Dreams and Plans

We all have dreams, aspirations, goals, things we want to do with our lives.
I was wearing my "I love Detroit" shirt yesterday - I wear it with pride, and hope and pray that I will soon be there, in Detroit, serving a broken city! This is a dream, a desire of mine that I believe God has given me.
And I have lots more things that I want to see and want to do with my life! But I find that so easily without me realising, my dreams can become idols in my life! They can become the reason I do things, my dreams can become the focus and the driving point to my life!

I was just reading through some of my old journals, and came across this word God gave me

"I know you more that you know yourself.

Do you not think that what I have for you is the best? Am I not a God who loves His children?

TRUST – Is walking it out even if you don’t know what is next. The great thing is, you know He does know what is next!!

Are you ready to let go? Are you ready to say no to your agenda and yes to mine?

It is time – time to forget about you and what you want to do, and focus on me. Focus on my plans, my future for you."

This was a huge reminder for me that God is in control! He does have the BEST for us. And I was the best for my life! 

I know that I have to lay down my plans and my dreams and put God first! 

Surrender. 

Let go and let God.

What things in your life have become idols? 

What do you need to give back to God for Him to truly have your ALL? 

My Identity is in Christ.

 We had the privilege of having Jeremy Simpkins with us on Sunday at Jubilee Church . For those of you who do not know Jeremy and his wife Ann, they are currently based in Manchester and do a great job serving the NewFrontier churches in the North of England, Canada, North Wales and Northern Ireland.
Jeremy preached a great and timely message and it is available now for you to listen or download at www.jubilee.org.uk/media
I wanted just to highlight a few things that stuck out to me. Jeremy based his preach on the well known passage in Isaiah 61: 1-4 - The year of Jubilee (Favour of God). We are anointed – the spirit of the sovereign LORD is on me and it is on you! We are called to be a people who restore the city and the places that are dark. To restore something is to reunite or to resonate people together - to bring harmony where there is chaos.
But how do we do this?
The only way to do it is to be rooted in Christ! To be in Christ – and if you are a Christian guess what? You are in Christ! To be rooted in something means that we are a part, we are the same. So if I am rooted into Christ, my identity is in Christ! Once you are rooted in Christ you cannot take yourself out!
Here are some questions to ask about Jesus. 

• Do you think that Jesus is loved by the Father?
• Is Jesus at peace today?
• Is Jesus secure?
• Is Jesus righteous?

By the way, the answers to these questions are YES!
Now make it personal.

• Are YOU loved by the Father?
• Are YOU at peace today? 
• Are YOU secure? 
• Are YOU righteous?

If YOU are in Christ, then YOU are ALL these things!! You need to believe this, because it is true!
We need to be people who know who we are - we are not just people who go to church each week, who chose to live differently because the Bible tells us too. We have a greater mandate! If our identity is in Christ - when people look at us - they need to be seeing Christ. You are loved so much by God - your Father. This love is unconditional and never ending. So you have messed up, you have made some wrong decisions - God is not going to stop loving you! He is jealous for you; He longs to tell you how much He loves you! It is time to turn to him - say sorry - and receive His Love!
Have you got fears in your life? Fears of rejection? Fears of failing? If your identity is in Christ - you are a winner! You have no need to fear - God knows what is best for you. You need to learn to trust Him - to give Him your fears! His plan is to prosper and NOT to harm you! Do you believe it? He can and will give you a peace beyond all understanding!
Do you struggle with self worth? Do you look at yourself and ask why would someone love me? Why would someone take time to plan my life? Why would someone be interested in me? You need to start realising that Jesus thought you were worth it when He died on the cross - He thought of you and you are NOW made righteous! 
Believe that your identity is in Christ!

A lesson from the Dentist!

We all have fears.
fears of those 8 legged creatures, fears of dieing, fears of heights, or never seeing a loved on again. Fears can be crippling, they can get in the way and stop you achieving your dreams! One of my fears is the fear of dentists. I dislike them! It is true for the most part that the English do not rank first in the best looking teeth. Some would blame it on all the tea drinking, others on smoking, and others I guess poor hygiene!

When I was younger, I had a tooth knocked out whilst playing the recorder. It was not a trauma, but it did leave a lasting memory of dentists (not a good memory at that!) So much so, that in the last 10 years I have seen a dentist 3 times! 1st time was due to pain - lots of it! 2nd time was a check up and 3rd time was today - having a tooth pulled as a result of pain!
Why is it that a lot of the time, unless something is annoying you or giving you pain or not going your way, you are fine. For example - a car. Unless its making a funny noise or smell or lights start flashing, we presume everything is OK. Our bodies, unless something is in pain or doesn't function correctly, we carry on as normal.
I don't know if this is true for you, but I know it is for me! I wait until something is broken, to fix it, instead of preventing it in the first place!
Our relationship with God can be like this! How often do we go to God in the times of need? The times we are in pain? the times we want something?
How often do we just go to God just because we want to spend time with Him?
If I had made regular appointments with the dentist then I would not of had to have my tooth pulled today! It would have been prevented!
If we made regular appointments with God, what may have been prevented in your life?