Chasing the Wrong Dreams and Finally Coming Home

Jul 22, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: A Million Dreams Awake

James and John approached Jesus with a bold request. They asked Him to grant them whatever they wanted. They desired the seats of honor, power, and prestige in His coming kingdom. They dreamed of earthly glory and a place of importance. Their vision for the future was shaped by worldly notions of success.

Jesus saw their misguided ambition. He knew their dreams were too small and entirely wrong. He did not condemn their desire for greatness. Instead, He redefined it. He pointed them toward a different path, one that mirrored His own mission of service and sacrifice.

You, too, may lie awake at night filled with visions of a future you want to make. Your dreams might be for success, recognition, or comfort. These desires are not always bad, but they can easily become the wrong compass for your life. What dream for your future is currently keeping you awake?

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
(Mark 10:35–37, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal any dream you are chasing that is rooted in selfish ambition.
Challenge: Write down one personal dream you have been pursuing and evaluate its true motive.

Day 2: The Cup You Will Drink

Jesus responded to James and John with a sobering question. He asked if they could drink the cup He was about to drink. He referred to the cup of suffering, betrayal, and death that awaited Him in Jerusalem. They confidently declared they could. Jesus affirmed they would share in His suffering, but the seats of honor were not His to give.

The other disciples became indignant with James and John. Their anger revealed they all shared the same flawed dream. They were all vying for position and power. Jesus gathered them to correct their entire understanding of leadership and success.

Many of us work hard to avoid any form of difficulty or sacrifice. We want the glory without the cross. We want the reward without the cost. Jesus calls His followers to a life of willing service, which often includes hardship. Where are you resisting the difficult things God might be inviting you to share with Him?

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
(Mark 10:38–40, NIV)

Prayer: Confess to God your desire for comfort and your avoidance of difficulty.
Challenge: Identify one practical way you can serve someone else today without expecting anything in return.

Day 3: The Path to True Greatness

Jesus called His disciples together. He explained how Gentile rulers lord their authority over people. Their systems operate on power, control, and domination. Jesus declared this was not to be the way for His followers. His kingdom operates on a completely different economy.

He presented a radical new definition of greatness. Whoever wants to become great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first must become the slave of all. He grounded this command in His own example. Jesus, the Son of Man, did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Our culture celebrates those who climb to the top. We are taught to seek influence and privilege. Jesus calls us to intentionally move downward into positions of service. He invites us to find our value not in being above others, but in loving them well. In what relationship are you seeking to be served rather than to serve?

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Mark 10:42–45, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for His ultimate act of service on the cross for you.
Challenge: Perform one act of service today that will definitely go unnoticed by anyone else.

Day 4: Spending Labor on What Satisfies

The prophet Isaiah issued a compelling invitation centuries before Jesus. He called all who were thirsty to come to the waters. He invited those with no money to come, buy, and eat. God offered the richest of fare without cost. He then asked a piercing question. Why spend your money and labor on what does not satisfy?

This question echoes through time to our own hearts. We exhaust ourselves chasing things that promise fulfillment but always fall short. We pursue possessions, status, and approval, only to find them empty. God calls us to stop our futile striving and to listen to Him.

You might be pouring your energy into a pursuit that leaves you weary and dry. You work for a paycheck, a promotion, or a lifestyle that cannot nourish your soul. God offers you Himself, the only source of true and lasting satisfaction. What labor of yours is currently yielding no real spiritual nourishment?

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”
(Isaiah 55:1–2, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to show you one area where you are spending your energy on what does not satisfy.
Challenge: Set aside 15 minutes of quiet today to simply listen to God without making any requests.

Day 5: Coming Back to Your True Home

After his dreams crumbled, P.T. Barnum sang of coming back home. This theme resonates deeply because we were made for home. Yet our earthly homes are often marked by pain and imperfection. Our longing points to a greater reality. We were made for a perfect home with God.

Jesus promised that anyone who loves Him will obey His teaching. His Father will love them, and they will come to them and make their home with them. God’s ultimate goal is to dwell with His people. Revelation pictures a future where God wipes every tear and makes all things new. Our true home is not a place, but a Person.

You may have chased dreams that led you far from God. His invitation is to come home. He wants to make your heart His dwelling place. This home provides security, love, and purpose that the world can never give. What would it look like for you to open the door and let God make His home in your heart today?

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
(John 14:23, NIV)

Prayer: Ask God to make your heart His home, filling it with His love and purpose.
Challenge: Tell one person about God’s promise to make His home with those who love Him.

Sermon Summary

The Greatest Showman and Mark 10 form a paired reflection on misguided hopes, the limits of worldly success, and the true shape of greatness. The film tracks P.T. Barnum from poverty through fame, showing how charisma, spectacle, and the applause of elites temporarily satisfy longings but never still the deeper hunger. Jenny Lind’s “Never Enough” functions as the movie’s moral center: all the lights, money, and recognition cannot fill an inner emptiness. Barnum’s eventual collapse—his business burning and relationships fraying—sets up a Hollywood turn toward “coming back home,” a return to family and simpler priorities, though the sermon notes that earthly home can itself be broken.

Mark 10 offers a contrasting, biblical case: James and John request seats of honor, revealing ambitions aimed at power, prestige, and comfort. Jesus redirects those ambitions by asking if they can share his cup—pointing to suffering, service, and the cruciform route to true greatness. Jesus reframes greatness not as domination but as humble service: the one who would be first must become slave of all, and the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom.

Isaiah 55 exposes the futility of “buying” satisfaction on the market of fame, riches, or self-soothing pleasures and calls instead to feast on what truly satisfies without cost. Revelation 21 supplies the horizon: God’s dwelling with humanity, the wiping away of tears, and a making-all-things-new that remakes home itself. The juxtaposition of Hollywood’s partial return-home and Scripture’s promise of God as ultimate home presses a conclusion: chasing idols of status, applause, or comfort will always leave a residue of longing, but reorientation toward God’s way—marked by listening, repentance, service, and the reception of God’s transforming presence—reforms desires and offers enduring belonging. A brief, pointed prayer invites recognition of wrong dreams, repentance, and the opening of the heart for God to make a home there.

Key Takeaways

1. Earthly dreams will never satisfy Chasing money, prestige, or applause produces temporary highs that reveal deeper emptiness. The narrative of Barnum and the admonition in Isaiah 55 both insist that labor invested in counterfeit goods yields diminishing returns. Spiritual maturity notices the gap between the hoped-for fulfillment and the persistent ache, and refuses to let fickle popularity stand as the last word. The recognition of insufficiency becomes the first step toward reordering desires toward what truly satisfies.
2. Greatness is redefined as service Ambition aimed at seats of honor misunderstands the economy of God’s kingdom. Jesus flips common metrics: power is realized by giving up power, and true leadership is enacted through sacrificial service. This ethic reshapes choices, calling people to seek influence by bearing burdens rather than grasping privileges. Practically, it asks for decisions that prefer others’ flourishing over self-promotion.
3. Longing for home points to God The pull to “come back home” often masks a deeper yearning for a restored, unbroken belonging. Human homes can comfort and wound, but the ultimate home is a person—the triune God—who dwells with people and makes all things new. Expectation of home thus becomes a spiritual hunger to be at rest in God’s presence and purposes. Cultivating that hunger redirects the pursuit of comfort into the cultivation of abiding relationship.
4. Repentance reorients misplaced ambitions Admitting wrong dreams and turning from them clears space for new affections and practices. Isaiah’s invitation to “eat what is good” and Jesus’ call to follow a servant-king path both require concrete repentance: saying no to hollow pursuits and yes to costly obedience. Repentance is not merely regret but a reformation of will and habit that aligns desire with God’s sustaining gifts.

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: Mark 10:35-45

**Observation questions**

What specific request did James and John make of Jesus, and what did they hope to gain from it?
How did Jesus redefine the concept of "greatness" for his disciples in this passage?
What are the two contrasting models of leadership presented: one from the Gentile rulers and the one Jesus commands?
What was the ultimate purpose Jesus stated for his own life and ministry?

**Interpretation questions**

Why do you think James and John made their request immediately after Jesus predicted his suffering and death? What does this reveal about their understanding of his mission?
Jesus asks if they can "drink the cup" he will drink. What does this "cup" represent, and why is sharing in it a prerequisite for true greatness in his kingdom?
The passage says the other disciples became "indignant" with James and John. What does their reaction suggest about their own hearts and ambitions?
How does the promise of God making everything new and wiping away every tear provide a different horizon for our ambitions compared to worldly success?

**Application questions**

"Never enough" is the anthem of chasing worldly dreams. What is one area of your life—your career, possessions, social status, or even a family ideal—where you have felt the persistent ache of it "never being enough"?
Jesus redirects ambition from being served to serving. What would it look like this week to seek "greatness" by actively looking for one opportunity to serve someone else, especially someone who cannot repay you?
The call is to spend our labor on what satisfies. What is one practical step you can take to "listen" to God this week instead of the noise of the world's promises, perhaps by setting aside time for prayer or reading Scripture?
The idea of "coming back home" points to our deepest longing for belonging with God. When you feel restless or dissatisfied, what is a tangible way you can remind yourself that your true home is found in God's presence rather than in achieving a certain circumstance?
Admitting we have chased wrong dreams is a form of repentance. Is there a specific dream or hope you need to acknowledge as misplaced and turn away from? What would turning towards God's definition of success look like in that area?
True greatness involves being a "slave of all." How does this radical definition challenge the way you view your roles at work, in your family, or in your community? Where is it most difficult for you to embrace this mindset?

Sermon Quotes

All our desires for love, meaning, identity, freedom, security, purpose are breadcrumbs God has put in our hearts.

Every other attempt to get those good hungers met apart from God will fall short — at best a step toward the real thing.

Have you ever woken up and realized you’ve been captured by the wrong hopes and the wrong dreams?

Scripture teaches and our own experience confirms: our dreams are not a reliable guide to the good life.

Chasing the applause and approval of people cannot deliver on the good life you and I were made for.

What do you do when you’ve chased all the wrong dreams and it all comes crashing down on you?

Hollywood’s answer after you’ve realized you’re chasing all the wrong dreams is to come back home.

But what if home is so full of pain and tears and heartache and dysfunctional people that it’s not an easy place to come back to?

We were made for a perfect home with God himself and nothing else will do.

The invitation from the God who created you is to come back home to your creator, the one who loves you and redeems you.

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