Authors: Robert Morris
From Dream to Destiny: The Ten Tests You Must Go Through to Fulfill God's Purpose for Your Life
PRAISE FOR
FROM DREAM TO DESTINY
Robert Morris has shined the light on the human dilemma—diversions from the main road. His book
From Dream to Destiny
is a cutting-edge road map that offers hope without hype. Even more significantly, Pastor Morris humbly reveals life-changing power points, as he himself has wrestled with destiny killers.
From Dream to Destiny
crackles with high energy. It is a rocketing read.
MICHAEL D. EVANS
Author,
New York Times
Best-Seller
The American Prophecies
and
Beyond Iraq: The Next Move
Robert Morris is a new and rising voice in today’s Church world—a man of God purely motivated, wisely and biblically balanced, and prompted by a shepherd’s heart for the sheep of Christ’s pasture. His words will feed, nourish and lift your soul.
JACK W. HAYFORD
Author,
Living the Spirit-Formed Life
Founding Pastor, The Church On The Way
Van Nuys, California
From Dream to Destiny
pulls out valuable lessons learned from the biblical account of the life of Joseph. Robert has provided possible answers to the why questions we all face—Why am I going through this trial? Why doesn’t God hear my prayer? You will find this book to be applicable to all age groups.
CHAD HENNINGS
Three-Time Super Bowl Champion, Dallas Cowboys
Former Air Force Fighter Pilot
This is required reading for all believers! At a time when I most needed a fresh revelation from the Lord, I was introduced to the messages in
From Dream to Destiny.
I have since taken thousands of others through this teaching. I urge you to study this material that will hasten your journey toward your destiny.
JAMES T. MEEKS
Pastor, Salem Baptist Church
Chicago, Illinois
My pastor, Robert Morris, uses Joseph’s life story to illustrate 10 tests that will surely come our way. How we learn from each test and respond will determine whether we step into the fullness of what God has planned for us. Robert inspires us to remain faithful and focused on Jesus, whose destiny for us is bigger than we can determine.
JAMES ROBISON
President, LIFE Outreach International
 | P |
Regal Books is a ministry of Gospel Light, a Christian publisher dedicated to serving the local church. We believe God’s vision for Gospel Light is to provide church leaders with biblical, user-friendly materials that will help them evangelize, disciple and minister to children, youth and families.
It is our prayer that this Regal book will help you discover biblical truth for your own life and help you meet the needs of others. May God richly bless you.
For a free catalog of resources from Regal Books/Gospel Light, please call your Christian supplier or contact us at
1-800-4-GOSPEL
or
www.regalbooks.com
.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the
New King James Version.
Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Other versions used are
KJV—King James Version.
Authorized King James Version.
NASB
—Scripture taken from the
New American Standard Bible
, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
NIV
—Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, New International Version
®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
NLT
—Scripture quotations marked (
NLT)
are taken from the
Holy Bible, New Living Translation
, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
© 2005 Robert Morris
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Robert (Robert Preston), 1961–
From dream to destiny / Robert Morris.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8307-3675-1
1. Christian life—Biblical teaching. 2. Success—Biblical teaching. 3. Joseph (Son of Jacob) I. Title.
BS680.C47M667 2005
248.4—dc22
2004027348
Rights for publishing this book in other languages are contracted by Gospel Light Worldwide, the international nonprofit ministry of Gospel Light. Gospel Light Worldwide also provides publishing and technical assistance to international publishers dedicated to producing Sunday School and Vacation Bible School curricula and books in the languages of the world. For additional information, visit
www.gospellightworldwide.org
; write to Gospel Light Worldwide, P.O. Box 3875, Ventura, CA 93006; or send an e-mail to [email protected].
I
NTRODUCTION
It caught me completely by surprise.
As I was preparing to speak to a large group of 18- to 29-year-olds at an area church, I found myself praying fervently for direction about my message. I carried a sense of obligation and a strong desire to bring these young adults something from the heart of God Himself. Perhaps it was because I knew how many critical, life-changing decisions are made in those early years. Maybe it was because I had been a foolish, self-destructive young man of 19 when the Lord finally captured me with His love and completely transformed my life.
Whatever the reason, I desperately wanted to know what God desired to say to that group. That’s when the surprise came.
In a moment, the Spirit of God began to flood my mind with an outline for a series of messages about a young man named Joseph—and the vital lessons he learned on the way to fulfilling his destiny. The message themes came faster than I could write them down, yet they remained burned into my heart and memory as the beginning of a powerful
“prophetic word.” This word concerned the destiny God has planned for the current generation—for those of us who desire to be used in these remarkable days in which we live.
In that startling encounter with God’s Spirit, I began to see with fresh depth how Joseph had been destined for great power, destined to be an instrument of God’s deliverance for humanity and yet had to endure great testing along the way. How at the tender age of 17 he had received a glimpse of that destiny in a dream—but failed to understand the journey toward his destiny had only just begun.
If you’re familiar with the biblical account in Genesis, you know that it wasn’t until Joseph was 30 years old that he stepped into the first phase of the extraordinary destiny God had ordained for his life. In fact, it was only through hard lessons learned in those years of testing that God was able to equip Joseph—and only through those same lessons that Joseph was found faithful to walk out that destiny and to fulfill the dream to the fullest.
Every one of us has a dream, and every one of us has a destiny. The question is, How do we travel from the dream to the destiny—and what happens on the way?
Perhaps you have some dreams that are yet to be fulfilled, a destiny that you may have caught a glimpse of. You may have even compared yourself with others who seem to be walking in their destiny, and perhaps you have wondered what is hindering you from stepping into yours.
I believe that the book you now hold in your hands—the fruit of the study that began with a prophetic word—will bring you exciting answers to many of those questions. From the life of Joseph, you will learn vital truths about the tests that wait for you on the road to destiny—tests that you must pass if you are to step into the fullness of what God has planned for you.
We all have dreams for our families, dreams for our finances, dreams for our chosen vocations—but right now I want to challenge you to dream a little bigger. Allow God to stir in your heart
His
dream for you. I promise, His dream for you is better. His destiny for you is bigger.
You see, God’s thoughts for you are higher than your thoughts. His plans for you are better than your plans. He has a dream for you, and it is better than your dream. He has a destiny in mind for you, and it is not only bigger than you currently imagine, it also is bigger than you
can ever
imagine. You can’t dream a bigger dream than God can dream!
Certainly, each person’s dream is unique; but somehow each one is supernaturally intertwined with the master dream of our loving heavenly Father: to reconcile His lost children to Himself. Toward the fulfillment of His dream, God has assigned a role for each one of us—a destiny that is essential to His plans. No two roles are exactly alike, but they are all equally important to God. Thus, there are things He has created you to do that only you can accomplish. The same is true for me.
You may not pastor a church or preach on a regular basis like I do, but that does not mean your assignment is any less important than mine. Each one of us has a unique assignment from God. And if you don’t do it, it won’t get done!
That is why I believe these messages about Joseph are so vital in this hour. I believe a day is coming (and has already begun) when we will see an outpouring of the latter rain and, as a result, a worldwide harvest of souls. Each of us has a part to play—and our parts will be fulfilled only to the extent that our God-given destinies have been fulfilled.
To put it bluntly, we are not supposed to be sitting around, waiting for the Rapture while people around us are heading toward hell.
I believe God ignited the fire of this message in my heart that day because we carry a special calling to bring in the end-time harvest. Like Joseph, we are destined for great power and great influence. And like Joseph, we will have to pass great tests if we are to step into that influence and bring God’s provision of salvation to this world.
This message is for all of us: It is for me and for you, wherever you are, whatever your age. Every one of us is on a journey toward a destiny, and every one of us is destined to do great things for God and His kingdom.
Joseph encountered 10 tests on his way from the dream to the destiny—tests that he ultimately passed, tests that enabled him to inherit the promise. They are relevant because these are tests each of us will
face as we press toward the dream God has given us. Like Joseph, we will find our destiny waiting on the other side. Like Joseph, we must pass these tests to get there.
Would you like to find out how? Read on.