Dare to Dream

Dreams come true! My life is proof of this truth. A few dreams that have come true for me include: becoming a wife, a teacher, and most recently a mom. The Bible says in Psalms 37:4: Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! It goes on to say in Verse 5: Commit your way to Him and He will bring it to pass!

My Ariella

My Wedding Day

As I celebrate Mother's Day this year, I want to refocus on my other dreams and recommit them to God for surely He will bring them to pass. What about you? Where are you at? Perhaps you are seeing your dreams being fulfilled before your eyes, God is so good! Maybe you have forgotten some of your dreams, it is never to late to remember and recommit them to God.  I love the lyrics of the song Dreamer by Bethany Dillion.  It is about awakening the dreams in us.  God is author of our dreams and the one who yearns to fulfill them!  Your dreams can come to pass if you: Dare to dream and Commit them to Him!

 If you are a Mom,

How Wonderous He Is!

Today, I have been doing some thinking about our wonderful God! He is amazing and has done so much for me! He has always brought me through. He has brought jobs my way and made them easy to acquire. I have watched my loved ones win two custody battles, which seemed impossible at the onset. He has meet my needs over and over again. He has saved my life on more than one occasion (I almost completely fell through the ice as a five year old where I wouldn't have been found till spring and I walked away from my car being totaled by a semi). These are just a few things that God has done for me.

I have been thinking about a few amazing saints that God has put in this world to benefit us. A few of the saints I mention my not have benefited you personally but I am sure you can think of a few in your life, as well. One is John Wycliffe (My husband and I just watched this movie). He is responsible for the English translation of the Bible. He did it back in the 1300's and was labeled a heretic for it. I get to read the Bible for myself because of the courage of this man. Another is the Apostle Paul. This Jewish man wrote a large majority of the New Testament and preached Jesus to the Gentiles. The precious words he wrote are still ministering to us today after thousands of years. He was not very popular with many of the people he grew up with, survived shipwrecks, and was imprisoned amongst other things; so that the gospel would go forth. A few others are my amazing pastors. They have striven to be the best they can be and consistently encouraged me. My irreplaceable parents have been a constant blessing in my life. They worked very hard to be sure that I had all my needs met and I was blessed beyond. They have done so much for me and have continued into my adult life. Who are you thankful for today?

I have also been thinking about my future today. There are a few things that I am uncertain of. One example is where I will work. But I am certain that we have been called without repentance. God will not take back our calling no matter what our current circumstances are. It is not determined by how the market looks and the number of jobs available currently in a certain field. It is determined by Him who is the author of our dreams. I have been enjoying Jeremy Pearsons on the Believer's Voice of Victory this week. He is talking about "How to Live Bold Beyond Uncertainty." It has been full of great and timely reminders for me. Perhaps you are facing some difficult circumstances in your life. Remember God is always with you and He loves you! He is the King of all Kings and can help us overcome any circumstance in our lives. It doesn't matter what we have done or not done. We are what matters to Him. All we have to do is look to Him and put our future in His hands. It is a step by step walk of faith. This walk is not always easy and our steps our not always clear but He who walks beside us knows the way!

Current Read

I am currently rereading Love The Way To Victory by Kenneth E. Hagin. I have gotten through the first chapter so far.

A few things that have stood out to me so far include:
"Put spiritual things first." (p. 27)
"Abide in Him and Let Him abide in you through prayer and the Word and communion with Him. Then exercise the love that you have on the inside." (p. 27)
"Spend time waiting on Him and then that love that is budding will blossom." (p. 27)

A few questions Brother Hagin would ask himself:
"How would God's love act?" (p. 42)
"What would God's love do?" (p. 42)

Finally, a great reminder he shares is: "The love of God never fails, so when you put the love of God to work in your life, you will never fail."

I am enjoying this read. It is a great review especially as a newlywed!

Meditations from Psalm 37

Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to only have a page or a chapter of the Bible. It would be hard to pick what part I would want. The Bible is so good. It makes me think of what Paul was saying in 2 Timothy 4:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness: 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (NASB). There are some Christians in the world who only had the privilege of having a page, chapter or some small part of the Bible. It is inspiring to me that those Christians would guard it with their lives and do their best to live by it every day. I am so fortunate to have several copies of the Bible. This is a huge responsibility at the same time.

There are so many things in Psalm 37 that I think this could be one chapter that a Christian could stick to and have a successful Christian life. The NASB titles the psalm: "Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked." Selah (Pause and think on that). I added the Selah because I think this can be so helpful for the times that we are living in. This chapter talks about the things a righteous person needs to do and it outlines the results of being a righteous person. This psalm has so much in it. There are also some things that the righteous are instructed and reminded to do. I am going to share those in another post.

Here are some of the results for the righteous:
v4 He will give you the desires of your heart
v5 He will do it
v9 Inheritance of the land
v11 Inheritance of the land
v17 The Lord sustains the righteous
v19 And in the days of famine they will have abundance
v23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord
v24 When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong because the Lord is the one who holds his hand
v25 I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread
v28 And He does not forsake His godly ones
v31 His (the righteous man's) steps do not slip

I am so thankful to God that He has made me righteous through the redemptive work of His son, Jesus.

v39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.
v40 The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in Him.

How We Met...

Have you ever had a Sunday Night where you just wanted to stay home? Well, I have to say I have those on occasion. We had a visiting minister at church. I was doing a long term sub position at the time and just felt I wanted to go to bed early. But God kept prompting me to go to church. I was so back and forth but eventually got myself out the door and into church. Church was crowded that night. I just wanted to quickly find a spot to sit. I went down a random isle and asked this guy if the seat was taken next to him. He said, "no." I didn't think much. I just sat down. He introduced himself to me and we talked a little. Well, I remember that he talked a lot. He was even talking during the service. After church, He asked when I went to service and I told him. I have to say that I didn't think to much about it because we attend a rather large church. When you meet someone there are times you do not see that person again. But God had other plans.

Fast forward to a year later....This guy asked me to be his wife which is something I had been praying about since I was teenager.

Never disregard the small promptings of God. In this case, I know that I still would have met my Mr. because it was part of God's plan for me. Yet, I would have probably delayed things. I am so glad I obeyed that night. This is one night God showed me the importance of small promptings. The importance of obeying in what we might consider little things. It makes me wonder how God sees these things. Does He consider some things small and some big or does He see them all the same?

Meditations

I Thessalonians 5:23 Faithful is He who called you, and He also will bring it to pass. (NASB)

First, I have to say God is amazing! He loves us and takes care of us! He does things in his own way. One thing He is always reminding me is that the plan of God for me is His plan and He wants to see it come to pass even more than I do! This is a good reminder because sometimes I wonder about it. The times I wonder is when there are changes in my life that I didn't see coming.

What is my part?
1. Trust Him.
2. Stay in His Word.
3. Stay in Fellowship with Him.
4. Do everything I know to do.

Update and Upcoming

Update:
Well, it has been some time since I have updated my blog and kept it current. However, this is going to change. I have seen the faithfulness of God in the last year in so many ways and my life has changed dramatically. I got married in July to the one I have been waiting for. Waiting pays off! We have been married for a month and I am loving married life. The teaching position that I was in last year got cut due to budgetary restraints so I have been on the hunt this summer. I did a few interviews which makes me hopeful. However, I am going to be subbing. I am ready to go in one district and have a few things to get going to sub in three other districts. I have also applied in a few others which I haven't heard from yet. This does not change the fact that I am called to teach. God is just moving me. I am submitted to Him and what He wants to do through me. In subbing, I will get to focus on other things that I need and want to do.

Upcoming:
Psalm 37 - I have been meditating on this Psalm. It is amazing how much is packed in one Psalm. It made me think about people who have just one scripture or one page of the Bible and how it changed their life. It is also amazing to me how one chapter or verse is so life changing.

Current Reads - What I am reading and why....

How We Met - It is interesting on how small promptings from God can change your life!

Book List - I am going to create a list of books that I am going to read, am reading and have read.

Word Study - I have to get back to my Greek. I have had this as a goal for some time. All the books I need are downstairs. I just need to do it!