As I read this morning, I was convicted:

Genesis 37 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

Lord, what does this have to do with me?  And what does this have to do with what I might talk about today?  …  I say that because I was convicted to speak about:  

“The Fight Before You”

What could this possibly be about?

I am not the sharpest tool in the box … And God sometimes has to hit me over the head for me to even begin to understand …

The reality is this:

All of us have dreams.  And all of us are destined and called by God to pursue those dreams.  And all of us are going to have to STAND UP AND FIGHT for those dreams.  Because those dreams will not be given to us … 

And Jesus proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that He does not want us PLOWING OVER THE BROKEN IN PURSUIT OF OUR TRIUMPH.

Now while what I am saying is obvious, this is exactly what what do, and we should all be willing to admit, confess, that this is exactly what we do.

And so it was with Joseph.

God had put a dream on his heart, he was proud to stand over his brothers and lord over them … even in their brokenness.

God had given him a dream to save them, and he was professing it like bragging rights in a high school locker room.

And so here are my words for you today.  Because whether you are 2 or 14 or 17 or 35 or 50 or 90 … you should be pursuing your God-given dreams like they were the most important things that you could ever hold onto.  But as you do … be warned of that very verse above.  Because that’s the verse that set Joseph up to be a slave and put him on his way to prison.  It broke up his family and devastated his parents.  It wreaked havoc on his life and the life of his family.

So here is my advice today on March 1, 2024:

  1.  Jesus Is The Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah.  God has put a pecking order over our universe.  Watch the pecking order in a pride of lions.  One King.  One Rule.  One Ruler.  And in that order they are safe, well-fed, and loyal.
  2.  Dreams Can Never Be Idols.  Because of bullet point 1, a dream as an idol will NEVER, EVER, work.  It might be a short term victory … but it will NEVER, EVER, work.
  3.  You Are Called To Lead In Humility.  This could mean early mornings and late nights.  It could mean giving up your first choice.  It could mean that you are frustrated, or tired, or exasperated.
  4.  There Will Always Be A Fight In Front Of You.  This doesn’t make you a fighter in the physical sense, but it means that you are always a fighter in the spiritual sense, in the character sense, in the repentance sense.  And, most of all, you are always a fighter in the chase after God sense.
  5.  Things Are Not Always What They Seem.  The very execution stations that Haman set up (Esther 7:10) were the very things he died on … 
  6.  Persevere, Worship, And Give Everything To God.  His plan is better than yours.  And your plan is not even a close second.  This takes faith.

I am not sure how to end this.

So maybe I will end this by encouraging you to read the “end of the Joseph” story.  It is an incredible story of redemption, faith, and family.

And, while his dream comes to fruition, it was not at all where he took it in his lust to brag.

Thank you Jesus that you love us where we are and in the midst of where we are going.

You, Jesus, and You alone, 

Hold the keys to eternal life.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J