How to Overcome Dream Killers 

Take a moment and remember the first dream you had as a child. What did you want to do when you grew up? You could be living in your dream right now, you may have given up and pursued a new dream, or maybe you are still waiting on the fruition of your dream. Perhaps you gave up on dreaming altogether and are waiting for a resurrection of your dreams. Let’s dive into what kills dreams and how we can revive those dreams.

When I think of “Dreamers” in the Bible, I think of the story of Joseph. Joseph was the ultimate “Dreamer.” From having dreams of grandeur to interpreting other’s dreams, we see how dreams in Joseph’s life led him from persecution to destiny. In Genesis 37, Joseph has two dreams that he shares with his family. The first dream begins with him and his brothers working in the fields and gathering stock of grain when all of the sudden, his brother’s stocks bow down to his stock. In the second dream the sun, the moon, and the stars all bow down to Joseph. He shares this dream with his family only to be rebuked by his father and build further resentment from his brothers. This resentment ultimately culminates in the brothers selling Joseph to salvery. 

We, of course, know the ending of that story with Joseph rising in status (second only to Pharaoh)  to influence Egypt and save his family from famine, but Joseph didn’t know that. He had faith that God was working even though his circumstances continued to prove otherwise. He held on to his dream despite the dream killers in his life and persevered to his destiny.  So what were those dream killers and how did Joseph overcome them? 

Discouragement

If “En-couragement” is to “input courage” into someone, “Dis-couragement” is to rob someone of their courage. The root of a dream lies in courage. You have to be courageous enough to dream of the ideal circumstance and future for yourself. The fulfillment of these dreams require even more courage to act out. When Joseph shared his dream with his family, he was met with resentment and even rebuke. His own family attempted to discourage Joseph’s dream. Entrusting the people you share your dream with is crucial. Surround yourself with like-minded people who will “En-courage” or input courage into you to work towards your God-given dream. 

Disappointment

There is no doubt that when you strive for something greater than yourself, you will fail at various times in that attempt. Those failures can turn into disappointments and the risk is that we end up reducing the expected outcome of the dream into something easily achievable by our own strength. This leads into survival mode rather than thrive mode. 

Joseph faced disappointment when he worked hard and rose in rank as master of the household at Potiphar’s house, only to be falsely accused and thrown in prison. To Joseph, it would appear his dream was going backwards. From beloved son to slave, and now from slave to prisoner. No doubt that Joseph would have been justified in his disappointment, however he did not stay in that place. Genesis 39:21 states that “The Lord was with Joseph and showed him his faithful love.” This allowed Joseph, despite his circumstances, to continue to work hard, and with the favor from the Lord, was given authority over the prison under the warden. He chose to focus on God’s faithful love for him rather than his circumstance. 

Distraction 

“If life gives you lemons… then make lemonade.” This is a life quote that exemplifies how life will throw “curveballs” your way and how to make the best of them. These so-called “lemons” can be distractors towards your dream and you end up focusing on the distractor rather than the dream. These distractors can present themselves as giants that need to be addressed such as unforeseen emergencies and debt. 

Joseph had many opportunities to be distracted and many distractors in his life. What kept him going and thriving in the midst of the distractors was the realization that the Lord was with him. (Gen. 39:2, Gen. 39:21) When Potiphar’s wife attempted to seduce him and take him off his course of being a faithful servant to Potiphar, Joseph resisted. Scripture mentions how day after day, Potiphar’s wife pressured Joseph, but Joseph resisted and refused her advances. He went as far as to avoid her as much as possible in his job. She presented herself as a distractor to Joseph’s character and destiny. In the midst of distraction, Joseph kept his eyes on God. 

Delay

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12. Have you ever had a dream that God has given you that you dismissed or given up on due to a lack of fruit? Maybe it’s the promise of a spouse and a family or a vocation and a calling. Dreams and promises from God are bound by His faithfulness, but trusting in His perfect process and timing can be difficult. 

Joseph was only 17 years old when his brothers sold him into slavery. At 30 years old, Pharaoh puts his signet ring on Joseph’s hand and puts him in charge of all of Egypt. For 13 years, he had to endure the process and trust that God was in control. God’s process was to prepare Joseph for His promise. Joseph didn’t know that it would take 13 years, he didn’t know he would lose his social status twice, and he didn’t know how his story would end. He only trusted God and persevered through every season. As a slave, he exemplified a trustworthy character and was given dominion over the household. As a prisoner he exemplified the same character and was given charge over the prison. God things take time and He operates on His time. Philippians 1:6 states that “He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” In times of delay, trust in His process and make the best out of each season because this process is preparing you for the promise.   

A God dream will always require faith and His power to complete. The enemy will always attack a God dream because a God dream that comes into fruition can change the world. Joseph became a father to Pharaoh and helped deliver Egypt and his entire family from famine (Gen. 45:8). His journey from beloved son to slave, to prisoner, and finally father to Pharaoh encourages us to persevere through the dream killers. Surround yourself with like-minded encouragers in times of discouragement, choose to focus on His faithful love in times of disappointment, keep your eyes on Jesus in times of distraction, and trust in His process in times of delay.   

Check out our Dare to Dream Again 5 Day Challenge and dream God-sized dreams with us. Do you have long unfulfilled dreams? Has one of these dream killers affected how you dream with God? 

On January 17th at 12 o’clock EST. tune into our online event and Dare to Dream Again! 

Click here to register today! 

https://www.kingdomlifeblueprint.com/challenge

 

When great men die, great legacy and inheritance become available. As believers, the greatest inheritance that we received is through the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus claimed that it’s actually better for him to go away, so believers can receive the Helper who is the Holy Spirit. He knew the radical power of laying down his own life.

Jesus is the greatest inheritance anyone could ever have. 

It is important to understand our inheritance, so that we can steward it properly. When we know how to value something, we are able to steward it, and when we can steward it we can multiply it. When we are able to multiply something, then we gain authority over it. You were created to steward the priceless inheritance of Christ. 

Psalm 2:8 says, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” The nations are a gift to be received by those who are coheirs with Christ. Would you like to learn how to receive all that Jesus paid for?

Join us in the Blueprint for Kingdom Identity Masterclass to learn about your inheritance and identity, so you can fully realize what it means to be a co-heir with Christ. Click here to register today and learn how to become an ambassador of love.

It is harvest time, Kingdom Family!

We have an opportunity to turn on the light in some of the darkest places in the world. God is opening doors in nations that have millions of people who have never heard the gospel of the kingdom. Uncommon favor with God and man is making way for the glory of the Lord to flood the Earth.

We believe that the greatest gift we can give to Jesus in this season is to make sure that the gospel reaches every heart and that they experience a God that looks like Jesus. 

Our prayer is that God would raise up an army of people to pray and release angels on assignment into the areas that we have been called to. 

Are you one of those people called to help to raise up and send out the sons and daughters of glory, the ambassadors of love to the nations? 

We need intercessors leading the way in prayer and kingdom partners investing into advancing the kingdom on this earth practically so missionaries can go into all the world and preach the gospel of the kingdom. Maybe you are a partner and Papa God is inviting you to upgrade your partnership; maybe He is asking you to become a partner if you are not yet one. We want to invite you to ask the Lord about joining us in our assignment and call to turn the light on.

We believe that these nations will be changed by the love and light of Jesus. We deeply desire to connect the fire from the places that are burning the brightest for Jesus to the darkest nations in the 10/40 window. The Father is asking us to steward these opened doors. We have said “Here am I send me.” and we want to know, will you join us?

To watch a special video message and follow me on social media, click here 

 

Iris is first and foremost about sharing the good news of Jesus and His love. We are not a faith-based humanitarian charity, rather we are a missions movement committed to a tangible expression of love. Our call, in particular, is to serve the destitute, the lost, the broken, and the forgotten.

Heidi & Rolland Baker didn’t set out to start an organization – they didn’t survey the landscape and choose a social problem to tackle.  Instead, they embarked on a life-mission to reach the lost with the soul-saving truth of Jesus.

In Rolland’s book, Keeping the Fire, he explores how Iris approaches ministry and uses the Core Values as a guide.  Our first value is to know Him in a passionate relationship with a love that is stronger than death. We major first of all not on mission strategy, methods, projects, and fundraising, but on encountering the love that a love-starved world craves and needs. This does not mean we are attracted to mindless, impersonal mysticism – to “experience” without content or relationship. No – Jesus is our heart’s desire. We relate to Him with both our minds and hearts; we engage with Him and find life and joy in our interaction. When we find Him we find and gain everything. Without Him we can do nothing of real value. Therefore we start by finding God and relying on Him! And as Heidi succinctly puts it, “All fruitfulness flows from intimacy.”

Our priority is prayer and worship, and the interesting thing is this: the more we pray, the more we want to go out on the streets. The more we dedicate ourselves to seeking the Father, the more we want to minister to the lost.  It is a natural overflow to progress from loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength to loving our neighbor. The results of that overflow are the projects and programs Iris has to stop for the one in need.

We are confident in the part God has called us to play and we want to carry that call on faithfully to the end. It is with that confidence we humbly and earnestly cheer on others who are also part of God’s grand plan to show the world how much He loves it. Heidi has often explained this idea with an image of a fishing net. In her description, Iris is just one little piece of the net with other groups and individuals making up the rest. If we were all separate, no one would catch any fish, but it is through connection and support that many fish are caught.  The strength that Iris brings to the net is this: When you are filled with Love and grasp His beautiful pursuit of the ones He loves, you will take every opportunity to stop for the one in front of you.

It has been an unusually challenging few years for our teams in Mozambique with instability, unprecedented natural disasters, and now extremist violence impacting the northern province of Cabo Delgado. And yet — God. We marvel at His kindness and faithfulness and divine capacity to use all things for His glory.

In 2019, Cyclone Kenneth ravaged the northern coast of Mozambique a mere two months after Cyclone Idai broke records for flooding, damage, and lives lost in central Mozambique. We mobilized our relief efforts immediately and started by literally rescuing people out of trees. Cyclone Kenneth hit a region sparsely populated, difficult to reach, and already simmering with a violent insurgency — to an extent that international relief agencies refused to bring aid there. When our team based in Pemba found out no one would go there and that it was the very area we had been trying to bring the Gospel to, but had been repeatedly rebuffed, we volunteered to go. An official with one of the international agencies said if we went we would be on our own because of the danger. He told one of our missionaries, “You don’t care about your own lives enough and you’re all about Jesus.” What he thought might dissuade us only galvanized our conviction that we needed to go.

The only way to access these villages was by the ocean, so we loaded up a wooden fishing boat with food and supplies. As we approached, the people gathered to see what was happening. It had been three weeks since the cyclone and we were the first ones to bring relief. This same village that had refused us in the past now welcomed us with open arms and heartfelt gratitude. They happily accepted the supplies and were even more accepting to hear about Jesus and how much He loves them.

In November 2020, a man showed up at our church in Mieze (a small village near Pemba). He stood up on Sunday morning and gave an unexpected testimony. He began by saying he was from Nambo —the very first village we brought relief supplies to. He said after the cyclone, Iris came into his village and were the first people to make contact with them.

“…they gave us food, and then they came back and gave us tarps, and then they kept coming back to give us food. We didn’t understand why they did this. We were of another faith. They were Christians. Last month, the violent insurgents came back and attacked yet again completely destroying our village and burning everything. I ran with my family and told them wherever we ended up we’re going to go find a church. So I am here today to become a Christian and I want to find Jesus because of the help we received after the cyclone.”

Our Pastor Martinho and elders prayed with the man and his family and they all have received Jesus and the hope of eternity. To God be the glory!

Before you were conceived in your mother’s womb you were a thought in the heart of Papa God, according to Jeremiah 1:4. 

Think about that for a second. Papa God knew you. 

This begs the question, who were you before you were in your mother’s womb? 

It is important for us to come back to our original intention that the Father created us with. Therein, we find the glory we were created for; there we can move towards our destiny. Like the eagle’s home is in the sky, you were created to live within the ocean of God’s love. Living in the fullness of who God created us to be is the place where we become fully alive in Jesus. 

Who are you? 

This question is more important than “What do you do?” I’m not talking about your title, but your identity. If you cannot answer this question, I believe that today you have a sweet invitation from the Father to discover who you were in Him before time began.

The truth is, you were made in God’s image. While there are things about you that may be true, they are not THE TRUTH. What God says and thinks about you is the whole truth.

You were created to reflect an aspect of the beauty and the glory of God uniquely that those around you are able to experience the goodness, the kindness and the glory of who God is, through you, His beloved. 

One of my favorite quotes is this, “I dare say we have heard a bit about original sin, but not nearly enough about original glory, which comes before sin and is deeper to our nature. We were crowned with glory and honor.” 

– John Eldredge

How has the Father crowned you?

I want to challenge you to answer this important question today — Who does Papa God say that you are? Make a list of ten things that you hear Papa God saying and declare them over yourself for the next 30 days.

 

More than two thousand years after Jesus commissioned his first disciples to go to the ends of the earth, billions of people around the world still have not heard His name. These unreached people groups need access to the Word of God in a way that they can understand.

My wife Stephanie and I came face to face with this reality in 1998, when we traveled to the jungles of the Amazon, seeking to make contact with a remote unreached tribe. But when we got there, I realized we had no effective way to communicate the Gospel to them. We found an amazing resource called the “JESUS” film, which visually depicts the story of Jesus, and began translating it into their language. But how would we show the film in remote villages without electricity? And how would we bring all the bulky equipment required for a movie showing up the river with just a small canoe?

Those crucial questions sparked an idea that led to what became Renew World Outreach. At Renew, we develop digital technology and strategies that empower missionaries to overcome the physical and cultural barriers to presenting the Gospel and multiply their field impact. We’re constantly innovating new strategies and tools to get God’s word distributed around the world, including portable video projector systems, solar-powered audio Bible players, microSD cardscontaining a digital library of Gospel media, and WiFi hotspots that distribute Gospel resources.

These tools and strategies, in the hands of local indigenous field workers, loaded with media resources like the “JESUS” film and audio Bible recordings in local languages, have been transforming the landscape of the mission field, helping church-planting movements that are exploding across regions that were previously difficult to penetrate.

From the rural villages of Zambia, where hundreds gather in below-freezing temperatures to watch the “JESUS” film; to Sudanese refugee camps, where dozens listen together to the Bible in their language on an audio Bible player; to a bus in Southeast Asia, where commuting passengers connect to a Lightstream WiFi hotspot to watch the story of Jesus on their phones, these tools and strategies are helping missionaries across the world introduce people to Jesus and disciple new believers in unreached areas.

One of our field partners in South Sudan uses audio Bible players to form Bible listening groups that gather regularly to listen to and discuss the Bible. In one group, a 104-year-old woman heard the Gospel proclaimed in her language for the first time in her life. She was overjoyed, saying, “I am so thankful God kept me alive long enough to hear this in my language!”

It is a great injustice that she waited 104 years to hear God’s word in her own language. No one should have to wait so long, yet there are still billions waiting to hear. Join us as we all team up to make Jesus famous among the nations where He’s not yet known.

Written by David Palusky, Renew World Outreach

Missions strategies that multiply your impact

Are you called to re-present Heaven on earth?

God recently placed it on my heart to invest in 400 people who are called to be ambassadors of love.

Love is the culture of heaven and honor is what love looks like expressed on earth. Are you willing to become fluent in the language of love?

Not everyone is called to represent a country, but everyone is called to represent King Jesus and extend the kingdom. Every believer is commissioned to make the earth look like heaven.

In order to represent the Kingdom of heaven, you need to go on a journey into maturity which includes getting to know yourself and becoming familiar with Papa God’s character and heart.

What are you seeing? Where are you seeing? Are you seeing the size of the problem or are you seeing how big Papa God is?

When we grow in maturity and the wisdom of stewarding favor with God and man, uncommon favor is the result. God is looking for someone who can let go of what they trusted in previously and will recognize the glory of God, and see Him as He truly is.

We need to position ourselves to receive the cleansing message from heaven and we can present ourselves.

If you’d like to learn more about becoming an ambassador of love, click here to watch a special video.

Your alignment is critical to your life assignment because if your heart is not fully connected to God’s heart, you will strive to perform in order to connect with God, rather than living from the connection you already have. Many believers have trouble hearing the Father’s voice because they are sitting in the wrong chair. They are out of alignment, living from Chair 2 when they need to be in Chair 1.

‘Chair One’ represents the Kingdom of God with the Holy Spirit resting on sons and daughters who see the face and hear the voice of their Father. When we are in alignment, our ears are tuned to hear Him. Open heavens are received between the ears.

‘Chair Two’ represents the kingdom of self, in which we are controlled by what we feel and think. In Chair 2, the soul is the dominant force, Papa God’s voice is filtered through our mind, will, and emotions before getting to the spirit. Our minds, will, and emotions are nothing to be afraid of when we are in alignment because our spirit is taking the lead.

Consider this: What areas of your life might be out of alignment with God? How can you step back into alignment?

Click here to watch a video on this topic <<<