Ask God to Give You a Dream

'...Your old men shall dream dreams...' Joel 2:28 NKJV

Good Morning,

Have you ever had a dream and wondered what it meant? The Bible says, 'Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.' When God gives you a dream, He gives you the resources and relationships needed to fulfill it. Not everybody will believe in your dream. Paul writes, 'What if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar...' (Romans 3:3-4 NKJV) If your dream is from God, disregard the naysayers and give yourself fully to it. Just be sure your dream is from God. It can't be born out of somebody else's wishes. Sometimes your dream is actually somebody else's desire for you. Parents do this. They want to relive some part of their life through you, so they push you to do something they themselves always wanted to do. That sets you up for a lifetime of trying to please your father and mother, to get their approval even though you're now an adult. Then one day you wake up and realize you're trying to live somebody else's dream. It may actually have been God's plan for your mother or father, but now you're stuck with it. Get unstuck! Ask God for your own dream! Your dream can't be born out of wrong motives such as pride, jealousy, anger, rejection or competitiveness. Are you trying to prove something to somebody? Are you trying to win their admiration and respect? Are you trying to make up for being rejected? Acknowledge your motives, ask God to heal your heart, then ask Him for a dream that He will back up! When you do that, you've just opened the door for a powerful ministry that was developed because God gave it to....

Heart Revelations

'...try me, and know my thoughts.' Psalm 139:23 KJV

Good Morning,
As I was praying this morning God just tugged at me and said try me. I thought ok what does that mean? Then Psalm 139 came to mind where it says
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts" Our character is not revealed just by our actions, but by our reactions. Actions can be planned, but reactions are spontaneous. They give us a glimpse of what's really in our heart. At that point we can look at it and deal with it. Who among us would readily admit that at times we're greedy, lustful, controlling or insecure? Or resentful of the blessing of God that's evident in the lives of others? When the Psalmist prayed, 'Try me, and know my thoughts', he was inviting God to create the circumstances that would bring to the surface in him all the 'junk' at the bottom of the lake of his subconscious, hidden from view-not only from the eyes of other people but also from his own eyes. Paul writes to the believers in Galatia and says, 'My dear children! I feel as if I'm going through labor pains for you...and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives.' (Galatians 4:19 NLT) Note the words 'until Christ is fully developed in your lives'. That calls for a re-sensitized conscience and a redirected will. During the reign of Oliver Cromwell the English government ran low on the silver it needed to make coins. So Cromwell sent his men into the cathedrals to search for some. They reported back that the only silver they could find was in the statues of the saints standing in the corners. 'Good,' Cromwell reportedly said, 'let's melt down the saints and put them into circulation.' That's what we need, isn't it? To be melted by God, filled with His Spirit, and put into circulation.

Your Breakthrough!

'[The] One who breaks open the way will go up before [you]...' Micah 2:13 NIV

Are you thinking, 'If I don't get a breakthrough, I'm not going to make it?' Try to understand these two things. First, your problem is just an opportunity for God to work on your behalf. You are positioned to experience the truth of these words: '[The] One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the Lord at their head.' By God's grace you can prevail over your circumstances. You can rise above discouragement and the self-defeating mentality that says: 'Nothing's going to change for the better'. You say, 'But I tried and failed!' Fine, mark that off your list and say, 'Now I know what doesn't work.' Rejoice, God knows the way, and He's going before you! Second, before you experience a breakthrough there's usually a shake-up. Chuck Yeager, the World War II hero who broke the sound barrier, fractured his ribs in a horse-riding accident the day before he hopped into the cockpit and attempted to do what had never been done with a plane before. His friends said, 'You're in too much pain. Don't do it.' His fears told him, 'Nobody's ever done it before. You won't either.' At 1100 m/hr the plane began to shake violently. Then suddenly he broke through into what he described as 'a great calm'. That's how it is when you're about to experience a breakthrough. When everything around you starts to shake and your fear level skyrockets, you're not about to crash and burn, you're on the threshold of a breakthrough!

Commit Yourself!

'...all forsook me... But the Lord stood with me...' 2 Timothy 4:16-17 NKJV

Good Morning,

Sorry I missed yesterday's devotional but I haven't taken a Monday off in a while and needed too. So I'm back in the saddle so to say ready and committed. Read these words slowly and carefully: 'Until I am committed there is a hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also and a whole stream of events begin. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, people, and material assistance of which I never dreamed, begin to move towards me.' So commit yourself! When others refuse to go with you, commitment means going on alone. Daniel dined and prayed alone. Elijah sacrificed and witnessed alone. Jeremiah prophesied and wept alone. Paul said, 'No one stood with me, but all forsook me... But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me... and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.' It's at the point of commitment, and not before, that God intervenes on our behalf. When the three Hebrew children made a commitment not to bow to the king's idols, God brought them out of the fiery furnace without even the smell of smoke. Indeed, King Nebuchadnezzar was so impressed that he said, '...there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.' (Daniel 3:29 NAS) What do you believe God has called you to do with your life? Obey Him. Step out in faith and do it. If you're afraid, read these words: 'I'd rather be ashes than dust. I'd rather my spark burn out than that it should be stifled by dry rot. The proper function of my life is to live, not exist. So I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use every moment.'

Grow Up

'Let us cross over to the other side' Mark 4:35

Good morning,

Thank you for your prayers as Amy and made it safely back from Seattle yesterday after her doctors appt. Please continue to pray for health and healing.There are times when Jesus just tells us to grow up! Jesus gave His disciples special inside knowledge and understanding on stuff He was saying, which gave them a buzz of excitement or a headache, like their brain couldn't develop fast enough to fit the information in. Then they had experiences like the day Jesus said to them, 'Let's cross over to the other side..' so off they sailed, but it was no easy trip: 'A fierce storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water' (Mark 4:37). They were petrified, their short lives flashing before their eyes. Jesus wasn't at all scared though - they had to wake Him up before He saw the commotion. Then they watched in amazement as Jesus told the weather to 'pack it in' and it did! But then Jesus made them all realize that they needed to grow up, 'Why are you so afraid?' He said. 'Do you still not have faith in me?' What God wants for us all is that we, 'no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead ... grow up' (Eph 4:14). Jesus wants you to grow up, trusting Him in every situation no matter how stormy life gets, trusting His words no matter how many people rock the boat with their untruths, trusting Him no matter how many people try to blow us off course. Thats true trust in Christ...

Doing What You're Supposed to Do

'...everyone's work will be put through the fire...' 1 Corinthians 3:13 TLB
Good morning,

We've been talking about stewardship on Sunday's, and one of the questions I've asked is what are you doing with what Gods given you? I love jokes so here we go...One day an ox said to a mule, 'Let's pretend to be sick.' The mule said, 'No, we need to get this work done.' The ox feigned illness, and the farmer brought him fresh hay. When the mule came in from ploughing, the ox asked how things went and the mule said, 'All right.' The ox asked, 'What did the farmer say about me?' The mule replied, 'Nothing.' The next day the ox pretended to be ill again. When the mule came home the ox asked, 'How did it go?' The mule said, 'All right.' After a week of this, the ox asked, 'Did the farmer say anything about me today?' The mule replied, 'Well, he said nothing to me personally, but he stopped and had a long talk with the butcher!' Understand this: you were born to fulfill a divine purpose. When you don't, there are consequences, both here and in eternity. Paul focused on his calling. Shortly before he was executed he wrote, 'I have finished the race...' (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV) Notice, Paul didn't retire, he 'finished'! In the parable of the talents, the man who buried his talent paid a high price. That's because in God's eyes the greatest failure of all is failure to invest the time, talent and treasure He's given you into His purposes. One day your life will be audited. It's called 'the judgment seat of Christ'. Paul writes, everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). So let's give everything we have to Him...you won't regret it!

Don't Jump to Conclusions

'I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue...' Psalm 39:1 NAS
Yesterday we looked at Philippians 2 were Paul asked the Philippians to watch what they said. He told them to "Do everything without grumbling and complaining." Psalm 39: 1 says to "guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue" We all fail from time to time in this, even the best of us. When John D. Rockefeller ran the Standard Oil Company one of his senior executives made a mistake that cost over $2 million. The other executives thought Rockefeller would come down heavy on him and probably fire him. But he didn't. Before he called the man in, he sat down, took a notepad and wrote across the top of it: 'Points in favor of this man'. Then he listed the man's strengths, including how he'd once helped the company make the right decision and earn them millions of dollars. One of the senior executives who witnessed it later said, 'Whenever I am tempted to rip into someone, I force myself to sit down and compile a list of the good qualities they have. By the time I have finished, I have the right perspective. And best of all, my anger is under control. I can't tell you how many times this habit has prevented me from committing one of life's costliest mistakes-losing my temper. I recommend it to anyone who must deal with people.' So before you jump to conclusions about someone, stop and ask God for wisdom, then sit down and make a list of their best qualities. If you do you'll often come to a different conclusion. One thing is for sure, you'll approach them with the right attitude and you won't say things you'll later regret. Obviously the Psalmist had learned that lesson: 'I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue.'