EP. 47 - How Dreams Become Reality

In this episode, I explore how dreams can become reality by aligning with principles from God's word. Using biblical examples like Abraham and Joseph, I discuss how dreams provide a vision of a preferred future. Key factors preventing dream fulfillment are identified. The transformation journey requires business activities, which include providing solutions, developing systems, and generating surplus. By actively engaging in these steps, one can transition from present realities to achieving their dreams.

00:00 Introduction: The Power of Dreams
00:40 Biblical Examples of Dreams
01:55 The Importance of Having a Dream
06:37 Overcoming Obstacles to Dreaming
08:01 Discovering Your God Identity
12:20 The Role of Business in Realizing Dreams
16:12 Providing Solutions and Building Systems
21:15 Achieving Profit and Maximizing Gifts
23:08 Conclusion: Making Dreams a Reality

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Transcript

Dr Uche Okere: 0:00

how do dreams come to pass? Is there a sure proof way that our dreams can come to pass? Is there a way that we can guarantee that our dreams become reality or are we just victims of luck? Is there a vehicle I could get on that would guarantee that I can travel from where I am today to the place where my dreams become reality? Well, I believe there is. Looking at scripture, looking at the principles from God's word, I believe there is a way that dreams can come to pass. And today, I want to share with you some thoughts on how your dreams can become reality. Dreams are a powerful thing. As I read through scripture, I find that it's almost as if whenever God wants to work with people, whenever God wants to do something with somebody, He begins with a dream. It's almost as if he begins by giving them a picture of where he wants them to get to. It's as if he wants them to see it first. He wants them to see that thing within themselves first as a dream before they ever see that thing in reality. So think of Abraham, for example. Or as he was then, Abraham. God first of all asked him to lift up his eyes and look at the stars in the sky, to look at the sand on the seashore. Because that was going to be an indication or a representation of the number of children that he was going to have, even if he was still a man without children. So dreams are important. If you're going to travel from where you are today to fulfill God's purpose for your life, it appears to me that you first of all have to see it. You first of all have to have a dream. God showed Joseph a dream first, before he took him to become the person that he intended for him to be. So maybe I should start by asking you today, do you have a dream? What is your dream? If you want to fulfill God's purpose for your life, if you want to be a person of impact, if you want to be a person of influence if you want to be a person who creates income What is your dream? Do you have a clear, tangible, distinguishable dream that can be articulated clearly without any confusion or any contradiction? That dream is a picture of your preferred future. Everybody has different circumstances that define how they are today in different areas of their lives. So in, relationships, for example, in finances, your job or your work situation, that would be specific to you. But that's your reality. That's, that's who you are today. Your dream is this place that you want to get to. It's, it's a better place. It's a place that is a significant improvement than where you are today. And what I'm asking today is, is there a vehicle that You can get onto today that will transport you from here to where you want to be. I find that many times when people are not traveling in a direction, when people, when it doesn't look like people are making progress, or when it looks like people are not making progress, it is because there is no presence of a dream. There is no dream strong enough to pull them away from this unpleasant presence. When, when the finances are not looking very good, but yet there's no progress. When the relationships are not looking very good, but yet there's no improvement, there's no progress. Many times it's because there is no clear picture of a preferred future, that is strong enough to make the person take the steps, take the actions that they need to take to begin to travel in the direction of that dream. So what is your dream? Because it's a really dangerous place to be in a present, to be in a place without a dream. What is your God given dream? Have you received one yet? If not, take some time, allow God to impress on your heart a clear picture of a preferred future, of your place in his kingdom, of the impact and the influence that he wants to use you to make on this earth. What are your aspirational dreams? What are your dreams for your life? What are your dreams for your income? Improved income? Are you satisfied with your finances today? Are you satisfied with where you are today. Some years ago, my dream, my"aspirational" income or financial dream was to get to a point where I could retire my parents, where I could say to my dad, right, that's enough. Stop working. You've worked enough. Stop working. I'll retire you. And every month I would pay you a fixed amount to make sure that you're comfortable. That was an aspirational dream for me. That was a dream for me. And that inspired action in me that made me to begin to take some steps that one day I was able to do that to the glory of God. So, what are your aspirational dreams? So, you're this person here today experiencing some pain in one area of your life or not. Experiencing some problems in one area of your life or not. Your dreams are on the other side. Okay, your dreams are on the other side of this pain. How do you go from here to there? It only begins, first of all, by having a dream. Because if you don't have a dream, then you don't have anywhere to travel to. It is tragic not to have a dream. It's tragic to be a person Who doesn't have a dream? Because it's almost as if you are condemned to your present realities. You're condemned to your present experiences. There is nowhere to go to if you don't have a dream. Little wonder the Bible says that without a vision, the people perish. So where there is no dream, where there is no picture of a preferred future, the people, one translation says, cast off restraint. I was reading a commentary on that verse a few days ago and it says when people do not see a picture of what God is doing, when people do not see what God is doing. So that's what a dream is. A dream is your revelation, your picture of what it is that God is doing. Why do people settle? In a present without a dream. There are a number of reasons, Let me suggest a few reasons. One of the reasons why people do not have a dream is that there is no God identity. And I'll tell you what I mean by that. When there is no God identity, you don't have a dream. What do I mean by God identity? By God identity, I mean that they don't see themselves as God sees them. They are yet to see themselves as God sees them. Because when you see yourself as God sees you, it will become so clear to you that your present falls short of the picture that God has in mind for you. Now, I don't care how far along you are on this journey, In fact, The closer you get to this dream, you will realize that there is even much more to achieve. Now, this is not about not being contented. This is about becoming everything that God wants you to be. This is about coming to the end of your life and being able to say like Apostle Paul, I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. I have finished my course. It's about getting to the end of your life and looking back and saying, there is nothing that God put in me But I did not exploit. I maximized my potential. I became everything that God wants me to be. It begins by receiving a picture of your God identity. So who has God made you? What are the things that God has put inside of you? What are the gifts, the callings of God on your life? What is your garden that God has given you to tend? Have you received the your God identity, because if you don't have a God identity, you will not have a dream of a future. That's one reason people stay in a present of pain, problems, discomfort, unfulfillment, without aspiring and taking the steps they need to take, to begin to travel in the direction of their dreams. Another reason is for fear. It could be fear of failure, fear of what people would say because you're now stepping out and traveling in this direction while everyone else is stuck, everyone is settled, everyone else is satisfied. But you wake up one day and you decide I'm traveling in this direction that nobody in my family has ever traveled before. Nobody in your circle of friends or influence has ever traveled before. So what are people going to say about me? You When I wake up one day all of a sudden, I begin to say things on social media that sound strange to people. Fear keeps people stuck in a place of pain, problems, unfulfillment, no impact, no influence, limited income, and not traveling in the direction of God's purpose for their lives, or in the direction of a dream that God has given them. Past failures also is another reason why people do not have dreams. Because they failed in the past. Because they tried in the past and it didn't work. So they decide that it's not worth it. It's too much of a hassle. It's too much trouble. What about ignorance? That's another reason. Because they do not know that there can be better. When people do not know that there can be a better than their present. The final reason I want to give you why people do not dream and why people stay is comfort when they settle for what they have experienced. There's a verse in the Bible that challenges me. It's in Genesis chapter 49 verses 14 and 15. It says Issaka is a raw boned donkey lying down among the sheep pens. When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. And he, first of all, describes who Issaka is. He says this is who he is. This is his God given Identity. He is a raw boned donkey. He has strength to carry burden. He is powerful. This is who he is. This is who God made him. This is what God has given him. However, he is lying down among the sheep pens. A donkey with strength and ability to work is resting among sheep. Because there's no God identity. And then he discovers how good comfort is. He discovers how good his resting place is. He becomes comfortable and he refuses to take the steps he needs to take to travel in the direction of the fulfillment of his potential and the maximization of the gifts that God has given him already. So, If you're this person here, Without a dream. Why are you stuck? Why are you there? Begin with identifying what your God given identity is. Now, when you find your God identity, you will be amazed. You'll be amazed at what God has put in you. You'll be amazed at the creativity God has given you. You'll be amazed at the abilities that God has given you. You'll be amazed at the potential that you have, at the results that God intends for you to get. That is the dream. So how do you then go from here to there? That's the question I'm trying to answer today. What is a vehicle that can take you from here to there? What is that vehicle that you can get on that can take you from there, here to there? This journey is called transformation. This is a transformational journey. It's about change. It's about becoming such a person, that people look at, people who knew you yesterday look at you today and they're amazed at the person that you have become. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 3 says, For a dream comes through the multitude of of business and the fool's voice is known by a multitude of words. So, in the words of Solomon, the wise man, the preacher, how does transformation from the present to my dream happen? What is the vehicle of transformation? Solomon says it is business. A dream comes through, through the multitude, through the multitude of business. And I think Solomon should know. He was someone who had a present. And he had a dream. He had a picture. God gave him a picture. God gave him, gave him an identity. Showed him his God identity. He, he sacrificed one day and he gave this amazing sacrifice to God. And when he went to sleep, God spoke to him. God asked him, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to give you that he said to God just give me wisdom to lead your people just Help me to lead those people in the way that you want me to lead them that became a dream I needed to realize that When you receive your God identity, you don't all of a sudden become that person. There's a journey. So Solomon saw his dream, saw his God identity, but he's telling us how he went from here to there. He's telling us that it is through business, that a dream comes to pass. It is through business that a dream finds expression. Now, you may look at that word business in different ways, ok? And no matter what your interpretation of it is, I know what it's not. It's not idleness. Okay. It's not doing nothing. It's not inactivity. It is active. It's not passive. It's intentional. It involves deliberate action in the direction of your dream. But can I suggest also that looking at this word business in the economic sense, in a commerce sense of it, that it is business, trading, buying and selling that through this process of business, through business activities, your dreams can come to pass. Whether it's your God given dream of kingdom impact, that you want to be a person whose voice makes a difference for the kingdom of God. That you want to be a person who uses your voice, your singing voice that God has given you, to sing people into the kingdom of God. You want to be a person who, Who helps children in abused families to get the freedom and the help that they need. You want to be a person who makes a difference in government. You want to be a person who makes a difference in different sectors of society. that it is through business. You want to be a person because that's a gift God has given you to help families. It is through business that this present place of unfulfillment can change and one day you become a person whose dreams are coming to pass. But when I say business, what am I talking about? My interpretation of Solomon's use of the word there today, what does it mean? I want to say that my use of business, at least my understanding of what Solomon could be saying, would include three things. Number one, it will include the presence of a solution. I believe that Solomon is saying that through the provision of a solution, it is by providing a real solution to people's problems that a dream can become reality. That it is by being an agent of transformation in other people's lives. Because what are we talking about when we say a solution? By providing a solution, you're helping other people on their own journey of transformation. You're helping that person who doesn't know how to solve this problem in their lives. This, this person who is struggling with, let's say, in their marriage and they don't know how to go about dealing with this relationship issue, but God has given you the wisdom, the experience, the knowledge. You have the training to help them navigate this journey, navigate this journey from the present to that dream marriage that they have. It is by providing that solution that you too would experience your own transformation of being the person who makes an impact and makes a difference in the world. So the question therefore for you is what is the solution that you can provide? What are the problems that you can solve for other people? And every one of us can solve a problem for one person. If you think you cannot, this is what you need to begin to think about. There are areas in your life where you've gone on a bit of a journey. You might not be at the place where that you're dreaming. That area of your life is coming to pass a hundred percent yet, but you've made some progress. So on a scale of one to 10, maybe you've traveled to 0. 4, but there are people who are still at zero. You know how to go from zero to one. You know how to go from zero to two to two to three, three to four. You can help them. Come to where you are. One of the challenges we have many times is that we feel that we need to be perfect first before we can help other people. But that's not the case. I have found that it is by helping other people as I go on my own journey and I'm helping people on my journey that my journey even becomes easier and quicker because I'm learning, I'm developing strength, I'm developing resilience as I help other people go on their own journey. So if you're saying you don't know what to teach, you don't know who to help, you don't know how to help them. Ask yourself, where was I five years ago, three years ago? What have I learned on my journey? Because what you have learned, you can transfer to other people who are presently in the place that you were a few years ago. That is the solution that you can provide. And your gift is the thing with which you can help people. Your gift is the thing with which you can provide that solution. Because your gift is an inherent equipping that enables you to fulfill your purpose. You are wired for your purpose. God designed you to fulfill your purpose. You have what it takes. Yes, it could still be in potential form. It could still be in seed form. But it's there and you need to begin to use it so that you can make, begin to make a difference in people's life, help people to go on their journey so that you too can go on your journey. That's the first thing about business. Your dream will come to pass by helping enough other people achieve their own dreams by providing solutions to enough other people, you too will experience your own movement in your journey of transformation. The second thing about business that I want to share with you is very simply systems. Systems as against ad hoc, as against not having a pattern or a way of delivering this your solution. Systems as against just doing it haphazardly, but having a structured, orderly way that you help the people that you can help, that you provide the solutions to them and your systems will include a system to make them know that you exist, that you have a solution to provide to them. You need to begin to speak out on social media. We are blessed to live in an age that you can be in any part of the world and literally have your voice heard in in places that you may never get to physically I live in the middle of england and I serve people across the world I serve people in New York, I serve people in different parts of the UK, I serve people in different continents that I've never visited through the power of social media. Let your voice be heard. Don't allow fear stop you from putting your message out there from letting people know this is the gifts God has given me. This is how I can help you so that they can go on their transformational journey and you too can go on your transformational journey. Now the third thing that this business would have is that it would have surplus. It would have surplus. And by surplus I'm simply talking about profit. I'm talking about profit here. I'm talking about the fact that you have to get beyond, you have to get to the point where you understand that the gift that God has given you is for your profit, that you should profit from your gift, because you cannot maximize that gift if your money making efforts are not aligned with it. If what you do to make money is in contradiction or does not agree with your purpose, you will not be able to maximize the gifts that God has given you for a number of reasons. First of all, you will not have the time to invest in this gift. Because the more you use your gift, the sharper it gets, the better it gets. The more efficient and effective you get in using it to be a blessing to other people. Also, when people pay you to serve them with your gift, they commit to you. They demonstrate a level of commitment that shows that they are really ready for you to use your gift to make a difference in their life. Using your gift in such a way that you're paid for it, provides you with the freedom and gives you the choice to pursue the desires of your heart according to the will of God. So find a solution to a problem of people around you. Begin to develop systems to let people know that you exist. Begin to develop a way to put your gift in the hands of the people that need it. And, develop a way that you would be paid for your gifts. This is how you go from your presence to the place where your dream is a reality. So we look at our scripture again, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 3. For a dream comes through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by a multitude of words. Are you a person in the first part of that verse, or the second part? Multitude of business or multitude of words? Do you want to experience a transformation from your present reality to the place where your dream becomes your reality? Then, become a person who engages in business. Multitude of words. Just talking about it and saying what you're able to do and doing nothing about it will only keep you stuck in this place. Develop your solution. Develop systems to put it into action and earn profit from your solution. That is how dreams come to pass. God bless you. Thank you for watching. Bye bye.