Is It Your Dream or God’s Dream?

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Daring Faith

Is It Your Dream or God’s Dream? By Rick Warren — Jan 9, 2016 “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NLT, second edition) How do you know if you are living for your dream or God’s dream? You may think you were created to get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed, to make a little money, retire, and die. Really? You think that’s all God put you here for? If your dream is truly from God, it will somehow be connected to his Church and his plan for the world. Why would God give you a self-centered dream, unconnected to what he wants to do in the world? He wants to use you for his dream. He wants to use you for his plan. And what is God’s big, overarching plan? God is building a family, and he’s collecting family members from every nation, every tribe, every language, and every people group. When everybody’s in the family that he knows will be in the family, it’s over. We’re going into phase two, which is eternity. That’s God’s big plan. Right before Jesus went back to Heaven after the Resurrection, he gave the disciples a great vision, a great dream. It’s called the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT, second edition). The Great Commission is your commission. We’ve had 2,000 years of God building his family so that now there are 2.3 billion people in it. The Church is bigger than China and India combined. It’s bigger than anything else on this planet. Why? Because God created it. It’s the whole purpose of history. And when God gives you a dream for your life, it is somehow going to be connected to his overarching plan, the growth of his Church and his Kingdom, and the building of his family until the day it’s completed and we all go to Heaven. You weren’t put here on Earth to live for yourself. Ask God to give you his dream for your life so that you can be part of the biggest, best, and most important story. “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it” (Mark 8:35). PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick>> Talk It Over What are your dreams for your life? How will your dreams contribute to the growth of God’s Kingdom on Earth? Why is it important to have goals?

Today’s Scripture

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21, NKJV)

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Exceedingly Abundantly

God wants to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ever ask, think or imagine. In another place in scripture, it says that no person has ever seen, heard or even imagined the wonderful things that God has in store for those who love the Lord. But notice that it’s “according to the power working in us.” God’s power works in us by our faith, how we believe. Do you believe that God wants to work in your life exceedingly abundantly above all you could ask or think? Do you believe He wants to overwhelm you with His goodness and blessing? The Bible says that if we have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, we can move mountains. And no matter how much faith we have, faith can grow in us as we hear, study and receive the Word of God. Today, make God’s Word a priority. Believe that He will do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think. He is faithful to His Word, and He will be faithful to fulfill every promise He’s made to you!

A Prayer for Today

“Father, thank You for Your goodness in my life. Thank You for blessing me and doing exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or think. Thank You for increasing my faith as I focus on Your Word in Jesus’ name. Amen.” PS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCuZwCaPisM