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Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. ² I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. -Galatians 2:1-2

I was in a Q and A session with Keith Moore, and my friend and I asked him how he stays fresh spiritually while on the road preaching all the time. He said, “I don’t do anything the Lord didn’t tell me to do.”

“If You want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

He went on to say that when he meets with Pastors who are “burning out or don’t have peace” he tells them to make a list of everything they’re doing in their lives at that time. Then go down the list and ask themselves, “Ok, when did God speak to my heart to do that?” He said if you can’t figure out a specific time when you KNOW God told you to do that, you should quit doing it.

If you know me, you know that I love setting goals, making bucket lists, life plans, etc. But what I’m realizing with all of those is that they’re mostly my plans for my life.

Psalm 127:1 says, “Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it“. I heard someone say they were going to write a book called, “How to miss God and be Miserable!” While that’s funny, it’s so true.

If you’re doing a bunch of things God never told you to do, I promise, you’ll be miserable and you’ll never get the results you’re looking for.

If you’re lacking peace in your life and are miserable more than you’re joyful, you should ask yourself the question, “What am I doing and When did God tell me to do that?”

Then comes the hard part… actually obeying God and quit doing the things He never told you to do. But that’s another blog post for another day.

Thoughts?

²⁰Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do super abundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, dreams] -Ephesians 3:20

I recently heard about a pastor who read this verse and thought, God, you want to do things way beyond anything I can ever dare ask, think, pray for, hope for, or dream of. I want that to happen in my life. He said that God spoke to his heart, “Well, when are you going to start dreaming big ? You haven’t given me anything to work with. ” He said, now every time he wakes up he dreams of what could be done through his life, dreams of what he can do to reach people, nothing is off limits!

“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.”

I am convinced that God wants to do unbelievable things through our lives. God is looking for people who will dream big for Him. He wants to change the world through us. But in order for that to happen, we need to allow God to shape our dreams and to believe Him that ALL things are possible to him who believes.

One of my mentors told me a long time ago, “Bubs, dream big and go for it.” I’ll never forget that.

So dream big this year -  Dream of how you can impact people this year. Dream of what you can accomplish this year. Dream of who you want to meet and  where you want to go. When you dream of this year make sure you’re THINKING BIGGER than you ever have, TALKING BIGGER than you ever have, GIVING MORE than you ever have, and ENVISIONING MORE than you ever have. Give GOD something to work with.

¹⁹Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. -John 5:19

Did you ever do something you wanted to do or go somewhere you wanted to go, or get something you wanted to get and you didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as you should have?

When it comes to writing my own story, I’m very specific about what I want, my goals, my bucket list, and what I need to do. However, I’ve found that without seeking God about what to do, all of my striving and accomplishing will be in vain. I’ve done things I thought were going to be awesome, when it my heart I knew I shouldn’t, and I ended up not enjoying an experience at all.

The Bible says that the Blessings of the Lord makes one rich, and HE adds no sorrow to it. In other words, God is the only one who can enable you to truly enjoy your life and your experiences. Jesus only did what God told  Him to do, and as a result – He did everything He was supposed to do on earth.

The Bible says God will give you the desires of your heart, if you delight in Him. So whether you’re setting goals, planning a vacation, making a career move, or whatever else may be on your heart this year, make sure you know it in your heart it’s something God wants you to do. Because if it’s not, you’re going to get a second-class experience.