(January 31, 2010)

God has a dream for your family, your community, and your life. God wants to be your Heavenly Father and wants His dream for your life to be woven into the fabric of your life. Therefore, you become the dream. He then takes the collective dreams of a church and weaves them into a unique fit, something amazing for all to see and witness. God wants to take this cloth--a covering--and protect those who are willing to commit to their dreams.

It's like making a quilt. It starts with a design. The design is in the mind of its creator. The color schemes, the patterns, the size are all proposed in the mind's eye of the quilter. Everything must fit together perfectly or the quilt will not work properly, or it will fall apart. God does the same thing for us! If your dream is not specific, you need to take time to define your dream, narrow it down and get it precise so that it will fit into His plan. If there is a hole in the covering, it won't serve it's (or His) purpose.

You need to take some time and proactively think things through. We usually live life in reactionary mode. We need to ask questions like "What makes me smile?" and "What is my purpose?" What would you attempt if failure is not an option? What would you do right now if finances were not an issue?

Some people are hardened and calloused because they have lived life in fear, rejection, depression, addiction, shame. It's because they are hurt by the devil's narcotics. Their senses are dull. It's a sad statement. People would rather live vicariously through the dreams of someone else on American Idol. Wouldn't it be better to be a participant than a spectator?

Sometimes we get stirred up in our hearts for a time, maybe just a few hours. But, soon our dreams are fizzled out because of connections with people that are negative. Sometimes that person is ourselves. We don't commit to our dream and see it through, then we feel defeated and it will take even more to get stirred up again.

What would it be like if the manager of a professional baseball team switched the pitcher and catcher in the middle of the game? It would be ugly. It would not be a good fit. The team would suffer. The same holds true for the collective dreams of those in our church. We all have our position based on our dream, thus keeping the team headed in the right direction. See it. Feel it. Taste it. Allow the Dreamweaver to work in your life.

The five stages of the dream:

The discovery stage- Do I have a knack or talent for this? Can that talent be developed? If you discover that the talent cannot be developed, find a talent that can be. If it can be developed, commit to it and hone that skill.
The definition stage- This is where you define you dream. My dream will accomplish ____. My dream can be achieved by ____. My dream will come true when I ___. If you can't see how the dream will be accomplished, then you haven't defined it.
The declaration stage- This is when you share this with your friends and family.
The development stage- This is where you live intentionally. You don't live another person's plan for your life. There are a lot of things that need to be done intentionally (proactively) to help you achieve your dream. What am I going to do today to help me achieve my dream? To be an expert, the dreamer must live by moving toward the dream every day, not once a week, not once a month. Some things that are good have to go by the wayside for the things that are great. Ask yourself: What can I cut out and what can I put in to help me achieve my dream? Cutting out responsibilities are not part of the equation, however.
The dedication stage- If the dream is not about Him in some way, shape or form, then your dream will never have eternal significance. If someone succeeded, but is still not happy, then their life isn't significant like they would want it. What's missing? When it becomes God's Dream as well, you can expect to see success and significance.

- Jon Bruney