The video is here.
Life is busy. Our culture doesn’t naturally get us connected with our own hearts, nor do any of our institutions teach us how. It leaves us plodding through life with no sense of destiny or purpose. We use entertainment to fill the gap in our hearts and escape the drudgery. It does feel good because at least for an hour we share the dream and adventure of another: the fictional movie character, the musician, or the sports hero living out his dream live in a game.
Those who do connect with their hearts are much more connected with life. They have a dream and they are enthusiastic about making it come true. God designed all of us to function out of the dream He wrote in our hearts. Why? Because, the Jesus is building His Kingdom and blessing nations one dream at a time. Yours is important.
Imagine – Images are the language of our hearts. Give yourself permission to see the desire of your heart and assume that dreams come true. What would that look like? Carry that picture or video in your heart. Picture yourself in your future as the hero of your personal adventure. It’s very prophetic because God writes on our hearts and speaks to us through the desires of our hearts. He even invites us to ask for the desires of our hearts. Giving yourself permission to dream is a big first step.
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13-14 NIV
Hear God – Our heritage is that we listen for God to tell us what to do. The reality is that when we have a dream, God will share His heart and we’ll find a Kingdom synergism… He will lead us to people and circumstances that facilitate the dream because it’s in His heart as well. Having the conversation with God allows Him space to expand or adjust our dream. It’s pretty exiting! If we don’t have a dream, we don’t have much to talk about. This aspect of hearing God in the context of our dream breathes life into our hearts. We were designed to talk to Him and co-labor with him.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. John 6:63-64 NIV
Road blocks – Life is also full of setbacks and delays that impact our dream(s) and send a simple message to our hearts, “Your dream will never come true.” Our dream plays a strategic role in building the Kingdom; we do have an enemy, and the primary target is our dream. We should not be surprised that there is some warfare over our dream. God isn’t the author of that warfare and the pain that goes with it, but He is the redeemer. He can resurrect us from failures, and the process of going through a failure and resurrection is exactly what deepens us. Connect the dots between the failures and injustices of your own past with tapestry of your future; it will heal your heart.
Our failures don’t define us. Heathy people have a difficult past too. The difference is that they have discovered why their hardship made them stronger and paved the way for their dream to come true.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28-29 NIV
Make a plan – Allowing your heart to dream will naturally lead to taking the next step. Goals can be an intellectual exercise in futility or the means of making your dream come true. If the goals are legal fence around unwanted behavior, they will bring death. If our goals have a direct connection to the desires of our heart, they will bring life. Write them down and revisit them often. They will bring life to your heart.
Dance – When we allow our hearts their natural expression to have a dream and work on it, something happens. Our hearts leap, we hear the music of the Kingdom, and we want to dance and bounce and laugh. Allow your heart to celebrate. Life is fun, we are victorious, God is dancing over us and all of heaven is rejoicing with us. We need to join the party now and not wait for heaven. The Kingdom is bringing heaven to earth now… that’s our job. Blessing nations is fun.
Praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute… Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Ps 150:4-6 NIV
Contagious – Releasing the hearts of others to dream and go through the same process will bless your own heart. Managers control others for the sake of a goal. Leaders release hearts and make the dreams of others come true while meeting the same goal… and having a lot more fun on the way.
