Introduction
What you are dreaming about achieving with your life is probably not your dream, but God's. He has great things in store for you. However, He wants you to believe He loves and supports you enough to help you gain these things. My hope is that you are actively pursuing what God has already placed in your reach.
What God Gives No One Can Take
Revelation 3:7
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens, says these things:
Daniel 4:34 - 35
34 But at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and whose kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And no one can stay His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”
Mark 10:7-9
7 ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife,
8 and the two shall be one flesh.’ So then they are no longer two, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
Lessons Learned
It is clear in scripture that God is an all-knowing being who provides for His creation with a specific purpose in mind. What He does is not by accident or chance, but by design. Therefore, whatever has been placed in your hands or whatever will be placed in your hands cannot be determined by anyone else except you and the Creator of the universe. What He gives you cannot be taken away. What He opens for you cannot be shut. What He connects to you cannot be separated.
There is a misconception that the battle between God and the enemy is a battle of equal sides or that God is constantly giving and the enemy is constantly taking. There is a misconception that this is a tug-of-war between two equal opposites. However, this is not the case. The enemy's power pales in comparison to the Creator. The Bible is clear time and again that what He plans for you to have must be and cannot be taken away.
1. What opportunities do you believe God has made available to you, right now?
2. What accomplishments do you believed God wants you to achieve through these opportunities?
What God Has for Me Is for Me
Don't Come to the End of Your Life Not Having Lived
Ephesians 6:10-17
10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, 16 and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
I Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you are called and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.
I Timothy 4:7-8
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith. 8 From now on a crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Lessons Learned
It seems that at the end of your days it won't be important if you actually achieved all your hopes and dreams. What will be important is if you fought for those dreams. Many people spend their lives taking the path of least resistance, avoiding conflict, and fleeing that which may cause heartbreak so that they won't have to feel the pain that may come in some of life's situations. This strategy ensures you will never feel the agony of defeat; however, it also ensures you will never feel the thrill of victory. Praying, striving, and fighting for what you believe God has for you is a critical part of the journey that makes one stronger and helps one appreciate life. The Bible challenges us to take on spiritual armor and get in the fight. Paul makes it clear that this fight is about more than we think it is: nevertheless, we a have a role to play in it.
We are supposed to believe, pray, and study. However, we are also supposed to act. We are supposed to spend our lives going after what we believe God has for us. What will you say at the end of your days? Will you say that you believed God so much that you went after what He had for you everyday with all your heart or will you say you backed down and played it safe?
1.What will be the epithet on your headstone and why?
2. If you go after what you want in this life with all your might and all your resources, what do you have to lose?
3. Are you happy where you are with what you have, right now? If not, what is stopping you from going after what God has for you?
Go Get Your Blessing
Matthew 7:7
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.
James 4:2-3
2 You lust and do not have, so you kill. You desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Revelation 3:11
“Look, I am coming quickly. Hold firmly what you have, so that no one may take your crown.
Lessons Learned
Many of us treat God as a genie in a bottle who bestows gifts as we wish for them. However, the Bible tells us about a God who expects us to have a role in the blessing we are receiving. The above scriptures reveal a God who not only wants us to believe, He wants us to act on what we believe. Our actions should be guided by the knowledge that Jesus has empowered us to accomplish what He has planned for us to accomplish. We are challenged to hold firmly to the dreams that have been placed within us and never let them go. In other words, God wants us to put in work, not just wish.
THINK ABOUT IT
1. What are you asking God to do in your life at this moment?
2. What obstacles do you or others perceive keep you acquiring what you are asking of God?
3. What are you doing to consistently to get what you have asked of God?
Chapter 14