Hope in the Midst of Broken Dreams

I chose the book Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb to review for Blogging for Books.  The title of this book caught my eye because I'm dealing with some broken dreams in my own life.  The book deals with finding true hope and joy even when your dreams are shattered and life is difficult.  I found the book to be intensely real and honest.  Crabb wrote of thoughts that I have often had, but was afraid to admit.  I appreciated his picture of imperfect Christians that have struggles, doubts, and raw emotions.  It was a relief to not feel so alone in my thoughts while dealing with the brokenness in my life.  In the beginning of the book, I admit that I felt more discouraged and angry as Crabb went through all the feelings and thoughts that people struggle with when dreams are broken.  The book was pretty intense and had much to ponder. As I read on and the story of Ruth unfolded I saw hope and God's love.  This book gave me a Biblical perspective that challenged my skewed and incorrect ways of thinking towards my desires, dreams, and passions.  Crabb got me to think outside the box and the "typical Christian".  I realized many things about myself, the Christian community, suffering, pain, hope, and denial.  I really liked the book and found it to be very helpful.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is broken or wants to understand suffering and brokenness.  It will change your perspective on how you view your life, circumstances and God.

(I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.)

Ways to Connect with God

Our church had a sermon on the book Sacred Pathways by Thomas.  It shared that there are many ways to worship and connect with God and that we all tend to 1-2 ways.  None are better then another and we shouldn't compare ourselves to each other.  I never realized how many different ways in the Bible there are that show how people connected with God.   In the book he explains each way and the strengths and weaknesses of each way.  He then goes on to give examples of people from the Bible for each pathway.  Jesus used all the ways to connect with God. 

The pathways are:
1.  Nature
2.  Intellectual
3.  Serving
4.  Activist
5.  Symbols
6.  Contemplative
7.  Worship

I would say that I'm a combination of intellectual, serving and contemplative.  What are you?

Have Your Way

I give up ,God, trying to fix my life, being angry at you, my dreams, not trusting you. I confess my pride, my control, my past, my idols, I give you my life and hand it to you. My life is so broken. Only you know the future. Only you will get me through. I'm heartbroken and I cry out to you, God. I surrender and... want you to have your way, not mine. I give you all that I am clinging to and realize that you will have your way with it all and my plan is nothing compared to yours. I'm ready to accept whatever that means, even if it means letting go of what I want the most, even though I don't want to.

Been thinking a lot today about my direction in life and where I've been....

I've lost sight of God's direction for my life.  I've been tossing and turning unable to decide what is going on. There are no goals, no direction, no plan that stands out to me.  My life has been consumed with pleasing others and following after what I want in my life and what I think I must have.  I've been chasing it and I'm exhausted.  I've been fixing things and picking up the pieces of the messes I've made and the messes others have made in my life.  It is one catastrophe after another.  I don't even know what God wants for my life anymore because I'm too busy fixing, fitting God's plan into mine, making sure everyone is pleased and things will go smoothly.  I don't want to fail.  I want control of my life and everyone and everything that happens in it.  I'm afraid that if I let go, that everything will come crashing down.  But, instead, my life has come crashing down and I've neglected to trust God with my life and everyone in it.  I have tried hard to trust him, but when it came down to it, I really didn't and have a hard time even now trusting him.  I'm scared to death.  I'm scared of the future, of my life now, of how things turned out.  So, what is God's plan for me?  What does he want me to do.  I've sinned by worrying and not trusting in him.  By relying on my own prideful self.  Obviously, my plan doesn't compare to God's at all.  I've treated another as a God.  I've spent life clinging, pleasing, relying, trusting, investing my time, thinking my life revolved around this person.  In doing so, I've neglected God and his place as #1 and I've not let the person in my life live their own life. Picking up the pieces of my OWN life now and taking responsibility for my OWN life is much more difficult to me. It feels very alone to me, but also freeing, knowing that I don't have to carry that burden and was never meant to.  I can make my own decisions and live my life the way that God wants me to live it and I don't have to make anyone fit into that plan.  I also don't have to pick up the pieces or take responsibility for what is not mine.  I am free to make choices and free to trust God with everyone and everything in my life.  There will be things beyond my control, there will be bad things in my life, there will be things that are not right, and that is ok.  I don't need to solve it.  I can decide what I want to do, but not take control of what others what to do and be ok with that.  I want to be happy, I want to be free, and I want to please God.  Sometimes I feel lonely and powerless, but that is because I'm losing focus that God is with me.

George Mueller's Strategy for Showing God :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

George Mueller's Strategy for Showing God :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

George Mueller was a prayer warrior and a great example to us all.

How to be Best Friends with your Spouse

  This is a helpful article.

Serenity

When I'm feeling helpless, fearful, and anxious, I can find serenity in God's promises.

I went to see Nick Vujicic!

Wow, was Nick's story inspiring!  He truely has a message of hope and purpose!  God's hope and purpose. I wanted to write the things that struck me most about his message and some verses and articles from his website.

Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The Goal of God's Love

• Find Peace
• Passion for God
• Facing Giants
• I love this:  What you and God can do
• Nick's Testimony

Here are some things that I remember from his speaking:

• Trust God with everything in your life.
• Don't believe lies, but believe the truths of God and how he sees us.
• Place our joy and happiness in God.  If we expect happiness from anything or anyone other than God, we will be let down.
• See your blessings and what you have, rather than what you don't have.
• Focus on God and who he is.
• Be in love with God and really worship Him
• Pray about everything and depend on God, instead of having fear and worry 
• We are works in progress and under construction.  Christians are not perfect and we will have ups and downs.

Deliverance

I was really blessed today while reading  The Power of Praying Through the Bible.  I just wanted to blog some notes from the chapter on Deliverance.  We need deliverance and Jesus paid the price for us when he died on the cross.  God wants us to be free from anything that seperates us from Him.  We can so often feel trapped and controlled by unhealthy relationships, resentment, struggles, sin, discouragement, depression, and so on.

Psalm 50:15 (New International Version)

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."


How we can find deliverance:

• Pray-Psalm 72:12 (NIV) For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
• Have someone pray for you- Psalm 34:17 (NIV) The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
• Read the Bible-John 8:32 (New International Version) Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
• Spend time praising and worshiping God and being with Him

Life is a process and so is deliverance. We aren't perfect, so we need help daily from the Lord.

Judges 3:9, 15(NIV)

 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them.  15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

Matthew 6:13 (New International Version)

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Expectations

So often I set expectations way beyond my reach or other's reach.  Life is not in my control and neither is anyone else.  I am responsible for me and how I feel, my behaviors, my thoughts, and so on.  I often expect way too much of others and want to control and have expectations over their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Sometimes these expectations are intentional, and other times they are not.  Every person is an individual  and is responsible for their own behaviors, thoughts and feelings.  I'm not responsible for them and I can't possibly know what is best for them.  That is quite self-righteous of me to even begin to think that I know best for someone else.  I need to stop expecting what I think is right and start accepting others for who they are.  Then I won't be disappointed or unsettled and I won't be smothering or putting pressure on others.  I must focus on my own self and the many improvements that God is trying to show me in my own life.