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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000656S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:05 Sermon #B656-Keep On Dreaming 00:21 Genesis 37:3, we're ready to read the word of God together. 00:25 The word of God says-- are you with me everybody? [Congregation: Yes.] 00:29 All right. Now, Israel loved Joseph more than all of his what everybody? 00:35 [Congregation: Children.] 00:37 Because he was the son of his old what everybody? [Congregation: Age.] 00:40 And he made him a coat of many what? [Congregation: Colors.] 00:42 Verse 4, and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, 00:47 they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him. Verse 5, 00:54 and Joseph dreamed a what, everybody? [Congregation: Dream.] 00:56 He dreamed a dream and he told it to his brother and they hated him yet the more. 01:01 And he said unto them, Here, I pray you this dream which I have dreamed. 01:05 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, 01:09 and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood around about, 01:13 and made obeisance to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, 01:19 "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?" 01:24 And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. Verse number 9, 01:29 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, 01:33 "Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon 01:36 and the eleven what everybody?" [Congregation: Inaudible.] 01:40 Made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren, 01:45 and his father rebuked him, and said, it's him, "What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? 01:50 Shall I and thy mother 01:52 and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?" 01:56 and his brethren envied him, but his father observed the same. 02:04 Not going to be long today but we'll just challenge you on the subject, keep on dreaming. 02:08 Keep on dreaming, God bless us now. Speak in the Oakwood Church right now. 02:13 Speak to the people who are even watching by television and the internet and we promise, 02:17 we'll praise you right now 02:19 and when we're done over what you've done this day hiding behind your cross, 02:23 forgive me of my sins. In the name of Jesus, let everyone say amen and amen. 02:28 You may be seated, keep on dreaming, keep on dreaming. 02:33 The Bible has over 20 documented dreams in scripture. 02:39 From Jacob's dream of a ladder in Genesis 28 to Daniel's dream of four beasts in 02:46 Daniel chapter 7, the Bible is full of dreams. 02:50 From Abimelech, Jacob, Laban, Joseph, the baker, the butler, Pharaoh, Daniel, Joseph, 02:58 Mary's husband, the Magi and even the wife of Pilate who suffered in a dream as a 03:05 warning not to crucify Christ, the Bible is full of dreams. 03:11 But out of all of these dreams, my favorite Bible dreamer is Joseph. 03:18 Why is Joseph my favorite Bible dreamer? 03:23 It's because the Joseph story reminds us that no matter what you go through, 03:29 God's got your back. Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yes.] 03:33 Every time you turn around in the life of Joseph, somebody is having a dream. 03:39 In Genesis 37:5, Joseph dreamed that sheaves were bowing down to him. 03:44 In that same chapter in Verse 9, Joseph dreamed that the sun, the moon, 03:48 and eleven stars were bowing down to him. 03:51 In Genesis chapter 40, the chief butler 03:54 and the chief baker dreamed dreams which Joseph interpreted and then in Genesis 41, 04:01 Pharaoh dreamed of seven cows coming out of the Nile River, 04:05 seven grains of stalk sprouting up and Joseph then interpreted these dreams. 04:11 In this dream we see God for telling something and it happened just like God said it would. 04:18 [Congregation: Oh yes.] 04:20 Don't you forever forget that God does keep His word. 04:25 If the Lord said it, you can count on it because he will do just what He says. 04:32 Are you hearing what I'm saying? Now all throughout Scripture, 04:36 God used a variety of ways to communicate with his people. 04:41 He used visions, He used signs and wonders, He used angels, biblical saddles, 04:47 biblical patterns and many others 04:49 but one of the most common ways used in the Bible to convey God's will was through dreams. 04:58 Dreams are found throughout the Old Testament particular in the books of Genesis and Daniel. 05:04 In fact, the only two people in the Bible that the Bible says were blessed with the 05:09 ability to correctly interpret dreams were Joseph and Daniel. 05:15 But in their New Testament, the entire New Testament, dreams only occur eight times. 05:24 Now, a dream is not to be mistaken with a vision. 05:29 A vision is something that you see as part of a religious 05:33 or supernatural experience when you're awake. 05:37 But a dream is something that you see when you're asleep. [Congregation: Yes.] 05:43 Vision, awake. Dream, asleep. Somebody's going to get this in a minute. 05:50 Now, before I go any further, let me give you a word of caution about dreams, 05:57 something that you see in your sleep. 05:59 Now, Deuteronomy 8:13 and Deuteronomy 31 make it clear that in the Old Testament, 06:04 the penalty for giving a false vision 06:07 or dream was death because God saw it as an attempt to speak for Him when God has 06:14 already spoken in the last days through His Son, Jesus Christ. 06:19 He's already also spoken through His Scriptures delivered to us, His people. 06:24 But let me be clear today, that also God can send dreams, 06:29 He can send visions to whomever He wants. 06:34 But anything seen in our dream or vision must be according to the Word of God 06:40 or it's not from God. Now, there are some dreams that do come from God. 06:50 It was God after all who said that in the last days, 06:54 He would pour out His spirit upon all flesh and that your sons 06:59 and your daughters would prophecy and that your old men would dream dreams 07:04 and young men would see visions. Do I have a witness in this place? [Congregation: Yes.] 07:08 Ellen White's dreams for God's church came from God. 07:13 Martin Luther King's dream for all children to be judged not by the color of their skin 07:18 but by the content of their character came from God. 07:23 God does send dreams and God is a dreamer too. 07:29 What am I talking about? God dreamed up the entire human race and believed 07:36 and He spoke it into existence. God dreamed about this planet and spoke His dream 07:43 and this planet appeared. God dreamed about you before you were even born 07:50 and here you are today. God's spoke to the prophets in dreams 07:56 and when they believe in those dreams and acted upon those dreams, awesome, powerful, 08:00 mighty works were done. 08:03 God also wants us to have dreams to believe in so we can see them come true. 08:09 The Word of God says faith is the substance of things hoped for, 08:13 the evidence of things not seen. 08:16 God has given us faith as a tool to hope and to see our hopes become reality, 08:21 the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. 08:26 I then go by the motto, "If you can dream it, you can do it." 08:30 And when the dream is from God, of God, and for God, it will happen. 08:36 In our text, we're introduced to my favorite Bible dreamer, Joseph. 08:43 The bible says he's only 17 years old. Now, Joseph is born into a dysfunctional family. 08:51 Rachel, his mother, is dead, Joseph, his father, 08:55 is now an old man who hasn't always been godly, Joseph-- Jacob rather has had two wives, 09:03 two concubines from which he has fathered 12 sons and an unknown number of daughters, 09:10 they're all living under the same roof. Joseph, despised by his brothers, 09:17 favored by his father, started having dreams. 09:22 He tells his brothers in Genesis 37:7 that he has this dream that they're all 09:26 bowing down to him, in response to this, 09:29 the bible says that Joseph's brothers hated him even more. 09:32 Joseph then has another dream in verse number nine, it tells his entire family that a sun, 09:37 the moon, the stars, they all bow down to him. 09:39 The interpretation for this dream is that this entire family is going to bow down to him. 09:45 And so, the bible says his brothers envied him more. 09:48 So, the Bible says that one day when Joseph's out in the field his brother said, 09:54 "Look, we've had enough of this, enough is enough, here comes the dreamer, let's get him." 10:03 The bible says they stripped Joseph of his goats, smeared goats' blood on it, 10:06 threw him in the pit to die which leads me to my second point, 10:09 I've learned in my experience. Number two, dreams can be dangerous. [Congregation: Yes.] 10:17 When you've been blessed, when you've been favored, when you've been chosen, 10:24 when you've been picked get ready for the dream, get ready for the pit, 10:30 not that you did anything wrong, not that you've said anything bad 10:34 but when you have dream given from God, you better understand that it can be dangerous. 10:41 Dreams can be dangerous because God's dreams interrupt things the way they are, dangerous 10:48 because God's dreams may challenge the status quo and envision new way of doing things, 10:52 many people talk change but they really don't want change. 10:56 Many people talk innovation but they really don't want innovation, 11:00 many people talk creativity but they don't want creativity, let me tell you something, 11:03 if your dream only confirms what already is rubber-stamping the norm 11:07 and accepting the average it's not God's dream 11:10 because God's dreams upset our human way of doing things. 11:15 The first shall be last, the last shall be first, the least becomes the greatest, 11:25 dreaming is dangerous because you might get thrown in a pit. 11:30 Let's make this relevant for us, when you have a dream you might lose your job, 11:36 you might get passed over for a job, you might miss out on a promotion, 11:41 you might get a demotion, you might even get thrown into jail or worse yet, lose your life. 11:48 As we think about this weekend, let's think about Doctor Martin Luther King, 11:52 he had a dream, having a dream for him was dangerous, 11:57 he went to a Birmingham jail, lost his life, 12:02 but I'm so glad today that that didn't keep him from dreaming. 12:06 He still had the courage to dream, 12:09 take the risk to dream knowing that dreams can be dangerous but he still had a dream. 12:16 But let's move from Martin King, let's move to Jesus Christ, he had a dream, 12:22 he went to Pilate's judgment hall, he lost his life at Calvary but he still had a dream, 12:32 if you want to do something with your life, you've got to dream, 12:38 if you're going to find the cure for cancer you've got to dream, 12:43 if you're going to go to the moon, you've got to dream, 12:47 if you are going to start your own business you've got to dream, 12:52 if you're going to have multiple medical practices you've got to dream, 12:57 if you're going to baptize hundreds you've got to dream. 13:02 It might be dangerous but you've got to dream. It might be risky but you've got to dream. 13:09 It might land you in a pit but you've got to dream, 13:13 speaking of landing in a pit 13:16 God is a God. I'm a witness that will move you out of the pit, 13:22 because God never delivers you from something unless God is getting ready to 13:27 take you to something and the something he's always delivering you to is always 13:32 better than what you came up out of, do I have a witness in this place? 13:35 Somebody ought to give God some glory right now 13:38 because if you're not careful the devil will have you making accommodations in your pit. 13:45 He'll make you think this is the way is supposed to be, 13:48 so I might as well go on and make myself comfortable in my pit, but in the name of Jesus, 13:54 the devil is a lie, the pit is not your destiny, in fact, 14:00 a serve a God who says I'm going to use the pit to bring a praise out of your 14:06 life which leads me, I'm almost done, to my third and my final point. 14:11 Number three, God is with his dreamers, I said, God is with his dreamers, 14:20 God never forgets his dreamers, so friends of mine, keep on dreaming. 14:25 Joseph is thrown into a pit, 14:28 but in a final act of love his brothers lift him out of that pit 14:33 and sell him to a group of Israelites for 20 pieces of silver 14:38 and doom him to a life of slavery in Egypt. 14:42 But remember, I just said it, God never deliver us from something, 14:46 unless he's delivering us to something. 14:49 In Genesis 39, Joseph winds out in the house of Potiphar, 14:55 captain of the Egyptian Guard, while in the service of Potiphar, 15:00 Potiphar's wife had her eyes on Joseph, she makes advances to Joseph 15:06 but Joseph doesn't yield to temptation, 15:09 you got to yield not to temptation for you doing a sin, 15:13 I wish I had a witness in this place. So, she lies on him 15:18 because he wouldn't lie with her until and tells her husband, 15:22 Joseph was trying to lie with her when in reality she was trying to lie with him. 15:27 [Congregation: Mercy!] 15:28 Joseph ends up in prison convicted on trumped-up charges 15:35 but the Bible says in Genesis 39:2 21 and 23 which means three times, 15:45 whenever God says something once, twice and three times, 15:48 there's something special about his saying, God says in Genesis 39 that God is with Joseph. 15:59 Let me say it again, God is with Joseph, let that be a reminder to somebody right now, 16:10 that you might be in your earthly prison but if God is with you, 16:17 no devil in hell can stop you while in prison Genesis 40 tells us, 16:24 that Joseph makes friends with the butler and the baker who were on death row with him. 16:29 They discovered that Joseph has the ability to interpret dreams, they dream their dreams, 16:36 Joseph interprets their dreams their dreams come to pass, the baker is hanged, 16:42 the butler gets out of prison on parole 16:45 but he forgets what Joseph has done for him, 16:49 which means the old saying is true the people you help the most appreciate it the least. 16:55 Fast forward to Genesis 31, Joseph's brothers have come to Egypt for food 17:05 and the same man that they put in the pit one day, the same man that they hated, 17:15 the same man that they envied, the same man that they have talked about, 17:22 the same man that they were jealous of, the same man that they had sold off into slavery 17:32 is now the same man in charge of food stamps. 17:37 Somebody knows that late in the midnight hour God's going to turn it around, 17:44 it's going to work in your favor, because God in his own way, 17:50 in his own time has a way of turning things around if you just trust God, 17:57 if you just keep following God, God has a way of raising you up, after the pit, 18:04 after prison God raised it up but threw it all. [Congregation: That's good.] 18:11 Joseph kept on dreaming. He didn't stop dreaming after his brother's threw him in a pit, 18:17 he didn't stop dreaming after Potiphar's wife lied on him and he was thrown into prison, 18:21 he didn't stop dreaming after interpreting the chief butler's 18:24 dream even when the chief butler forgot about him and then he was set free. 18:30 Joseph kept dreaming because to dream is to live but to stop dreaming is to die, 18:36 God is with his dreamers, God was with Joseph, God was with Daniel, 18:46 God was with Ellen white, God was with Martin Luther King, God is with you, 18:55 God is with me, God with his dreamers. Let me close but let me say this, in life's journey, 19:08 things change, nothing remains the same, life has its up 19:15 and life has its downs and sometimes life may feel like the pits. 19:23 Don't you ever forget that the God we serve is still at work, he still sits high 19:33 and he looks low, let me tell somebody out there a young person or even an older person, 19:38 your dreams maybe have not come true as of yet but don't stop dreaming, 19:44 delay is not denial, God's dreams don't have an expiration date. 19:53 Now remember, death couldn't hold back God's dream in Jesus. [Congregation: That's right.] 20:02 He was crucified on Friday, he lay rest in the grave on the Sabbath which means 20:12 he was obedient to his law even in his death, 20:18 but early Sunday morning on the third appointed day, 20:26 he got up with all power in his hands our setbacks, just maybe setups for comebacks. 20:39 Because dreamers don't die easily, keep on dreaming because God is with his dreamers, 20:51 there are going to be some doors slammed in your face, 20:55 but dream because God is with his dreamers people are going to call you crazy 21:03 but keep on dreaming because God is with his dreamers, your money is going to get funny, 21:11 your change is going to get strange, your credit may not get it but keep on dreaming 21:18 because God is with his dreamers. 21:21 People are going to walk out of our life and leave you hanging 21:25 but keep on dreaming because God is with his dreamers, folk going to talk about you 21:32 but dream, family won't understand you but dream, colleagues, coworkers 21:37 and classmates won't like you but dream. Folk will hate you on you but dream, 21:42 whatever you do don't stop dreaming. 21:48 So, let me make this plain as I close, 21:54 let me close with the true fact about the nature of a frog, some of our scientist 22:01 and biologists in the congregation will know this is true, 22:07 put a frog in a pot and fill it with water. After you put the frog in the pot 22:20 and you start heating the water, 22:26 understand as the temperature of the water begins to rise the frog will adjust its 22:35 body temperature accordingly, in fact, 22:41 the frog will keep adjusting its body temperature with the increasing 22:46 temperature of the water but just when the water is about to reach its boiling point 22:56 the frog can't adjust anymore. 23:02 And so, at this point when the frog can't take it anymore the frog decides to jump out of 23:13 the boiling pot of water but the frog tries to jump 23:21 but the frog is unable to jump because it has lost all of it strength adjusting 23:30 with the rising water temperature, so very soon the frog, because it can't jump out, 23:40 the frog dies. Now, what killed the frog? Was it the boiling water? 23:51 Most people thing that it was the boiling water that killed the frog, 23:59 but what really killed the frog wasn't the boiling water 24:03 but what really killed the frog was the own frog's inability to decide when to jump out. 24:13 In life we will have to all adjust to people and situations 24:21 but we need to know when we need to adjust and we also need to know when we need to move on, 24:30 there are times when we need to face life situations and take appropriate actions, 24:37 if you allow people to exploit you physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, 24:47 financially or spiritually people will continue to do so. 24:52 Because people will do to you what you let them, 24:56 if you allow people to destroy your hopes and dreams,they will continue to do so, 25:03 if you allow people to negatively influence you and hold you back, 25:09 they will continue to do so, if you allow people to discourage you 25:15 and tell you what you can't do in Christ they will continue to do so. 25:26 So, you got to know when to jump, and then jump while you still have the strength, 25:37 everybody can't handle your dreams, dreams can be dangerous, but God is with his dreamers. 25:49 Keep on dreaming but you got to know when to leave dream killers alone and move on, 26:02 dream killers mean you no good. 26:08 And so, when I talk to a person who doesn't love God, 26:12 a person who doesn't want to love God or know God, I shake the dust from my feet 26:21 and I've learned to move on because I can't make anybody do anything 26:26 but I can't let that person destroy the dream that I have within inside me, 26:33 that one day soon I'm going to live with Jesus forever, I'm not going to hell for anybody. 26:43 And I dream that one day I'm going to sit at the welcome table, 26:49 I dreamed that one day I'm going to feast on milk and honey, 26:53 I dream that one day I'm a put on a long white robe, 26:57 I dream that one day I'm going to shout "Hallelujah" 27:01 I dream that one day I'm going to see and never get tired, 27:05 I dream that one day I'm going to eat grits with Jesus, 27:08 I dream one day that I'm going to eat rice and beans with Jesus Christ returned, 27:15 Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen! And that's my dream 27:23 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:27 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:32 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:34 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:40 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 27:47 [END] |
Revised 2020-01-26