Not Your Average: I Have a Dream

Genesis 37:5-11 NIV  “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”  ⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.  ⁹ Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  ¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.”

What does the Bible say about dreams?

Acts 2:17 NIV “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

1. Dreams are future oriented.
2. Dreams are visual.
3. Dreams are Spiritual.
4. Dreams bring glory to God.

Biblical Dreams

A dream is initiated by the Spirit of God, giving you a picture of what is yet to come and will ultimately bring glory to God.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

“A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.”
— John Barrymore

1 Corinthians 10:11 NIV “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”

Dream Busters

1. Us

Genesis 37:18-20 NIV  But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.  ¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

2. Other People

3. Discouragement

4. Wrong Questions

How Do I Get a DREAM?

• Ask the Father

Luke 11:13 NIV “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Gain Clarity on your dream

1. Make sure it aligns with Scripture
2. They may be able to “interpret” or bring clarity for you.

A dream is initiated by the Spirit of yet to come and will ultimately bring glory to God.