Crazy Dreams

Have you ever had one of those dreams where it seems
to rip your heart in two and then you wake up screaming?
Well that was my night, that was my moment and it shows you
that sometimes dreams can tell you a lot about your fears. Fears have this crazy way of trying to tell you or dictate to you what you can and can't do subconsciously. You start to realize that maybe your own fear of rejection etc. just might dictate some of your life choices and behaviours. Those very struggles are the kinds of weeds that can strangle the potential for amazing blessings in Christ Jesus. God calls His children to step into the garden of our fears, hopes and dreams and pull out the weeds of despair, anxiety, loneliness, discouragement and pursue what God has planned for our lives. What He designs is far better than what we come up with and how we deal with our troubles and trials in life. He is the perfect farmer, knowing just when to plant the right seeds at the right time and when to cultivate and harvest.

The Little Things

We so often want a grandiose change, something sudden, awe inspiring and pivotal but surprisingly enough, some times the greatest change is in the little things that cause a big tipping point. I remember when I was younger, I thought of how amazing it would be to be like samson from the bible, a superhero, someone with massive strength! You daydream and imagine, thinking of all the cool things you would or should do. Laying down in a field of dreams and just chuckling at different ideas that pass through your mind like clouds dancing across the sky on a windy day.

As you grow up you realize that some amazing things can happen by dedication, courage and determination, not to say that God doesn't do miracles in any way but we are held with gifts and each according to His plan, now the question is do we bury them and do nothing or do we cultivate them, tend to them and watch them grow. I began training extremely hard after my stroke happened and learning to do everything over was no small task and by God's grace I overcame and am overcoming huge obstacles. Currently I'm training five days a week and seeing a huge improvement but not without blood, sweat and tears. The profound thing is this, even in my weakness I was determined, focused, purposefully pushing forward no matter what; little by little I've come to the point I'm at, and it is paramount. I look back and realize that I've done what seemed literally impossible and what has taken root is more than strength in muscles but rather strength in character, in diligence and fortitude. Now that's a change I would never take back...
I faced a lion of improbable victory and came out the winner and so can you by God's grace.

Purpose Of Hope

I'm Not A Random Act Of

Mathematical Improbabilities

But Rather A Precious

Created Human Being

That Has A Purpose And A Life Beyond The Flaws

Of Humanity And Understanding.

God Created Me With A Purpose

And With His Amazing Grace

And I'm Loved Beyond My Mistakes,

Beyond My Accolades

And Far Beyond

My Present Understandings.

Whatever This Life Holds,

It's Like Shifting Sands That Suddenly Fade

With The Winds Of Change.

The Beauty Is Knowing The Life You Have

Is A Tremendous Gift

And The Time To Invest In

The Joy Of That Very Blessing

Is Now.

                                                               By Ernie Kasper

Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 

 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 

 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Your Cares, His Strength

     I remember as a teenager how burdened I felt, how depressed I often was, I felt the world was too big and I was nothing in all of it. I was always the one last picked in every game at school, chuckled at when I ran, walked, talked, laughed etc. I was the misfit who always felt unfit for acceptance. Those days were trying, difficult and extremely lonely days of hurt and pain; often I was praying and asking God for the help and strength to go through another day of bullying, rejection and so forth. One night as I was praying I remember seeing this verse and it really hit home for me, I simply need to cast my anxiety and my worries to Him because He CARES for me. That was a powerful moment, it didn't say that all heartache and rejection would simply fade away. What was important; what was the paramount thing to understand was this: God Cares For You... 

The World tells you if you want God to listen to you, then you need to earn it!

Well here is the beauty in a relationship with God who dearly loves us and like a father only wishes to give good things; His grace is sufficient and His love for us is relentlessly perfect. God sent His son into the world to set us free from the debt we owed, the price we could not pay, our tresspasses, our sins. When Jesus died on that cross He died for you and me and when He resurrected He established a right standing with God. You were worth that cost, that profound sacrifice, that amazing grace that was undeserved and yet it was freely given. So remember this, you are loved and God desires us to trust in Him; no matter the storm, the trials, the persecution. It's not a road intended for the blessings of earthly things but rather the joy in God's purpose, to reach the lost with the saviour! God takes care of His children and He will take care of you...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

                                                                                        Proverbs 3:5

Under A Thousand Tears

   Sometimes we bear the weight of our deepest fears in silence. We put on a brave face and all the while we cry on the inside, we break into pieces, thinking, pondering, wondering if anyone knows our pain and do they really care. The bible says this in Psalms

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
                              Psalm 34:17-19
     The comfort we receive is in this very thing, that God is ever attentive, He is ever prepared to easily overcome anything we are enduring. He promises that He will deliver us out of all our afflictions. The great joy we receive is in knowing that God stands by His word, even to the cross! His mercy is ever enduring, ever compassionate and full of love and joy. We have hope because God does exactly as He promises and has never failed, His record is 100 percent perfect and He knows exactly everything there is to know about you and how to make all things new in His perfect grace. So take hope in this very thing, you are loved and that love that is so profound that it causes us to soar above the impossible, to do the very things we thought would leave us in the dust of weakness. God delivers! God Heals! God Restores! God Renews!

 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
                               Isaiah 40:31

Take The Step

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

Never Give Up

Never give up on doing good, keep pressing forward and hold onto God's promises!

By Design

Psalm 139:16

You saw me before I was born.

    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

    before a single day had passed.

That is the beauty of knowing God, knowing that He knows everything, past, present and future and yet with all that information, all that knowledge of our rights and wrongs, He loves us deeply and with such devoted grace through Jesus Christ his son. Never forget that He has everything perfectly planned out and what He sets in place, no one can silence, smother, crush or destroy...

Overwhelmed

The Tipping Point...

There always is that moment when something little may have just broke the camels back on patience. You are doing great and BAM someone yells at you from another car or you have little mishaps along your day and they put you off a little bit until something hits a tender spot in your life. You start thinking negative, you start speaking out things like "Of course this was going to happen!" or "Go figure!" when easily before you were in the mindset of  "It's okay, just a small bumped in the road, don't sweat the small stuff."
It can easily be just one domino that starts the whole thing in motion and that is the place where grace is so important, so precious and valuable, knowing that things do happen and we fall sometimes and it's those times we need forgiveness. Beating yourself up over a tough situation doesn't help anyone and it surely won't help you get back up and shake the dust off of a bad moment and learn to step forward. The sign of a good boxer is on how well he or she can take getting knocked down. Will they get in the ring and practice and learn from their mistakes and become better or will they just sit in the corner and complain about how useless they were in the ring. Our duty is to look to God for hope and encouragement and when we fall, He wants us to know that He is there for us because that's what a father wants, to be trusted, to be counted on, to be a source of wisdom and encouragement.

Isaiah 41:10: "Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" (NLT).