I dare you to dream!

Over the years, I've lived by one principle above others regardless of how good, bad or terrible things/situations in my life have been...My bible says in Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof; The world and they that dwell therein." So regardless of what I face or who I face, I tend to remember that my life is in God's hands and He created all that is in the earth, as such I can only come out of this victorious...this unwavering belief I must say hasn't come without a price...The confidence this has generated through years of internalizing and exhibiting it, has caused people to wonder if I am not just being cocky & arrogant...I recently stumbled upon a quote by Bette Davis which I felt captured this perceived cockiness/arrogance, the quote says, " I was thought to be 'stuck up'. I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and has always been an unforgivable quality to the unsure". Dear friends... what you've perceived as cockiness or arrogance is nothing but my complete and absolute trust in the word of God and His promises concerning my life. I must say in my short walk with God, I am yet to see an overconfident person whose trust is in God. Rather I've seen and come across achievers...for the word of the Lord says in Psalm 37:25, 32-33
25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives;
33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned when brought to trial.


I am tired of seeing Christians living below their true potential. I am tired of Christians that continue to see money as the root of all evil and as such the desire to be successful, as lust for the material things of the world. Jesus our personal savior understood the value of money...even if you struggle to agree with that, ask yourself why then did Jesus have Judas as his treasurer? (John 13:29). I am tired of Christians blaming the devil for everything that has gone wrong in their lives and not taking any responsibility. "The devil is a liar, he is the devourer"...that has never been in question! But the devil cannot be the reason everything in your life is the way it is...if you truly believe he is, then in a way you are saying the devil is everywhere, every time and in everything (omnipotent and omniscient)...I come against such thoughts today and I ask that the Lord renew our minds. The devil was an angel, created by God, just a bit higher than man (Hebrews 2:7) meaning unlike God, his powers are limited.

If there is one thing I became increasingly grateful for as I researched material for this entry, it's the fact we've been blessed with our imagination. Anyway, I decided to look up the meaning of DREAM and it was interesting what I discovered...dream can be defined as follows:
1. a series of mental images and emotions occurring during sleep; "I had a dream about you last night"
2. ambition: a cherished desire; "his ambition is to own his own business"
3. imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake; "he lives in a dream that has nothing to do with reality"

If there's anything I've found in these definitions, it's the fact they all talk about self perception. So hopefully before we switch gears, you'll agree with me that the way we perceive ourselves is really critical in terms of our ability to succeed or fail. If you do then, permit me to share with you a few nuggets I've discovered as I have meditated over this topic.

If you can dream it, you can achieve it
Before you jump at me, let me clarify something ...if you see yourself flying with no man-made wings, please reject that dream immediately oooo....Start to banish, rebuke and reject it in the name of Jesus...lol....That potentially could be your village peeps hollering at you....lol... Seriously though, I truly believe there is nothing you'd dream about that you can't achieve if you set your mind to achieving it and you have the right ingredients (I'll share the common ingredients in my conclusion). Martin Luther King had a dream...one of integration at a time when segregation was all the eye could see, imagine and trust. Years later, that dream became a reality but only as a result of MLK making the conscious choice of dedicating his life to the pursuit of that goal. We all know the story of Joseph the dreamer (Genesis 35:1-29; 37:1-11). This dude took dreaming to a different level...but I am yet to read where one of his dreams failed to become reality.

Dreams will bring envy and enemies
Depending on the size and potential of your dream, I must warn you, it could and probably would lead people to envy you. If you find that your dream doesn't cause people to envy you or doubt it's possibility, then my brethren I must say your dream isn't going to propel you to your true potential. Your dream should be one that causes people to doubt it's ability to manifest... the greater the doubts and doubters, the higher your potential truly is (Because the God we serve isn't in the business of doing what is humanly possible...rather he has made the impossible His bed rock)... If you spend some time reading the story of Joseph, you'll find that every time he dreamt, it caused his brothers to despise him the more...I mean can you imagine how unbearable they must have found his constant dreams to be that they decided to sell him to a merchant?

A Conversation with God
Your dream whether while you sleep or an innate feeling is one of many ways God communicates with His people. The bible is full of such stories...Samuel, Joseph,
Nebuchadnezzar Mordecai e.t.c. So if this holds true and we believe God is not capable of lying, then in due time the dream will manifest.

Category of dreamers (Talkers, Carriers and Achievers)
The category you fall under, will determine whether you reach your full potential or not. Clearly, as I break down the various categories, I trust we'll either find ourselves entrenched in one category or some hybrid of these categories.
Talkers-
These are the people that seem to have big dreams but all they seem to do is just talk with no action. They share with any and every one willing to listen...You speak to them years after the dream was birthed and you find they haven't made any significant progress.

Carriers-
This weekend I actually heard a man of God describe these people best though in a different context. The carriers are like sign posts they lead others to their destinations but yet remain stagnant. They carry the dreams of others yet have none of their own or never seem to realize theirs. Some actually feel they've been called to mock the dream of others...they carry peoples dreams to others with the hope of getting a laugh or two out of it.

Achievers-
Now these are the people that wake up each day, realizing they have a dream and they work towards achieving it. They are the folks you speak with and each time they talk about their dreams you notice they've taken huge strides in the direction of accomplishing their dreams. They are so meticulous in terms of how they handle their dreams. They protect and refuse to allow the naysayers pull them back. They realize the ingredients needed in order to ensure completion and excellence.

Ingredients Needed:

1. Relationship with God- I agree we hear this all the time but it's a vital ingredient if we are to fully achieve our true potential. I believe you can only truly enter into a conversation with God when you know Him and understand how he communicates. Can you imagine how much the children of Israel would have suffered if Pharaoh did not realize the significance of his dream and there was no Joseph to interpret it? Regardless of what Pharaoh's beliefs were, he knew his dream was a message. After many so called interpreters had tried and failed, the one who knew God was called in and only then did Pharaoh get the revelation...Have you ever wondered why Pharaoh accepted a prisoners interpretation? What about Daniel? My friends, God is vital regardless of how you choose to see it.

2. Faith
In Hebrews 11:1 we are told that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". You can have more dreams than Joseph but if you lack faith, trust me those dreams become like pictures in a frame...Stagnant! Forget the walls you might feel would keep you from achieving your dreams...they are just walls...Psalm 18:29-30 says that " For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven;He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

3. Focus and Dedication
Some dreams require a high degree of focus and dedication. Tonight as I prepared to complete this entry, I was watching Monday Night Football and I got into a conversation with a friend who had experienced the drill these football players go through...People wonder why they get paid so much for playing about 15 games but they fail to realize how much these athletes have been through...the deprivations they've experienced all their lives in order to achieve their dreams...For those that have read about Tiger Woods, its not hard understanding why he is the accomplished golf player that he has become...He was focused and dedicated ...he pictured the end and worked towards achieving it.
4. Positive reinforcement
I'll be lying if I tell you that all dreams are easy to accomplish...they aren't! But what makes it harder is when you have too much negativity around you. Seek out people or things have achieved the level which your dream aspires to take you to.
5. YOU
Some people are scared of their dreams. I mean the size scares the life out of them, defeating them even before they begin. At all times you have to understand and believe that you are bigger than any dream. God gave you that dream because He knows He has given you all the tools and the ability to manage it...He won't give you more than you can handle.

As a kid, I dreamt of being successful...How it was going to happen, I had no clue because based on what my eyes could see at the time, it seemed like I was destined to follow in the ways of the men I had seen around me. They did okay but were clearly living below their true potential. As I came into the knowledge of God, I realized that though based on my mothers bank balance we were classified poor, my true potential wasn't tied to what the eyes could see or the limitations the world had placed on me but rather on how far I was willing to go and how much of a role I believed God could play in ensuring I accomplished my dreams. Today, I share with folks that my life is a dream...I am not done yet but I am happy to say I have started on my way to achieving those dreams that a little boy never thought he could achieve.
My prayer for everyone reading this today is that God will give you the passion to chase your dreams...He will give you the will and desire to even dream bigger dreams and the assurance you need to see those dreams come to reality. I pray that He will shake you from a level of comfort to that of exceeding expectations. I pray that He makes you uncomfortable with your present position, that while others accept mediocrity, he dissatisfies you with the status quo. I pray that you will live to accomplish the desires He has for you and that through you, people will come to realize their true potential and understand that NO ONE is able to set a limit on their lives other than themselves and that God desires them to reach and exceed their true potential.


So in closing, I dare you to dream. I dare you to dream big. I dare you to trust in God with whom ALL things are possible. I dare you to live to your full potential...you know what? I DOUBLE dare you!