What do you believe?

James 1:5-7 (New International Version)

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

This verse says that we are to ask for wisdom from God and then we are suppose to believe and not doubt. What does it mean to believe and not doubt? Sounds simple doesn't it? How do you put belief into action?

We are suppose to come to God as a child. That simply means with a trust in God. An example I like to use is this, I have three children and when they wake up in the mornings they do not worry about whether there will be any breakfast or not, they just know that it will be there. That is how we are suppose to be with God. If He gave us a promise then we are just suppose to calmly go on our way knowing that God is going to do what He has promised. He is always faithful to keep His promises. That we can depend on.

I have actually learned that it is a sin to doubt God because He does not lie. What He started, He will bring to completion. All we have to do is stand firm on His word.

So today make it a point to ask God what His promises are for you and then show your trust in Him by not worrying.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

When Dreams Don't Happen, What Happens?

 ⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”
 ¹¹ One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³ Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’”
   She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”
 ¹⁴ “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked.
   Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”
 ¹⁵ Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.”
   “No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!”
 ¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
 ¹⁸ The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. ¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head! My head!”
   His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.
 ²² She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”
 ²³ “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.”
   “That’s all right,” she said.
 ²⁴ She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
   When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! ²⁶ Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’”
   “Everything is all right,” she said.
 ²⁷ When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why.”
 ²⁸ “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”
 ²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
 ³⁰ But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.
 ³¹ Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”
 ³² When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. ³³ He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴ Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.
 ³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.” ³⁷ She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

I want to stress some things about the Shunammite Woman:

1.) First of all, she was well to do. She didn't appear to need anything. If you looked at this woman without spiritual eyes, you would assume that she had everything she needed.

2.) Second, she "knew" the man of God. She recognized him as a man of God. She had to have some kind of spiritual insight to know he was a man of God. So she recognized his need for pyhsical rest and food, so she fed him.

3.) Third, she went to her husband and asked that they be able to build a room on thier house so that the man of God would have a place to rest when he came through the town. This action was planting a seed. In order to make her dream happen, she needed to plant a seed into someone else's life, this does not always mean money.

4.) Elisha wanted to give her something back because she had provided for him, so in verse 12 he said to his servant Gehazi, "Call the Shunammite Woman and ask her what she needs." She said she didn't need anything, she had a home with her people, she had a husband, and she was well to do. Gehazi said to Elisha, she has no children and her husband is old. So, Elisha told the Shunammite Woman that the next year she would hold a son. In verse 16, she said, "Please, man of God, do not mislead your servant!" She had already given up on this dream in her heart. She thought she was never going to have children. There was a place in heart where this dream hid and she no longer talked about it or acknowledged it!! Do you have dreams that you believed in at one time, but now you believe God has forgotten or given up on?

John 15:7 (New International Version)

⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

If you abide in Jesus, He longs to give you the desires of your heart. Does your heart desire something that you no longer talk about or think about, but your heart still aches? Go to Him!!! Dwell in Him through praise and worship, through prayer, through the word, through loving others, and see what He will do!!!!

Going back to my text, the next year the Shunammite Woman did have a son!!! Now comes a very interesting part of the story. One day the boy said he had a headache, and then he died!!! Now of course the Shunamitte Woman was heartbroken, but I want to go a little further with this. She had given up hope on this dream ever happening, so to have the dream happen and then having her son die was more than disappointing. Verse 26 says that when Elisha asked how she was and how her family was she replied, "Everything is fine." One version says "it is well." Can you imagine saying it is well when your son has just died in your arms? I am not sure I could. This woman's faith was incredible, even at her lowest point. What she was saying when she said it is well is with her soul. Now verse 27 says leave her she is in bitter distress!!! That is the momma part of her that wants her son to be restored!!!! Her son was restored to life, but I think this is the most awesome story in the bible of faith, forgiveness, a giving spirit, dreams coming true, and God's awesome love for us!!!

(More to come on this subject)

Reach for Your Dreams

Hebrews 11:1-6

 ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.
 ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
 ⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
 ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

The first thing you have to evaluate is whether the dream came from God or not. The way you can do this is by going to the Bible. If the dream lines up with the word of God then it is probably from God, if not, then you want to let it go.

The second thing is to cover the dream in prayer. If the dream is from God then He will open doors that need to be open and shut doors that need to be shut. He will bless you with a plan to accomplish all that He has planned for you.

The third thing is patience. When God gives you a dream it can take weeks, months or even years to actually come to bear fruit. If you try to build the plan on your own then you will also have to maintain the dream on your own. It is important to have God's hand and provision on the entire dream or it will not work out.

You must decide to trust God and learn to wait on His timing. He has perfect timing and knows exactly what you need and when you need it. In the meantime while we are waiting, it is our responsibility as christian's to fullfill the great commission. We must love God with all of our heart and show other's that love. Ask yourself these questions: Do other people know that I love God with all of my heart? How can I best represent Christ in my life? Also, remember that everyday we need to ask, what can we do for other's?

Love God
Realize dreams
Depend on God

Called to Love

Ephesians 4:32 says Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgave you.

My kids will tell you that my number one rule is be gentle. I tell them all of the time that if we are gentle with each other we can work out anything together. Being gentle is really not that hard. We all need someone to be gentle with us.

It is easy to say to treat others as you want to be treated but to put this concept in action all you have to do is "love."  Take a few minutes while standing in line at the market to ask someone how they are doing and really listen, let someone go ahead of you in line, help someone put their groceries up on the counter, etc. The list is endless as to what you can do to show you care about a person.

There was a movie a few years ago called "Pay It Forward." Why don't we try to pay something forward this week? In the days ahead try to do something nice for someone and expect nothing in return. You could even ask them to return the favor by doing something nice for someone else. See what happens and let me know.

Have a great day and love on as many people as you can!!!