"Dream"

When I think about the Christmas season, my mind always goes to the birth of Jesus, and I tend to forget the sacrifice He made by leaving Heaven and coming to this crazy place we call earth. I believe that God had a dream. A dream that would restore the relationship He desired to have with His people, His creation, you and me. The Father called the Son, and the Son was obedient. He left His thrown. Jesus choose to allow God to use Him to fulfil His dream and I believe the Son made the Father's dream His own. Unfortunately the sacrifice of leaving was not the end, but only the beginning. The King became a servant. He went from being praised by all those in His presence, to ridiculed by the masses. From being Glorified through worship to being beaten, spit on, stripped, and hung on a Cross to die.

Last week I finished a book called "The Barbarian Way" by Erwin McManus . I would like to share with you the last paragraph of that book. Erwin writes:

"If you choose to live your life in this way, the insane decision to live your life for the sake of others, if you choose to follow the One whose barbarian path led Him to the brutality of the Cross, and if you embrace His invitation to take up your own cross and follow Him, then it has begun. If you dare allow God to unlock your primal spirit, He will unleash the raw and untamed faith within. Then you will know you have chosen the barbarian way out of civilization."

Erwin also states, "I believe that God has a dream for each one of our lives."

If that is true, than the question is not whether God has one, it's what that dream is, and more importantly, will we be obedient to do our part and act once it is revealed to us. Like the old saying goes "Be careful what you ask for if you're not willing to accept the answer". Sometimes what God's dream is doesn't line up with our own and it takes Him allowing our own dreams to come true to reveal to us that true fulfillment only comes when we are obedient to His.

Jesus never said His path would be an easy one. It fact, He promises that it will be hard and difficult at times. And if living an extraordinary life was easy, then was it really extraordinary after all?

As we approach the end of another year, my prayer is that we begin to set aside our own dreams and begin to seek, fulfill, and make God's dream for our lives our own. The first step is asking God to reveal His dream to us, but again, "Be careful what you ask for...."

Have a Merry Christmas and a Dream filled New Year!!!!!!!!