Dream to Destiny • The Purpose of Power
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In the story of Joseph, there was a literal dream. In every one of our lives, there is a dream, a vision, a calling, a purpose for your life.
Increasing numbers of people are dealing with insignificance, depression or despair. Especially as we have moved away from the truth that God is the giver of life and purpose.
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Psalms 139:13 NIV
13 For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
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Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I set you apart;I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
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The truth of God’s word is that every person is created by God in the image of God, on purpose for a purpose!
The opposite of depression is not happiness. It is purpose. In a world living for Possessions, Promotions, and the Applause of People - God calls you to Purpose.
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In a world living for status and success, God calls us to significance.
Nothing is more significant that discovering and fulfilling God’s purposes for your life. One of the greatest things about living in a relationship with God is getting to know his purpose for you, the hope filled future he has for you for you…
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Whenever God gives a dream, extends a calling, or establishes a purpose for your life, He almost always starts a process. God is more concerned about character than he is our calling. If you get to your calling without the character, what is intended to be a blessing can actually be a burden.
What is intended to help you and others can actually hurt yourself or others. Before God builds high, He digs deep.
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Genesis 50:1-10 NLT
1 Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob was embalmed. 3 The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days. 4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.” 6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said. 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials, all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household, and all the senior officers of Egypt. 8 Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9 A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph. 10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a very great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father.
Genesis 50:11-21 NLT
11 The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim, for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.” 12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. 15 But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said. 16 So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us 17 to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. 18 Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said. 19 But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.
Numbers 13:17-18 NIV
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
Genesis 50:3 NLT
3 The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days.
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1) Forty is the only number in English whose letters appear in alphabetical order.
2) Minus 40 degrees, or “40 below,” is the only temperature that is the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.
3) When the bubonic plague gripped Europe during the Middle Ages, ships would be isolated in harbor for 40 days before passengers could go ashore. The Italian word for 40 is quaranta—hence quarantine.
4) There are 40 spaces on a standard Monopoly board. Proving that life is a gamble, the game gives players equal odds (one in 40) of going directly to jail or winning the Free Parking lottery.
5) Forget “nine months”; a typical pregnancy actually lasts 40 weeks.
6) It took chemists 40 attempts to develop the magical spray we know as … wait for it … WD-40 (full name: Water Displacement, 40th formula).
7) Also, 40 is the number of winks that scientists suggest taking to prepare for a perfect nap.
8) Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness being tempted by the devil; the great flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights; the Jewish people wandered the desert for 40 years.
9) And if you need more evidence that 40 sounds like a lot, please see the standard American workweek: 40 hours.
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The significance of SEVEN:
Seven days: Perfection. Completion. Rest and Restoration
Genesis 50:8 NLT
8 Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.
Nehemiah 4:14 NIV
14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
Nehemiah 4:13 NIV
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
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They “left the little children” More than ever, we are called to bring, to invest, to raise up the next generation. As “Rev City” we are called to be part of a “Revolution of Faith and Family.”
Don’t Look Back. Don’t Go Back.
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Genesis 50:14 NLT
“14 After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt.”
Numbers 14:1-10 NLT
1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. 6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” 10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.
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The Power of our Words:
Genesis 50:4 NLT
“4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me swear an oath.”
Ephesians 4:29 NIV
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Numbers 14:10-12 NLT
10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? 12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”
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The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of our words:
Proverbs 18:21 ESV
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Proverbs 12:18 ESV
18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Matthew 12:36 ESV
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Proverbs 16:24 ESV
24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb,sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
Proverbs 15:1 ESV
1 A soft answer turns away wrath,but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 21:23 ESV
23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
Proverbs 15:4 ESV
4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life,but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
James 1:26 ESV
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
Psalm 19:14 ESV
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartbe acceptable in your sight,O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Proverbs 13:3 ESV
3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Genesis 50:17-21 NIV
17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
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What Joseph likely felt, and what he wanted to say, and what he actually said, made all the difference!
2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
“For we live by faith, not by sight. “
MY NOTES
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