“Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.”
Psalm 37:4 NLT
Our theme for the year is “Dare to Dream in 2018!”
We’ve been talking a great deal about the power and significance of the dreams God seeds in the hearts of His people.
Because I believe this is so important, I wove stories and lessons from history’s dreamers throughout my new book History Maker.
A dream is a place of genesis—from where ripples of hope go forth to create the currents of change which shape history.
“There are those who look at things the way they are and ask, ‘Why?’…I dream of things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’”
—Robert F. Kennedy
Bobby Kennedy was a dreamer.
In June of 1966, speaking to students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, he famously declared:
“Each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”
Around this same time in the United States, the Civil Rights Movement was being propelled forward by one man who also had the courage to dream.
Martin Luther King, Jr. boldly proclaimed:
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and that the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope.”
“Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:4-5
“Today, we need voices of hope to inspire, renew, and enrich the human conscience. We need individuals who will carry that hope to those who have lost hope. We need to be willing to do the work within ourselves that will enable us to dream bigger, think more expansively, and conceive of new possibilities—to imagine what has not yet been but could be, and then doggedly believe that it can be.” (History Maker, p. 32.)
In last week’s 4 Points Broadcast, I taught about the Joseph Principle and how to cultivate the mindset of a dreamer.
We continued our discussion of the Be-Attitudes (see Matthew 5:3-12) and how these nine paradigm shifts position you to think like the dreamer God created you to be.
The Beatitudes represent a Kingdom-oriented mindset.
The message of the Kingdom is a message of empowerment that gives meaning, hope, dignity, and purpose to every human being.
The Beatitudes inform us that our lives are not dictated by something external, but by what is internal—our attitudes.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 2:5
Your viewpoint, perspective, paradigm—that faculty of conscious thought—the way you settle on your thinking or feeling about or toward something; these are the ideas that frame your opinions or your orientation to life.
When we talk about the “Be Attitudes,” we are talking about your inclinations based on your understanding of the position you hold in Christ Jesus.
Everything is an integral part of that word “attitude”—in fact, everything we are in life rises and falls on our attitude.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
The Kingdom of Heaven is different from the Kingdom of God.
The “Kingdom of Heaven” is God’s rule through man in the earth realm, while the “Kingdom of God” is God’s rule over all of His creation.
God has bequeathed the earth to us, and the state of the earth is predicated upon the state of humanity—so the more we are able to fix the human being, the more we are able to fix the world.
The world doesn’t need fixing, but human beings do.
Once we get the “man”—or humanity—right, then the world will flow accordingly.
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” He was making a declaration of our dependence upon God as the ultimate Benefactor. He and He alone is your provider.
“Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7 ESV
We’re encouraged to ask and keep on asking; to seek and keep on seeking; to knock and keep on knocking. (See Matthew 7:7.)
A lot of people make a declaration of independence from God. These people call themselves Atheists or Agnostics or Humanists who believe everything is reliant upon what they do.
Your declaration of dependance determines where your life flows and where your life goes in Christ—it’s a declaration that you believe God, you depend on God, you trust God; that your hope is in God.
When we speak of the Beatitudes, we’re talking about a mindset: the attitude that no matter what the circumstances you know you’re going to be blessed—you know that you’re going to be favored, happy, healthy, privileged, esteemed, honored, and enviable!
“The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.”
Deuteronomy 28:13-15
Imagine what would happen to your mind and emotions if every day when you woke up—and then no matter what happens to you throughout the day—you knew in every moment you were unequivocally blessed.
You knew without a shadow of a doubt that you were favored, happy, healthy, privileged, esteemed, honored, and enviable!
Imagine people looking at you wishing they were you…
and all as you give glory to God.
The Joseph Principle operates upon the foundational truths Jesus taught in the Beatitudes.
If you haven’t already listened to last week’s 4 Points Broadcast, be sure to listen now on demand.
These nine declarations remind me that God has a place for me, a space for me, a grace for me, a race for me, a pace for me—that I’m not forgotten, and that all things are working together for my good. (See Romans 8:28.)
Like Joseph, dare to dream and trust that God will bring it to pass.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7 NLT