Just One More Brick

Do you have a dream, a Big, Audacious Dream?  If you do you have probably encountered some big obstacles as you moved forward toward your dream.

I once heard a story about a man who headed off to California as part of the gold rush.  He staked his claim and began to dig.  He dug and dug, dug and dug some more.  He hit some small pockets of gold but never the Mother load!  After several months of digging he became frustrated and decided his mine was not going to produce any Mother load.  He walked out of his mine and headed into town.  He went to the real estate office and told them he wanted to sell his claim which included his notes.  A man over heard his discussion and made an offer.  The man took the offer and headed for the train a beaten man.

The man who purchased the mine began to study the notes the other man had written.  He made some calculations and decided that with some more digging a Mother load would be found.  He headed to the mine and began to dig.  He dug and dug, then he dug some more and within just a few feet he hit the Mother load.  

The other man had quit just a few feet from his dream.

Are you like that man?  Are there obstacles that are keeping you from reaching your dream? Are there walls that have been built that keep you from achieving victory in a relationship?  

The purpose of this post is to encourage you to keep moving forward.  Do not stop.  Do not let anything or anyone steal your dream.  If God gave you that dream and if it is His will He wants you to keep moving forward.  Yes it might be hard.  It might become discouraging but He wants you to remain faith to what He has called you to.

Maybe you are just one brick away, one more shovel full of dirt away, just one more step from reaching your goal, your dream.

As Joshua took over the job of leading Israel into the Promised Land God said, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go." Joshua 1: 6-7

One more step, one more brick, just one more shovel full of stuff.  Sure the fulfillment of your dream cannot be seen but if it is of God it will happen if you don't give up!  In Hebrews 11: 1 we are told, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." and in verse 6, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him (God), for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

For those of you who do not have a dream I encourage you to get John Eldredge's book, "Dare to Desire".  On page 39 he says this, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs are people who have come alive."  Whatever makes you come alive place it before God.  What makes you come alive has something to do with your dream.  

Don't quit moving forward.  Don't quit now.  If your dream is from God only you can stop it from coming true. Don't quit now you are just one brick, one step, one shovel full away from achieving your God given dream. God is the "Dream Giver."

It Ain't over!

My history with Spiritual Gifts.

In my last post I hope I stimulated you to want to find out what Spiritual Gifts the Holy Spirit has given you.  In this post I want to share my story and history with Spiritual Gifts.

From second grade on I was very shy and introverted.  When I was in the Navy I purposely did not move beyond E-3 because I knew I would have to be more responsible.   I did not begin to take on more responsibilities until I was 38 years old.  This was a full 6 years after I accepted Jesus as my savior and after I went through 5 years of a speech club called "Spokesman Club".  Even though the church I was attended did not believe in the gifts of the Spirit I began to grow by serving.  In 1991, 8 years after accepting Jesus and being baptized, I was ordained as a deacon.

For the next 10 years I served and then one day the Holy Spirit moved a pastor to have me lead some servers.  The more I served the more I found myself also leading.  Then one day I found out that a friend was in the hospital with a growth on his heart.  He was going to need surgery which had a 50/50 chance of success or death.  When I visited him in the hospital we talked and just before I left I asked him if I could pray for him.  I simply prayed this simple prayer, "Father, we come before you to ask for your will to be done and may the outcome glorify you. In Jesus name amen."  That was it.

An interesting part of this story is I had just lost my job and so I had the opportunity to visit my friend and then to be there the next morning to sit with his wife during the operation.  After about 45 minutes into the pre-time the doctor came out his face ash white and asked his wife for some private time.  Of course we all thought the worse.  After about 5 minutes they came out of the room and she came to us with tears in her eyes.  She stopped in front of us, smiled, and shared with us how they did a sonogram and found no trace of there having been a growth. There would be no need of an operation.

I believe God healed my friend.  That was four years ago and I have never experienced that happening again.  I believe that because I was obedient in using a gift the Holy Spirit gave me, service, He gave me a temporary gift of healing.  I look at gifts like this as situational gifts.  As i use my main gift the Holy Spirit brings in my life opportunities to use other gifts as He chooses to give. 1 Corinthians 12: 11 (Message) All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

I want to remind you that whatever your main Spiritual Gift is it is not your ministry.  Out of that one gift springs ministry.  For example with me: Out of my Spiritual Gift of serving sprang a "Moving Ministry, a Men's Ministry and a Men's Small Group".   

I will be the first to admit using the Spiritual Gifts God has given out is risky and sometimes gets me into sticky or uncomfortable situations.  I would not trade those experiences for anything. I encourage you to take the plunge and see what the Holy Spirit does in your life as you use your main gift in service of others and for the His glory.

I would love to hear your story about what God is doing in your life.