Where Are Your Dreams and Visions?

Joel 2:28

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

We are taught in the book of Joel that when God pours out his spirit upon a person, they will have dreams and visions. In other words, when you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, He will ignite a fire inside of you to do something big for God.

Sadly, we live in days when it seems that so few people have a dream or vision for God to do something with their lives. I was visiting with a preacher friend of mine, and he asked me what my 20-year vision was for my church. I had never specifically thought about a 20-year vision; however, it was not hard for me to tell him several things I envisioned our church doing in the coming years. That conversation stirred the fires in my heart to sit down and figure out what I wanted to do in the next 20 years as I pastor my church.

You will go nowhere in your life or ministry if you don't have a dream and vision of what you want to do for God. If you live your life waiting for everything to happen, nothing will ever happen; you must have a dream and a vision for something to happen. No church has grown unless its pastor has had a dream and a vision for it to grow. No Sunday school class or bus route has ever grown without the leader of that class or bus route having a vision for it to grow. Let me share some thoughts with you about developing a dream and a vision for what you do for God with your life and ministry.

First, get a desire to do something with your life. You will never do anything for God if you don't have a desire to do something great with your life. At the end of life, you don't want to be a person that no one can talk about what you have done for eternity. Get a vision for your life that, when you die, the works that you have done will continue to make an impact for eternity.

Second, spend much time in God's Word and prayer. Nothing will ignite the fires to give you a dream and a vision to do something for God than His Word. God's Word is full of visionaries who did something great for God, and it will stir the fires in your heart if you allow His Word to make an impact on your life.

Third, get involved in a ministry. There is no purpose for a dream or a vision if you are not doing something for God. You must realize that God left you on this earth, not to build a successful business, and not to live for yourself, but to live for him. You need to have a ministry that you are involved with and that you put your heart into for God to give you a dream and a vision for what He can do through your life and in that ministry.

Fourth, spend time with visionaries. If you spend your time with people who don't want to do anything for God, you certainly won't do anything for God. You get a vision to do something great for God when you spend time with people who have a desire to do something great for Him.

Fifth, be filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with the Holy Spirit will result in God giving you a dream and a vision to do something great for Him. Nobody has ever been filled with the Spirit who did not develop a great vision and dream to do something big for God.