SLW brought up a point that dreams can end up frustrating people. I can see how that's exactly true. He mentioned that it's the famous few that actually chase, and unveil those.
How do you know if you're going to be the famous few or not though?
Are those famous few dreams realized, worth the cost of all those yahoo's chasing their dreams?
How many lives are ruined each year as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, friends, and people of trust, throw caution to the wind and chase those foolish dreams leaving shattered people to pick up the pieces, pay the bills, and keep the real world running.
I get that.
I don't know of any foolproof way to figure out if yours is the whimsical dream of fancy, or if it's the direct vision from God planted into your heart.
And at the same time, it's easy to chase after Gods dreams in your own ways and timing, rather than Gods.
Or maybe I just hit a key word a minute ago? Vision, vs dreams. Is it an important difference?
Do visions tell you of what God is seeing. And dreams focus on the imaginary?
There was an interesting post by Steven Furtick called "Look Within" this afternoon and it resonated with what I've been thinking about in dreams today. Take a look at it, even if you don't connect it to the dream discussion, it's still a good post to remind you to have faith in what God is leading you into.
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i have not had a dream or vision that has taken me instantly on a new path. i do not know if it is how God needs to direct me... because i am slow or stubborn...or if it is because of His timing...but, i get direction, it seems, in small steps. often having to repeat some tings in a new way to understand from a diffenent point of view.
i think that God can work in big ways even when we do not dream big dreams. in no way do i think that God is limited. He will do what He wants to do.
Look at the FIRST thing the apostle Peter told the crowd after he was blessed with the Holy Spirit? He cited the book of Joel (Acts 2:17) '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.
In my neck of the woods, I see VERY FEW people throwing caution to the wind to chase "foolish dreams". I see people why stopped dreaming. I see people who don't want to risk their jobs, their homes, their status, their free time. I see people who try to live lives through their children, or sports heros or movie starts.
We were meant to dream big dreams. We were meant to become the people God intented us to be.
You, flywaynet, can be the one God uses to bring heaven to earth.
Acts 2:17 is not about dreams as goals and ambitions as the dreamchasers say. It is about the prophetic-- inspired dreams that are revelatory in nature.
slw, sounds like semantics to me. lately i see myself driven not by goals or ambitions but an understanding that God can do extraordinary things with ordinary people if we only turn ourselves over to him.
i don't use the word "dream" to mean visions that come while sleeping, but rather the greater understanding that can be realized by listening for God. And when I read Acts 2:17, I hear words meant for me.
EdG,
I would have less problem with the notion of dreams and whether or not it comports with Acts 2:17 if you did mean that. I don't think the difference is semantic, I think it's substantive.
Anywhere in the Bible dreams are mentioned or used, waking or sleeping, the are of a revelatory nature. They are meant communicate information by God. They are prophetic.
Dreams, even as in MLK's "I Have A Dream", are not revelatory but goal or desire oriented. Whereas it's not wrong to have desires or goals per se, often what are promoted as such are ego driven, greed driven, or driven by some other orientation that smacks of a love for this world and the things that are in it. I see no difference in pressing this kind of thing than what one might get from a book on management, self-improvement, or some other aspect of pop psychology. It isn't in the Bible.
Just in case you're interested, I do love MLK's speech, one of the finest probably ever spoken, I think. Sentiments like those do get the blood flowing, are inspiring, and make you want to jump up and get behind them. The same could probably be said for Mark Buntain's ministry "dream" in Calcutta or maybe the Bakers in Mozambique. If God has such a dream for any of us, he knows where to find us, we don't have to grasp through the fog to find it.
My dream is to have a house of my own. Don't get me wrong I am blessed to be renting the home I have. God has not given me the nod to move yet. When it is His time He will let me know. He knows the desires of my heart. If you don't dream when you sleep what do you do? I personally think this is a subject that is touchy. If we were not meant to dream then why do we have the ability to do so?
Wow.. I wish I had more time to comment on my OWN blog during the day! I've really enjoyed reading this discussion between you two.
ED, I liked your statement "lately i see myself driven not by goals or ambitions but an understanding that God can do extraordinary things with ordinary people if we only turn ourselves over to him."
Then I went to SLW's comment "it's not wrong to have desires or goals per se, often what are promoted as such are ego driven, greed driven, or driven by some other orientation that smacks of a love for this world and the things that are in it."
And again, I'm drawn to the idea that ther eare some goals that are NOT driven by greed, ego, or love for the world. I truly believe that there are some ideas that are driven by a love for the people in the world.
Could... maybe.. the problem be that we are calling our calling - a dream? God calls us to accomplish certain works on this earth, do certain things, and we're too afraid to do it so it then becomes classified as a 'dream'?
What do you think of that possibility?
I think you're on to something!
I'm so excited I could come to Penn just to hug ya SLW.
Thank you EVERYONE for this conversation.
I haven't the faintest idea how to explain the difference Glenda. Or even how to define it for my own knowledge.
You might check the other comments about the different definitions of dream (from sleep, to ambitions, to callings)
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