Song of the Week #22

This song is a rally cry. The first version is the way it is on the album, the second is live with Lacey talking a little bit about the song.

Become Your Dream

It was on a cold, two-hour drive to Paducah, Kentucky when it happened to me. The kind of revelation that literally made me laugh out loud even though I was the only one in the car.

For a while, I had known that three big things I wanted to do in life were: 1. Build churches; 2. Support missionaries; and, 3. Support young entrepreneurs. Since I had been trading stocks for quite some time, my plan was to be able to pour more and more money into these things as my business expanded and I had more money to give away. I saw myself becoming a paymaster for the Kingdom.

So while on this drive to Paducah, (which was being made b/c I was leading worship at a new, “contemporary” service there) I was getting excited about an upcoming mission trip I was going on to Honduras. It was gonna be my first mission trip, and I had the privilege of being part of a worship team that would lead worship for around 30,000 people over the course of three nights in San Pedro Sula. Awesome, right?!

Well, there I was getting more and more excited and thankful and overwhelmed all at the same time. As I was reflecting on all that was happening, and on all that had happened already, and on my goals, and on where my passions lay, the Lord burst into that moment and revealed things to me that I hadn’t realized before. He showed me that I was gonna help build the churches, and that I was gonna be the missionary. Whoa!! I wasn’t to only be involved in monetarily supporting what my heart desired, but actually have my hands in it. I was gonna be a part of actually doing it.

You might be reading this and going, “DUH! Saw that coming!” Well I felt that way too after the revelation hit me! I was in the middle of driving to this new service that was designed to reach more people, thinking about my first mission trip, and I still didn't realize I was supposed to have a more direct role in my dreams until God showed me. Ha. I was like, “How could I have missed this??”

I’m telling you all this because I feel that maybe some of you are out there and need the same kind of veil to be lifted off your eyes. If you have a God-placed dream in your heart that is large then THAT IS AWESOME!!! You should dream big, for sure. I wanna encourage you to pray that God reveals things to you… about how to go about it… maybe show you how to get it off the ground... possibly how your role is different than what you first imagined… maybe to have your perspective changed. Just pray that He shows you things :)

There are dreams in you for a reason. Your passions aligned with Kingdom purpose can set nations on fire. You can change cultures, industries, and politics. With the power of God behind you, there are no heights that are too high to be scaled. I pray that the Holy Spirit ignites things in you that can’t be stopped, and I pray that He gives you the wisdom, perseverance, and character to see them out. Amen.

Song of the Week #21

Song of the Week #20

Rip Up Some Roots

Moving forward, growing—it’s awesome. Sometimes it’s like you can see the world opening around you. You have a new perspective on things, you feel empowered, and you are loving life!

Other times it feels like you’re meeting resistance anytime you try to move. It’s not necessarily that the opening isn’t there to run into, it’s that something keeps you from completely arriving at the next destination. There is something that holds you back.

Maybe it’s time you rip up some up roots. Maybe the Lord is giving you a new level of anointing or authority in an area, but you are hindering the process. Maybe it’s a heart issue you’ve never worked out; maybe it’s an inability to honor those who’ve gone before you; maybe you have no respect for those who should be able to speak into your life.

It’s amazing how much blessing God pours out on us… more than I can even begin to comprehend. But I think that we prevent a lot of that blessing from overflowing like He intends for it to. We yearn and pray for the good stuff, but when it starts to flow down from Heaven, we seem to be too easily filled. Does that make sense?? It’s kind of hard to say this and not sound like I’m downplaying the significance or awesomeness of the blessings of God…..hmmm…..I’ll say it like this: I think sometimes God starts to pour out whatever it is He is giving us, and before the “full serving” has been consumed, we say, “Thanks. I’ve had enough.”

It could be that we’re scared of too much of God; I know that I’ve resisted giving up things before because I wasn’t ready—I knew that more of God would mean less of what I had decided I wanted to do. It could be that we only want so much of God’s blessings. It could be that we don’t feel worthy of something that would be considered an overflow of blessing. It could be a lot of things.

But then what about these other times when we want more, but it seems like we meet resistance and can’t seem to have that huge breakthrough we seek??

What I’m suggesting today is that maybe we need to rip up some roots. Maybe the thing keeping us from entering, and staying, at that next level is something we need fix before we can go forward. For example, let’s say you work in a suit-and-tie kind of office. Your boss raves about how much potential you have and how they’d like to promote you, but they can’t because you don’t carry yourself in a manner expected of management—you cuss like a sailor, won’t iron your clothes, and skip bathing for a few days at a time. Although you have promotion lying around the corner, you won’t change because maybe your family talked crudely when you were growing up, and you picked up bad bathing habits in college where nobody seemed to care. You gotta rip up some roots.

Example #2: you are a musician. Out of nowhere, you find your vocal range expanding to where you can hit notes that you never dreamed of, and opportunities are coming up that are obviously God-sent. You start to walk in your new level of anointing, but can never stay there because you don’t have the discipline to practice and hone your new God-given abilities. You assumed that since God blessed you with something that you wouldn’t have to work at it; you wouldn’t have to cut out your old habit of sliding around notes instead of hitting them. On top of that, you keep coming to rehearsals 15 minutes late because that’s been your habit all your life. Thus, resentment amongst those you work with starts to grow because they feel like you don’t respect their time. I am suggesting that you might need to rip up some roots.

It’s painful, yes, to start examining ourselves and seeing what needs to be improved/removed. At some point, we’ve all probably hindered what the Lord wants to do with us and through us because of our reluctance to change. If you are wanting to push through whatever it is that is holding you back, try praying to the Holy Spirit that He reveal things to you that you’ve never seen before or neglected to acknowledge. Then pray for the strength to do the Lord’s will in/with those things.

God knows we’re not perfect, but He also loves a willing and humble laid-down heart. Let’s rip up some roots today. Amen.

Song of the Week #19

checking in

Don’t really know what to say. God is showing me stuff, but I don’t feel right sharing it yet. So I just thought I’d let whoever is out there and drops by to check out the blog know that I appreciate you, and that God loves you.

There’s nothing greater in this world than love. And the love of God is superior to all others. God wants you. He is pursuing you. And he wants all of you. ALL of you.

Give your life to Jesus. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do. Love ya. Amen