What Dreams May Come

On a return flight home after a week of happily enduring the blistering cold of the Rockies, I joined in the customary year-end reflection of sizing up the former year, and making determined decisions for the year to come. Admittedly, I sensed the normal skepticism in my goals: achievable, practical, and expected. As I continued to draft my expected 2009 goals, something nagged within me. I wanted to write the desires of my heart upon the page. I wanted the fore longed desires of my heart to be ranked among the achievable, the practical, and the expected. Do I dare believe the dreams that brink on the impossible could be achieved through goal setting? Romanticism has taught me all-to- well that the impossible is hung in the stars and only graces the few or the lucky. But a thought passed through my mind of a quote I have often heard Bill Johnson speak; “I can no longer afford to have any thoughts that are not of the Kingdom.” I must admit, the currency of worldly romanticism has left me with an impoverished mentality—and it is bankrupting my dreams. I find the world offering my dreams a similar fate to that of the French Franc coins sitting in my sock drawer. They represent a currency I once valued, but now are absorbed into a system that has striped it from its vitality--diluted in the hope of becoming stronger through compromise. I have no political ploy within my analogy, just simple reflection of how change is justified and aspirations birthed in passion can wane with time if not nurtured by truth and watered with hope.

So sitting there in plane, I pressed into the Kingdom knowing my mindset needed to change. A thought occurred: if nothing happens in the Kingdom expect through declaration, then what must be my declaration for 2009?

“The year dreams come true.”

Such a lofty thing to hear: dreams coming true. But the idea burned within me. Sitting there in the noisy silence of the plane as I stared at my laptop sitting on the tray table, the cursor blinked--waiting for me to write down my declaration. I found myself smiling.

“The year dreams come true.” There it was in black and white. Simple but demanding so much faith. I quickly began to chase my thoughts: the impossibilities, the “greater things”, and my deepest heart desires. Content in my moment of revelation, I wrote them down.

As I found myself in bed that night, I thanked God for His promise and mustered the faith to willingly agree to place my dreams in the “achievable category.” Little did I know, the confirmation of this declaration that was awaiting me.

The next day held conversations and discussions of letting go 2008, as we begin to embrace the unknown good intentions God has for us in 2009--including our dreams coming true. Monday started with a conversation about never letting money get in the way of your dreams and a recommendation to read a book called “Dream Manager.” Tuesday brought a card with an inscription telling me it was a perfect day for dreams to come true. Wednesday did not relent as I turned on the car and the radio blared “Sweet dreams are made of these” only to be followed on Thursday morning with me turning on the TV to find before my eyes the movie, “What Dreams May Come.” I could dismiss, discount, and even disbelieve these signs – but why? God is speaking. God is promising.
If a good father would not give his child a scorpion when he asks for bread, how much more so would our Heavenly Father love to adorn us with our heart’s desire?

Heart’s desire—dreams. They seem selfish by definition unless we know our identity. Christ within in me is the hope of glory. A phrase that I am still learning to unravel, but is poignant nonetheless to make clear that Christ lives within us. The Son of God lives in me. Saturated by His presence and plagued with obedience, my identity allows me to know my heart’s desires are His and His are mine.

If my dreams to are to be achievable but hold an element of impossibility, what goals do I set? Herein lays a key, in order for dreams to come true they must emerge out of covenant. The world offers inconsistent companionship and teaches us to labor onto own desires to demonstrate favor and ability.
The result is often compromise, disillusion out of competition, and disappointment as our own ability fails us one way or another. Dreams fade as we lose hope in ourselves and others. Dreams are made up of relationships and our wounds have bankrupted us.

There is a cost to dreams. It takes a partnership to see them filled. Dreams always involve some one, some thing, or somewhere; all of which takes more than one person to achieve. Then if you add the element of the impossibility or even something just beyond your reach, how much more so is a partnership with God needed. God offers relationship. He created us as vessels designed to contain grace. That grace provides the ability to participate in divine nature.

Dreams could be defined as goals that require grace. Grace through faith; faith in a covenant keeping God.

Some of my fondest memories are the Saturday mornings I spent a decade ago weeping on the dirt oiled stained concrete floor of an inner city ministry. My face smudged with tears and dirt stains, and my body curled in a fetal position. There I was in the midst of world desperate for God, and the only place I could find of value was to lie before Him. There I began to know Him. Within year of those precious Saturday mornings, the door to my heart’s desire to travel the world began to open. The dream was achieved through relationship.

I will cry out; He will hear me. I will seek; He will I find. I will knock; He will answer. I will ask; He will give. The investment of love, faith, and hope becomes the currency in which dreams are made real. Discovering covenant relationship and the power that lies within maybe the key to His people entering into fullness of the promised glory of heaven on earth.

The year dreams come true.
Psalm 21:2

There She Is

There she is
I have dreamt of her

There she is
O'Arise my friend

There she is
Eyes no longer blur

There she is
Let the fear resend

There she is
No time to defer

There she is
There she is
There she is in the mirror.

Sweet Dreams are Made of These

January 1, 2009 seems a fitting time to start blogging again.

I heard on the plane returning from Montana to Altanta on 12/27/08 that 2009 will be a year that dreams come true. Then each day following I had random SWEET kiss from heaven happen confirm His voice. First, "dreams coming true" was mentioned multiple times in discussion, then the next day someone recommends a book called "Dream Manager," then the following day I receive a card with the inscription telling me it is the perfect day for dreams to come true, then the next day I start my car to the radio blaring the song "Sweet dremas are made of these," and then today I turn on the TV to watch a movie and find it playing "What Dreams May Come."

I can't wait for another kiss!

This is too fun! God speakng. God promising. I could discount, dismiss, and disbelive-- but why. It is the lover of my soul who spoke of His Father being the one who never gives His children a bad gift. If a good father would never give a scorpion in place of the requested bread -- how much so can I count on My Heavenly Father giving me the dreams of my heart.

2009 -- may heaven and earth hear my voice proclaim: I believe this is the year dreams come true.

Weapons or Tools?

Embracing the power of words has sent me down a trail of seeking for more. Thoughts have become more than passing dreams or impressions--they are becoming the motive to shape my world. And words are distinctly my weapon of choice to achieve my hopes. But--maybe there is one step further into revelation I must journey -- allowing words to become tools not weapons.

Why do I view words as a "weapons" of choice? Am I a person on defense, not understanding the power of His resurrection? Have words become my shield not sword? Has the power of words be relegated to the belief I am the tail...not the head?

We all know that sticks and stones do break bones, but worse yet words can ever hurt you. My words can be dangerous -- they have direct impact. In the circle of friends I run in, we love to joke and play around with words, but every so often the tone of the conversation will momentarily change and someone will say, "don't speak that over yourself." Why at one comment out of a hundred, in the midst of fun and intimate banter, would we stop one another from speaking certain words? There must be something more riding on our words. We recognize the power of death, but have we not pushed in along enough to witness the power of life?

What if words become tools to craft heaven on earth; what if words become the paint brushes to color the realities of the world; what if words took the offense and spent more time shaping than redefining; what if words set me free instead of coercing me into submission.

Out of the heart the mouth speaks. Does it come down to who does He say that I am? A solider fighting my way to the heavenly gates or the co-heir seated in heavenly places? A sinner saved by grace or a saint that was saved by His love and mercy through grace?

Words.

Words of Life

To my surprise, posting has been difficult for me. I have discovered I am still rooting out "perfection." Which is the polite way to say...I am still dealing with fear of man. Ugh! Words are not hard for me to come by; but knowing that they will be written for all to see...causes me to pause a bit before I declare my thoughts for my faithful friends to view and ponder. Guess I am avoiding accountability!

Anyway--this morning is worth writing about.

I was laying in bed this morning--not waiting to drag myself out of bed at 5:30am to start my morning routine, so I found justification to lay in bed just a bit long by asking Papa why I was struggling so much with the basics--ya know...the classics-- feeling undisciplined, lack of accomplishing the goals I have set before me, not seeing my dreams fulfilled...blah blah blah. So, I asked Him the straight question, "what lie am I believing?"

Then the answer came. Remember it's now about 6am...after my 30 minute dumping session of "woe is me." It's still early...so the response I heard was one I am certain I did not think up on my own.

The answer I heard, "you believe the lie that "this" is all you have been allotted in life and now it is a matter of stewardship. anything extra is simply overflow from the goodness of those around you."

Smack! wow, wasn't ready for that one.

But it is true. I was believing the lie that dreams are simply that...just dreams. Funny coming from a girl whose dreams have come true--quite literally. Worse yet, because I believed that God had allotted me just "so much" from His Kingdom I grew complacent--and heart sick. Complacency bred out of believing that "this is it"...is horrifying.

Let's see if I can break this down. I am child of the Most High God. Given authority --keys to the kingdom-- that enable me to bring heaven on earth. Through the price His Son paid for me I have been given authority in my words--they speak life or death. So, if I believe a lie in any area of my life, I start walking out that lie and it breeds complacency--in my case it sounded like this "God is good; I know Him; I hear Him; I guess I just need to learn to be content." That lie is the lie that made my heart sick with deferred hope.

Amazing! God so loved us and made us in His image that even He does not dishonor His creation by overriding the words of our mouth. Instead He he honors His gift to us by allowing the words we speak to take shape. If I speak complacency...my whole life submits to those words. I begin to walk life out in the tenor of a plateau.If I believe that "this is it"...then my body, my emotions, and my mind look for ways to confirm my words. Instead of looking (as Graham Cooke says) for the Hand of Kindness coming toward me each day I was looking for the hand of disappointment to prove my words to be true.

Now, this really got me going. So, I quickly responded by asking for forgiveness and then I asked Papa another question. "So, what's the truth?"

Truth, "My love is enduring and I will never forsake you. I gave you the power of life and death in your tongue. You can continue as you are and out of My love I will bless you. If you want more, then it is time for you to speak more; I have already made provision for it."

Now that was a wake up call...literally. Could the shape of my life be dependent upon my words??

My life is bound by the Word. And since the Word now lives in me, the power to change my life is within me. If I want more, it is time to go beyond hoping...it is time to speak the "more." I get it... PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS for the Kingdom of God is at Hand!

My Longing

May the "girls" be proud. I have stepped into the word that was set before me. They inspired me to embrace what He called good. So I write.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

There is something precious I am contending for...there is a secret I am desperate to understand. It is the divine salve and the application thereof that has been applied to my heart so many times as it has grown sick from watching the doors of my life open to such incredible wonders, but have yet to enter the chamber of my deepest heart's desire.

I will not be content until the tree of life is producing healing in its leaves.

I don't know where this blogging will take me, but I commit to unveil the thoughts that provoke me to go deeper, thoughts that inspire me to listen harder, and thoughts that cause me to--unfailingly -- hope greater.

I will not be content until the tree of life is producing healing in its leaves.