God-dreams and powerful promises

“When your dreams come alive you’re unstoppable. Take a shot, chase the sun, find the beautiful”, that’s a line from the ringtone my new cell phone pre-selected for me, thanks to Delacey’s Dream It Possible. I could not agree more. There is nothing like a dream coming alive to fill your head with a thousand wondrous thoughts, your heart with dancing gladness and your soul with fresh fire. That’s why I’m a firm believer that our Papa’s heart for us is for our dreams, desires and longings to be fulfilled which in turn become a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12). Oh how He loves it when the tree of life springs up in us, drinking deeply from His river, bearing fruit to feed the multitude and leaves to heal nations. For too long wormtongue has whispered lies into many hearts that God was to blame for hopes deferred when he, the skilled deceiver, is the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy those dreams. Hope deferred leaves our hearts sick and our minds cobwebbed with lies which blind us from the truth of what comes from whom; ensnaring us to the fruit of his own dark thoughts. From the deceiver come hopes deferred and sick hearts, from our God come desires fulfilled and trees of life budding from the soil of healthy, glad hearts.

Separating what comes from whom and aligning with who God really is and who we are in Him is therefore vital to our dreaming and being.

I recently wrote a blog called  Beginning and birthing new things, since then I have been pouring over Luke’s beautiful account of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary; presented with promises, responding with “let it be unto me” despite the mind-boggle, carrying the promises with delight and joyous praise expressed when they came to pass. Indeed, it was not a perfect scenario at all, evidenced by Zechariah’s muteness. Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph probably had a lot said about them and to them that was far from encouraging. The angel did not appear to everyone convincing them that this was indeed a virgin birth of the Messiah, which would have been preferable in a time when a woman engaged to a man to have become pregnant and considered unfaithful to her intended husband was a crime punishable by death.

But how much we can learn about carrying dreams and stepping into promise from their stories and better yet, how much we can learn about who God is through this lens. These are some of my favourite lines from the Passion Translation’s account:

“Don’t be afraid Zechariah! God is showing grace to you. For I have come to tell you that your prayer for a child has been answered.” Luke 1 :12.

How beautiful our Father is to show us grace by answering the prayers that we have sometimes even stopped praying. The Greek verb allows for this possible translation of the verse, “the prayer you don’t even pray anymore has been answered.” Wow.

“Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift.” Luke 1:30

Now doesn’t that sound more like our Good Father than the lies about Him deferring hopes and making hearts sick? He is the One who delights in us and gives us wonderful gifts! The Gift of His life instead of ours on the cross, the gift of choice and free-will, the gift of the Holy Spirit and all the amazing gifts He brought with Him. He is the God who gives GOOD gifts.

“The Spirit of Holiness will fall upon you and Almighty God will spread His shadow of power over you in a cloud of glory! This is why the child born to you will be holy.” Luke 1:35

Every time a dream to do something of God is placed in our spirit, I see this as moment of being overshadowed by God- by His light, His vision, His power, His goodness, His mercy, His glory. That is why the seeds of promise from God, the prophetic words spoken to you by others that resonate with your heart, the whispers of hope in your secret place, the grand God-exploits you imagine, the yearning in you for MORE than you see… these are precious seeds (or as I call them God-dreams), holy and full of glory.

There are of course dreams not borne of God but borne of our own selfish desires, enemy lies and so on, but those are not the ones I speak of. I speak of the ones that bring light and love, healing and freedom, fullness and joy. The ones that set the captives free, open prison gates, heal families and nations. The ones that when you do them you “feel the pleasure of God”. Eric Liddell said that about his running. God does not have holy-unholy divides like we do and running can be as full of glory as being a missionary to China. The bliss of dreaming with God and living it out is that there is no reason why you cannot fulfil all of the God-dreams burning in your heart. The best part of this is that we are eternal beings and none of our dreams end when we die, we have an eternity to fulfil them- so don’t stop dreaming and believing.

“What’s more, your aged aunt, Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son. The “barren one” is now in her sixth month. Not one promise from God is empty of power, for nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:36

Oh! How utterly stunning that is to me. The God who makes the barren one to conceive, stripping away years of shame in one powerful act of kindness.  “Not one promise from God is empty of power”– what we would be like if we really believed that. This too is why is it important to dream with God, to reflect on and bring to mind His promises. What promise are you holding onto today? Perhaps you need to remind yourself of one or some.

And then Mary responded, “This is amazing! I will be a mother for the Lord! As His servant, I accept whatever He has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.”

I love the agreement with truth! Go Mary! May we do likewise. I declare over you and me today “may every good thing God has told us come to pass.”

Mary immediately goes to Elizabeth and John the Baptist in the womb recognises Jesus. Have you ever noticed how the God-dream you carry sometimes gets stirred up when you hear about the God-dream someone else carries? It’s important to hang around those people in your vulnerable times, not the nay-sayers and the fearful, but the ones who resonate and dream too.

They both gush with praise for God as they nurture their growing babies. Their excitement real and their words heavy with awe. Zechariah’s first spoken words after the child is born are likewise. Praise, praise and more Praise for a God who is worthy of all that and more.

And so their stories became those that would help, inspire and encourage many generations of people who hope against hope and dream the impossible.

One of my passions in life is to see people launched into their powerful destinies. May this writing help you to carry, realise and live out your dream with gladness of heart and fresh perspective.