Wings To My Dreams

by Jaye Lewis
That next heartbeat, that’s what we pray for. We are the medically challenged. We are the ones who keep our medical appointments because we must. To miss that appointment is just unthinkable. We are the ones who stand, or wheel, or linger between each heartbeat, hoping for new medications or praying for a cure. Most of us pray every day. We cling to a merciful God whom we are certain will give us that next heartbeat.
Please do not feel pity, for we have learned to rejoice in each moment that we are alive. We memorize sunsets and sunrises, and we celebrate the smiles and nuances of the ones we love. We are captivated by life. We revel at each new bird that stops by to visit our feeders, even the starlings, the pigeons, the sparrows and the doves. In the mountains we feel blessed to see the bluebird, the indigo bunting, the woodpecker, and the thrush. In the south near the ocean, we rejoice over the plumage of the flamingoes, with their hot pink wings, and we have committed to memory the piercing cries of the pelican and the gull. Flowers thrill us, no matter their scent, shade or hue. Nothing delights us more than the sight of spring’s promise bursting forth from it’s long winter’s rest, petals lifting their heads and reaching for the rain and sun.
We sometimes need assistance, and some of us are blessed to have family and friends who are willing to haul the potting soil, build raised beds, and make a wonderland of colorful blooms, just so that we can watch from our window and marvel at their beauty. We survivors of life look back occasionally at our healthy days, and often we regret the times that we wasted on worry, depression, anger, and fear. So, many of us have gone beyond fear, to a brave new world of hope.
We are thankful for every new medication that has not only extended our lives, but has improved its quality. We would not be here, celebrating, without the miraculous drugs available today. We would not want to miss a single moment of our lives.
We have discovered that we can still grow and change. We have learned to love more and laugh more, and, frankly, life is worth it. How could it not be?!
Just this year, in spite of record breaking winter lows that left me shivering, and now, into a cold and windy spring all the tiny twigs that I planted six years ago have thrived, and they are bursting into bloom. Through sunshine and shadow, they have triumphed over the clay and rock strewn ground that I, laughingly, call soil.
I have many reasons to be thankful, and each day I like to number a few. Sometimes the list becomes so long that I just have to sit and marvel at a God who provides so many reasons for me to celebrate life. I have dreamed of writing stories, all my life, and reaching the hearts and minds of others throughout the world. This dream would not have been possible until a few years ago, when the internet exploded into a place of instant communication and friendship.
I am thankful for the stories of my life that have been guided by a loving God who holds the outcome of every possibility in His hand. These connections through his grace have given feet to my thoughts and wings to my dreams.

Meditation: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. – Hebrews 10:23

You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

Reasons to be Thankful

Author Unknown
A rich man looked through his window and saw a poor man picking things from his trash bin. He said, “Thank God, I’m not poor.”
The poor man looked around and saw a naked man in lunatic displays on the street. He said, “Thank God, I’m not mad.”
The mad man looked ahead and saw an ambulance carrying a patient. He too said, “Thank God, am not on the sick bed.”
Then a sick person in the hospital saw a trolley taking a dead body to the mortuary. He said, Thank God, I’m not dead.”
Only a dead person cannot thank God. Why don’t you thank God today for all your blessings and for the gift of life? Don’t forget also the gift of another beautiful day.
To appreciate life better, you need to visit three places:

1. The Hospital
2. The Prison and
3. The Cemetery

At the hospital, you will understand that nothing is more beautiful than health. In the prison, you’ll see that freedom is the most precious thing. At the cemetery, you will realize that life is worth nothing. The ground that we walk on today will be our roof tomorrow.
We all come with nothing and we will go with nothing. Let us, therefore, remain humble and be thankful to God, at all times, for everything.
Meditation: For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day… – Isaiah 38:18-19
You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

Naked Truth

Author Unknown
One day, a schoolteacher wrote the following equation on the board:
9×1=7
9×2=18
9×3=27
9×4=36
9×5=45
9×6=54
9×7=63
9×8=72
9×9=81
9×10=90
When he was done, he looked back at the students as they were all giggling because of the first equation which was wrong.
Then he said to them: “I wrote the first equation wrongly on purpose, because I wanted you to learn something important. This was for you to know how the world out there will treat you!
“You can see that I wrote the right thing nine times, but none of you congratulated me for those. But you all laughed and criticized me because of one wrong thing I did.
“The lesson here is: the world will never appreciate the good you do a million times, but will criticize the one wrong thing you do. So don’t get discouraged! Always rise above the laughter and criticism.
“Don’t look up to man; look up to God.”
Meditation: Do all things without complaining and disputing. – Philippians 2:14
You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Reasons Prayers Are Not Answered (Final)

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines…
– Song of Solomon 2:15

8. Sins

The final reason for unanswered prayers is sin. Oftentimes we rob ourselves of divine privileges by our sinful indulgence in thoughts, in words and deeds. The Bible informs us that ‘God is angry with the wicked every day’ (Psalm 7:11), how then can we hope to get anything from Him if we are always rubbing Him on the wrong side? Little disobediences here and there: an evil or lustful thought you allowed to roam in your heart, a wrong word you said to or about someone, a harmful scheme you planned or did to someone, or your disregard for the injunctions of the Bible; these are ‘the little foxes that spoil our vine’. But we often do not know.

Another way that sin robs us of our miracles is through little compromises we allow from time to time. You see, God tests us now and then to see the disposition of our hearts in relation to Him. He tests our faithfulness, our commitment, our loyalty, our maturity, our patience, and our preparation before committing certain things to us. How we fare during and after the trial determines whether or not we are ready for the blessing.

God does not use or commit resources to an untested hand. Examples of this truth abound in the Bible. Just as we have to write exams to pass from one class to a higher one, so does God test us from time to time with circumstances and real life situations. If you fail, the blessing is delayed; but if you overcome, it is delivered to you. However, because of God’s infinite mercy, we are usually presented with multiple opportunities to prove ourselves worthy. Therefore, with God, once failed is not forever failed.

At this point, it is essential to examine ourselves and ascertain that we are not falling short in any of these reasons, so that we can be able to say that we have indeed ‘done all to stand’ toward obtaining our blessing.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Reasons Prayers Are Not Answered And Sacrifices Not Honoured (7)

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines…
– Song of Solomon 2:15

7. THE LAW OF SEED AND HARVEST

Another way we unwittingly delay or even truncate our miracle is by violating the ageless law of seed and harvest. God Himself decrees in Genesis 8:22 that “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest not cease.”

That means the law of seed and harvest is as immutable as God Himself; it does not change. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Oftentimes we tend to despise the effect (result) of something whilst nurturing its cause.

Have you denied someone in the past when you shouldn’t have? You can be rest assured that you will also be denied too, if you are not being denied already. Have you wronged, robbed, cheated, condemned, judged, short-changed, or done something untoward to someone in the past? You will reap the harvest of your (in)actions in due time, if you are not reaping it already. And we all know that the harvest is usually bigger than the seed!

Violating the principle of seed and harvest is one major area we usually fall short and thus shoot ourselves in the leg. Granted, God is merciful, but He is a just God. He is not fair; He is only just. Now that may sound unreasonable, but it is the truth. Most times, God does not interfere with the course of justice. Therefore, we suffer the natural consequences of our shortcomings, even after we have sought forgiveness and have indeed been forgiven their eternal consequences.

We get to reap the harvest of the seeds we have sown in the past or are sowing presently, good or bad. That is why it always pays to be good. Even when you are the one that is wronged, you are not expected to wrong your offender in return because by so doing you would have planted a negative seed which will produce its own harvest in time. Little wonder God repeatedly admonishes us not to repay evil with evil.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Reasons Prayers Are Not Answered And Sacrifices Not Honoured (6)

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines…
– Song of Solomon 2:15

6. NOT TAKING A STEP OF FAITH

Even after we have done all we possibly could, some of us still short-change ourselves by not taking the necessary steps required to get our desire. Rather than take sustained action, we procrastinate by crying, whining, and bemoaning our lot to whoever cares to listen, lamenting all we had done in the past without any result.

God is not impressed by tears and complaints. He doesn’t dig pity party either. He is only moved by faith. The Bible says ‘without faith, it is impossible to please God’. Because we are yet to grasp the import of Bible’s definition of faith as “the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen” (Heb 11:1 NLT), we wait (you call it tarry?) for the time when it is going to look like it before we take a step, and by so doing languish in abjection for as long as that may be.

Listen brethren, the best time to do anything is NOW. Don’t wait until it looks like it before you act, otherwise it may be too late by then. The Bible says “He who observes the wind will not sow. And he who regards the clouds will not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4). The New Living Translation (NLT) puts it simpler, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done!”

So take a step of faith now; cast your net into the deep right away; do that thing you have been putting off for so long TODAY! You will be amazed to see that YOU are the one who has been delaying God from releasing His blessing to you all along, not that He doesn’t care nor is slow in hearing, as you probably thought.

When you do the possible, God will do the impossible. Nothing moves until you move. A tortoise cannot make progress unless it puts out its head and legs out of its shell. So get out of your own shell and break through into your blessing.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Reasons Prayers Are Not Answered And Sacrifices Not Honoured (5)

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines…
– Song of Solomon 2:15

5. MOTIVE

Another reason we often do not get our heart’s desire – regardless of our fervent prayers or sacrificial service – is because of our motive for seeking such things. In James 4:3, God says, “You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” That tells us God does not honour prayers asked amiss or those that are meant to satisfy selfish whims. And though we may present our requests to Him as if we are striving for the benefit of others, we should also reckon with the fact that He is all-knowing and sees into the inner recesses of our hearts.

One of the most liberating scriptures I came across in the few years I have been studying the Bible is 1 Samuel 16:7b. It says, “For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” That means humans consider the action, the appearance, the outlook, the tangible, and the ‘what’; but God only examines the motive and the whys.

Some of us pray to God to bless us so that we can spite or “show” someone who has offended or denied us in the past. God does not answer that kind of prayer. Whatever He blesses you with, He wants it used for your benefit and the benefit of those around you, not to oppress them.

So if you want a speedy answer to your prayers, or a quick reward for your service, check your motive to ascertain WHY you desire that thing. If your motive is genuine enough, God will be more than willing to grant it to you. But, if your intention is not pure, then the answer may yet be long in coming.

You really need to settle this issue of motive first before making your plea, because God cannot be deceived; He is fully aware of those things you are not saying with your mouth. Our innermost thoughts are laid bare before Him. I once read a book in which the author claims an angel told him that they hear our thoughts louder in heaven than what we say with our mouths on earth. Can you beat that?

You will succeed in Jesus Name!