The Gift of Dreams

"In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you."  Romans 12:6

God has given you your gifts. You didn't choose them. Your gifts are essential to finding God's will for your life and you will find fulfillment in them.

If you are a new creature in Christ and are in communication with his Holy Spirit, you will begin to notice desires and ideas that point you to a dream. If you are trusting God, you can trust Him to point you to your destiny. Your heart's desires is what He uses to motivate you to doing what you were destined to do.

If you aren't sure what your dreams are...ask God and then listen. Be still and hear what He is calling you to. Your dream will only make sense when you have heard from Him and implemented his plan for you. Your dream is your own, designed just for you.

Stay with it - take courage when all seems for naught.

God Sees The Heart

1 Samuel 16:7


“But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Why is this such a hard concept to grasp? I don’t know very many people who don’t struggle with this reality on a daily basis. We don’t have to be obsessed with self to forget the importance of a clean heart. We don’t have to be overly vain or self-centered to fool ourselves into thinking the condition of our heart is under lock and key – not visible to God or anyone else.


God looks at our heart because He knows therein lies our true self. The condition of that vital “organ” is the barometer for everything else we do and say. If it is covered with layers of fear, bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy or even indifference, the heart will be uglier than any imaginable disfigurement of our outward appearance.

When beauty, youth and robustness are the standards we use to measure our value or someone else’s value, we are dangerously missing the mark. I say dangerous because when we are distracted from the true measure of a man, we cannot meet their needs. We may miss what God is calling us to do in and for the world.

Pray every day for the eyes of discernment – the eyes that see others as God sees them. And even to see our own hearts for the condition they are in. Only then can we effectively make an eternal difference.

Lullaby CD winner......and thought for the day.

Congrats to Jeanette....I hope your friend enjoys the CD.

Thought for the day:

The path of least resistance isn't always the best way. It's resistance that builds muscle, holds the earth in place (gravity), and keeps us walking upright.

Blessings.

Don't Get Ahead of God

Here's what I learned today:

1.  Do not be afraid.

2.  Take your station.

3.  The Lord shall do battle for you.

4.  You shall keep still.

This is what Moses told his desert wanderers when they were ready to revolt. Waiting for God's plan for our lives can be frustrating. We want to jump ahead and make things happen. But our actions just might delay our dreams and God's call on our life even further.

I'm learning to wait...have a ways to go. How about you?

The four points were taken from a DVD by Joseph Bentz titled "When God Takes Too Long"

Lullaby CD GIVEAWAY

In 2008 I wrote, performed and professionally recorded a lullaby CD. My daughter had been suggesting it for several years and I finally did it.

It was a labor of love and I enjoyed every minute of the process. I especially liked it when my little grandchildren showed their approval.

God gives us all certain gifts. We may only use them for a season, or we may make a life journey of them. But they are meant to be used. My heart's desire has always been to have my gifts glorify the One who gave them to me. Even when I'm unsure of my abilities, I listen to my heart and am once again reminded of the mission He has given me. Singing is only one of the things He has for me to do, but I will be faithful to it as long as He requires it of me.

What about you? Do you have a gift lying dormant? Have to let God encourage you to use it?

If you would like to win a copy of this CD, leave a comment with your email address and I'll contact you. I will choose the winner by next Wednesday (28th). You may listen to a sample of the CD on my website: http://www.jancline.net/.

Sweet dreams & blessings.

Plant the Right Seeds

And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.
I Corinthians 15:37-38





I have often marveled at the amount of parables and teaching that comes out of the principle of sowing a seed. The object of the seed is used by Jesus to make many different points of great meaning. It’s a word picture that is easy for us to understand and relate to our lives.




Today, as I read scriptures about the parables of seeding, I thought about my husband and the way he farms his wheat land. He is a good farmer, and always does a great job at doing all the proper things in the proper order. It’s imperative for us to reap a good crop every year. But I wonder what would happen if by some careless mistake my husband planted all the wrong seeds?



What would he do? Would he tear up the entire field to start all over with the planting process? Cost prohibitive. Would he just take whatever plant happened to grow and make something out of it? Most unlikely. Would he have a nervous breakdown? Probably.




Seriously, I think my own parable tells us that we should be careful what seeds we are planting. They will grow, they can’t help it. But what will they produce? I want only the best and most productive seeds planted in my life. I never want my farming efforts to be in vain, producing a product that will offend, mislead, or damage someone else. I want to help feed the world with good fruit. I know you do too. Be mindful of your seeds – before you plant them.


Dear Lord, bless my seeds and make them into fruit You can use. Forgive me when I am careless.

A Very Present Help

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. That is, in Christ, he chose us before the world was made so that we would be his holy people—people without blame before him. Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him, and it brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves. In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins. How rich is God's grace.

 Ephesians 1:3-7

What does crisis do to your faith? Does it shake it to the core, or does it reveal to you how big your God is? If God is who He says He is, then He’s the same in crisis or in calm.

Our level of security plays a big part in how we manage our faith in difficult times. If we are secure in God and his promises, we will stand firm in the midst of the storm. When we know who hold our lives in balance, we need not run scared from a battle.

When we are insecure about who we are in God, our relationship with Him won’t be deep enough to learn to trust Him above anything else. The Bible tells us that we are loved, chosen, redeemed and blessed. He has adopted us by his choice and takes his parenthood seriously—but do we?

When a child is secure in knowing his daddy will protect him, feed him, forgive and prefer him, there is strength to take on the world. The bond that trusting brings to a relationship is a valuable thing, and God gives us every opportunity to share in that trust. Our daddy is faithful and gracious in good times and crisis. That’s enough to rest in for a lifetime.

Lord, I am grateful for the chance to be your child. Thank you for choosing me.