Impossible Dreams?

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This is the time of year for making (and hopefully keeping) New Year’s Resolutions. The time of year when we put pen to paper and make a list of all the things we need to change–all the things we need to stop doing or all the things we need to start doing–to have the life we’ve always dreamed about. Several of my friends have posted about their New Year’s Resolutions. Some lists are pretty ambitious, while others are much more practical. Some people couldn’t get past the title on their list. The lovely heading of “Looking Ahead to 2020” scrawled in calligraphy at the top of that blank page was all they had to show for hours of work.

What’s the hold up? Well, how do you know where to start? How do you make goals that are achievable, that are measurable, and that are attainable?

I start with a word–the theme for my year. I spend some time in prayer with God asking Him to give me vision for the coming year and for where He wants to take me. It might take several days of prayer before a word pops into my head, but once it’s there it doesn’t leave. I take that word as my vision for the coming year. This year’s word is: Flourish.

Flourish. The picture that came to mind when I received this word was an explosive amount of growth and harvest. It was a rich time of abundance after a year of a lot of hard work. A year that felt more like winter than the normal four seasons of our life. Flourish. I liked the picture painted in my head by that word. I like the promise of abundance that it holds. I am long over the feelings that come with a year of deep pruning and planting during times of struggle and trial.

So I took my word and I made some goals that I thought would help me accomplish it. I looked to my spiritual life and asked, “What will help me flourish in my relationship with God?” Things like Bible study, of course, and church attendance, but also bucket list items like conferences I wanted to go to that I couldn’t afford to go to in the past or giving in amounts that I would never have conceived of before. I wrote them down. They are bars to reach for in the coming year. Some are easily achievable. I’ve already made a good habit of reading my Bible, so I should easily be able to keep up on that goal. Others were pie-in-the-sky dreams that I may not see fulfilled this year. But that’s okay, too. We serve a big God who specializes in achieving impossible things! The Bible promises us that God is able to do “exceedingly above all that we ask or think”. The Amplified Bible says He does “superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think–infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams.”

God wants us to dream big. He wants us to ask Him for impossible things! Why? Because it shows that we trust Him. We trust Him to be big enough. We have faith in His ability to do more than we could ever do on our own. He does this through His power which is at work in us. Think of it! The same power that brought Jesus back from the dead is at work on the inside of us. That kind of power can do impossible things.

Now, I’m not saying God will do anything or everything that we ask. He isn’t a magic genie in a bottle, after all. But I am saying that God gives us the freedom to dream big. He wants us to have big goals in our lives. He wants to use us to do impossible looking things that further His kingdom and His plans that are at work in the world around us. The truth is that God uses people–ordinary, everyday, run of the mill, sometimes broken people–to do the things He wants to do in the world.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty ordinary, and I’m definitely broken. But with God all things are possible. I can do all things through Christ who empowers me. I can reach big goals for the kingdom of God if I’m willing to humble myself before Him and allow His power to flow through me into the world around me. And that thought gives me hope. It lets me make that list of New Year’s resolutions, and it empowers me to work hard to keep them. In the hope that I can be used mightily of God, and in the hope that I will grow in my relationship with Him and in my likeness to His son, Jesus Christ.

I didn’t stop at just my spiritual life, though. I also looked at things for my physical well-being, educational goals, and social goals that could help me live out that word–flourish–in my life this coming year. Some of these goals were pretty vague, like my goal for “weight loss.” I learned a long time ago that making a hard, fast expectation in this department leads only to discouragement. So now I just list weight loss, and I count is as a goal achieved if I manage to end the year even 1 lb lighter than I started it. Some of these goals are pretty concrete, like my goal to finish a list of 20 homemaking items using various homemaking skills. But all of these goals will give me something to look back on at the end of the year and will bring more joy and more fulfillment to my life. They will all, in some way, help me to flourish.

So what’s God word for you in this coming year? What will bring your life more joy and more fulfillment? What are the goals you have set for yourself? Are they all attainable? Are they all pie-in the sky? Are they a good mix of the two?

An Obscure Plan

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Israel was in captivity in Babylon. The Lord had allowed the destruction of the nation because of their idolatry. Many had listened to false prophets who had prophesied peace for the nation instead of the coming destruction prophesied by Jeremiah. Once in Babylon, these same false prophets had told the people they would only be there for a short time, but God told Jeremiah the time would be 70 years. 70 years…. a far cry from the short time the people had been counting on. It must have felt like a death sentence to those people. Yet, just after revealing that this captivity would last 70 years, the Lord gave this word to Jeremiah.

Sometimes in life, things happen to us that we didn’t see coming. Maybe the Lord has allowed suffering to come into your life. Maybe your plans have failed. Maybe an illness has sidelined you. Whatever it is, rest assured that God is not surprised by what has happened in your life up to this point. He isn’t going to be surprised by anything that will happen to you in the future. God’s plans for you will come to pass. There is no power on earth that can prevent or thwart the plans of God.

In the midst of hard times, in the midst of disappointments, listen to the words that God gave to Jeremiah. He has plans for your life, and they are plans to prosper you. They are plans to take what has happened so far and use it all for your good. Hang on! Press forward! Trust God! And see what great plans He has in store for you.

Father, today I thank you that you have great plans for me–plans to give me a future and a hope. Lord, I may not like what has happened in my life so far. I may not like where I am right now. But, God, I know that you have great plans for me. Your plans will come to pass in my life because your word NEVER returns void. It accomplishes everything you have sent it forth to accomplish. This season will pass, and when it does I will see the promise of your plans for me. Help me to trust in you, Lord, and in your plans. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Factory Reset

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

What a wonderful promise God has given us in today’s verse! If we are “in Christ,” we are a new creation. What does it mean to be “in Christ”? It means that we have accepted Jesus as our personal savior and the Lord of our life. When we accept Jesus as our savior, we turn our lives over to Him. We die with Him. We are raised again to life in Him. Paul says that we no longer live for ourselves, but instead we live for God.

There are a host of blessings God gives us when we are in Christ, but this is the first blessing that we receive. When we acknowledge our sinful state before God and acknowledge our complete dependence on Him for salvation, a miraculous thing happens! Our spirit, that inner part of us that is eternal, is made new. It is made the way God intended it to be: free of sin. We get a factory reset back to the way we would have been in the very beginning, in the garden of Eden, before sin even entered the world.

But what does it mean to have a new spirit? It means that the part of us that makes us who we are, the part of us that gives us our identity is brand new. We no longer have a sinful nature. We no longer desire sinful things. Instead, our nature and our desire is fully aligned with the nature and desires of God. We aren’t working against God any more. We’re now a part of the team. We are working in cooperation with God to accomplish His plans and His purposes in our world.

It doesn’t feel like it. We may not feel any different at all. New? Hardly. I still remember all my past sins, but God does not! It’s a good thing that truth is not subject to our feelings. God says that we are made new in Christ. That means even if I don’t feel new, the truth is that I am. It takes time for our feelings, our thoughts, and our will to catch up to the wonderful miracle that God has done in our spirits. That’s the part of us that requires a continual process of renewal, but isn’t it wonderful that the real us is instantly made new and that God promises a process of renewal for the rest of us!

Father, I am so thankful that you made me new when I became a believer in Christ. You have given me a new spirit that is perfectly in line with your spirit. You have given me a new beginning, and a fresh start. As I face this coming year, Father, help me to continue the process of renewing my mind, my will, and my emotions so they may come into alignment with your will for me. Give me renewed vision for the coming year, so that I can clearly see where you would have me go and do what you would have me do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

New Beginnings

So today is January 1st. The New Year. A new beginning. Each year around this time, we think about all we accomplished–or didn’t accomplish–in the previous year, and we dream big about what we hope to accomplish in the future. New years bring with them anticipation, excitement, and determination. No matter how many times we’ve failed to keep our resolutions in the past, we make new ones, certain that this year will be different. Anything is possible!

Sometimes new years bring regrets. We can’t help but think about all the things we did wrong, all the things on our bucket list not checked off, all the mistakes and wrong directions and junk that filled our lives in the last year. We might wonder if the pain we suffered in the past year will carry over into the new one. We might think that things will never get better or that things will never change.

But God says: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19). God is doing something new. God is constantly creating. Creator of the universe isn’t just a title. It’s who God IS. He creates something new. All the time. Every second of every minute of every hour. He takes our raw ingredients, our broken dreams, our messy pasts, and He creates something new with them. He makes a way where there doesn’t seem to be one. He makes streams of living water–new dreams and hopes and possibilities–in the wasteland of our life.

So don’t hold onto the regrets of the past. Don’t allow Satan to continue to dump his garbage into your mind. His garbage is always full of what-might-have-been’s and what-if’s. Let it go! Open up your hands and release all that negativity. All those backwards glances. Instead, grab hold of the new thing God is doing in your life right now. In this very moment. Press forward for the prize He has waiting for you. Enter this new year with hope, an expectation that something good is going to happen to you. Why? Because God is madly in love with YOU. Just the way you are. In spite of all your failures. In spite of all your mess. God loves you. Truly, madly, deeply loves you.

And He has plans for you. Good plans.

So bring to God your list of dreams. Bring him your New Year’s resolutions. Bring him your plans. Ask His blessing over them, and then be prepared to let them all go in search of what God has in mind for you because I promise you that His plans for you are always better!

May God bless you and keep you. May He show you new paths through the desert and grant you favor in all that you put your hand to this coming year!