God Dream | Character Killers | Chad Veach

0:00 Hey, what's going on, everybody? Thank you so much for listening to this week's message from Zoe Church. We're going to jump into part three of a series that we've been in called Character Killers. And before I jump in, I want to thank every person that gives, whether you're giving for the first time or the hundredth time, thank you for your generosity and helping us get the message of Jesus to around the world. If you'd like to give, go to our website and click give right there. But before we go any further, I also want to thank everybody that likes, subscribes, and shares these messages, inviting people into our community. Let's jump into this week's message out of Genesis chapter 37, verse 5, called God Dream. Genesis 37, go to verse 5. We are in part 3 of a series we're in called Character Killers. The cost of compromise.

0:57 lives. Chill out, man. Chill out. Just came to get encouraged today. We're talking about character, and one of the great things about God is that God is committed to your life. That God, this is what the Bible says, that he who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete that work. God doesn't start stuff and quit. When you messed up, God didn't turn his back. God is a faithful God. Anybody, you ever try to do an Ikea project? Anybody bring something home from Ikea? You get through the manual. Just read the first two steps. You're like, I'm out of here. God doesn't quit on your life. And I've been using this statement that God is more committed to your character than your comfort because your character is attached to your what? Destiny. Destiny. I want to take out that D word, destiny. I want to replace it with a new word today. I want to replace it with the word dream. So watch this. God is committed to your character more than your comfort because your character is attached to his dream, his dream for your life. And I like to say it this way. God has a thought for you. He has a plan for you. He has a vision for you. He has a dream for you.

2:18 Come on, anybody thankful today? I don't have to come up with a dream. God already has a dream. That's why God, when he speaks to you, he speaks in pictures. He speaks to you in images. He shows you the future that he's going to take you into. God has a dream for your life. So God is more committed to your character than he is to your comfort because your character is attached to your what? I have a dream. God has a dream. In fact, I want to preach a message today. Write down the title. It's called God Dream. And watch this, Genesis 37, verse number five, watch what Joseph says. Joseph, who's the youngest, Joseph, he's one of the younger kids, says, now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his broskies, and they hated him even more. Already hated him. Already hated him. Now that he's got a dream, which, by the way, this is just good life practice, sharing your dream with the wrong person will get you killed.

3:18 somebody's like amen he was the youngest he was loved and he was he was already favored we're the oldest kids if you're the oldest in your family let me see your hand right here look at all these people in counseling all these people dealing with trauma right here if you're the youngest in your family just let me see your hand yeah they made noise look at that we hate you. We can't stand you. We are jealous of you. You are the benefactor of our trauma. the youngest is like, woo!

4:00 The oldest is like, and now Joe's got a dream. Yeah, what don't you got, Joe? You got a car at 16 and no curfew. Joseph got a dream. Joseph had a dream. Why? Because God downloaded to Joseph a God dream, and I want to tell you today how do you know if it's the difference between your dream and God's dream if it's your dream you can accomplish it if it's God's dream it requires God to fulfill the vision that he put in your heart That is the difference. And he gets a dream from God. Why? Because God had a plan for Joseph. And watch this. Same thing with Jesus. Jesus, we see him at 12. He's in Zoe Youth. He's getting ready for Zoe Summer Camp with the youth.

4:54 And we don't see him again until he's 30 years old. Why? From 12 to 30, 18 years, God was even developing his son so he could walk into God's dream for his life. Joseph gets this dream as a teenager. Then he goes on a course of development and character development so that he can ultimately fulfill the dream that God has for his life. I want to tell you some of us today were frustrated because God gave you a dream and it hasn't come to pass. Don't you worry. The Bible says, though it may tarry, surely it will come to pass. God's just working on you and developing you and discipling you so you can fulfill the plan that he has for your life. Somebody give him. Come on in Martha's Vineyard. Give him a praise.

5:44 And God knows that even though he gave you a dream, you got some character cracks. You got some issues in your life. You got some stuff you need to wrestle. You got some things that we need to take care of. Put up on the screen. Here's some character issues. Maybe you can relate. lying and deceitfulness, laziness, greed and materialism, clipperism, cowboyism, arrogance, arrogance, entitlement, sexual immorality, impurity, gossip, slander, anger, unforgiveness, hypocrisy, double life, jealousy, disobedience to God. Now, maybe you read one of these, you're like, man, I got that in my life. I've got some of those things in my world. Don't worry If you've got one, two, three, or all of those, God is committed to raising you up, to developing your character. You have to become who you're supposed to become so you can do what you're ultimately supposed to do.

6:45 And so God raises you up and works on you and trains you and guides you because he loves you and he's committed to the dream that he has for your life. Anybody thankful that God, when the moment you're saved, he doesn't just throw you to the side and say, next. Come on, God is committed to raising you up and developing your life.

7:06 And as we read through that list, don't look about, don't read the list and be like, oh, that's so-and-so. Oh, that's so-and-so. Yeah, and I'm sitting next to that one right here. You know, Jesus said, before you point out the speck in somebody else's eye, look at the plank in your own. In other words, I'm looking through the list going, do I got disobedience? Do I got jealousy? Do I have any anger? Do I have anything in my life that I need to sort? I want God to develop me and train me so I can walk in the dream that he's placed on my life. Amen to that? And if you've got a God dream, and I want to pray at the end. Maybe you've never been arrested by heavenly vision. I'm going to pray at the end of this service that the power of the Holy Spirit will overwhelm you. and you get a dream from God. Not like you ever have a dream, you wake up in the morning, you're like...

7:58 I hope that never happens. That was, yo, that's just bad pizza right there. You wake up one morning, you get a dream from God, you're like, oh, wow. If that could start 5-0 after we won a World Series. walk-offs by MOOC? Oh, wow. Surely the Lord is in this place.

8:28 I'm gonna give you four things today, four things to write down. Here's the first thing you need to do with your God dream. Write down number one. You need to identify. You need to identify. Are there any character issues in my life? Identify something that could take you out. Identify, and let me say it this way. If you don't take it out, it's gonna take you out. I've got to kill the thing that could kill me. I've got to kill the thing that could destroy my family and destroy my legacy and destroy my future. And before it kills me, I'm going to run up on that thing, cut its head off, because I'm not willing to sabotage my future. So I've got to identify what is it. I heard this great story about this family. This family was pregnant, and before they were giving birth, they started to renovate their home. So they rented out an Airbnb, and while they were renting out the Airbnb, the child came. And so while they weren't in their home, because it's being remodeled, so they brought the baby home to the Airbnb. And when they get to the Airbnb, the mother walks in and she's like, I smell smoke. But the smoke sensors aren't going off. But you know a mom, a mom got that intuition now. A mother's nose. Don't mess with a mom's nose. And so she walking around, she's like, something ain't right. Something is not right. Our baby cannot be in here. She just felt it. But you know, they checked everything, oven, stoves, everything. There's no fire. So they get the baby out and they call the fire department. And the fire department comes to check out. And sure enough, the mom was right. There was a homeless man living underneath the house starting fires. So they see the guy and they catch him. And they're like, the mom was like, I knew I wasn't wrong. And so they're trying to get the guy. So they asked the fire department, can you get him out? They're like, well, we can't do anything against the guy. Well, while this is going on commotion, a neighbor came by and saw the man wearing his shirt. And he said, man, our house got broken into last week. That's my shirt. So the fire department's like, we can call the cops now and get him out of here. Come on, praise the Lord. I want to know, I want to know what's living in your house underneath your radar that if you don't catch that thing, it's going to mess you up and

10:33 take it. You got to identify the thing that could destroy your future. Come on, give him praise today. We got to find out what it is. What's lurking? What's underneath the surface? What doesn't meet the eye today? Look at Song of Solomon. I love this one. Chapter two, catch for us them little foxes, those little foxes that spoil the whole vineyard. How could a whole vineyard be spoiled by little foxes? Because you know how life works. Little things turn into big things. little compromise, little attitude, little rebellion, little lie, all of a sudden you're living a lie. Catch for us them little itty-bitty things that we don't think are a big deal, but to God are a massive deal. They're character issues. I want to go back to the working definition of character. Character, so we're all working from the same reference. Character refers to the moral qualities that define a person's inner life, and that is what determines their actions.

11:41 Character is a reflection of your heart, your integrity, and your relationship with God. Character is, in addition, it is also about someone when no one is watching, who you are when nobody's watching. That's what character is. And so there's character issues that sometimes you walk in the house, it's like nothing's wrong here, but there's somebody living underneath, somebody messing underneath that's going to spoil the whole vineyard. And I got to identify, I got to find out what that is. This last week, I was so, so excited. I was so privileged to go to Amazon, spent $250 million on the house of David, portraying David's life. And I'm excited about trying to, you know, I'd never imagined what Saul looked like or Samuel, but here we were at this event this last week and got to watch the first episode of the house of David. And in the episode was the story of Saul, where Saul, God tells Saul, I want you to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Utterly take them out. Wipe them out. And when they get back from war, they kind of, they messed up in two ways. They let the king live, one's supposed to live, and they grab some some of the spoil. Watch what happens when Samuel, let's say Samuel's the pastor of the church.

12:59 Samuel comes and sees Saul. As Samuel came close to Saul, Saul called out, God's blessing, pastor. I love church people right there. Good to see you, pastor. God's blessing on you. I accomplished God's plan to the letter. Samuel said, oh, you did? So what's this I'm hearing? The bleeding of sheep and the mooing of cattle.

13:24 That's funnier than your reaction. They went to the movies. So stupid. What's this right here? Only just like a little bit of like a millikite loot, like a little bit. And the soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and the sheep to offer up and sacrifice to God. But you know, everything else, pastor, we destroyed under the holy band. You know, isn't it crazy how much you justify the little foxes in your life? You know, it's just little. It was like, we're just messing around. We're just living together. We just, it's just, it's like, it's not 10%, it's 2%, but you know, it's little.

14:16 We got to get to a place where it's like, man, I would not want anything in my life to prevent me from walking in the dream that God has for my future. So you've got to number one, identify. Write down number two. You've got to fail forward because we're all going to make mistakes, and we're all going to mess up, and we're all going to make decisions that aren't the right thing. But I want to tell you, failure is not final. You might have made a mistake, but you are not a mistake. You are not labeled by what failure or what sin you participated in. You are labeled on a bigger label, and that is what God says about you. God has the final say. Oh, come on, clap, everybody. Thank God. I'm not my mistake. I am what God says I am. Oh, I'm thankful today.

15:08 It's Baptism Sunday. And because it's rain, we don't got to put out a tub. We're just letting people just stand outside. You know what I'm saying? But it's Baptism Sunday. And what's Baptism Sunday? It's people getting in the water and saying, my old life is gone. All those old, dumb, bad decisions, bad relations. Oh, my old is gone. but the new has come. I'm not who I once was. I am what God says I am. That's what baptism is. You've got to fail forward. Most people are not afraid of failure. They're afraid of the identity of failure. They're afraid of failure being on their identity. You're a murderer. You're an adulterer. You are a clipperer. No, no, no. You are not your identity of sin. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Yes.

16:00 That's what God says about you. Watch what you're, I love this scripture, Proverbs. Put it on the screen, watch this. It says in Proverbs chapter 24, verse 16, for though the righteous falls seven times, they rise again. We're gonna rise again, and we're gonna get back up off the ground. I was down, I was defeated, I was discouraged, I was disoriented, wanted me to keep going, I was disobedient, I was all messed up. But I, by the grace of God, I got up, I brushed myself off, and I'm going to rise again. Come on, rise again. You went back and maybe you said, I'll never do it again, and you did it again. I'm never going to go there again. You went again. That's all right. Don't let shame bully you to stay there. Remember that old commercial, I've fallen and I can't get up?

16:56 also a lot of trauma with that for some people 100 why is that an issue of pain in your life i want to say you've fallen and you can get up oh i love this but look at look at malachi chapter chapter seven or sorry micah chapter seven do not glow over me my enemies for though i fall I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. I fell, and I messed up, and I had a character issue, and I compromised, and fill in the blank for whatever you've gone through. You guys know, and if you're here going like, is Pastor Chad perfect? I'm kidding. Nobody's ever asked that. It's so, so, so weird. I've been honest about my struggles. I've been vulnerable with our community that my temptation hits every Sunday night at 11 p.m. to go to McDonald's for a McFlurry.

18:01 and though I fall every Sunday on Monday I rise again Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory to God. I'll meet you there tonight. But you know, when you fail, when you fail, you sit in darkness. When you fail, you feel like your enemies are laughing at you, look at you, look at you. Some of you, you know, you feel like your family doesn't even want you to win.

18:33 And you sit in darkness, but the light is calling you. The love of Jesus is calling you. The dream that he has is calling you. You can't stay down. You can't stay in that defeated mindset. You get down, you get discouraged, and you're like, nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. No, that's not true. God loves you. You got a family, a spiritual family that's rooting for you. You got to rise again. You know what you ought to get? You ought to get a return on your failure. You know how, like, you want a return on your investment? You invest money. You want to get a return on it. Not right now in this stock market. But, you know, speaking generally, why not get a return on your failure? Man, I failed and I learned so much. I'm never going to be the same because of that.

19:28 Never going back to those old ways. I'm never going back to that thinking again. Never going back to that person again. Because I know I made a mistake. I am not a mistake. I've got a dream for my future. I've got a plan. God loves me and called me and has anointed me. I'm the head and not the tail. I got to rise up. And then here's the third thing. Write down the third thing you need. Get connected into good community. I'm talking about good community. You need to get connected in good community. Look here. I love this verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 33. Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character. So you know what it's saying? Company has more power than character. Your character is not stronger than your company. You got to watch who you hang with. Why?

20:19 Show me your friends. I'll show you your future. You are who you hang with. And if you hang around knuckleheads, you're going to talk like a knucklehead, make decisions like a knucklehead, and go to knucklehead places. But when I get around other believers, other Jesus lovers, I get into a connect group. I get into the house of God.

20:39 Come on, Zoe. Don't ever forget. Whatever you're around gets on you. Whatever's on you gets in you. and what's in you comes out of you. You got to be careful what you get. You get around some funky spirits and some funky people and some, I love calling them knuckleheads. You get around some, that stuff gets on you and all of a sudden what's on you gets in you and what's in you comes out of you. Oh, that's what I love about coming to church. I get into the house of God. I'm streaming from Martha's Vine. I'm getting around God's people. All of a sudden that atmosphere of faith and belief and obedience and submission and humility, that's what's around me gets on me. and remember what's on you gets in you and what's in you that's what's coming out of you you got to get around good people i'm talking about godly community people that will here's put it up on the screen this is what godly community does godly community will encourage you challenge you support you and strengthen you Thank you.

21:37 hallelujah anybody thankful for your encouraging friends clap for everybody that's got an encouraging friend when I was younger I used to pray for rich friends now that I'm older I pray for encouraging friends and encourage you I think all I need is two friends an encouraging friend and a funny friend Somebody build me up. Somebody make me laugh. And if God adds a rich man, praise God, somebody covers the bill. But at least I got built up and laughed. Godly community will encourage you. Get around some people that when you feel small, they're going to make you feel big. Get around some people that where you're poor, they're really rich.

22:32 Not that way. You guys and your Bitcoins, chill out. Godly community encourages you, but I love this one, number two. It challenges you. you know there's a proverb that says faithful are the wounds of a friend a real friend will cut you up a real friend you come into church and your real friend sees you your real friend be like hey You got a bugger. You got a real friend, real friend just orbits just here. And you're like, oh, I'm good. No, you're not good. Take the orbits. That's a real friend. But you need someone that will encourage you and challenge you and support you. Oh, I'm thankful for the supportive friendships of this church.

23:29 I'm thankful for the support system we got in this community called Zoe. way. I pray that we'd support each other in the good times and the bad times when you're going through hell and when you're going through heaven. Come on, anybody down to be a, come on, an encourager, a challenger, a strength. There's some people that are in your life, you just feel stronger when they're next to you. They don't even got to say anything. They're just, I'm stronger because you're in my phone. I'm stronger because we text. I'm stronger because we hang out. I'm stronger because You're in my world. I'm stronger because we go to the same place of worship. I want to be a part of a community that is encouraging and challenging and supporting and strengthening. That's what you need. Get connected in the good community. Get around people. I love this. Psalm 1. Look at the New Living Translation. Psalm 1.

24:20 I love this. Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers. but they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on this like soap on day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit in every season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. I'm trying to hang out with some people, and I need some people in my life because God's got a dream for me, and if I get around the wrong folks, I don't know if I'll ever get around to fulfilling the call of God on my life and the plan of God for my life. So I got to get around community. That's why you need to get into a connect group so we can break your finger. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Just be careful who goes to the flag football one. That's all I'm saying.

25:12 Like, just go to the Bible study, man. Like, why you gotta, sports and church, just, it's a weird thing, man. Get around good people. Get around godly community. Get around people that are gonna, what is it? Oh, they're gonna encourage you. You're going to fulfill the dream on your life. I see greatness in you. By the way, anybody that's competing with you is not your friend.

25:43 You need people in your world that's like, man, your win is my win. And when you lose, I lose. And I'm for you and I'm with you. And I'm just believing. I want to challenge you. Come on, you're even better than what you're doing right now. so I gotta identify what's lurking that nobody else sees but my discernment's going something something off and out of my failure I gotta fail forward I can't let my failure take me back I'm still moving forward I made a mistake I'm not defined by my mistake I'm defined by the blood of Jesus amen so I've gotta get connected as I fail forward in the right community and right down the last one I gotta rise up come on Zoe rise up It's time to rise up. It's time to take action.

26:35 It's time to do something for God. Now, we believe here at Zoe in the divine order. If you're wondering how salvation works, let me just break it down for you real fast. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. So let's just break it down real fast. Grace, by the way, is not a principle. It's a person. His name is Jesus. So for it is by grace. It is by Jesus you have been saved through faith, your faith in Jesus. So before you showed up, God showed up. While you were a sinner, Christ died for you. So it's by grace you've been saved through your faith in Jesus. Anybody here believe in Jesus today? And anybody thankful that Jesus died on the cross for your sins? For it is by grace you have been saved, through your faith in grace, through your faith in Jesus, not by works, lest anybody should boast. What's it saying? You can't work your way into heaven, and you can't work your way into being good with God.

27:30 God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I want to tell you the next time you're in your low place and the next time you've got a character issue because they're going to happen. Tonight, mine's coming at 11. And the next time, the next time you're feeling bad about your behavior and your actions and the next time you make a dumb decision, I want you to say this about your life. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You know, when you make a mistake, God doesn't look away. Oh, deplorable. oh no the bible says he has set his face aflint when you are faithless he remains faithful the love of man is conditional but the love of god is unconditional and so it is not by works lest any man should boast so i cannot work my way into being good with god but i'm telling you once you get saved once you find christ once you get saved, you want to do something for the glory of God. And when you follow Jesus, he starts to download. I got, whoo! When you were out messing up, and you were out this way he did with Saul, you were killing my people, I still had a plan for your life. When you were filled with anger, I was thinking about what you do in Philippi, Colossus, Rome, Galatia, Thessalonica, I knew the dream I had. God don't have a plan B for your life, he only has a plan A. And I love this about God because when I get saved, I want to step into the dream. Lord, it's not about my will, but about your will. It's not about what I want. It's about what you want. So Lord, help me to decrease with all of my stuff and help me to let you increase with all of your plans. And the more you say yes to God, the more you start walking into a dream you could never fulfill in your own strength.

29:25 You could never accomplish in your own power. But my Bible says that it's not by power and it's not by might, but it's by his spirit. Says who? The Lord. So I'm going to lean into God, and I'm going to follow God. First Corinthians chapter 9. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it. Come on, Zoe, we do it to get a crown that will last siempre.

30:07 Bilingual. therefore I do not run like somebody running aimlessly I do not fight like a boxer beating the air I'm telling y'all I'm trying to strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. I'm trying to do everything I can, and I'm not perfect. I'm not going to get it right every time, but I'm just, I understand there's this dream that's on my life, this plan you've got, and I don't, I didn't, I know I didn't earn this plan. I know it's, I know where I came from. I know what I came out of, and this was not, some of you need to get over your past to step into your destiny.

31:06 Stop making excuses for God. Well, God, you can't use somebody like me because you know all that time and that thing and that season and that. Stop apologizing for God's will for your life. Start rising up in strength. I am who I am by the grace of Jesus Christ. and I didn't earn it. I didn't deserve it. I didn't even ask for it. Come on, clap today. God has a dream for my life. And God set me free. I was in bondage until God delivered me. I was a mess until God healed me. I was in a place you never would have imagined until God pulled me out by his outstretched arm, set my feet upon a rock, put a new song in my mouth. many people are going to hear about how good God is. Come on, clap if that's your prayer. That's our prayer.

31:58 That's what we're praying for. And so you're over here looking for the comfortable way down, and God's over here developing perseverance, patience, hope, character. These things are at odds, and somebody's going to win. But I want to tell you, I love this about God, that God did not call you into something that you could do in your own strength. That's why he said, I can do all things through Christ that what? All my strength comes from Jesus. All my power comes from God. And I'm gonna do my best. I'm gonna do my best to follow him and serve him and say yes to him. And I'm gonna try and get my life out of those Saul-like situations where I'm standing there justifying, well, you know, it's just like a little bit of, and a little bit of, and a little bit of, no, I'd rather just try and do my best to say, Lord, if there's anything in my character that doesn't please you, point it out.

33:07 Some of us need to take our life through the TSA of the Spirit and let them just understand what's in here. Amen? Come on, stand to your feet today.