Those who are carrying a dream are rich for they own the future. Those who have lost their dream own nothing, even if they have a bank full of money. What would life be without dreams and visions?
Scientific research shows that human beings cannot live without hope. It became very visible in the concentrations camps during the war. The prisoners who didn’t have a hope, a dream or a vision of a future quickly deteriorated, but those who dreamed about the life after imprisonment had a strength that enabled them to endure great sufferings and hardships.

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God doesn’t
sleep or dream like we humans do, but still the entire Bible is all about God’s
great dream for humanity. Now we are using dream in the sense of longing, wish,
vision, plan or intention for days ahead. For us dreams and visions are about a
better reality than the one we live in. For God, who knows the end from the
beginning and is outside time and space, the dream or his vision is the
motivating, creative love at work throughout history. God’s dream is his
eternal purpose, what he has determined from eternity, the mystery of his will,
that which is governing everything he does and is centered on Christ, God’s
eternal Son (Eph 1:9-11; 3:5-11). This dream has been hidden from the beginning of time but now in the last days it has been made known
by the Holy Spirit to apostles and prophets and eventually all the covenant
community.

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Throughout the Bible we find that God reveals himself to people through dreams and visions. In fact, dreams and visions are used interchangeable in the Bible. The classic passage about this is Job 33:15–16, where we read this: “He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings.” And how often God spoke through dreams and visions! Daniel had dreams and visions in the night (Dan.2:19; 7:2,7,13). The apostle Paul also had a dream which he calls a vision in the night (Ap.gj.16,9; 18,9). As we go back through the Old Testament we find that God constantly spoke like this. Through these visions and dreams God told people to do certain things, or warned them of things which He was going to do, and the result was that they realised that God is. It was God, who gave them the vision or the dream or the warning or the prophecy, or whatever it was, and therefore they were revelations, they were proofs of the being of God.

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Covenant
leaders are humble and self-effacing because they understand that the way of
the cross is the only way that will produce lasting fruits.

Covenant
leaders are competent both technically and relationally. They understand that
otherwise they will fail. They major on their strengths and Spirit-given
ministry to excel in the anointing as well as working hard to develop their
relationally skills.

Fruitful
covenant leaders stimulate creativity, cause people to dream and empower them
to realise their full potential in Christ. They love to encourage people to
take initiative, and to liberate them to creative expressions of covenant life.

Covenant leaders
are prepared to take calculated risks to be able to lead the people of God
forward and defeat the enemy. They are not afraid of men or traditions. They
are pioneers in the Spirit and love to blaze a new trail and break up new
ground.

Covenant
leaders are trustworthy and trust building. They understand they need trust and
confidence of the people to be able to lead the covenant community according to
the divine pattern and eternal purpose of God.

Covenant
leaders must have courage and calm in the face of adversity and be able to
impart peace to the community in the midst of a storm. They must be men of
faith and vision who envision the covenant community to rise above the
circumstances to attain their destiny in God.

Covenant
leaders inspire the team of ministry gift with them, and they are constantly
recruiting new members to the leadership team. They understand that to develop
a covenant community you must constantly develop new leaders.

Covenant
leaders are inclusive and empowering in their entire framework of ministry in
the covenant community. They understand that one man alone can never achieve
his destiny or fulfil the purpose of God. They appreciate the contribution of
others and believe in the God-given abilities of others to do what they have
been called to do.

Covenant
leaders are patient and persevering in their ministry. Their understanding of
covenant enables them to long term commitment. They don’t easily give up, but
they trust in the power of the Word and the Spirit to produce what God wants in
the end.

Covenant
leaders have respect for and consideration of others. They have learnt to
listen to both advice and critique. They love to honour people because they see
in them the glory of their God.