Please help me welcome to Ladies On A Mission: Jackie from Fresh Oil Today
I have a friend, Jane, who once shared with me that she doesn’t have any particular dreams or aspirations in life and quite frankly was unable to relate to preaching and teaching about dreaming BIG with God. I’m like, “What, Jane are you serious!?? She continued to share that she’s perfectly content to be a Godly wife, mother and grandma and volunteer at church and that she didn’t have any “big” dreams that she was claiming by faith and expecting God to bring to pass in her life!
Quite frankly, ya’ll, I was shocked and couldn’t relate to not being a dreamer! Please don’t misunderstand me. Being a contented Godly wife, mother, grandma and serving at church are stellar Proverbs 31 priorities that every woman should possess and lovingly perform to the Glory of God. But there’s more! He’s a BIG God and He’s deposited within each of us a precious treasury of unique giftings, desires, dreams and abilities designed to bring us Divine purpose and fulfillment and give Him great delight and glory!
Maybe you’ve dreamed of writing a book or painting or owning a business or teaching, sharing or speaking or serving or whatever He’s put within your heart to do that expresses His love, grace and mercy in a way that is uniquely you! You and I are Handcrafted vessels bulging and brimming with our own unique creative expression of His greatness just waiting to pour forth! Glory to God! But we must trust, believe and pursue His heart and by faith believe that He’s at work and will bring forth into our lives all that He’s promised!
The enemy hates it when a believer BELIEVES and steps out and trusts by faith for BIG things in God!! It drives him nuts!! And he thrives upon robbing, stealing and killing our dreams by dragging up our past or overloading us with circumstances and situations that are formed to discourage our dreaming heart. Don’t believe and accept his lies! BUT do believe that the One who lovingly formed you and dwells within you by His Spirit created you for GREAT things through Him and for His Glory! It’s time to stretch our faith and believe our BIG God! He loves when His children step out of their boat and focus only upon Him and His greatness!
Do you have dreams and desires within your heart that are unfulfilled or need resurrection life breathed upon them? Has age, circumstances or other things caused your hopes and dreams to falter and thusly hampering your passionate and expectant pursuit of Him and all He’s sown within your heart? Or maybe you feel you’ve missed the boat and your dreams have sailed past and you no longer believe He will do it! I pray not!! Let’s continue on…..
Ah, Sarah! We all know her story! Within her heart was her secret dream of having a baby – a promise fulfilled. I can only imagine that as each year’s birthday festivities ended she’d quietly slip away and once again take account of her aging, sagging body, and ponder within her heart what it would feel like to joyfully bulge with the manifestation of a dream. But as her circumstances drowned out the beautiful melody of her God given dream, her heart sank and she even laughed at God. Not in a belittling or disrespectful way, but in a way that I believe manifested her weariness and unexpectancy as she considered her circumstances…a 90 year old conceiving and a promise delivered….in the natural, impossible. BUT GOD!......
God visited Sarah exactly as He said He would;
God did to Sarah what He promised;
Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age
and
at the very time God had set……
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
Sarah said,
God has blessed me with laughter
and
all who get the news will laugh with me!
Sarah also said,
Whoever would have suggested to Abraham that
Sarah would one day nurse a baby!
YET, here I am!
I’ve given the old man a son!
Genesis 21: 1-7 msg
Glory to God and Hallelujah, friends! This scripture really ignites and encourages this dreamer’s heart! How ‘bout you!? Age, our past or present circumstances have no affect upon the greatness of our God and His ability of working miracles and fulfilling our dreams as we pursue Him and trust His Word and timing! He knows the secret desires and dreams within your heart, dear friend, and it brings Him great delight to see you joyfully bulging with happiness as you wait expectantly upon the promise. He did it for Sarah…..He’ll do it for you!! Dream BIG with God!
HE IS FAITHFUL!!
Joyfully Bulging and Dreaming Big!
Jackie
21 comments:
Jackie,
You are precious! Your big heart for JESUS and His purposes for our lives shows!
Keep shining! Keep walking with Him! You are definitely a lady on a mission to live your life in the fullness of what the LORD has for you!!
I think whatever the LORD has purposed for each woman she should enjoy it--walk in it fully and know what He's purposed for her as it will be different for each woman. Some are content in some areas and some are content in others. It really depends on what GOD is speaking to their specific heart. The key is for each of us to be sure we are hearing HIM for ourselves and then walk in it...run to His feet in prayer...be encouraged and affirm each other in our Christian journey's while we desire to honor and glorify Him.
You go girl!
Love you and thanks for sharing your personal experience in the LORD!
Sister Jackie:
So true and inspiring!
"The enemy hates it when a believer BELIEVES and steps out and trusts by faith for BIG things in God!! It drives him nuts!! And he thrives upon robbing, stealing and killing our dreams by dragging up our past or overloading us with circumstances and situations that are formed to discourage our dreaming heart. Don’t believe and accept his lies! BUT do believe that the One who lovingly formed you and dwells within you by His Spirit created you for GREAT things through Him and for His Glory!"
And he constantly discourages anyone who, at any moment, becomes a child of God! I'm just grateful we have God's weapons to ward off the enemies' attacks. And best of all, with our faith, we know we have His victory! God bless you sister and your post is so full of inspiration!!! Thank you to you and sister Lisa for this wonderful post!
Hey Jackie,
Good to see you here at Lisa's place. I agree that sometimes we forget that we can do all things through Christ which give us strength. Thank you sharing this today and I love you.
I love you too Lisa.
Your sister in Christ,
Bren
A beautiful post, Jackie. I have always had dreams...what I consider BIG may be considered SMALL through the eyes of others, though.
I like what Lisa says in the second paragraph of her comment above...the key IS knowing that we are hearing HIM.
We should never settle for anything less than the BEST God has for us, right?
Hugs...
I have put dreams behind me because of my age and sometimes being told that it can't be done.
But if dreams keep resurfacing they may not be dreams. They may be a calling from God to step out of our comfort zone and do more for Him and through Him.
Wow. I get a double-dose of Jackie today. Too cool!
What a precious collection of thought. It reminds me that some wise soul once said: We are not human doings; but human beings.
Seems to me we're at our best when simply "being" in Him. The rest (mmm, the "rest") flows & follows from there!
Thank you, both,
Kathleen
P.S. I simply can't pass this by: my security word here is "Zorro". How funny.
Jackie, I always love your writing and this post seemed to be written for me! Thank you for sharing and for encouraging us/me once again to dream big for Him. May He continue to pour out His Spirit on your writing and on you.
Hugs, Noreen
I'm also joyfully bulging and expectantly hoping in all those promises that are 'yes' in Christ.
Amen - He is a BIG God with no limitations at all to do the most amazing things in us - through us - with us and for us - but all for HIS glory!
Great post - of what I'm believing God to do!
Choosing JOY, Stephanie
Hello Jackie, It's so nice to meet you.
I love this post! I've always been a dreamer and have seen God bring many of my dreams to past. However there are some I hold dear that seem as if they're just beyond my reach. Your post today has encouraged me to keep dreaming and keep believing that God will bring them to past in His time.
Jackie & Lisa:
I am going to keep dreaming until my last breath! Great post!
Hey Jackie and Lisa!
Loved this great encouraging
word! Joyfully bulging? I
like that! As I wait upon the
Lord and stand on His Word I
am joyfully bulging and pregnant
with anticipation and expectation
for a miracle for my son! Thank
you for your continued prayers,
dear Jackie.
Love,
Sandy
I love the joy and enthusiasm in your life, Jackie... you and Lisa both share that gift! Loved these words, and am such an avid 'fan' of both of you precious ladies!!
Hugs!
Sonja
Jackie, this goes along so well with my pastor's message on Wednesday. I'm a dreamer and just today I was reflected on some that I allowed to slip away.
Thanks ladies for taking a few minutes out of your schedules to pop in and visit! I'm so glad you were blessed in what the Lord gave Jackie to share with all of us.
He's amazing isn't He?!
Keep dreaming BIG in our BIG GOD and remember, in our dreaming, let's take some faith-action steps too.
Love you all and praying for you.
Oh Jackie this was just such a wonderful post. It has inspired me (truly) to begin again dreaming BIG and moving forward with what the Lord might do with me. I might just be a very ordinary woman, but we serve a very unique and mighty God. Thanks to you and Lisa...HUGS, Debbie
I love that my age and circumstances doesn't dictate what God can do with my life...for me I am encouraged by how old Moses was when God brought him out of the desert to take the Israelites into the promise land...there is still hope for what God has planted into my spirit.
Thanks for sharing!
This is such an empowering and inspiring post!! This post encourages you to dream big and not to give up on your dreams. This is what I needed to read. Blessings to you!!!
Such a wonderful post! Yes I need my dreams resurrected again. I have had many come true in the past, like Sarah. Past predicts the future!
kim
Jackie:
What a good word to my weary heart! I'm impressed by something I learned via research a while back. When Sarah laughed at the idea of having a child of her own and asked of God, "will I now have this pleasure?" That word pleasure comes from the Hebrew root word "adnah" which is the same word for "Eden". As I ponder along these lines, I can't help but think that we all long for an "Eden" moment of our own... a time when all is right and pure and certain with God.
I think that he longs to give each one of us an "Eden" season/dream/desire. I know I'm asking for it as my "down the road." Thank you for further emphasis here. Love you, Jackie. Love you, Lisa, for hosting her heart and pen!
peace~elaine
This was fantastic Jackie! I am one who has been guilty of having that grasshopper mentality~you know, when the spies were sent to have a look at the promised land, and all but Joshua and Caleb were terrified of the giants there. They felt like grasshoppers by comparison. But God is stretching me and putting the very desires in my heart that He intends for me to dream BIG about. It is such a blessing to be part of this blogosphere and have the encouragement of sisters in Christ (and a few brothers!). I am so blessed by the tie that binds. How beautiful is the body of Christ!!
I love your empowerment - always feel infused with pure energy from on high when I've had a visit with you, Jackie.
I needed this word today. I feel too old for the rest of life. ha - I'm worn out at 58 and Sarah was 90 and not only 'gave the old man a son' - but she attended to it as well. She was his mother. Whew! can you imagine? I call that BIG Faith!
I've been contemplating recently - what I might be able to do after my current season is finished. I have felt that I am too used up to be of any use down the road. I'm old - I'm tired - stress is wearing against my brain and my body. I've been losing sight of my dreams.
But you've pulled me back into focus. There is always MORE. With God - all things are possible - no matter the age or the circumstance. God is indeed faithful.
Thanks for your encouraging power-packed words today. My heart overflows with expectancy - for my KING.
Patrina <")>><
warrior Bride in boots
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