Category Archives: Dream

DAY 22 (2015)

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It is a gift from God.

It is a gift from God.

So just so you know, I did not flake out yesterday on writing a post. In fact I had every intention of doing so, but for some unknown reason I could not stay awake when I got home. So I laid down to nap and didn’t wake up till morning. It was awesome!!! Therefore I am catching up on yesterday, today. Had I written this post yesterday it would have been different, but as I was reflecting on what happened last night. With me crashing like an elderly person, this scripture came to mind, “God gives His beloved sleep”. I needed it I have been so overwhelmed lately that my sleep had been fitful at best, but last night I slept, really slept. I woke up refreshed and ready for the day. It made me realize even our sleep is important to God, and when He knows we need it He gifts it to us.

“It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones” (Psalm 127:2).

So what am I thankful for today (technically yesterday)? A God that knows us so well, He knows when we need sleep.

DAY 250 (2014)

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Faith is like a tree it blooms or dies depending on how you feed it... (벚꽃 -sounds like pop-corn- Chenon S. Korea Picture by Joy Seo.)

Faith is like a tree it blooms or dies depending on how you feed it…
(벚꽃 -sounds like pop-corn- Chenon S. Korea Picture by Joy Seo.)

I have been very inconsistent with my DAY posts this year. I vow to do better starting now. Life was (and in some ways still is) hectic, but it is all part of the journey God has me on. Now as I sit relaxed after a 2.5 mile trek, I am wishing I had been more consistent. God has been faithfully teaching me all along the way, but I have not been faithful in dictating the lessons learned as a reminder for myself and a tool to help others. So today I am committing to getting back on track. So, then what am I learning now? Faith requires work. Yup, WORK. Many of us define faith as “believing and hoping in the unseen”, and you wouldn’t really be incorrect. But belief and hope requires that the believer/hoper participate actively in the pursuit of what they are believing and hoping for. Faith is not passive, it was never meant to be. We can’t simply just believe things into existence, if we could there would be no need for hard work. No need for education, or even the need to set goals and dreams. Now I don’t want you to misunderstand, I am not insinuating that we shouldn’t trust God to meet our needs. I am also NOT saying that we shouldn’t have the faith of a child (the kind of faith Christ told us to have). But what I am saying is that God has given us the gift of faith so that we can act on it. For example I want to be a doctor, I believe by faith it is what God has called me to do. I have sat on this thought for years knowing in my head that I want to do it. Feeling in my heart that every road that led to somewhere other than medical school was just a temporary stop on my bandwagon of procrastination. But the only way for me to become a doctor is to enroll in school (uhmmm…done). I have to study and learn. I have a responsibility, a role to play, in order to see my faith realized. Faith is not passive it is active. It requires us to take the steps necessary. It requires that we actively seek God’s will as we travel with Him in our faith walk. Sometimes faith says go, go, go. Sometimes faith says stop and wait. Be it go, go, go or wait… FAITH requires WORK.

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

The Lesson: Faith is active not passive, do the work necessary.

DAY 249 (2014)

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Like a lamp with no bulb...so is truth with no substance. Both give no light.  (Picture by Lisa R.)

Like a lamp with no bulb…so is truth with no substance. Both give no light.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

Today I realized just how important a good church home really is. I recently moved, to Williamsville, NY. It’s beautiful here, the people are very friendly. I have a beautiful place to live, a little money in the bank, I am actively looking for a job (money won’t last for ever). I know God will provide. I know He has a purpose and has a plan. He is not only my plan A, but my B thru Z as well. I can’t put into words why this journey is so important to me, and why I need God to be the complete guide of this adventure that I am now on. I also can’t completely explain the change in my heart, or my desire to see God be victorious in my life through this time. I want Him to be the light that shines so that others (who may believe God, but have a back up just in case) can see that truly God is ALL we need. Thus, I need a good home church, not just a building, but a place where I learn, a place where I grow, and place where I have community with other believers and lovers of Christ. I have been to a couple of churches, both were very nice, but nice is all it was. However, I am not looking for nice, I am looking to learn. I am looking for a church that is making disciples, creating people who are not just “Christian” in name only, but in deed, action, and lifestyle as well. I want to grow so that I can become what God wants me to become. These goals can not be accomplished in a “nice” church. Why, the diatribe? During church today (I watched my old church online), Pastor Doug said these words in regards to being a disciple of Christ: “Being a disciple of Jesus is a LIFE LONG pursuit”. It is continuous and until we reach our final destination (Heaven or that other place… 😉 ), we are to be growing and moving forward. We should be learning about our beliefs as well as being challenged to live what we believe. We need to be a light in the darkness. That calls for more than just a “nice” church, it  calls for an ACTIVE and ALIVE church.  If our goal is to change the world for Christ, but on Sundays we leave church feeling “good”, but not challenged, then it is time for a new church. However, if our goal is to just be happy, just live for ourselves then continue in the “nice” church. As for me I am not looking to just be happy (for the record there is nothing wrong with being happy), I am looking to CHANGE THE WORLD! So “just nice” won’t cut it.

DAY 215 (2014)

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Be aware of where you have come from. But ALWAYS move forward. (Picture by Lisa R.)

Be aware of where you have come from. But ALWAYS move forward.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

This morning I woke worried about finances. Worried that God wouldn’t meet our needs, or that He would, but I wouldn’t be paying attention to His leaing and miss what He was saying. Then church started. Worship reminded me that. “There is no one greater, no one higher, no one like our God. There is none more able. Christ our savior great and glorious.” Then my Pastor started his sermon in Luke 16 (we are going verse by verse through the book of Luke), by letting us know today’s scriptures talks about MONEY and hell. Hahaha. God…JOKES. You would think then that this post would be about how God will provide for me and meet my needs (and in a sense it is), but that’s not what God laid on my heart as I listened to today’s message. No, today’s post will be about second chances. About God taking us out of our current situation to give us a chance to start again. There are many things in my life I wish I had done differently, things I wish I could rewind and do again, a do-over so to speak. Unfortunately life does not hand out do-overs. But that does not mean we can’t have a second chance. It does not mean that God can’t provide an opportunity for us to walk the line, the path He has created for us. As I sat in church this morning I went over in my mind all the things around me that have changed. Starting with my Church: our Pastor stepped down. It was devastating and heart breaking and for a moment I though, ‘Who could replace him?” But God, provided us with a Pastor. Pastor Doug, is right man for right now. Our church can breathe and we have been given a second chance a new opportunity to come to church for God and not for man. Second chance number one. My job. The center that I worked at started out with nine people (this includes doctor, nurses, and office staff). Yup nine…the originals. Right now of the nine only three remain. But in their absence there have been new office staff, new nurses, new doctors bringing with them a new perspective, change, and growth. Second chance number two. My life. Up to this point I have lived doing what was necessary. Necessary to take care of my family. Necessary to meet the bills and not live under a cardboard box. But all the while knowing I wasn’t really doing what I was meant to do. Then God literally one day just impressed on my heart that it was time to, GO. He gently started reminding me of my dreams, of what I had said I wanted to do for Him with my life. Then I asked myself this question, “Why hadn’t I done it? What stopped me?” My answer… Fear. Then God gave me Joshua 1:5-9. “Be strong and courageous do not be afraid or be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” So right now my house consists of more boxes than furniture. In less than two weeks I will be leaving my home, to start something new. Second chance number three.  This morning I woke up worried about finances. But God, showed me He was giving me a second chance.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

So what’s the plan? Second chance here I come!!!! 😀

DAY 204 (2014)

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God keeps his promises. ALWAYS. (Picture by Lisa R.)

God keeps his promises. ALWAYS.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

So I have been wanting to post for a while, but time restraints have not permitted me. I have been blessed and blown away at how God has been revealing Himself to me through this new journey. I have to admit at the onset, I kept thinking, “Clearly this is not God”. This belief (or lack thereof) had me pushing through me days as if nothing was going to change, however, everyday God would tug at me with precise randomness (yup, that’s what I wanted to say). Random people would come up and say things like, “When are you leaving?” “I think you can do better than this, be better than this.” But still I persisted in my, “This can’t be God” thought pattern. So God started closing doors, jobs that I had applied for and was more than qualified for would pass me by, people that held me in place started to leave, my comfort was becoming more and more uncomfortable. He slowly but purposely started removing every and anything that would anchor me to my current locale. The kicker came when I went to work one day, clocked in, went to sign into my computer only to find that I had been completely deleted from the system. It stung a little because it dawned on me that I could be so easily removed after so faithfully working and giving my best. It was at that point it dawned on me, I genuinely have nothing holding me back, but me. It was almost as if a light-bulb went off and I realized that I wanted to move forward, I wanted to chase my dreams, I wanted to walk the path that I was created to travel, and not just walk the road because it was in front of me (because it was there). In the past few days as I have started to finalize my time here God has provided a rainbow, an awesome cop, and words of encouragement. The rainbow literally covered my entire complex, my devotion that day was about how God always keeps His promises. When I saw the rainbow, it was almost as if He was saying, “I will do ALL that I have placed in your heart. I PROMISE”. Today on my way home from work I was stopped at a red light for what seemed like forever. The light in my direction was stuck on red, there was a glitch. There was a cop two cars in front of me, after a while he flipped on his light and pulled out of traffic. My first thought, “Man I wish I had that kind of power to skip out on traffic”. But the cop did NOT skip out, instead he parked his car at the fuse box and switched the light to green, so that we could all GO home. At that moment I literally heard God say to my heart, “GO, I have made all your lights GREEN” (goosebumps… pounding heart, you get the picture). As if green light cop wasn’t enough, today I received the most beautiful card from my co-workers, my second family and the words displayed there have me believing that ANYTHING is achievable. What’s my point? We don’t always know why God is leading us on the journey. We don’t know what tool He will use to get us to go. But when He says, “GO!” Just do it, you’ll be amazed at how able He is to get you where He wants you.

“Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants” (Deuteronomy 1:8).

So what’s the plan? GO! 🙂

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart. (Picture by Lisa R)

I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Deuteronomy 12. “When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. ‘Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it'” (Verses 29-32). This has been the week of God just talking, and talking, and reminding, and reminding. Just as God moved the children of Israel on a new journey, a path that would lead them to deeper, closer, and more intimate relationship with Him (if they chose to obey). He is doing the same with me. Each day during my time in Deuteronomy I am constantly reminded that the goal of my journey is to follow God. Prior to this my relationship with Christ was good, but safe. It was easy to trust, easy to obey (or try to) because even if things failed and fell apart I was in a place that I knew how to control. The same was true for Israel in Egypt, yes they were in slavery, but it was still comfortable because they understood it. New journeys requires one to let go of what they know and trust. God spends most of Deuteronomy reminding Israel that this journey, this promise came from Him. Everyday that I read I too am reminded. It is God who leads and guides me. ALWAYS!

DAY 164 (2014)

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Our perspective determines our direction.

Our perspective determines our direction.

Okay so this is me asking for the opinion or insight of those of you who read this post. I have a situation and the best way I can figure out the direction is to look at it from all opposing angles. The problem however, is that in my limited view I only have one angle that I can see. So feel free to comment, tell me what you think (honestly). I really want to hear.  In order for you to know what you need to give an opinion about I should tell you clearly what I am facing. I have made a decision to move, one that I am quite at peace with (or was, but still am…ahhh geesh!) I have  decided to go back to school, I am planning on leaving our home in Florida and traveling to the coldest place on the planet (not really, but compared to Florida), Buffalo, New York. I have many good reasons, my brother is there, cost of living is lower, my mom will be with her two kids, and I function much better in a small town atmosphere. The school is pretty amazing too. What’s the downside you ask? Well as of right now I won’t have a job, this scares me a bit. I want to be able to take care of my mom and all my other responsibilities. I will be going with money that I have saved up, so I won’t be penniless, but that can only last for so long. My fear about staying is if I stay (because I am comfortable), then I will always be stuck here. My fear about going, we die or have to leave under a bridge (which is a problem because there are no bridges where we’ll be moving). To add more confusion, this morning my mom had this dream: “I dreamt we were in Jamaica going to visit my uncle, and I kept feeling I was going in the wrong direction and a girl (I didn’t know) was telling me the way to go. As we approached the area we saw all these men with guns. One of the men came up to me and said, ‘What are you doing here? You need to leave because we’re having a gun fight in thirty minutes.’  So I told you all we needed to leave, and thanked the man for keeping us safe.” My mom’s translation, “God will protect us.” My translation, “We’re heading into gun fire.”  Both very apropos to the dream, but completely different perspectives. Our perspective determines how we approach a given situation. I want to approach this situation with the correct view.

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).

So what’s my plan? Walk on the path God has prepared for me.

DAY 139 (2014)

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Even if you fail again and again. Every time you fail, fail better.

Even if you fail again and again. Every time you fail, fail better.

I have a new favorite quote (okay maybe second favorite, I can’t relegate Maya Angelou to second place). I happened upon it yesterday in a most unlikely way. However, it was apropos to how my weekend went. On Friday I wrote about my friend who had taken up the burden of paying the price for his dream. On Saturday and Sunday the dream/goal theme continued and it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe God was trying to tell me something (yeah, I know I am bit on the slow side at times). My quote is from Samuel Beckett and it goes like this: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail BETTER.” Why fail better, instead of try better? Because failure is what brings us one step closer to our dreams. How? Because every time we fail we learn what NOT to do. Failure is the lesson. Trying is NOT the lesson it is the tool that leads us to either success or failure. Trying is the means, the avenue by which the lesson is learned. Today I have been thinking a lot about goals and dreams. A lot about trying and failing. I hear this saying a lot, “life is a gamble”, I don’t think that’s true at all. Life is not a gamble, life is a classroom a place we either learn to succeed or to give up. In gambling the doer has no control over the game or it’s outcome, because, well, it’s a gamble.  In a classroom we are given all the tools necessary to succeed, what we do with the tools is our choice to make. Today I pray our choice is this: Try again. Fail gain. Fail BETTER.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

So what’s the plan? Fail better.

DAY 81 (2014)

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The box. Take God out of it...

The box. Take God out of it…

Today I had a little bit of a freak out. Why? I had a ridiculously frightening dream (last night or this morning). The dream involved my immediate family and felt so real that when I woke up I thought it really had happened. It took a minute to process that it wasn’t real. I got up and went about my weekend. Several hours later my mom, walks into my room and says, “Did you call me?” “No.” I answered. Then she said, “That’s so weird I heard, someone call ‘mom, mom'”. This freaked me out because my dream had that very scenario. While it seems my dream, really was just a dream it made me think about communication with God. My devotion these days has me going through the old testament. God often spoke to His people through dreams. He told people where to go, and what to do all through the modality of dreams. In the old testament people did not take dreams for granted. Why are we so different today? I genuinely believe it is a matter of belief. They believed in God. They believed He communicated with them. They may not have always listened, but they believed. We don’t always believe. We know God is good, believe He is great. But for the most part, we don’t believe He communicates, now as He did then. I think this belief system keeps us from hearing, our very communicative heavenly Father. I got confirmation, that my dream was just that…a dream. However, I believe that God is just as active in our lives now, as He was then. I believe He wants to communicate His will to us. I also believe He can do that using whatever method He deems the most effective. So I have a proposition which is this, let’s stop putting God in a box. In this relationship the only thing with limits is us. Live like you believe God doesn’t lie. Live like He is limitless.

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What [is] the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD (Jeremiah 23:28).

So what’s my plan of attack? Take God out of the box.