First Day of the Rest of Your Life…
Well, today is the first day of the rest of your life, right? Let’s invest the remainder wisely.
If you are reading these words, know this, we have already been, and will continue to be praying for you, our readers. No hollow promises or lip service. No good intentions unfulfilled. You can absolutely count on it.
Now let’s talk about what I want you to consider right this minute. But do me a favor, in the busy-ness of your day, please find a way to engage your heart, otherwise, with your mind alone, you will miss what I am saying – guaranteed. Reading this would then just be another mental exercise, part of the blur of another seemingly average day filled with too much information. Hearts engage!
You have deep within you a desire to make a difference – a positive, meaningful impact with your life – to matter – because God put it there. And you do matter, simply because God loves you and created you. He has plans, great plans for you. Even if you don’t fulfill them you are still precious to Him. Unfortunately, though, most of us find it far trickier than God ever intended to recognize His specific plans for our lives. There are many reasons for this, but at the top of the list is bad doctrine from popular culture and even from many Christian leaders, that overly influences our thinking.
Popular ‘Vision Teaching’ is Incomplete
“Vision” is often made into this well meaning but me-centric kind of an exercise. We are made to believe that WE can sit down when WE feel like it and then WE can toss out a few prayers and WE write down our vision & goals systematically, try to be a good Christian along the way and all is well. This stinks because part of that is helpful, but part is mixed with poison that produces serious problems in our lives.
Think back for a moment. Regardless of your particular childhood, the ‘ideal’ household handled things something like this. Mom and Dad would sit down with little Johnny at some point and say “Johnny, don’t let anyone tell you any different. You can do anything you put your mind to”. And wow did that help Johnny, for real. It seemed to brighten up His future so much. It freed him to think bigger thoughts and dream bigger dreams which are both great. He wasn’t going to be held back from accomplishing significant things like so many others. This is a sincere desire to help Johnny. But this is deadly, half baked thinking. The subtle deception woven into this well traveled philosophy leaves out that the Bible tells us: Eph. 2:10 “We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” NIV
So while it’s possible to decide to do whatever you want and ask God to bless it, that leaves out something crucial – the fact that God has prepared some things in advance for you to do. Many sincere Christians waste so much time and energy on ‘other’ works and asking God to bless those (and He does to a point) – it is truly staggering. Let’s move into some simple but powerful different thinking.
There is no place for you and me like the will of God.
Now please don’t be offended when I tell you that we also do this with our kids – because you are childlike still, hopefully, at least as it pertains to your faith walk with God. One of our family values which we stress in our regular family meetings (which we call the Hubbell School of the Spirit) with our kids 9, 7, & 5 years old, is that Hubbells have B.I.G. Dreams. But we aren’t talking about the kind we so often hear about in our culture and even in many churches — yet these are incredible dreams.
Here is the nature of B.I.G. Dreams:
B – Beyond Human Ability I – Inspired by God G – Generation Serving [the kind that when we complete them it may be said of us “_______________ (your name) fulfilled the purpose of God in his or her generation”] -just as it was said of David.
Now please, before you nod your head that this is a cute acronym and you already understand all this completely, allow me to explain more deeply each precious ingredient.
Your B.I.G. Dreams – “I” – Inspired by God
Yes I know – what about the “B” in BIG first? Good Question. In this case we will start with what is most important, instead of the natural order of the acronym.
B.I.G. Dreams are “I” – Inspired by God.
What does that mean? Here are some clues, guidelines and things for you to ponder in your heart.
The goal is that you will lay hold of, fresh and new, that God-inspired dream for your life – whether you feel pretty sure you know what it is, are not so sure, or somewhere in between. No matter, you can reconnect with it by faith today regardless of whether you understand it fully, and activate something deeply powerful in your life – but it will take intentional effort on your part. I am going to strike a match by faith.
How’s it Going?
Let chat a minute. How are you progressing in the work God has given you to do with your life, the God-inspired dream? He has gifted you and called you, and believe it or not He is actually building something with your life – and please note that He is also the owner of the building.
1 Cor 3:8-9 – “The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.” NLT
What does your building look like so far? Any ideas?
Are you investing yourself fully in the calling of God – your functional, significant role in the Kingdom – living out a God-inspired dream/calling?
Unfortunately, today as Christians we sometimes get confused about works ‘of the flesh’ and work that God has called us to. I do. In fact, many of us get confused about work in general, often producing a type of overly analytical passivity (just ‘waiting on God’ all the time) or pursuing our own dreams (not God-inspired). Either situation is pretty draining. Often we have some combination of both.
The work that God is building with you and through you is made of your entire life, not just what we most often consider work.
Getting Positioned
Let’s get positioned properly. In the Kingdom of God, there is only one foundation to build on – Jesus Christ (1cor 3:11). That goes for every believer. But please don’t get religious on me and start thinking that therefore you must become a traditional missionary, full time church worker or Pastor. What each of us builds upon the foundation is the ‘work’ of our lives. Our God inspired dream is found here.
But HOLD ON! Just because you are a sincere believer, that does not mean that the work you are building with God through your life is the one He intended and is built on the right foundation. Look very closely at this:
1 Cor 3:10-15 – But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have-Jesus Christ.12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials-gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. NLT
What I mean is – you can think you are building on Christ but actually building mostly on:
o your own ideas
o you own ambitions
o other desires that shouldn’t in fact, be directing you
o other people’s ideas about what you should be doing
o incorrect thinking you have embraced for whatever reason
o Fear of failure to do what’s in your heart as this God-inspired dream takes faith you may not think you have …etc…
Doesn’t mean you are not going to heaven. Doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you. Does mean you may be headed for phenomenal disappointment when the “work” of your life is judged. I want you to hear “well done good and faithful servant” and I want to hear that myself. Though this is a strong word, I sense the Spirit of God calling out to some of you in this way. Allow Him access to your heart.
What to Do
We can pray this right now together if you will “Father, show me the plan you have for my life. I choose to draw near to You and You promise to draw near to me as I do. I may have missed it in some areas but it’s not too late. I yield my life to you completely and as I let go of what confuses and misdirects me and resist what opposes, distracts and pulls me away, I begin to see your path right under my feet. Help me walk on it.”
Jesus is not simply King of what we think of as Church, but He is pre-eminent in all things-every dimension of creation. Most of us are not called to full-time jobs at church or as traditional missionaries, so let’s plug into a God-inspired dream, get out there with the gifts we have been given and live in the plan of God with greater expectation than ever before.
Your B.I.G. Dreams “B” – Beyond Human Ability
We are talking about B.I.G. dreams, the kind that Kingdom-minded believers need to have:
“B” – Beyond Human Ability, “I” – Inspired by God, “G” – Generation Serving
Here we go. Father touch the life of every single reader as we continue, not by clever words of human wisdom, but through the power of your Spirit.
B – Beyond Human Ability
Let’s stir our faith as we unlock an essential characteristic of the God-kind of dreams. If your dream is the kind that if a few things fall your way, you might just make it – it is not the right kind of dream. The dreams you and I should have – divinely inspired ones – are impossible without God’s power and ongoing involvement.
ATTENTION Business people, marketplace leaders, creative & aspiring individuals with God-inspired ideas, okay, all Christians in fact – NOTE: Don’t get caught just adding a few more zeroes, more influence or more success to your current heading and call it good, even if your aspirations are ‘spiritual’ or ‘ministry’. It is okay to want these things as vehicles that help you in your role expanding the Kingdom but seeking them first is not a catalyst for realizing B.I.G Dreams. However, daring to do exploits is part of being a Kingdom-minded Christian. No need to shrink away from expanding or prominent roles in society when God is the one bringing them about.
Though prominence, influence and visible success may be brought about truly supernaturally and are worthy of believing God for in your case, they are side notes to first having a heart for the Kingdom. (Remember that unbelievers create these things without relying on God, and we are talking about the realm beyond human ability.) Vital Key to Supernatural Outcomes
Look at it like this. Kingdom FIRST, then as you burn with its flame, God fans it further and causes visible fruitfulness as a byproduct of the mandate you are carrying. But the order of pursuit couldn’t be more crucial. Many of us don’t have this settled deep, deep down. Sure we’re Christians and if you asked us we have the right answer, but yet we are not seeing what we long for – results beyond human ability as we walk with God – and not just in ‘special’ church services, certain ‘ministry’ events or faraway places. Here. Now. How I truly wish you could hear what I am saying and respond to it deep down.
Let this statement find a home in your heart. When you become fully set on reflecting His light rather than brightening your own, you become more able to conduct miraculous power and experience results beyond human ability. Maybe you are already heading right and that’s great. Bravo-seriously. We need more like you. I’m still just getting it. Let’s keep going.
The Realm of Human Possibility
When we continually live our daily lives confined to the realm of human possibility, our role as change-agents for the Kingdom of God becomes more like fantasy than vision.
Our busy lifestyles combined with relentless influence from the world around us (some which we invite-aaargh!) have a subtle way of robbing us of divine potential. We start looking like the guy or gal who lives down the street with ‘a little God thrown in’, rather than a person empowered by the Spirit of God who dares to believe for things beyond human ability as we reach out to the world in Christ’s love.
Your dream MUST be more than that. Your dream has to bring heavenly possibility into the realm of earth by faith. Otherwise it’s far too small and ordinary. This goes for Christians who are pastors, full-time church staff, business owners, government leaders, gen ‘x’-ers & ‘y’-ers, grandparents, stay at home moms, missionaries, teachers, marketing consultants, professionals from all walks of life – you name it, EVERYONE.
Here’s how Paul puts it to the Corinthians: 2 Cor 6:11-13 11 “Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. 12 We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. 13 I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!” (from THE MESSAGE)
The Source of Much Small-Mindedness
Sometimes it’s our very own small mindedness that’s holding us back. Do you hear what I am saying? Dream thieves even come from inside us. The old saying goes that ‘those who think they can’t and those who think they can are both right’. Jesus says it another way, directly addressing someone seeking a miraculous outcome, “According to your faith be it unto you”.
Here Paul is saying “I’m longing to see you see your own opportunity” and also, “open up your life to divine possibilities” – not to be mistaken with just starting to wish to become a movie star. (If you are called that way, however, then please start taking acting classes, develop your gifts and do us all a favor and have at it. Let us know so we can pray for you.
Let’s ask an important question. What is so far beyond your ability but so deep in your heart that you must believe God to see its fulfillment? – Now we are getting warmer!
Take the Limits Off Your Life
Might it be time to take the self imposed limits off your life and pursue a God-sized dream? A small-minded spirituality, which robs us of divine possibility and that is content-to-let-the-world-run-the-show-while-we’re-at-church-so-long-as-we-eventually-escape-to-heaven, really bites. Yes church is vital. I love relevant, powerful church and am serving locally in a great one. I’m not saying that, but church is a place to be strategically equipped for your divine assignment, not consumed by ‘stuff’ or forced into a mold that is more about the personality, agenda and preferences of leaders than propelling the Kingdom and you in the Kingdom. Make sure you know you are in the right place.
While you are at it, however, also do what’s practical and live a solid life along the way. This simply means that in addition to doing all we know to do with all the strength we have, that we continue to cry out for the release of things far beyond human ability through us. May God’s strength clothe our lives.
Knock. Knock. Are you available? Let it be done on earth as it is in heaven. For that to happen, somebody has to have a vision to carry something from one place to the other – now, in this time! (Today’s earth could use more heaven, no?) May that be you.
Apart from God, That’s Crazy!
You are well designed by a master craftsman, but God never meant you to reach your divine potential apart from Him, even as wonderfully as He made you. The type of fruit born from purely human strength has an appearance of glory but it is the kind that fades. How then do we lay hold of something greater?
Part of the answer lies in what we are aiming toward with our lives. If we are willing to settle for mostly natural outcomes, that is what we will produce. If, however, we are willing to continually seek God for that which is beyond human ability, we are knocking on the door of miraculous outcomes. This takes humility and dependence but also boldness. Specific, faith filled prayer and Bible meditation that produces real faith is a catalyst, not to mention confessing and declaring the truth consistently with our mouth.
Your B.I.G. Dreams “G” – Generation Serving
Thank you Lord for opening up our hearts to the incredible richness of the plans you have for each of us and also what you want to do with us as a group. Please show us even more today.
We are unlocking ‘B.I.G. dreams’, the kind that Kingdom-minded believers need to have:
“B” – Beyond Human Ability, “I” – Inspired by God, “G” – Generation Serving
Here is a powerful way to think about these elements – the ‘B’ has to do with the scope; the ‘I’ has to do with the source; and the ‘G’ has to do with the situation. If we look deeply into all three of these areas, perhaps it may be said of us one day, like it was of David, that we served the purpose of God in our generation.
“G” – Generation Serving
Acts 13:36 “…For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep…(NKJV) Another translation says it like this “…For David, after having been useful to his own generation in accordance with God’s purpose…” (Weymouth) We might ask ourselves how useful we are to the generation we find ourselves in? Are we serving it with maximum effect? Hopefully so…
God placed us here intentionally for such a time as this. Today is the context in which He has chosen to place us. How very exciting. Now is the time that God has allowed us the profound opportunity to shape history and influence outcomes on earth through decisions we make in response to His call.
Why do so many of us seem to miss the wonder of the opportunity right in front of us?
You are Not in Heaven, You’re on Earth
In heaven, we will have incredible experiences that none of us fully understand – glorious, uninterrupted fellowship with God in a very different way than we commonly experience here. But you are not in heaven right now. You are on earth with a calling on your life to be fulfilled HERE. That’s no accident. God foresaw the issues of our day and sent you and I to be solution-carriers at this very time, divinely equipped to meet the challenges present in our world.
He didn’t give us all the same gifts, experiences, skill-sets, passions and calling and certainly didn’t intend for us to all operate identically. As creative as God is, how creative does that sound? Some of us make better mayors than traditional missionaries; better professionals than Pastors.
Religiosity
Unfortunately, prevailing religious mindsets have greatly limited the expression of Christ in and through us to our world. The church at large finds itself with arguably less influence and ability to shape society today than previously, yet more believers living on earth than ever before in history. What is wrong with this picture? How often do world, national and city leaders come knocking on our door for answers these days? Is it possible they don’t call us because we have become less relevant than our taglines may suggest? I hope not…
David was a prominent leader with governmental authority, military skill and unashamed devotion to the Lord. He was not only God’s choice, but well qualified. This man after God’s own heart lead with his life in society and didn’t leave that to others. He was plenty spiritual. It’s interesting that God’s heart, reflected in David, caused him to engage with his generation, rather than separate himself.
What are We Looking At?
What does it say to the world about God when His children focus on our own lives, meetings & relationships with comparatively little cumulative, strategic impact on the world around us for a group our size – while telling everyone they need to be like us. Among other things, this communicates that all the wonderful goings-on of life created by Him are irrelevant. Yet life on earth is a wonderful, precious experience and its multi-facets come from God. If He didn’t want any work or art or communities or governments or nations or economies, there wouldn’t be any. We don’t get over involved in these things at the expense of our relationship with Him, but as part of it. None of this takes away from the centrality of the cross. The earth is entirely His.
We don’t all live at church and neither are we supposed to, but too many Christians act as if they wish they did. God’s plan instead, is that we are salt – and salt can’t season anything it doesn’t touch. Why are we trying so hard to stay in the shaker or hover around it? Is it possible that God is trying to pour us out into the world while some of us are clinging to each other and our own plans that don’t allow us to fit through the holes to find the real path of God’s choosing?
Of course we need to be a functional part of local church, but our main role in life, for most of us, is not there.
Another Place to Recognize Our Dream
As Christians, we need to be attentive to the situations around us. What’s going on in our world? What’s going on in our nation-region-city-neighborhood? What problems need answers? Rather than ignoring the issues of our day, we should be leading the charge to solve them. Are we sometimes too busy to notice or too self absorbed to care? Surely not.
Some of us that seem to languish a bit concerning God’s plan for us might be looking in the wrong place. We may find a clue where we haven’t been looking hard enough. If you recognize a problem that needs solving and find that you have a passion in so doing, that’s probably not a coincidence. God may have figured that out long ago. Start opening your eyes to what is going on around you in the world where God has positioned you. See what you can see.
Too Much Credit to the Devil – It’s God’s World
The earth is the Lords and all it contains. For a while, Satan gained legal access through sin to bind creation but praise God any ruler ship he exhibits now is as an impostor. He is trespassing on God’s property. God is searching for those who want to evict him from all kinds of places where he has set up shop. Don’t forget that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, not just bring us abundant life.
Ps 97:10 “You who love the Lord, hate evil…” NKJV
We should be pushing Satan and his forces back in the Arts, pushing him back in Government, pushing Him back in Science, pushing him back in Education, pushing him back in Medicine, pushing him back in Family, pushing Him back in Entertainment, pushing him back in Spirituality, pushing him back in Innovation, pushing him back in the Media, pushing him back in Business, pushing him back from people’s lives. You talk to some Christians and you’d think the devil was supposed to be gaining on God in creation! Rubbish.
God is looking for Christians who will roll up their sleeves and get involved solving problems as we advance the Kingdom in our world, letting our example and light shine before men; speaking not only with words, but demonstrating with actions in ways and places the world can see. The life of the redeemed believer, our entire life – every part, is a relevant message to our generation. Let’s serve them according to God’s will for us. We can do this – because we were designed to.
Blessings to you, your family and upon your B.I.G. Dreams.