Align Your Dreams with God's Purpose
What do you think of when you read 2 Timothy 1: 9 and a portion of vs 8 - God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began?
Are you confident that you KNOW God has called you with a holy calling?
And scripture emphasizes this when it tells us about God calling Jeremiah in chapter 1 verse 5: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
And in Psalm 139: 13-18, David the King and Worshiper helps us know how the Lord thinks of us:
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
The first step in aligning our dreams with God's purpose for our life involves understanding He actually knows us and has a purpose for us. Then we must let go of our preconceived ideas of what life "should" look like. And it isn't just a onetime surrender, but a daily laying down of the lure of the world's offerings to our carnal nature.
On a side note, I once hear a minister say they did some rough calculating about the number of the grains of sand. It was over 1,000,000 grains of sand for EACH person. Think of it! Today, the thoughts God had toward you numbered close to a MILLION!
What is God's Vision for Your Life?
Do you know God's vision for your life? And, if you don't, how do you figure that out?
I've talked a lot about some of the will of God for your life in recent articles, so I won't go into great detail here. But I believe there's great value in looking at what a few scriptures say about God's general vision/will for us.
There's no way I can list all the verses about God's will here, but I think these are a good starting place.
Biblical Examples
Yet beyond God's general will, it appears there is likely to be a specific will for our lives as well. We only have to look at the people mentioned in the Bible to know the Lord chooses people to carry out His plans in a specific way.
- Jesus chose 12 men out of all the disciples who followed Him.
- Jesus said Mary's worship was to be recounted wherever the Gospel was preached.
- Saul, on his way to persecute believers, was stopped in his tracks and called to the Gentile nations.
- Peter, hungry and waiting for lunch, heard the call of the Lord to go to some Gentiles in another city.
- Philip, traveling along, was put in the opportune place to declare the Gospel to a traveling eunuch. Then poof, he appeared in another city, miles away.
- Priscilla and Aquila held congregational meetings in their home.
And these are just a few New Testament references!
Gifts and Callings
1 Peter 4:10–11 says, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Corinthians, Romans, and Ephesians outline different individual gifts and gifts to the Body of Christ. I'm no mathematician, but I can imagine the combination of giftings is nearly infinite.
God created us in Christ Jesus for good works. And these good works aren't just for the Body of Christ, but for the world. In much the same way as the nation of Israel was to be an example to the world of the greatness of God, so also is the Church. Our problem is that we limit ourselves and God in how and where we can be used.
Day by day, in all the places we are living, and working, and serving our communities, the Lord wants to release His people, with power, to be world changers - atmosphere shifters - society transformers.
God wants to use YOU.
Dreaming Beyond Your Limits
I say all of this to knock you out of the thought that your gifts, talents and skills are only for the work of the CHURCH ministry. Rather, YOU, dear Sister, are called as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus, wherever you find yourself.
I can't, in good conscience, tell you that everything in your heart is God's will for you. But, I can say that if what you want to do, be, become is bigger than you, takes more than what you're capable of, and brings honor to the King, it's a good place to start. 🙂
Now, you are likely more gifted and talented than you will admit. Part of my HeartCode course is to help women identify all of those areas. And it helps you discover how you can begin to release your unique self into this world.
Know this: the Lord has His designs on you, Sweet Sister and He isn't limited by your little belief. How do I know?
Ephesians 3:20 "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."
The tricky part is taking the limits off what we believe is possible. And then doing the work to make it happen.
The Lord has His designs on you, Sweet Sister and He isn't limited by your little belief.
Playing the Dreams Game
So let's go back to my first statement about being a professional baseball player. Any of these things could have influenced the possibility of that happening:
- IF I had given my attention to practicing the skills of a baseball player and played throughout my life;
- IF I attended a professional baseball game, caught the ball and threw it back in;
- IF I was chosen to throw out the first ball at a professional game;
Any of these things would have opened up the doors for me. But, I didn't do any of them. Because that wasn't the dream of my heart.
But one of my dreams was writing books, so I learned how and did it.
One was preaching the Gospel. So I study to show myself approved and do that.
Another is helping women draw near to the Lord and live out their calling - which is what this site is about
But NONE of those have any power or impact for the Kingdom of God unless HE anoints it and moves it forward in a person's life.
Water is just water in a jug until the Lord turns it into wine.
So the question begs, what are YOU doing to more yourself forward to fulfill the dreams of your heart?
How Do You ReIgnite Your Dreams?
To REIGNITE means that at one time there was fire.
Where has your fire gone?
Was it life circumstances? Setbacks? Failures?
How about fear? Fear of failure or fear of success?
Have you believed the voices of your family, friends, church family over the voice of God?
Do you see yourself like the children of Israel did, grasshoppers in the sight of the enemy and in their own eyes?
Or, are you willing to be like David and say, "Is there not a cause? The Lord is able!"
Here are a handful of ideas for you...
When you answer these questions, you'll be closer to the mark to having dreams of faith and purpose.
And if you'd like some help, there are a couple of things you can do.
1. Invest in the HeartCode Program. It's a monthly membership I've made affordable for everyone.
2. Schedule a call with me to talk about working 1-1.
