The Starting Place
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land
“If you have a desire (a passion for something) and then do what I tell you to do, you will eat the good of the land (receive the best earth has to offer)” (my paraphrase)
There are some Bible principles I have learned over the years that will guarantee results. They are based on the Integrity of God and o the guarantee that His Word will Work any time, every time and all the time. Some things we need to get fixed in our minds:
- God wants you to live. Jesus Himself tells us that He has come in order that we might have LIFE (Zoe) and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10) ( superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon more excellent, more remarkable)
- He has made provision for you to live. God has already given us all things that pertain to life (Zoe) and Godliness. (free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance) 2 Per 1: 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
- Real living is not acquired by a better performance. God is not impressed by our performance. He is impressed by our believing. Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Religion has taught us that we obtain a better life by performing better deeds. God tells us we obtain a better life by believing and acting on His Word
- He has designed this encounter to send you into the very best days of your life
What is it that will take us into a new realm of exciting, expectant, and effervescent living? If God wants me to have abundant life and if He has provided it for me then how do I get there? Several suggestions:
DREAM
Prov 29:18 Where there is no vision, (dream) the people perish:
This could be translated “where there is no divine expectation or dream in your heart, you will not succeed.”
If you do not dream, your dreams cannot come to pass. Now, what are your greatest desires for your life at this point in time? Do you have a dream? Are you in an expectant mode for God to do something in your life? What are you believing for? What have you been praying for? If your dream is not in the realm of the impossible it is not in the realm of a divine expectation. If it is possible, it is not a dream. If it is reasonable, it is not a dream. If it is affordable, it is not a dream. God wants you and me to dream impossible dreams and expect impossible manifestations. Dream a dream that is greater than your ability and greater than you resources. Dream things that are so big they stagger your imagination. Actually, your dream should be as Big as God.
What do you desire the most? What have you been expecting? Nothing? Or something? Things to stay the same or for things to change for the better? For my life to remain mundane or for my dreams to be fulfilled?
Dream a dream. See it fulfilled with your Faith Eyes. Feel it stirring in your spirit. Nurture it, meditate on it, imagine it, and believe that it is on the way.
WRITE YOUR DREAM DOWN
Hab 2:2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (write it down, record it that it may come to pass speedily)
For many years at our church out on Lott Road, we celebrated an annual New Year’s Miracle Service Sunday. It was a special service on the first Sunday of the New Year where we actually wrote down the dreams we had for the coming year. I would prepare special hand-out sheets with faith building scriptures on them and a special space on each sheet for folks to write down what their dreams were for the next year. At a special time during the service, each person would write their dreams down (write the vision) and then we would all have a time of prayer where we would present our dreams to God. Then at the beginning of the next New Year, we would bring our dream sheets back to church and testify of the miracles God had given us and the dreams that had come true.
I challenge you to write the vision down. Write, in detail, what your dream is and make a record of it. Make it plain. Make it specific. Include the smallest details. You know, if you do not care enough to take the time and write your dream down, why should you expect God to take time to bring it to pass? Why do you suppose the prophet was told to “write the vision and make it plain?” It was so that the dreamer could keep the vision and the dream before his eyes all the time.
(Illustration of how God brought our Dream House off the paper and made it real)
BELIEVE
Heb 11:
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Moses refused to be called what others were calling him. He refused to be what or who others were saying he was. He chose to believe the Truth instead of the Lie.
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Moses fixed his gaze on the coming pay day and ignored the impossibilities of his present situation.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Moses believed that his dream would come true. We need to believe that our dream will manifest. Believing that it will is having faith that it will. Have faith that it will. Faith is believing. Faith is expecting. Faith is anticipation that it will. And faith is calling it as though it already is. Faith sees it as actual and factual. Faith is the Real Substance (your dream) of what you are believing for. Know that what God has promised, God will perform. Don’t get discouraged. Or frustrated. Or distraught because of the magnitude of your dream. God is Supernatural and He expects the supernatural from us. So, right now SEE your dream with your eyes of faith. Really believe that it will be and that it is in the making.
Years ago after God gave me the revelation of faith, we needed a larger auditorium out on Lott Road. I saw it by faith. It saw it completed and filled with folks hungering for more God. “Did you see our new building when you drove up this morning? Did you see our new parking lot?” This became a regular part of our Sunday Morning announcements. Within a year what we saw we had. This became a powerful confession we learned to make over the years. “Did you see our new school complex?” “Did you see the check that paid off the mortgage and made this ministry debt free?”
What you (and I) see is what you (and I) get.
Mark 4:24 And he said unto them, Take heed (blepo: to see) what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
BEGIN
Start right where you are. Start with what you have. Stop waiting. Don’t put it off any longer. Begin. When you begin with what you have, God will give you what you need. A dream without action is nothing more than your imagination.
You will never get “there” unless you start. You will never start if you wait until you get what you need. You will never get what you need until you begin with what you have. When you begin with what you have God will move heaven and earth to get you what you need.
If you will begin today right where you are using only what you have, God will plunder His Storehouse and send you every supply to meet your all your need. (Phil 4:19) I can personally testify to that.
In 1956 shortly after I entered the ministry, I wanted a church to pastor. I had no contacts. I had not completed my education. I had no opportunities. So I decided to begin with what I had. I had a burning desire to preach. I had a fire in my bones. I needed an “outlet” for what God had planted in me. So I became a street preacher. Lots of street corners. Lots of passing cars. Lots of pedestrians. So I asked the local Methodist Church if I could have the loudspeakers that were mounted on the roof of their church which they were not using. They gave them to me. I climbed up on the roof, took them down and mounted them on the roof of my ’55 Ford. Hooked them up to a microphone, when to downtown Richton Mississippi, found a place, parked my car, got out with my mic, and began to preach. Within a month, I was called to a small country church in Perry County where I pastored while I attended William Carey College.
Exodus 4:1-2
¶ And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Moses wanted to wait until he had what he thought he needed. God showed him he already had what he needed…. He only needed to USE IT.
Why are you waiting? What are you waiting for? What do you have “in your hand?” Then, you already have everything you need. You may not have it all but you have the seed for your need. You have it and you need to do something with it. Begin. Start. Don’t wait. Forget the excuses. Remember the devil’s biggest trick is to make you wait. “Waiting on God” is really a cop out because the Word says “Now is the accepted time… today is the day!” But you say “the Bible tells us to wait on the Lord…? That’s right. We are to wait on the Lord just like the waiter waits on us in the restaurant. To “wait” on God is to be present, accounted for and ready to do His pleasure.
PERSIST… refuse to quit
Never quit. Never stop. Never ease up. Never back up. Never let up. Never slow down. Forget about the “greener grass” thing. Press on. Push. Let the devil know your intentions.
The greatest temptation in the Christian Walk or in Christian ministry is to quit. Human nature is so fixed to make it easier to quit than it is to keep on. Most flesh shies away from conflict and confrontation. However, if you are not having constant confrontation with the devil, you are probably not doing very much for God. The dynamics of the Christian life are trials, temptations, difficulties, challenges, confrontations, and spiritual warfare. All of these are designed and orchestrated by our enemy to make us get tired. Weary. Worn out. Frustrated. Discouraged and ultimately, to just quit.
Regardless of how you feel or how you think or what others are telling you, it is extremely important for us to force our flesh to press on. To discipline our mind to think positively and to determine, at all costs, to keep on.
Early on, I discovered that one way to encourage myself was to talk to the devil first thing every morning. “Devil, did you notice that I did not quit yesterday? Do you know that I’m not going to quit today? And, guess what… I’m not going to quit tomorrow.”
Persist. Keep on keeping on. Never give in, give up or back down. Press through.
PREPARE
Get ready for your Dream Life. Prepare for your answer. Prepare for the fulfillment of your dream and the completion of your call. Get ready for your miracle.
Cessna….
Take a lesson from the farmer. He prepares for the harvest before harvest time comes. He planted the seed. He watered the crop. He chopped out the weeds. He fixed up the barn. And he expected his harvest to come in at a specific time. Get ready NOW to receive that for which you have been believing.
Dig some ditches and borrow some pots (2 Kings 3 and 4).
Your drought is coming to an end. Your needs are going to be met. Your dream is going to become reality.
Today is the first day of the Best Life you are going to have.
Just you wait and see.
- DREAM
- BELIEVE
- BEGIN
- PERSIST
- PREPARE
Go from where you are to where God wants you
dickbraswell 
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