THE KINGDOM DREAM! Have you ever heard of it? Or do you know what it is? Well, how about the American dream? I know you’ve heard of that! You probably would say that the American
dream is to own your own home, have a job or a business that pays your bills,
and allows you to enjoy some family trips or outings now and then. Sounds good, right? Not asking too much out of life, right? But because somewhere in the past decades,
the definition of the American dream got changed, it’s difficult to even realize
the first dream that was set in people’s hearts. For years now, when the dream was elusive or
took too much work to see it become a reality … the financial institutions
tempted everyone with the credit carrot at the end of the stick – hoping we’d
reach out and grab it! And did we … most
every American has at one time or another become prey to the destruction that
abuse of credit employs. Deception will
never bring dreams to reality. Americans
began to believe the lies of media and advertising, buying up everything in
sight that they were told would bring happiness and success. We know how that story ends. And so we Americans keep on striving and
struggling, until out of sheer fatigue and disillusionment, we join King
Solomon in repeating his favorite phrase in the book of Ecclesiastes. “Meaningless!
Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.” Why
do you suppose that describes the emotional state of so many today? Because enough is never enough. And in the crazy pursuit of “more” – at some
point it all just becomes empty and futile, fleeting and worthless. You see, there is only meaning and purpose to
what we do or what we obtain, if it is connected to God and His Kingdom dream
for us. Chasing dreams apart from God
will only leave us feeling out of breath – physically, mentally, and
emotionally – and most of all, spiritually.
The most valuable and necessary part of the equation for attaining any
dream is making God number one on the list.
It’s making Him our highest priority.
Our Business Partner. Our
Financial Broker. Our Relationship
Counselor. Our Advisor. Our Mentor.
Our Agenda Scheduler and Family-Trip Planner. Our “go-to” Person for everything we do. Only when we make God our Lord in every area
of our lives, do we see our dreams growing into more than just a dream. So when these Kingdom dreams take shape, just
what do they look like? Well, perhaps
something like this! The foundation of
the Dream is our decision to invite Christ to be our personal Savior and Lord. That allows us to build solid life principles
on a foundation that cannot be shaken – even in today’s messed up economy! After all, we live in God’s economy, you
know, so we can stop worrying! Has He
ever stopped taking care of us or providing for us? Even when we were down to our last
penny? Here we are, after all … which
proves His unfathomable faithfulness! HE
is our safety deposit box! God’s purpose
for us is another part of the dream:
“that we will be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that we may
have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that we may know the
mystery of God namely, Christ, in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3) All we need now or ever will need is in
Christ – if we will only pursue Him and seek His heart. Part of the dream is that we will “live in
Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as we were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness.”
(Colossians 2:7) The Kingdom dream
is that we will not be timid or weak or fear-filled; but rather bold and strong
and confident. Our freedom from things
that enslave us are part of the dream, as well:
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17) Is our happiness part of God’s Kingdom
dream? Listen to this: “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice
before God; may they be happy and joyful.”
(Psalm 68:3) I’d say that the
Kingdom dream far surpasses the American dream – even the good old-fashioned
one! The dream even carries with it the
bonus of hope for eternity because our “citizenship is in Heaven” (Philippians
3:20), and “having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having
the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7) The writer, C.S. Lewis penned these
poignant words, which I will use to help wrap up my thoughts on God’s Kingdom
dream for us: “If there is some deep
longing within that nothing on earth can satisfy, it’s because we were made for
a different world: HEAVEN!” I say a whole-hearted “AMEN” to that!!!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
A SPECIAL WELCOME to Doug who worshipped with us for the first
time this past Sunday! May God bless you!
ELEVATION
NORTH SPOTLIGHT!
This week we
want to highlight God’s faithfulness to us as a church! We have seen God’s hand of leading and
blessing upon us as a church family from the very start … though each new
chapter has been a huge leap of faith for us!
The great part about that is that we will never be able to take credit
for what is accomplished through the ministry of Elevation North! It’s definitely ALL because of our God! As we again have stepped out in faith to do
what we sensed God leading us to do in this recent expansion, we encourage you
to prayerfully seek God to see what He enables you to do to help us meet these
added expenses! What a privilege to be
able to be a part of such an exciting opportunity to minister to each person
that God brings to us!
REMEMBER . .
. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things
will be given to you as well.” ~ Matthew 6:33
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
