Never Give Up
Southaven, Ms
By: Mike Upchurch
Winston Churchill is attributed with saying “Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.”
Author H. Jackson Brown, Jr. is credited with this quote…..
“Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.”
And I’ve said this repeatedly in the past…..
“If you have a dream and you can do it on your own, then it’s not a dream, it’s just a goal.”
I’m sure most of us have dreams while we’re awake, or daydreams. Sometimes they are simple and doable. Sometimes they seem impossible and could never come to pass without significant change. Sometimes the ONLY way they can come true is if God intervenes. But daydreams can consume us. They can live rent free in our minds, and they won’t let us rest! They can take over our thoughts and can become an obsession.
It might be starting a business, or a bucket list item we want to cross off, or perhaps a house we’ve long desired, or even another State we’d like to live in.
I’m certain every reader is familiar with the Lord’s statement in Jeremiah…..
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
He was primarily addressing the Children of Israel and their plight as prisoners in Babylon, but it does apply to us as well. It’s my personal belief that God does indeed have individual plans that He would like to see carried out in our lives. It’s also my belief that we can miss those plans by being headstrong in making our own choices. We could make choices that take us away from His plans while attempting to follow our dreams.
Many of us have made wrong choices. As examples, some have married out of His will, and the result was bitterness and torment ending in divorce, or worse. Some have taken jobs that caused them agony. Some start a business that in the end fails and causes them financial ruin.
We all have made decisions in our life that we have paid a price for, either getting ahead of the will of God for us, or taking a path leading us away from His plans.
The point to be made is simply this…
Be SURE the dreams you’re pursuing are really from Him. They could be part of His plans for you, or they could be traps of the enemy, laid out for your destruction.
The only real way to know if your desires are from Him is prayer. And then more prayer. Look for peace. Peace is not something the enemy can manufacture. If there isn’t peace, or there’s unrest present in your spirit concerning your dream, then chances are it’s not from the Lord.
Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit would lead us…
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”John 16:13
Be certain you are led of the Lord in your dreams. Jesus made this promise in Matthew…
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”Matthew 7:7-8
The acronym ASK can help you remember…
Ask
Seek
Knock
Ask if the dreams you have are from Him. Seek His plan for your life! Knock on every door placed before you in pursuing your dream! When you have a dream that did indeed come from God, and you’re able to see that dream come to pass, there will be no greater joy, and you will have fulfilled your destiny!
Never give up on something that came from God! And if it didn’t come from Him, run as fast as you can in the other direction!
And that’s the way I see it !
Pastor Mike
