...when the dream finally comes true!


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I have been reading a lot lately and listening to many sermons on dreams. Every time I pick up something, listen to Sunday church or listen to a podcast, there it is. Dreams. I wonder why. Or do I?

I have also been stumbling for a while on 1 Peter 1:13. Again, whenever I open the Bible, or see a devotion somewhere, there it is. This is what it says: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Stumbled because I knew there was a message there for me. But what? What are you trying to tell me, God? Am I that fool who cannot discern your voice? Today it dawned on me. All of it.

I have always had a dream. I have always dreamed of writing. I remember as a child in elementary school writing compositions and loving every word of them. I enjoyed not only writing but the good grades and positive comments from the teachers. Later, with a switch in language, it became harder.

Nevertheless, I wrote. Now in two languages. Essays, poems, stories. Then life happened. Marriage, kids, work. Writing took a back seat and for years had to be put on hold.

Then something happened that led me to write again. Something twenty-five years in the making. Imagine that! Suddenly, in a matter of months, twenty-five years of events came to a sudden stop. The picture above says it all. I have managed to publish my first book. I say first because I hope to do more. So many ideas in my head that need to be plastered on paper. Suddenly, the dream comes back. But how do I do it? Is it God or just me? Is it really Him taking me out of the middle between the dream and the fulfillment? Or is it yet another fantasy of so many other unfulfilled dreams that have made their way through my head? Then this:

“Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Here was today’s takeaway:

1)      Prepare your minds. Yes, I have to get myself ready for what comes. Get ready to start writing no matter what. Start thinking. Start praying. Start working. Make plans. Get my ideas in place. Believe that I can do it. Get God on my side.

2)      Be self-controlled. This has been another struggle of late. In this case, it’s about setting up a schedule and following the plan. Don’t give up. It may be the most difficult one. Self-control is not easy. Yet, it is part of the fruit of the Spirit and something to take very seriously.

3)      Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you. It is God’s idea. There will be fruit. Someone will be blessed with this book. Some one person who I don’t know will read it and their life will be changed. I hope. I know. By the grace of God, there will be more books. I don’t care that they are bestsellers. Not my intention. I just want the grace of knowing that someone has been blessed.

The conclusion? When Jesus Christ is revealed. When I see the fruits. When God’s timing comes to fruition. When He finally takes me out of the middle and shows me the end result. The fulfillment of the dream.

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