Did you ever have a dream that went unrealized? Now, I don't mean the kind of dream you have while sleeping. Rather, a deeper sort of passion which stirs within... tumbling, bumbling, whirring and whizzing about when it's all you can think of for a time in your life. Maybe it was when you didn't have the time or the money to put it into place. Maybe it was when you didn't have the independence or the freedom to make your own choices. Maybe you began it and somewhere along the way got distracted, or bogged down with life's many daily drudgeries. And your dream just lost it's tumbling, bumbling, whirring and whizzing fervor, when it got stuffed into a dull gray dusty corner somewhere. I know the disappointment, I know the loss and feel of lack. Believe me, I've got more dusty dreams than I care to count. I try to tell myself I'll get them all done someday. But the tomorrows just keep rolling past me. I know all the pep talks, I've given them to myself. I've read all the self-help blogs and tried all the goal setting tips. Why am I the one who can't finish? I want to encourage you to pick up your dream, dust it off and start dreaming again. But if I don't do the same for mine, then what kind of friend am I? I'm certain that God planted within each of us seeds of dreams which were meant to be grown into the fullness of purpose. And I know these are not just for our own selves but for those whose lives we can influence around us. So when I came across this word from Paul today, I was hit smack between the eyes... And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. 2 Corinthians 8:10-12 NKJV I really think Paul is telling me... telling those of us who have dropped our dreams, is to stop listening to the lie which says that we missed our opportunity; the lie that it's too late for us to begin again. I think he is encouraging us to dig up our dream, to consider it again... even if we didn't finish before. Good Heavens! We've grown since then, we've learned things, and become more prepared. If God has given us a willing mind and the passion within... He can provide all we need to fulfill our purpose. And if we are destined to serve His kingdom, then what He planned for us to do, what He planned for us to give... will serve the needs of others. For His plan in our lives always gives room, not only for grace to us, but grace through us. Hard work. Action, Gratitude. Grace, grace and more grace. Yes toward others, but also to ourselves. These are things we need to build within our daily practice. But we must realize our hard work will come with a price. We will need to serve others without reward or notice. For their approval is not why we were given a dream in God's plan. But God always provides in His own way... When God took care of the Israelites in the wilderness for the forty years He provided the miracle of manna. It was this white puffy substance that appeared on the ground like dew in the morning and the people were to gather only one day's worth. If they gathered more and tried to store it up, any that remained would spoil... or corrupt. There was no hoarding, no stashing, no selfishness, nor greed. No one could think only of themselves, nor profit from it. It simply wasn't how God intended manna to supply their needs. God wanted them to rely completely upon Him, DAILY. So it is. when God gives us ideas, when God plants a dream in us. They are to be gathered now, for our daily supply. We may not be stepping into the Promise Land of the Dream yet, but we must gather daily what He gives, putting the thoughts and ideas into some form of action. If we try to store them up, or stash them away, they will spoil. They won't mean the same later, They won't have the same impact the same purpose, even the same intended audience God planned for us to reach... later. Remember... as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. If God tilled the soil of our heart, this readiness for the dream, it is the seed of desire. He also then, already created within us the strength and determination to fulfill it... our purpose for His kingdom's sake. I say it's time we started stirring tumbling, bumbling, whirring and whizzing about until everyone knows that our dream is about to come true! Let's dig up that dusty dream and renew the fervor we once had. Word of God train me today... To never give up on the dream You planted in me. To constantly till the soil of my heart, nurture and fertilize the plantings, so that You grow me into the fulness of purpose planned for me in the Kingdom of God.
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January 2019
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