1 John 3:1
"How Great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God."
In the Bible, the Promise Land for the Jewish people was said by God to be a land flowing with milk and honey. He wanted nothing more than for them to enjoy this land that was promised to them. They were difficult and did not get to enter it when they could have. Eventually they made it into their promise land and loved it.
Everyone has their own version of what their promise land would look like. Their own heaven on earth. Their own pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
For some that is earning tons of money. Others don't care about money as much. They just want love. That seems to be a common decision in my own life, do I want money or love more? You can have both, but the more you chase money, the less you are focused on love. The less inclined you are to care about love.
What are your innermost desires? God wants to give his children what they want, but the problem is that most have no idea what they want. They don't know what to pray for, because they are always confused about what they want, about what is best for them. They very often want two opposite things at the same time.
The book of James says, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
Are you double minded? You have to know what you want and pursue it. Focus on it like a laser and never give up until you get it. "Never give up on something you cannot go one day without thinking about." I had always wanted to publish a book on the topic of Feminism. Yesterday I finally did it. Praise God! Should women work and raise children? That has been the question on my mind non-stop for the past 20 years. My answer is moms should stay home if they can. Their kids will be happier and turn out better.
What is your longing? Your deepest need? Your strongest desire?
It might be sex. Maybe it is a partner to spend your life with. Maybe it is children. Maybe it would be buying your ultimate dream house.
When I was a kid my two biggest dreams were to have a daughter and to become a published author. A New York Times best selling author would be awesome, but mainly I just wanted to publish a book. Thanks to Amazon's KDP that dream has come true.
You might not realize how easy it could be to accomplish your dream. You might be able to simply reach out and grab it. It will take some effort, but it might not be as hard as you think it will be.
When God told Moses to go save the Israelites, he asked him, "What do you have in your hand?" He had his shepherd staff in his hand. He used that staff to perform every single one of his miracles, through God's power.
What do you have in your hand? What do you have right in front of you that you can use to accomplish your dreams?
If you want a great partner or spouse, you will have to risk getting hurt through online dating. The wonderful thing about that though, is there are plenty of people to choose from. If one person rejects you, it is quick and easy to move on to the next one. Don't let go of your dream even if you have a few losses. All of life is risky. Don't let the risk of failure stop you.
Maybe you want to rent or buy a beach house. That has always been a big dream for me. Do what you need to do to make it happen. You probably already know what you need to do. The only way to accomplish your dreams is to put the work in to get them. Never let that dream go. Hold tightly onto it until you make it happen.
I used to have a dream of having a large family. I am a tad jaded now though. I don't know if that is a good idea in our modern world. My grandma had 5 sons with her husband. Then he cheated on her, so she left, and she had to fend for herself. Raising 5 boys on your own must seem like climbing a giant mountain. But she made it out of her hell ok, without the smell of smoke. She went on to get a Masters and a Doctorate degree. Maybe her thought was, "I'll show him I can be somebody." And she became somebody great. She became a school principle. Then she ran a 20 acre Bed and Breakfast and apple orchard. Then she got to retire in Hawaii.
Sometimes what knocks you down can actually propel you forward into greater things. If you let it put a fire under you to make your dreams happen, it will.
Often people think they can't accomplish their dreams because of a traumatic experience. They think that ruined them for life. Maybe you were sexually abused as a child. Joyce Meyer was sexually abused by her dad, like me. She went on to write over 80 books. She has been the most influential Christian speaker to women all over the world for the past 40 years. She didn't let her childhood sexual abuse stop her.
Beth Moore was also sexually abused by a family member but it didn't stop her. I used to work at a Christian bookstore and she had about 3 or 4 shelves full of her books and prayer journals. Don't let one tramatic event stop you. Push through the pain and become the awesome person you want to become.
What doesn't kill you, will make you stronger. They probably felt, like I did, that they were going to show everyone that they could become great, despite what happened. They wanted to prove to the world that they could still be somebody amazing. And they did it. They both became two of the most famous Christian writers to have ever lived. They inspired millions of women with their breakthrough victory.
Don't let Satan tell you that thing meant you can't accomplish anything big. Get back up and keep running your race. You will make it to the finish line. Maybe you will even get the gold medal. Just keep running.
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