The Dream Lives On

As you know today, we honor Martin Luther King’s birth. He was a great visionary, who had the fortitude to not only proclaim his dream but to stand up for his dream in the face of great opposition. He didn’t allow his current reality to block his view of a better tomorrow. The voice of the naysayers did not silence him from voicing what he hoped for future generations. Neither bombs nor prison bars could hold his dream hostage.

While our dream may not be of the same magnitude as Dr. King, God has given each of us a dream—a picture of what our future can be. And in order to bring that dream into fruition, it will require that same tenacity and fortitude. Everyone will not agree with our dreams and others will outright oppose it but we must be willing to press forward any way.

No Death Today: Resuscitate Instead

Have you ever felt like what you were doing wasn’t working? Ever contemplated throwing in the towel or withdrawing your name from the race? If not, I sure have. Life is full of ups and downs. For me, last week just happened to be one of those down times. Although there was nothing that occurred out of the ordinary, it was the ordinary itself that seemed to sap my strength.
During a time of fellowship with the Father this weekend, I was instructed to strengthen what remains. Blinded by the mundane, I couldn’t see any remaining parts. As I pondered, I was reminded that God always leaves His people with a remnant. Though it may be small, the leftover was enough to get things done with God. Consider Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall for an example. His enemies thought it foolish to use the rubble to erect the wall and even if he managed to get it standing again, it certainly couldn’t withstand any opposing force.
Like Nehemiah, I was challenged to strengthen the remaining rubble of my faith, hope, love, prayer, and worship. As small as it might be, it was time to fortify it. But, how you ask? Two simple ways:

1. Put God’s Word on it. An increase in my Bible consumption and application enlarges my spiritual fortitude. 
2. Exercise it more. Anything you don’t use atrophies.

We’ve been given some weapons by our Commander-in-Chief but even they, like a knife that becomes dull after extended use, require strengthening at times. Our use of the Word of God has to be sharpened to allow for more precision in our lives. Let’s not forget about our armor. Like clothing stretched out of shape over time, our armor can have too much slack in it making us more vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks.  Tighten up your belt of truth!  Readjust your helmet of salvation! Pull up the laces on your shoes of the gospel of peace. Move your breastplate back into position! Lift up your shield of faith and sharpen sword! Don’t get slack in clothing yourself daily with EVERY piece of the armor of God.
Having donned the proper attire with weapons in hand, we can begin picking up the rubble-broken fragments. Breakdowns happen in life either through wearing out over a period of time or by sudden brute force. Has there been a chronic problem or situation that has caused a rift in your faith, hope, love, prayer, or worship? Or, maybe it was something unexpected-sickness, job loss, infidelity or betrayal-that is threatening to murder your trust.  Regardless of the reason for your brokenness or weariness, it’s vital that you strengthen what remains. God hasn’t asked us to do anything with what was lost but only the remaining part. Perhaps your faith love, prayer, and worship are all intact. But are there some spirit led activities or ministries that you started out strong, full of passion but the lack of participation or expected results has caused your commitment to wane? If God hasn’t called you to stop a thing, your assignment now is to fortify it.

Revelation 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

Are there some areas in your life that you need to strengthen? If so, refuse to let it die!

Father God, I thank you for your loving kindness. Only because of your great mercy we’re not consumed. Thank you for giving me an ear to hear you and now that you’ve given instructions help me to obey. Forgive me for becoming so distracted by what was not that I neglected what remains. Today, I refocus my eyes upon you. For you are my help, my salvation, my redeemer, the lifter of my head, and my exceedingly great reward! In Jesus name, Amen.

Essential P’s in the Race of Life

Today the A-Z challenge continues and the letter of the day is P. As I pondered on various p-topics, two words were plastered in the forefront of mind-patience and perseverance. Unlike you perhaps, I don’t always like the sound of the word of patience. It conjures up ideas of extended periods of waiting, waiting, and waiting. Rather it’s waiting in line, being delayed by a slow driver in traffic, or sitting idly in the doctor’s office, I don’t always exhibit much patience. I become antsy, anxious, and complain because it’s seems like such a waste of time not being able to progress at faster speeds.


Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines patience as the capacity, habit, or fact of being patient. Patient is defined as bearing pains or trials calmly without complaint; not hasty; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity. In some cases, the only choice we have other than waiting is forgoing the item or experience. Patience has to do with my attitude during the wait. And did you know that God is concerned about how we wait in life? The Word of God is filled with promises but they don’t appear overnight; there’s a time to wait on the fulfillment of the promise. Because He is God we can’t control the timing of the promise’s arrival; so waiting is inevitable but our attitude during this period is pretty important.

In my reading, I came across Colossians 1:10-12 which states, And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (NIV) I like to compare various translations of scripture and really like the Amplified version of verse 11- [We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy. The Message gives another look at Colossians 1:9-10 Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

These passages of scripture speak volumes to me today. If I’m to have any increase in fruitfulness, productivity, or knowledge of God in my life, patience and perseverance are going to be essential. To accomplish any goal, like weight loss for example, one must persist in a particular state or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition or discouragement. And God knows that I have failed to complete some things I started in life. Some things I started out strong but quickly became discouraged or too impatient to see the end results. Looking at the passage, I see two other important P’s to incorporate in my life-prayer and power. My human power alone will only get me so far but being infused with His power gives me the ability to wait patiently and persevere. And prayer helps to tap into the greater power.


Discover what other A-Z challengers are discussing here.

Flickr photo by Jacob Garcia