Keep That Dream Alive- part 2

Welcome to the concluding part of the this post and I hope you did enjoy the part 1 of it. In this post we shall take a look at the other two things you have to do so as to keep that dream alive viz: seeing and pursuing. My original message on these has been updated. Enjoy!

2) See it:
What you see is what you become. Your life flows in the direction of your vision. You must see your dream and continue to see it until you see it because you become what you see. In II Corinthians 3: 18, the scripture declares that "we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory..." God ask Jeremiah, "what seest thou?" You see, God understands the principle of seeing. He used it on Abraham and still uses it today. He gave Abraham a sure word of promise but when it seems that Abraham was finding it hard grasp it, He applied the principle of seeing. He asked Abraham to look into the sky and count the stars thereby, associating what Abraham saw with the promise. He further declare that as far as Abraham's eyes could see, would be given him for a possession. Seeing is becoming! Seeing is possessing! This was the same principle Jacob used on Laban's cattle to get them speckled and ringstreaked. Don't you ever lose sight of your dream because seers don't quit and quitters don't see. Keep seeing it, don't stop seeing it until you see it. That is focus! The more you see it the more you fire up your desire for it. And the clearer the picture, the stronger the desire. Let the picture of your dream be your sleeping and waking thought. Let it excite you. Put replicas of it on your wall, in phone either as screen saver or ring tone. Associate with things and people that provoke thoughts of your dream. Live your dream in your imagination. You must hold a clear mental picture of your dream in your imagination. Remember seeing is possessing. So, until you see it, you can't seize it. This principle runs through the entire scriptures. Hebrews tells us to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising the shame. In another chapter, talking about the patriarchs, Hebrews tells us that they "all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them..." Make no mistake, they didn't see the promises in the flesh because they (the promises) were dispensational in nature. And hope you know they still partook in them in the spirit for Abraham, Jesus said, rejoiced to see His day (that's a topic for another day).

Seeing is possessing- Dr. Yongi Cho
Seers don't quit and quitters don't see- Prince

3) Pursue it:
"Pursue it" is a call to action. Let me say that the pursuit of any worthy dream begins and ends in (or with) God. If the dream is such that you can not conveniently bring it before God and discus it with Him in the place of prayer, then it is not worth it. Pursuing your dream is where the men are separated from the boys. Hope you are aware that Martin Luther King Jnr. was not the only one with such dream at the time? Of course, yes! The issue he confronted was such that was not peculiar to him alone but to every black at the time but he knew that any dream that does not lead to action is nothing but day dreaming, it is nothing but fantasies and wishful thinking. So, he was willing not just to talk the talk but to walk the walk as well. What you don't pursue, you don't possess. Make no mistake. Seeing is possessing but this will only be true if your life flows in the direction of what you see.
In pursuing your dream you must be weary of dream killers.
One of them is pride. The Bible says pride goes before a fall. You must be humble enough to ask those who are in the know how they do it. There are things that God has packaged in the person next door and it takes humility and respect to access them. Be humble enough to acknowledge your shortcomings and work to update yourself.
Ignorance is another dream killer. For the labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them for he knoweth not the way to go to the city (Ecclessiastes 10:15). Invest in your dream. Go for information, it makes your journey easier and shorter. It is one thing to know where you are going and quite another thing to know how to get there. Attend seminars, read books. Be selective about what you spend your money on. I don't expect you (I was referring specifically to the convener of the youth seminar) to go buy a balckberry phone when you need a projector or even a mini website to give you an online international presence.
Mentor-ship and Networking are indispensable tools in the pursuit of your dream. There are people you don't compete or rub shoulders with. Whatever you want to be today, someone has been even before you were born and many more are, today. Look for them and learn from them. As they move up the ladder, you naturally fill up the vacuum they create below. I am talking about mentors. There are opportunities that may never fall on your laps except by the recommendation of your mentors. The world has been so reduced that you can be mentored by someone miles way from you. Buy their books, visit their sites, send them emails and try to establish contact with them. Let them know that someone somewhere is been impacted by their lives and works. There are also individuals within your locality that have what it takes to mentor you. Don't be ashamed to ask them for such favours. Networking is another MUST if your dream must kept alive. No matter how visionary Joseph was, he needed someone to mention him before Pharaoh. When Ziklag was invaded, and David after having prayed and assured by God to pursue and recover, he needed the help of a famished fellow to get to the enemies camp. He gave the fellow what he needed and got the information he needed in return. That is the power of networking. Let me warn that you need to be very selective in choosing mentors and those to network with. There are dream killers as well as dream parasites. Everybody can be your acquaintance but not everybody is qualified to be a confidant or partner including your blood relations. A times you need to adopt the "david-attitude". When he was confronted and chided by Eliab his elder brother at the battle front, he quickly turned away from him and turned to others asking the same question- "what shall be done to the man who kills Goliath?". Your brothers or sisters (relations and friends) may brand you names and mistake you for what you are not. Never mind! Don't let them run you down! You dream is your identity. There are many youths with same physical features as we all have but what stands you out is the dream you birth, the things you are able to accomplish. Let's go to God in prayers!

Any dream that does not result into action is day-dream-Anonymous

Happy weekend holiday!

Keep That Dream Alive

I was with some youths over the weekend to speak to them on the topic "Keep the Dream alive" and below is my message. Enjoy!

The problem with most of us is not that we don't dream, it is not that we don't have visions, goals or aspirations. The problem is that most of us have turned ourselves into human prisons, cold rooms or cemeteries. Locked up and buried within a lot of us are lofty dreams and visions that hold the key to our destinies and fulfillment. Don't be a prison where dreams are locked up, don't be a cold room where dreams are frozen or a cemetery where they are buried. Hope you know the world does not recognize or celebrate you for what you carry on your inside. No! nobody cares, nobody gives a damn! The world celebrate you for what you were able to give birth to. Yes! the world does not celebrate pregnancy, it celebrate delivery. Dreams, just like life, have phases. It has the conception, the incubation period (pregnancy), the delivery, the infancy, childhood and maturity. A dream, just like the human life, can die at any phase. Even if it has attained maturity, there is still the challenge of continuity. Have you not heard of companies or churches that went under after the death of their founders? Every dream leaves you with responsibilities. Wisdom demands that you know what stage your dream is at the moment. President Jonathan didn't fall from heaven a president. He was once a seed in a woman's womb. Even at birth, he was not born a president.

Until your become a servant to your dream, you can not attain it-Prince

Your first responsibility is to know what stage your dream is at the moment. Is it at its conception? That period when it is still an idea that's yet to take root. Still formless and shapeless in the womb of your imagination (or mind). Many a youth has been talked out of their dreams because they were too eager to discuss it at conception. Conception is not the best period to discuss your dream with others. It is easier to be convinced by others at this stage and by so, abort the dream. At conception, you need to spend time in meditation, prayers and waiting on the Lord until the dream crystallizes and takes root within you. You need to incubate that ''seed''! Do your home work first. Research it, get the requisite knowledge and information about it and let your soul be set aglow with it then you can go and discuss it with men of like passion. At this point, whoever does not speak the language of your dream, you easily turn away from him 'cos you have been sold out to it already. It is clear and well rooted in you!
Your next responsibility is to know how to keep it alive and nature it to the next phase.
Let me at this juncture declare that until you are willing to be a servant to your dream attaining it may be impossible. The Lord Jesus told us that it is enough that the servant be as his master. Are you willing to take instructions from your dreams? I know am talking to christian youths so, i don't expect our dreams to be such that runs at variance with the word of God. Let this statement sink into your head because everything you need to do to keep your dream alive is hinged on it: That until you become a servant to your dream, until you become a slave to it, until you are addicted and sold out to your dream, forget it! It will die! Addiction in itself is not bad and i have discovered that every great man is an addict. He has something he is sold out to, something for which he is willing to sacrifice anything for, something he is willing to die for. For what things were gain unto him, he counted but dung for the excellency of attaining his life's pursuit. Don't let that dream die. If it dies, you are dead even while you are still alive. It is important that you know what stage your dream is at the moment. Ask a mother. She monitors her baby right from conception until delivery and beyond. She knows that each stage comes with its challenges, demands and peculiarities. Her life is dictated by the stages, kind of. The way she behaves at the sixth month of her pregnancy is different from the way shes does at conception. Likewise, her behaviour at the ninth month is different from that at the sixth month. The way she also behaves when her date is due is also quite different and so on, even after delivery. Her life is dictated by the baby in the womb and she must comply if she intends to successfully bring forth. It dictates to her the kind of clothes and even shoes to wear. The kind of food to eat and a times even the places to go. She sacrifices her personal likes or preference in response to the demands of what she carries on her inside. Beloved, the same holds true, in principle, for your dreams if it must be kept alive. It will dictate what and how you spend you money, time and resources etc. Are you willing to adjust?

There are things to do to keep that dream alive and I have crystallize them into three: Desire, See and Pursue. Desire it, See it, and Pursue it.

1) Desire it:
Desire is the fuel that powers the engine of your dream. You must have a strong desire to see your dream come true. Without a strong desire, fulfilling your dream becomes a burden. Nothing great has ever been achieved without a strong desire. I don't mean wish. I am talking about passion. I am talking about that inner drive that keeps you undaunted in the face of challenges. That inner force that pushes you on no matter how many times you may have failed. Instead of discouragement in the face of failures, what you get is a renewed vigor urging you never to give up, telling you it is possible. I read of the story of a lady called Mme who, in pursuit of her passion for music, enrolled for a course in music. Her music instructor after listening to her, advised her to go buy a sewing machine and pursue a career in fashion designing 'cos she wasn't going to make a good singer. The story had it that this lady in spite of this "professional" advise from a man in the know, went ahead to become a renowned singer. Another story was told of a trainee keyboardist whose instructor told him to forget about mastering the keys because he lacked the right size of fingers. Hmm! It was like telling the man that God didn't intend him to master the keyboard or like we would say, "it is not his calling". But this guy, fueled by passion, ignored this advise and went ahead to become a master of the art. You must have a desire that is strong enough to sustain your dream because when the road gets tougher, it is your passion that will drive you on. We often hear things like determination, persistence or resilience. But the truth is, these qualities are products of a strong desire for something. Many a youth gives up easily because their desire isn't strong enough. In fact most them either are pursuing their parents' desire for them or mistake wish for desire. Desire is obsessional! Most times, its natural but can be fired up. The Bible in Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled". This is a principle and if you substitute your dream for righteousness, the result will be the same-you will have it. What you strongly desire, you attract. You must learn to feed your desire.

To be continued....