Stir up Your Dream

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you…” – 2 Timothy 1:6

Do you need some freshness in your life today? You may simply need to stir up what God has placed on the inside of you. Stir up those gifts, stir up those dreams, stir up those talents inside. Start stretching yourself. You were created to be a dreamer and pursue the desires God has placed in your heart.

The scripture tells us that without vision, people perish. If you don’t have a dream or vision for your life, you’re not really going to reach your fullest potential. Maybe at one time you had a dream, but you went through some disappointments or setbacks. Things didn’t turn out the way you planned. But here’s a key: when one dream dies, dream another dream. Just because it didn’t work out the way you had it planned doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have another plan. You cannot allow one disappointment or even a series of disappointments to convince you that your dream is over. It’s time to dig in your heels and hold on to the promises in your heart. Stir up those God-given dreams today and watch Him pour out His favor and blessing upon you and fulfill every desire in your heart!

Change your Life

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” – Romans 12:2

If you watch television for any length of time, it won’t be long before you see products and pills advertised to make you thinner, smarter, younger looking, more successful and ultimately claim to change your life. But the truth is all you need in order to change your life is already in your hand. God has given you the ability and the power to be transformed into the person He created you to be.

I heard somebody said, “Sight has to do with what we can see, but vision has to do with what we can be.” The reason some people are stuck at the same level is because their vision is limited. They don’t see themselves growing, increasing, being promoted or getting healthier. All they see is more of the same. More lack. More struggle. More defeat. They’re producing what they’re seeing.

Friend, don’t let that be you! Instead, let the Word of God wash over you and renew your thinking. See yourself the way God sees you. See yourself rising higher. See yourself becoming stronger, healthier and wiser. Change the picture you have of your life, and you will change your life. See yourself the way God sees you and receive the wonderful blessings He has in store for your future!

It’s not what it looks like

“…for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength)” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

No matter what weakness you think you may have, no matter what inadequacies or setbacks you’ve encountered, God wants to give you His divine strength. He wants to make up the difference and put you further ahead than you ever thought possible.

One time in the Old Testament, God simply multiplied the sound of four men’s footsteps and caused them to sound like a mighty army. When their enemies heard them, they took off running. There were thousands of enemy troops running for their lives, scared to death, thinking they were being attacked by a massive army when in fact, it was just four people! What happened? God made up the difference.

Friend, God can make you seem bigger than you really are. He can make you look more powerful. He knows how to multiply your influence, your strength, your talent and your income. Don’t just look at what you have in your hand; look at what Almighty God can do with it! You don’t have to figure it all out. All you have to do is put your trust in Him and let Him work because when you do, He will lead you and guide you into victory all the days of your life!

Who Packed Your Parachute Today?

Charles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb. “I packed your parachute,” the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning,’ ‘how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.” Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who’s packing your parachute?” Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory — he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachute.

The Position of Power

“Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense” – Proverbs 19:11

Every day, we have opportunities to get upset, be frustrated or get offended. Maybe you had plans that didn’t work out, or someone was rude to you at the office. Maybe you were doing something that should have taken one hour, and it ended up taking three. Life is full of inconveniences, but even though we can’t always control our circumstances, we can control our reaction. I heard somebody say, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.”

We should always go out each day with a positive attitude, full of hope and expecting God’s favor. But at the same time, we should recognize that most days are not going to go exactly as we planned. Remember, we were created to live in peace. Peace is our position of power. If you get stressed because you got off schedule or upset because your child wouldn’t eat his breakfast, or frustrated because somebody offended you, you’re are giving away your power. Instead, make the decision to release those offenses and disappointments so you can live in peace and enjoy the day as a blessing God prepared for you!