I love Christmas, and especially Easter Sunday with its message of the power of the Resurrection. But I also LOVE New Year's Eve, and the creating of my Dreams/Plans/Goals for the coming year.
There is POWER in ANTICIPATION. Anticipating good is equivalent, practically, to running a mile. It's good for your heart, and helpful if you want a healthy mindset.
"The expectation of the righteous is ONLY good" it says in Proverbs. Whether you use the word "hope" or "expectation" in that verse, remember to expect, always, good from God.
When I was little, my Dad, who is a coach (once a coach, always a coach) used to yell out to his players on the field "Anticipate!!" Shame on you if you weren't ready for, and expecting, the ball!
I am anticpating a good year, a year of challenge, and dreams and goals fulfilled. Of course there will be problems and trials in 2006, but my eyes are on the good that I am expecting. After all, "the expectation of the righteous is ONLY GOOD"
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
I'm looking for a sign, a kind of heavenly nudge. I don't want to be too blind or God may have to shake me up a bit so I can see better- as if I were one of those snow globes that after shaking, the snow settles down and all is clear again. I'd like to be clear thinking, but not too sane, if you know what I mean. Sane thinking can be too benign and boring. Outrageous thinking is what I'm after. So perhaps I'll need an outrageous sign. The world got that kind of sign when Jesus was born, settling into a hay encrusted manger. Outrageous humility.
"Sign, sign, every where a sign...do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?" Who wrote that song? It's true, though. There are signs form God everywhere.
I'm off...to read the signs.
"Sign, sign, every where a sign...do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?" Who wrote that song? It's true, though. There are signs form God everywhere.
I'm off...to read the signs.
Are you seeking a sign?
"And this shall be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." Luke 2:12
When God announces good news to you, to the world, He makes it plain and clear. He isn't interested in playing Hide N Seek, and having you search in frustration and fear.His motive is that you FIND what you're looking for, what He has caused you to look for.
If you're looking for a way to fulfil your dream, a way to carry out your destiny, God is WITH you on this. He'll provide a sign, a way to see and discern His presence, without charge. It's free. It's available.
This holy season is a time of wonder- or it should be. We should be marveling at the way God not only brought the Savior into the world, but HOW He directed us all to this fact. There were signs. There have always been signs and wonders.
Open your eyes. The sign is before you.
"And this shall be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." Luke 2:12
When God announces good news to you, to the world, He makes it plain and clear. He isn't interested in playing Hide N Seek, and having you search in frustration and fear.His motive is that you FIND what you're looking for, what He has caused you to look for.
If you're looking for a way to fulfil your dream, a way to carry out your destiny, God is WITH you on this. He'll provide a sign, a way to see and discern His presence, without charge. It's free. It's available.
This holy season is a time of wonder- or it should be. We should be marveling at the way God not only brought the Savior into the world, but HOW He directed us all to this fact. There were signs. There have always been signs and wonders.
Open your eyes. The sign is before you.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Your Dream
We do our BEST work out of Motivation, not frustration. And motivation has to do with something that bursts within you, something that flames inside and compels you onward. Motivation has to do with what you're anointed for.
Part of the combustible mixture of FAITH FUEL is the ingredient of anointing. Even the Savior, Himself, identified the ingredient of being intrinsically motivated, rather than externally compelled, in the outpouring of His ministry. The prophetic passage in Isaiah 61:1 begins "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings..."
When you're anointed to do something significant in this life, you sense a call of being set apart for something. In the Old Testament, to anoint a priest they would smear him with sacred oil. You could smell this fragrant oil. You could tell when someone was anointed.
People should be able to tell that you're anointed for something. Maybe not in a visible, obvious way, but there should be something they "sense" about you. Significant key people in your life, whom you uphold and respect- these key people might identify something about you, even if they can't quite put it into words.
NOTICE when someone is drawn to you for positive reasons. Notice when you are asked to do certain things more often than other things. Start to discern what God's anointing on your life is about. It will show up in the area of your giftings and talents, but not necessarily in the most dramatic and obvious of ways. After all, Jesus came into this world as a helpless baby, and spent years in almost obscurity before He evidenced who He was and what His calling and anointing were all about.
The thing that has motivated you since you were a child may be dormant in you. It may have gotten pushed to the side if you had desperate other needs that related to being extrinsically motivated, rather than internally motivated from the flame that God has put inside you.
Our best and highest motivation should have to do with works of good in this life. As in Jesus' calling, we too have a calling that has to do with sharing good news, helping heal the brokenhearted, bringing about liberty of the oppressed, comforting, consoling, giving.... These actions are all identified in the Isaiah 61 passage, and they should be identified in our lives as well.
Your Dream should have this quality to it. Not only will you be exploring and pressing onward in the area of your gifting and vision, but you will also be pressing onward and higher for the sake of those you've been called to help.
Help comes in many ways. You may be helping in a direct way, or helping as a role model and inspiration to many. Don't decide before hand how this will take place. Just know that the Dream inside you, if from God, will never be just about you and your needs, your abilities.
It's much bigger than that.
Part of the combustible mixture of FAITH FUEL is the ingredient of anointing. Even the Savior, Himself, identified the ingredient of being intrinsically motivated, rather than externally compelled, in the outpouring of His ministry. The prophetic passage in Isaiah 61:1 begins "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings..."
When you're anointed to do something significant in this life, you sense a call of being set apart for something. In the Old Testament, to anoint a priest they would smear him with sacred oil. You could smell this fragrant oil. You could tell when someone was anointed.
People should be able to tell that you're anointed for something. Maybe not in a visible, obvious way, but there should be something they "sense" about you. Significant key people in your life, whom you uphold and respect- these key people might identify something about you, even if they can't quite put it into words.
NOTICE when someone is drawn to you for positive reasons. Notice when you are asked to do certain things more often than other things. Start to discern what God's anointing on your life is about. It will show up in the area of your giftings and talents, but not necessarily in the most dramatic and obvious of ways. After all, Jesus came into this world as a helpless baby, and spent years in almost obscurity before He evidenced who He was and what His calling and anointing were all about.
The thing that has motivated you since you were a child may be dormant in you. It may have gotten pushed to the side if you had desperate other needs that related to being extrinsically motivated, rather than internally motivated from the flame that God has put inside you.
Our best and highest motivation should have to do with works of good in this life. As in Jesus' calling, we too have a calling that has to do with sharing good news, helping heal the brokenhearted, bringing about liberty of the oppressed, comforting, consoling, giving.... These actions are all identified in the Isaiah 61 passage, and they should be identified in our lives as well.
Your Dream should have this quality to it. Not only will you be exploring and pressing onward in the area of your gifting and vision, but you will also be pressing onward and higher for the sake of those you've been called to help.
Help comes in many ways. You may be helping in a direct way, or helping as a role model and inspiration to many. Don't decide before hand how this will take place. Just know that the Dream inside you, if from God, will never be just about you and your needs, your abilities.
It's much bigger than that.
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