Creating
Your
Destiny
Table
Of
Contents
Promises
for the Journey
A
m
agnificent
journey lies ahead. The discoveries that you will make
concerning your capabilities and gifts will boggle your mind. The stupendous
glory of all creation that you will learn to enjoy and utilize will be
awe-inspiring. The opportunities to make a positive
difference in the lives of others will continually humble you.
And what about the promises of God that you will experience? No words
can begin to describe the wonder of it all.
My experience
with people is that so many live such small lives.
Their goals are small, their vision is small, and their capacity
for enjoying life is small. If only such people
would simply choose to step out on the path and begin their quest their
hearts and minds would immediately begin to expand and their life would
take on an incredible depth of significance. You know this,
because you have--at the very least--already begun to take those first
steps.
While you
will frequently come upon people who tell you that dreamers live in unreality,
that your hopes for life are too high or that seeking to live a heroic
life is a stupid quest spawned by writers of fantasies or Hollywood producers;
don't listen to them. Simply because
they have not chosen such a life does not mean it doesn't exist. And
if they have yet to meet a hero, it is only because they do not wish to
believe such an existence is possible: it would mean that they were capable
of more.
Jesus said
that whatever you desire when you pray, and believe
you have received, you shall receive. (Mark 11:24) Does this
sound like Christ wishes to keep you down, that life is not meant for
the realization of grand dreams? Is this not a mind-boggling promise that
sounds too good to be true? But it is a promise from the Son of God to
all those who follow after Him, so we can stake our lives on its truth.
Notice the
instructions regarding how to hold the request in your mind and heart:
it is something you have already received.
For some people this discipline of mind and heart takes some time to learn.
We hope, we worry, we think it may come to pass-but the Lord of the Promise
said to "believe you have received." Have faith that it is a
"done deal." Go ahead and thank Him, now.
Take another
promise found in Psalms. "Delight yourself
in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
(Psalm 37:4) O my, this just has to be a misprint, doesn't it? Remembering
that the promise is only for those who are enjoying God, it is clear that
God takes our desires quite seriously. Given how few followers of Christ
actually experience their desires being satisfied, one has to wonder whether
the problem is with their lack of enjoying God or with their failure to
ask Him for what they desire!
Think
about this. Look at those people w
ho
have trivial goals, who have no great visions, who have no mission, no
quest in life. Now compare them to those people who have huge goals, awesome
vision and whose quest gives them incredible motivation for living life.
What do you notice that they have in common? They
both are experiencing life as they believe it is supposed to be lived.
Jesus promised that if you would abide in Him and He in you, that you could ask anything of Him you wished and He would do it for you. (John 15:7) Now this is not like asking for three wishes from a Genie you just met after opening a bottle.
Clearly,
the realization of this promise is predicated on your relationship with
Christ. However, the truth of the promise remains: as you walk
in and with God, you can ask for what you want and He will give it to
you.
Somewhere
along the line early Christianity, i
nfluenced
by Gnostic dualism and neo-platonism, began to be defined solely in terms
of deprivation, poverty and suffering. What had occurred in
unique historical circumstances was held up as a norm for all Christians.
Life is meant to be painful. Life is to be filled with suffering. Life
is about not having enough. So much so that when a Christian prospers
he or she is looked on with suspicion: have they sold out somewhere? But
do the above promises sound like Jesus intends for the norm to be a life
lived in poverty and suffering?
Jesus
came so that we could have abundant life. (John 10:10) Not
a trickle of life. Not a sprinkle here and there. No, He came so that
we may be bathed in life, overwhelmed with life, baptized in life. Don't
settle for anything less.
- A
Magnificent Journey lies ahead
- When
you pray…
- Abundant Life
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Written
by
Dr. Monte E. Wilson, III
Andrea
Higham, Editor
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without permission.