Is It Your Dream or God’s Dream?

by Rick Warren — April 29, 2024
From Daring faith

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”

Mark 8:35 (NLT)

How do you know if you are living for your dream or God’s dream?

You may think you were created to get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed, to make a little money, retire, and die. Really? You think that’s all God put you here for?

If your dream is truly from God, it will somehow be connected to his church and his plan for the world. Why would God give you a self-centered dream, unconnected to what he wants to do in the world? He wants to use you for his dream. He wants to use you for his plan.

God is building a family, and he’s collecting family members from every nation, tribe, language, and people group. When everybody’s in the family that he knows will be in the family, it’s over. We’re going into phase two, which is eternity. That’s God’s big plan.

Right before Jesus went back to heaven after the resurrection, he gave the disciples a great dream. It’s called the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT).

The Great Commission is your commission. We’ve had 2,000 years of God building his family so that now there are 2.5 billion people in it. The church is almost as big as China and India combined. It’s bigger than anything else on this planet—because God created it. It’s the whole purpose of history.

And when God gives you a dream for your life, it is somehow going to be connected to his overarching plan. It’s connected to the growth of his kingdom and his family until the day it’s completed and we all go to heaven.

Mark 8:35 says, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it” (NLT).

You weren’t put here on earth to live for yourself. Ask God to give you his dream for your life so that you can be part of the biggest, best, and most important story.

Talk It Over

  • What are your dreams for your life? How could your dreams contribute to the growth of God’s kingdom on earth?
  • Why is it important to have goals?
  • When you look for ways that God is working out his plan in the world, what do you see?

Have you trusted God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ?

If you’re ready to commit your life to Jesus, then pray this prayer:

“Dear Jesus, you have promised that if I believe in you, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess my sin, and I receive you into my life as my Lord and Savior. I trust you when you say salvation comes by grace, through faith, and not by anything I do. Today I’m turning over every part of my life to your management.

“I’m grateful for your unconditional love. I want to use the rest of my life to love and serve you instead of serving myself. I commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at [email protected] and let me know. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.


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