ministry. Don't believe what the world says, believe what God says. Listen to Him, obey Him. The world says you can't, but God says you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

The world says impossible, but God says with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. That's what God says about you and frankly, I've had enough of all the negativity, especially among believers in these days. It's a time for faith. It's time for believing God.

Anybody can believe God when the sun is shining, when everything is great. Now's the time to trust in God and to believe and to stretch your faith even though things don't look good around you. Keep believing God. Keep trusting God's grace in your life.

You're bought with a price. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message, Discovering Your God Given Dream, Part 1. As you prepare for Christmas, we want to help make sure you don't miss a moment of what God wants to say to you. Slow down and soak up the sacred meaning that's at the heart of the holiday season, but Dr. O.S. Hawkins, 25-day Christmas devotional, The Christmas Code. Dr. O.S.

Hawkins is a longtime friend of Dr. Graham and the two have often collaborated in the work of the gospel, encouraging each other in both life and ministry. And in The Christmas Code, Dr. Hawkins helps you encounter the birth of Jesus with fresh eyes and rejoice in what really makes this season so special. The Christmas Code is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's Word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store or give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? God will give you a dream for your life if you will ask Him. He has uniquely created you and has prepared a way for you that is beyond your imagination. Think about your unique talents and gifts. What are your specific passions about life and interests and desires?

What is your background? What are the circumstances of your life that prepare you for a unique ministry for Christ? You see, as a child of God, you are one of a kind. You are the Master's original design. He created you specifically and strategically for His purpose.

The Scripture tells us that God knew you and formed you in your mother's womb. Yes, God has planted seeds of greatness in your life, and you have everything right now in Jesus Christ to fulfill His plan and purpose for your life. So think about your unique qualities and rejoice in them, celebrate them, and then begin to serve God with all your heart.

Ask God to help you use the experiences of your life to help others as you serve Him. And then seize each opportunity to use your God-given passions, desires, and perspective to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you a copy of the book, Christmas Code, as our thanks.

Call 1-800-795-4627, 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how the decisions you make today determine your destiny. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.