A God Sized Dream

The Holy Spirit leads us day to day but he often shows us big things about our future that excite us in good days and lift us up on days when we don't feel on top of the world.

Do you have hopes and dreams?
What do you sense you’ll be doing in 2038?
Do you remember what you were doing in 1998? That was just 20 years ago. 2038 is just 20 years into the future.
In 1998 the iPhone was still nine years away. The iPod and iTunes didn’t yet exist. Only 1.4 million Americans had purchased a DVD player. I was buying VHS tapes with the hope my grandchildren would enjoy them as much as my children did. I’ve been through three career changes since 1998.

So, does God have a purpose for your next twenty years that He’d like to share with you? We know God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us day by day and moment by moment, but does he give us a big picture to look forward to — and even work toward? I believe he does and I believe he desires something huge.

His greatest desire for us is that we live as “one with Him.” In John 17:21-23 Jesus prayed, “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me.” If you’re “one with God” how big a dream can you dream. If you’re “one with God” his desires are your desires, his power is your power. How big do you believe his power is?

We’re told that God intends for the body of Christ to have members that play a huge variety of roles. Not everyone who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord is called by God to be a pastor. Many are called to be employees and businessmen in a wide variety of occupations. Whatever you’re called to do God is with you and IN YOU. This means you can think VERY BIG.

If you’re a baker. You’re a baker led and empowered by God. It’s as if Jesus Christ is in the bakery business. So you might ask, “If Jesus Christ was a baker what would that look like?” He’s in you.
Several times Greg has referred to God’s dream for Northlands including vast international apostleship and influence. This September this vision resulted in some exciting ministry, but the entire dream is much larger. The dream for the Norcross church is much larger.

All these big dreams and plans are not just for Pastor Greg. God has big plans for YOU. He may have a big plan for you that’s part of his plan for Northlands. You could wind up in some foreign country or be a leader in a church plant closer to home. Of this I’m sure, God wants us to dream big with the Holy Spirit and then pursue it day by day. I find that having the big dream helps me day by day. On good days I feel like I’m getting after it. On other days the dream pulls me out of discouragement and gets me back on track.

Pastor Greg loves to encourage people to “try this at home.” If I may steal is line, “I dare you to try this at home.” If you don’t have one yet ask God for a big dream. When I did that God kept telling me, “Bigger, bigger, dream bigger.” He even said, “Don’t dream a 2018 dream. Dream like you’re in 2025.”