Stir Up Your Dreams

Stir Up Your Dreams TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you… 2 Timothy 1:6, NKJV. TODAY'S WORD: Do you need some freshness in your life today? It’s probably time to stir up what God has placed on the inside of you. It’s time to stir up those gifts, stir up those dreams, stir up those talents inside. Start stretching yourself. This doesn’t just mean making New Year’s resolutions; this means tapping into the destiny God has placed in your heart. Scripture tells us that without vision, people perish. If you don’t have a dream, you’re not really living the way God intends; you’re merely existing. Maybe at one time you had a dream, but you went through some disappointments or setbacks. Things didn’t turn out the way you planned. But here’s a key: when one dream dies, dream another dream. Just because it didn’t work out the way you had it planned doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have another plan. You cannot allow one disappointment or even a series of disappointments to convince you that your dream is over. It’s time to dig your heels in and hold on to the promises in your heart. As you stir up those God-given dreams and desires, He’ll pour out His favor and blessings and fulfill every desire in your heart! PRAYER FOR TODAY: Father, I come humbly to You. I give You my past, my disappointments, my brokenness. I choose forgiveness and peace. Fill me with Your hope and expectation as You fulfill the dreams and desires that You have placed within me in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Don’t Worry, Get Healthy   by Rick Warren “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”Isaiah 43:2 (NLT) You have three basic choices when it comes to the stress in your life: You can worry, you can ignore your stress, or you can relax and trust God. The Bible says in Psalm 116:7, “I said to myself, ‘Relax, because the LORD takes care of you’” (NCV). You can’t trust God and worry at the same time. That’s not just good spiritual wisdom from the Lord; it’s wisdom for your health as well. The Bible also says in Proverbs 14:30 that a heart at peace is a healthy heart: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (NIV). It’s not just what you eat that destroys your health — it’s what eats you! You can have the best health plan around — eat fresh, healthy, organic, and in proper portions — but if you’re resentful against someone in your life or worry about tomorrow, your health will suffer. Worry is like a poison or a fire. It burns you up inside. I’ll never forget watching an old episode of “Columbo” when Johnny Cash played the bad guy. When he finally got caught, he said, “I’m so glad I got caught, because the guilt was killing me.”  I can’t tell you how many reports I’ve read of doctors who said that most people could leave the hospital today if they could get rid of their worries, guilt, and resentment. We deal with all sorts of worries in our lives, but many of them revolve around these five areas. We worry: We’ll be left alone. We won’t know what to do in the future. We won’t have what we need in the future. We will be hurt by something or someone in the future. We won’t have the strength to survive in the future. But there’s good news: You don’t have to worry. Worry is optional misery! You have many things that impact your health that you cannot control. But you can control the amount you worry! God has more than 7,000 promises in the Bible. Many of those promises center on the areas you worry about the most, like the five mentioned above. If you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you know the One who created your future. His promises about your future give life, not stomach-eating worry. The Bible says in one of those 7,000 promises: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you” Isaiah 43:2 (NLT). You have no need to worry. The One who holds your future will walk with you through it. That may be just as important as a diet and gym membership in your journey to physical health in 2014. Talk It Over How have you seen worries impact your physical health or the physical health of those you care about? In what area of your life are you struggling to trust God and causing unneeded worry? What promise from God will you claim in 2014 to help you trust him more and worry less?