This afternoon Richard, Rachel and I went outside in our backyard and worked on building Rachel a fort. They put up a tarp, hung a basket from a tree and tore down branches and it went from just a back yard to a castle in disguise. She was so excited and told us all the plans she has for spring. Richard talked about how he use to work on his forts for hours and then retreat with his star wars figures and play for hours on end. When Rebekah was small she would hang from trees and yell at the top of her lungs that pirates and fairies were surrounding us. She would literally say "mom don't move" and then she would jump out of the tree and proceed to a sword fight. When both my girls would dress up in princess costumes they would suddenly walk, talk and wave like royalty. One of the greatest things we can possess is our imaginations. Imagination means; the ability to form a picture in your mind of something that you have not seen or experienced. I have imagined many things both big and small from what it would be like to jump out of a plane to what Heaven is going to be like. I have never experienced either and yet I can almost get there in my mind. One of my favorite definitions of dream is this; something that fully satisfies a wish. When I look back at the last 10 years of my life it wasn't until I truly let go of trying to satisfy others by allowing them to dictate my dreams or allow my insecurities to push me in the opposite direction of this calling on my life that I began to fully walk in the completion of my Creator. Think about the definition again - FULLY satisfies a wish. For years a bag of oreos was my satisfaction. Getting alone and binging on food satisfied a longing that I couldn't seem to fill. Trying to be who others needed me to be led me into this place in my mind of trying to achieve that and then food was my escape. I wouldn't even say it was a struggle but a war that would always start in my mind. I have lost a good bit of weight over these last few years and the battle of the bulge still wages on. I workout, eat healthy and some weeks I lose and others I don't and that's ok. If I am honest there are also days that when things are going bad I truly believe (in the moment) a bag of oreos would fix it. What I KNOW is that nothing satisfies the longing of my soul but Christ alone. Paul tells us to take every thought captive and because we know that the imagination can take us away from reality and the enemy starts whispering those insecurities that lurk and before we know it our actions have followed. We must know that dreaming BIG is not bad in fact God births mighty things in us to allow us to see Him and His power along the way. It creates intimacy and really pushes us to move beyond the captivity around our hearts and minds. Today think about those dreams that you have been chosen by God to pursue and don't let anything other than Him satisfy that longing. You see just like Rachel's castle in disguise God wants to take all the things that keep you from moving forward and transform them, renew them and redeem them to set those beautiful dreams in motion. Its time you are set free to dream BIG.
Acts 2:17 And in the last days it shall be, God declares that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.
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