Title: Dreams and Reality
Contents
Subject: Dreams and Reality
Text: Luke 16:10-12
Everyone, "Have a dream!" Or "Awaken your dream!" Which of these two opposite words do you prefer?
'Have a dream' means a future-oriented word that tells you not to lose hope and look forward to tomorrow, and 'Awaken your dream' means to face reality and move forward without being caught up in vain delusions.
According to the Bible, God is truly the God of dreams and has given dreams to many people. And Jesus also came to this lowly and lowly land and died on the cross for sinners because he had a dream of looking forward to tomorrow, and when the Holy Spirit comes to us, he also makes us dream.
“In the last days, says God, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your children will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams” (Acts 2:17).
As Christians, it is impossible for me and you to give up the brilliant dreams of tomorrow. In a nutshell, the Bible even says that 'a people without a dream perish' (Proverbs 29:18).
In other words, people who do not have a dream for tomorrow are always negative and destructive, unable to control themselves, just relying on their instincts like beasts, and eventually perish.
However, on the other hand, if you are too obsessed with your dreams and do not face reality directly, you will not be able to achieve your dreams for tomorrow, and it is easy to become a laggard in today's world.
Christians are never people who give up today and deny today in order to achieve tomorrow's dreams. Rather, in order to achieve their dreams, they accept the bad reality of today and are more faithful to today, thus making tomorrow's dreams come true.
For the international students who came here for language training, they always say, 'I hope they can speak English well.' there will be a dream And in order to achieve that dream, you have to study hard today.
If you're not faithful today, you just say, 'Tomorrow I'll be good at English. God, I believe!' If so, what would God say? Perhaps you would say this? "Baby, wake up quickly!"
International students as well as immigrants have a dream when they come to Canada. Especially, for those who immigrated here because they do not like Korea's extreme pollution, bad culture, undesirable educational system, outdated medical system, and stressful work life, it is enough just to get a permanent residence permit and get fresh air in Canada. The dream must have been fulfilled to some extent.
But when you and I come to Canada, don't we each have other dreams besides these things?
Previously, during the Calgary United worship service, Pastor Lecturer said, 'The very rich do not immigrate here.'
In other words, most of the immigrants here are not rich enough to spend their whole lives playing and eating without a job or business. In other words, to live here, you have to face the reality of work and business.
Of course, before coming to this foreign land from Korea, each of them must have had a brilliant dream along with the idea of a certain job or business. And how great would it be if all of those dreams came to prosper as they set their minds to?
So, if there is nothing lacking to live in this foreign land, and furthermore, if you are respected and envied by the immigrant community, and recognized as a good saint in the church, the branch of the kingdom, isn't it hallelujah?
However, after living in a foreign land for a while, you will realize that the dream of immigrant life in Korea is very different from the reality.
Before coming here, I thought, 'With my current skills, my faith, my prayers, my personality, my experiences, and my capital, I will be able to achieve my dreams in this foreign land!' It is easy to think, but the situation here is not so easy.
No matter how good you are at English in Korea, there are many times when you cannot understand the English of the natives here, you can also make mistakes due to cultural differences and hurt your self-esteem, and it is not easy to carry out your plans and dreams without knowing the law. When I feel the racism that lies beneath me knowingly and unknowingly, I ask 'Why did I come to this land? There will be times when you will think.
And since Calgary is geographically in the northern hemisphere, when the darkness and darkness of winter last for a long time and the harsh winter cold below -30 degrees Celsius continues, 'Hey, this is not a good place!' and feel it.
In other words, the reality of this foreign land may be more difficult than Korea to achieve your dreams!' comes the realization.
How great would it be to realize this reality right away, be more faithful today, be more patient today, be more grateful for today, and achieve your dreams step by step without being greedy and greedy?
However, when I see people who cannot see the reality of this place properly, are not faithful today, are not grateful today, but are obsessed with dreams for tomorrow and go ahead, I feel somewhat anxious and sad.
After I was discharged from the military, I had a fasting and prayer at the Osan-ri Prayer Center. At that time, I asked God for this and that to make my dream come true.
Then God said, 'All has been given!' said a voice. I liked it so much that I came home and said, 'Mother, God has given me everything!' and boasted with foam in his mouth.
At that time, I had directly heard the voice of God's promise, so I knew that my dream would come true very easily. However, God did not make the dream come true right away, but rather made him go through a training process to make the dream come true.
Sometimes, we faced a reality that was quite the opposite of God's promise. And then I asked God countless times. "God, why are you doing this?"
At that time, 'why?' God did not give me a clear answer to the question, and He did not solve the problems of reality as I wished, but now I come to realize more clearly that the difficult reality of today is essential for God to fulfill my dreams in the future. It is a very important process that should not be done.
In other words, the dream God has given can be fulfilled only by taking the essential process of becoming a reality. Just as a student must first know basic addition or subtraction to learn division and multiplication, in order to achieve a God-given dream, basic knowledge must be passed in the world of reality.
In today's text, it is said, "He who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little is also unrighteous in much" (Luke 16:10). In other words, even if today's reality does not match one's thoughts, opportunities are given to those who do their best.
On the other hand, those who do not do the little things given today, complaining that their share is small today, that they do not like me today, will not be given tomorrow's opportunities and their dreams of tomorrow will never come true.
Guys, don't you know these words?
'Even a thousand miles starts with one step' 'Tears gather Han River' 'More dust gathers Taesan'
'Step by step goes a long way.'
If a person only dreams that he will reach his destination tomorrow without taking a step today, such a person should wake up quickly.
Naturally, those who have become great people and achieve great achievements have never been the kind of people who only dream of tomorrow, deny today, complain today, and live proud and indolent today. Even if the reality of today doesn't suit them, those who do their best, faithfully and humbly have achieved great achievements and have become great people who are respected by everyone.
Some people say something like this.
“God, if you give me 1 billion won, I will give it all to God. Just believe me, right?”
Everyone, think about it.
How can a person who has 100 million dollars now and can't pay even a tenth of it properly can support the whole 1 billion dollars to God tomorrow?
If the person who donates the material today when he has 100 million won, isn't it more likely that he can donate the material if he has 1 billion tomorrow?
Many people dream of receiving material blessings from God.
However, if God wants to give material blessings to whomever, he entrusts tomorrow's wealth to those who are loyal to today's wealth.
It is also said in the original text.
“If you are not loyal to unrighteous riches, who will trust you with the truth?” (Luke 16:11)
Everyone, do you dream of receiving material blessings in this foreign land?
If you have a penny today, use it correctly.
Don't lie to yourself by dreaming that you will spend two pennies wisely when you have two tomorrows.
To those who spend a penny today correctly, God gives a blessing of two pennies tomorrow. And when you have two pennies, the person who spends those two pennies correctly will also entrust more material in the future.
Also, today's text says:
“If you are not loyal to others, who will give you yours?” (Luke 16:12)
Guys, think about it.
When you become the president of a company, who do you want to promote or take over your own business, who will you use? Would you like to use a disloyal person who destroys or steals company property because it is not mine?
Or would you like to hire an employee who works honestly and faithfully even though it is not my company? Isn't the answer so obvious?
When a person is an employee, that is, in reality, he complains and says, 'Ah, later, if I set up a company and become the president, then I can be loyal. The company right now is not my company, so what should I do if I do well, I should do it in moderation!' And what would happen if he secretly steals things from his current company for the sake of the company he will set up later?
If you are God, will you bless him when he starts a company?
In other words, even if I am not the president of the company today, even if I do not sit in a high position today, opportunities and blessings for tomorrow will be given to those who are faithful today, and those who are good and righteous and loyal today will achieve their dreams of tomorrow.
Therefore, do your best in today's reality to realize your brilliant dream in this foreign land.
For such a person, God will surely bear the price for tomorrow.