Tuesday, September 25, 2012

God Plants Dreams In Our Hearts

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. -- Romans 5:5

What are your hopes and dreams? What have you given up on? Where has hope died? What dreams have you lost along your life’s journey?

Many of us have secret dreams that reside deep inside of us. Or we have dreams that we believe are lost forever. We tell ourselves they don’t matter anymore. We are determined to be content where we are. But there’s an ache deep inside us for what will never be.

Lisa Harper, in her women’s Bible study on Malachi, suggests that we create a top 10 list of all those dreams we’ve almost stopped hoping for. Think about it. Really. Take a few minutes and consider your dreams -- or what’s left of them.

Yeah. What’s left of them. Because somewhere along the days of your life you have likely lost a few dreams. Some are gone because they simply ceased to be your dreams anymore. Others are gone because people and circumstances destroyed your faith in their possibilities.

I always smile when I think of childhood dreams that seem so silly now. A boy we adored and wanted forever. A career that never was right for us. A fantasy life that could never be real and would be boring if it was. We don’t want those dreams anymore.

But there are the lost dreams, the ones that reside deep in our hearts, but that we never allow to surface. We wouldn’t dare share them, not anymore anyway, because they are too fragile to withstand the glare of naysayers who sometimes surround us.

Harper suggests praying over those secret dreams and asking God to show us which ones might actually be our longing for the gifts God wants to give us. Perhaps our dreams involve special talents, given up for more practical concerns. Perhaps our dreams involve lifestyle changes that will lead us to greater fulfillment and God’s real calling on our lives.

God doesn’t plant dreams in our hearts without a reason. What we need to discern is whether those dreams are from God or merely a trap the evil one has set to lead us away from our real purpose. That’s why we need to pray and listen for God’s voice.

God loves us beyond anything we could ever imagine. He wants good things for us. And He plants seeds within our hearts that allow us to dream beyond what is obvious and reach for His perfect plan for our lives. Don’t give up on those dreams before taking them to your Father and asking Him to reveal His will to you.

Friday, August 17, 2012

God’s Love Is Unconditional

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -- Romans 5:8

A number of years ago a dear friend decided I was his fantasy. It sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? Don’t we all want to be “perfect” for someone else? Well, let me tell you, he was not Prince Charming and I was not Cinderella.

It was never about me. And, honestly, it was never about him. It was his fantasy, his dream, his preoccupation with what he thought he wanted and needed. Yeah. When I put it that way it doesn’t sound real great, does it?

I knew a crash-ending loomed ahead and I resisted the move from friendship to romance. He pushed forward, determined to get what he wanted. I wonder sometimes what ever happened to him. He was a wonderful person but he could never have accepted a real person in place of his fantasy. The love he offered, sincere though it was, was conditional on my performing adequately in his fantasy.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? -- Romans 8:34

Many children face performance anxiety every day. And not just with their peers, teachers, and coaches. Their parents sometimes deny love based on performance. Isn’t that sad?

Home isn’t always a safe place. Is love based on keeping a clean house? If love based on popularity? Is love based on looks, athletic ability, or what you can do for someone else? Because that isn’t love -- no matter how many times the other person tries to convince us it is.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-- Romans 8:38-39

We don’t understand unconditional love because we’ve never experienced it. People who say they love us, reject us. They put stipulations on that love. They hurt us and wish bad things for us. Even parents -- who are supposed to love their children no matter what -- sometimes reject them, put stipulations on them, try to use their love to control their children. We fail each other no matter how good our intentions.

So when God offers us unconditional love, we don’t really believe Him. We want to but our experience is that “unconditional” love always comes with strings attached and always fails in the end. Not so with God. His love is perfect. Unconditional. Without end. A perfect love just for us.

Friday, July 20, 2012

God Loves Us Warts and All

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -- Romans 5:6-8

What are you trying to hide from God? Seriously. What do you think that God doesn’t see? What are you keeping to yourself in the hope that you never, ever have to go before God, confess and repent?

Well, I hate to burst your denial bubble, but God already knows. Yeah. He does. He knew before you did because He knew the decisions you’d make long before you made them.

He also knows the why. Even when we don’t understand our actions ourselves, God does. He sees it all. He understands it all. So what are you hiding for?

Oh, you’re afraid that God won’t love you because of your past? You think that because you can’t forgive yourself or because other people keep reminding you of your past, that God won’t let it go either? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

God knows every single thing we’ve ever done wrong. He know every mistake we’ve ever made, every nasty comment, every bad decision. Every thing. And He loves us anyway. He extends to us unconditional love. A love so perfect that we can’t begin to comprehend exactly what that means.

I’ll tell you another secret: God cares about the details of your life. Really. He does. Remember this is a God who has numbered the hairs on your head. He cares if your feelings got hurt. He cares if your bank account balance is low. He cares that a special young man asked you out on a date. He cares about it all.

And He wants to talk with you about it. He wants to laugh and cry with you. He wants to cheer you on and pick you up and dust you off when you fall. God wants to have a relationship with you. A real, loving relationship that encompasses all the details of your life.

Another wonderful thing about God: He always wants what is best for you. Always. There’s no underlying agenda. There’s no backstabbing. There’s nothing except pure love. God always knows what we most need and He’ll give it to us every time.

If we reach out and grab hold of His hand. If we accept the loving relationship He offers to us. If we believe, really believe, that He loves us right where we are.