Dreams really do come true!

(Okay, here's one I DIDN'T write... but I still encourage you to read it. All I gotta say is, this is TRUTH! I've been experiencing fulfilled dreams back to back for months now, and at this point, the only response I have is to express my thankfulness and joy in tears because there are just NO words... This note is all about the One who radically and romantically pursuits YOU daily and desires to give you nothing less than your biggest dreams. When you read it, listen to "When you were a child" by Jason Upton, remembering to "trust", and that when it comes to your dreams "love remembers". Take time to examine your heart when you were a child. Most of your dreams began then. And know they were heard, and certainly not forgotten. Oh, and, don't forget your tissues... just in case.)

Your Dreams Can Come True

By Richard Lee

I think we all want to count in life. We want to make a difference some how, some way, in our world. A little girl shuts herself in her room and dances with dreams of o­ne day becoming a beautiful ballerina. A little freckled-faced boy bounces a ball off the side of the house, catching it in his glove and dreaming of the Big Leagues. The student dreams of a diploma; the graduate, that promising new job; the worker, that long sought after promotion. What do all these people have in common? They are dreaming that they will count for something – that o­ne day they will “make it in life.” They are dreaming that because of their life, things will be different.

I have good news for everyone who has dreamed such dreams: God created every o­ne to make a difference in this world. There is no o­ne who doesn’t count. Everyone is an essential part in the plan of God.

It is our ability to dream that makes us unique. We have been created in the image of God. Therefore, we can dream, hope, and plan. These are the expressions of His will in our lives.

Dreaming is:
what you want to be;
where you want to go;
what you want to do;
goals you’d like to reach;
plans you’d like to make;
projects you hope to achieve.
Faith is the key that places your dreams and aspirations into the hands of God. He is able to cause all our dreams to not o­nly come true but to reach their fullest potential.

There is no greater story in the Bible to illustrate this than the miracle found in John 6:5-14. Jesus and His disciples were faced with a challenging situation. As Christ had begun teaching upon a mountainside, a great multitude of people had gathered to hear Him. The Bible says there were about five thousand men in the crowd that day. When these people became hungry, the disciples were perplexed at how they would feed them all. What would they do?

At that very moment, Andrew, o­ne of the disciples, announced there was a small boy in the crowd who had five barley loaves and two fish, adding, “But what are they among so many?” (v. 9).

The Lord took the food which the boy had surrendered to Him, blessed the loaves, and gave then to the disciples to distribute to the people. Then Jesus did the same thing with the fish. As the disciples moved from person to person handing out the bread, there continued to be an endless supply left in their hands, and likewise with the fish. In fact, the Bible tells us that when they were finished, they had not o­nly fed the entire multitude but they had also collected twelve baskets full of leftover fragments!

Imagine, o­ne small boy, through a simple act of surrender, became the central figure in o­ne of the most phenomenal miracles that Jesus ever performed. His sacrifice made a difference for thousands of people. In the same way, you and I can never underestimate the significance of a single act of surrender o­n our part in our own day and age; we, too, can be part of God’s miracle in our world.

Perhaps you are just living day to day. Perhaps there doesn’t seem to be any special significance about your life at all. You simply get up in the morning, go to work for the day, and come home and go to bed at night. Your life is caught in the routines and ruts and doesn’t seem to have any real purpose. Perhaps you feel a little like the man in the following poem:
Poor, poor, Solomon Grundy,
Born o­n Monday,
Christened o­n Tuesday,
Married o­n Wednesday,
Sick o­n Thursday,
Sicker o­n Friday,
Died o­n Saturday,
Buried o­n Sunday,
And that was the end of Solomon Grundy.

It may be that in the daily grind you feel that life isn’t worth living after all. You o­nce dreamed great dreams, but now you feel as if your dreams have passed you by. Well, if that is the case, then I have life changing news for you – You can dream again! You can see your dreams come true as you learn that surrendering your life to the God who makes dreams come true, is the God who is rooting for you!

However, just as in the story of the little boy with the loaves and fish who became the conduit for the miracle of Christ, dreams don’t just happen – they come true through principles, preparation, and prayer.

#1 – Be in the right place at the right time. I’ve often heard people in the business world comment o­n other’s success by saying, “Oh, he was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.” But, as any successful business person will tell you, they were in the right place at the right time because they have already made important decisions that placed them there. The little boy in the Book of John was in the right place because when others forgot their food, he had prepared his in advance. Preparation leads to being in the right place at the right time.

#2 – Discover God’s will for your life. I have found six ways to be effective in discovering God’s will for my own life. God’s will revealed in:· The Word of God – “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105).· The Witness of the Holy Spirit – Christ promised us, in John 16, that the Holy Spirit would come to “guide you in all truth.” We must give Him the chance to do so through prayer and meditation o­n His word.· The Walk of fellowship with God – Have you ever seen an older married couple that has been married for many years? They can finish each other’s sentences and seem to know everything the other is thinking. That comes from close fellowship with o­ne another. The same goes from our relationship with God. The more time we spend in fellowship with Him, the more we know Him and His will when we face life’s decisions.
· The Wisdom of God – The apostle James tells us that God will grant wisdom to anyone who asks for it in prayer (James 1:5). It is reassuring to know that God is ready to give us wisdom if we ask for it.
· The Workers of God – These are our fellow believers who have been faithful through many trials and tribulations of their own. It is essential to seek out Godly wisdom and counsel from those who have been down that road before.
· The Works of God – When God closes a door we must be careful not to look for an open window. We must never forget that God is a loving heavenly Father. He will guide us in love and with protection if we are sensitive to His direction.

#3 – Go with what you already have. The success of the little boy’s involvement in Christ’s miracle is that he was willing to offer what little he had. Too often people fail to respond to the calling of God by faith because they believe that what they have to offer is so insignificant that God could not use it. Yet, we forget that the God who created the universe out of nothing can certainly multiply all that we have to give Him. Which leads us to our last point:

#4 – Give God all that you have. The little boy didn’t offer to split his lunch with Jesus, he gave it all. Now, I’m not suggesting that you sell all your earthly possessions and give it to a ministry. The greatest possession that you have is not your money, family, or your job – it is the eternal relationship that you have with the living God. Money will come and go but Christ alone is everlasting.

This little boy in John’s account of Christ’s miracle could not have ever imagined what would come from his simple offering. Likewise, you and I cannot imagine what will come from our lives being surrendered to the will and purpose of God!