Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. – Genesis 37:5-8 ESV

Warrior;
Do you have a DREAM? Do you desire to do great things in this world? Do your dreams coincide with God’s dream for you? Yes, GOD HAS A DREAM FOR YOU! When Barack Obama started his political career, he felt it important to write a book about his life, and it is called, “Dreams from my Father”. Amazon says this about ‘Dreams from my Father’; An international bestseller which has sold over a million copies in the UK, Dreams From My Father is a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking big questions about identity and belonging. The son of a Black African father and a white American mother, Barack Obama recounts an emotional odyssey, retracing the migration of his mother’s family from Kansas to Hawai’i, then to his childhood home in Indonesia. Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech, “I have a Dream”, could have also been labeled, “Dreams from my Father ”. In his famous speech Dr. King says, “But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” As you can tell this was a dream from Dr. King’s heavenly Father! Hear the Word of the Lord; “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:30-32)

Leader, do you have dreams of your FATHER? God has a plan for your life. God is omniscient, which means He has perfect knowledge. God cannot learn anything, or He would cease being God. In 1 John 3:18-20, John, the Apostle tells us about God’s knowledge: “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, AND KNOWS ALL THINGS. (Emphasis mine) Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with Him and to be His holy and innocent and loving people. As He chose us in him before the foundation of the world- He had a dream for each of us. Hear the Word of the LORD; even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose OF HIS WILL. (Ephesians 1:4-5 emphasis mine) All the people who GOT TO play big for God- got behind GOD’S dream for them, instead of their dream’s for themselves. King Josiah, who was one of the better Kings of Judah, had a DREAM OF THE FATHER. Josiah came to the throne at eight years of age and ruled for 31 years. During the eighteenth year of his reign (622 BC) the Book of the Law (most likely Deuteronomy) was found while temple repairs are being carried out. While he had been involved in various reforms before this, real revival breaks out after the Word of God is found. The enormity of the predicament Judah is in and the need for change becomes clear to Josiah as he reads the book. Undoubtedly Josiah got a dream from His Father. You read about his response in 2 Chr. 34: 29-33.

Conduit, This was a real turning around for the people of Judah. Sadly, after Josiah died, he was followed by Jehoahaz who “did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done” (2 Kings 23:32). By responding to the DREAMS OF THE FATHER, there came a period of grace, renewal and reform which was to be among the great highlights of Judah’s history. It was a dream from HIS FATHER, that was manifested through a clear commitment to the Word of God. Biblical revelation and prayer can help us find out the DREAMS OF OUR FATHER. You can read about Joseph, David and Samuel, Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah… and many other great prophets who allowed the dreams of Jehovah, to supplant their will, their drive, their dreams. Today we must ask ourselves the question, “WHOSE DREAMS are we following as we LIVE OUR LIVES, like they matter”? For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10) Since the beginning of time there has never been another person like you. Nobody has your smile, your eyes, your hands, your hair. Nobody owns your handwriting or your voice. In all of time, there has never been anybody who laughs in exactly your way. And what makes you laugh, or cry, or think, may have a totally different response in another. You are the only one in the whole of creation who has your particular set of abilities. Please realize that God made you for a special purpose. He has a job for you to do that no one else can do as well as you can. Out of the billions of applicants, only one is qualified. Only one has the unique and right combination of what it takes. And that one is you. I pray that today, you lay aside the plans of men and be about your Father’s dream for your life- our Father’s business!