What to do When the Dream Seems Dead

Have you ever felt like a dream has died? That there is no tangible way for the desired career, repaired relationship or changed circumstance to ever come to pass?

I have a longing in my heart that’s been there for many moons. I ask the Lord to align my will with His, to remove the desire for this good thing, but alas, it remains…

Today I read about 3 hopeless circumstances:

-a father whose daughter died

-a woman with a 12-year bleeding disorder

-2 men that were blind

These 3 vastly different circumstances held one common thread:

 ✨Belief in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ

They had no clue that this man would personally conquer his own death, but they believed He had the power to bring people back from the dead, to heal sickness & to give sight to the blind!

When Jesus arrives to the home of the little girl , there is a whole lotta funeral commotion happening.

Jesus yells, “Get out! The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

Unlike the faith of the father who begged Jesus to come,  the people laugh at Him. Once they were outside, however, He takes her by the hand & she stands up!

Y’all I don’t know what you are facing today, but I exhort you to remember this:

We serve the ONLY God Who conquered death! There is no other religion that can make this historically documented claim!

These 3 people knew nothing of this! We KNOW He died & rose again on the 3rd day, so why so downcast oh my soul?

Whatever you face today, sickness that needs healing, sight restored, finances replenished, a relationship repaired, or maybe a dream that seems dead, call on The One Who walks in resurrection power to move on your behalf!

Believe like that father!

Believe like the sick woman!

Believe like the blind men!

Father, we come before You this morning & lift up the thing that looks dead to us. We believe in You & ask that You would help us command that lying Devil out of our thoughts to make room for You to proclaim, “This circumstance isn’t dead. It’s only asleep.” Awaken that dream, bring healing, orchestrate reconciliation, provide as Jehovah Jireh. You are the Source of ALL we will ever need so we call on Your name & believe in Your resurrection power, amen!

#OneYearBible

January 13th One Year Bible Readings

GENESIS 28:1-29:35

MATTHEW 9:18-38

PSALM 11:1-7

PROVERBS 3:11-12

Brokenness Isn’t a Bad Thing

I went to bed last night thinking this:

Brokenness isn’t a bad thing.

In our culture of competition & success, the temptation when brokenness surfaces is to:

Resist it

Hide it

Run from it

or even deny it all together.

Yesterday, Markel & I met with one of our team members for our weekly meeting. We nixed the weekly agenda to eat some humble pie by asking how we are doing as managers. How are we helping, how are we hurting & how can we support better. Listening long to honest feedback about yourself isn't fun & yet sometimes, facing the facts of what we might not know is what helps us grow.

A broken & contrite heart is a beautiful thing. It’s like fertile ground excitedly waiting for seeds to be planted so that healthy fruit may abound.

When Jesus went to dinner at Matthew’s house, the Pharisees scoffed & said, “Why does he eat with such scum?”😬

I love His reply: Healthy people don’t need a doctor-sick people do.” Then He rebukes them when He quotes the prophet Hosea:

“… for I have come to call not those who THINK they are righteous but those who KNOW they are sinners.”

Here the Son of the Most High God sits at a table breaking bread with apparently scum-like sinners.

The definition for “scum” means to lose by falling short of what God approves.

Here’s the bottomline. Jesus sat at more tables than He flipped because He knew that we are ALL sinners in need of a Savior!

The problem is that we rely on what we think rather than leaning into what we know.

We think we’re doing good, trying not to lie, cheat or steal, but the thing is, there’s no good that’s good enough to enter heaven without a Savior to cover all of our sins! Just one will keep us from standing before our holy & perfect Father.

Y’all, there is an inordinate freedom that falls when we KNOW that we fall short of the mark God intended. We have missed it & most likely will miss it again on some level.

Father, when we freely confess that we KNOW what we don’t know, then there’s no place to go, but grow! Help us grow in humility, walking in the freedom that comes when we confess we are a sinner in need of saving grace. We don’t need to know it all, because we follow a Savior Who does!

#oneyearbible

January 12 One Year Bible Reading

Genesis 26:17-27:46

Matthew 9:1-17

Psalm 10:16-18

Proverbs 3:9-10

The Design of Satan is to Prejudice People Against the Savior

This morning I read how Jesus saved two demon possessed men who lived in a cemetery & were so violent that people avoided the area. Mark writes that one of the men was so strong that iron chains couldn’t withstand his strength! When Jesus asks the name of the spirit, they reply, “Legion” because there were so many! A legion in the Roman army is a garrison of 6,000 men!

There were so many demons that when Jesus commands them to move their residence from the men to a nearby herd of 2,000 pigs, they enter ALL of them, leading them over a steep hillside to their death in the sea!

The herdsmen leave the scene & soon return with the entire town! What happens next however, has always been a bit of a conundrum to me.

Upon arrival, they find the men, fully clothed sitting at the feet of Jesus in their right minds! These men that couldn’t be bound with iron shackles & chains now sat silently before their Savior.

The towns response?

They beg Jesus to leave!

He saved the men. He saved the town from the torment of these men. What more could He have done to prove Who He was & yet their desire for Him to go was unanimous.

Was it that they loved their pigs so much that they couldn’t see the blessing of their Savior before them?

What was the source of their fear?

What’s fascinating is that the root definition of fear means to withdraw or avoid.

The demons feared Jesus & begged Him to send them away from Him.

The people begged Him to leave their coastline.

I don’t know the why…but here’s the thing:

The design of Satan is to prejudice people against the Savior.

It happened with Adam & Eve.

It happened with Jonah.

& if we’re honest, it has or could happen with us.

The circumstances we face may not be demon possessed men & the loss of pigs, but  that sly serpent hasn’t changed his MO. The enemy will use any circumstance necessary to tempt us to withdraw from The One Who saves!

Father, help us not to love our pigs more than our Provider!  Guard us from fear that temps us to see You as a destroyer rather than our Savior. You know the details of our lives & rather than fearing & turning away we turn face-to-face to You & proclaim our trust in You!

#oneyearbible

January 11th One Year Bible Readings

GENESIS 24:52-26:16

MATTHEW 8:18-34

PSALM 10:1-15

PROVERBS 3:7-8