Ok, I have to be a little honest with all of you. I sometimes think that it would be so fantastic to have everything that I could ever dream of. A nice car collection, a couple of vacation homes ( one on a beach, one in the mountains) ( oh, and with lots of land to go with that), more money in the bank than I would really ever need, and of course a beautiful women by my side, well I actually already have that...... Oh..... how sweet!!!!! I know, thats what your all thinking. The perfect family, the perfect life, and the perfect future all right there before me with nothing to worry about but wondering if I shut the garage door to my second three car garage at my beach house in the "Hamptons". I just said that with a British accent, I thought it would sound more fitting for the Hamptons. Of course I could always have my butler check the garage door for me, Whew! I'm glad I thought of that. The problem is, would that dream ever really be enough to satisfy me? Or you?
The biggest problem with that is, not once did I hint on the desperation and desire to have Christ leading my life. Why? Unless we somehow "inherit" some part of that dream life, chasing that dream would not allow any room for God in my life. Maybe it is just as bad for us to chase that dream as it is to have accomplished that dream. This isn't really even " The American Dream" anymore, its beyond that, really its just frivolous. Unknowingly, or maybe even knowing slightly, I was there. I chased hard after that dream. I may have even been attaining it to an extent, but wasn't satisfied. I had no expectations or goals that needed to be met, but none the less, still wasn't really satisfying that desire to be safe, secure, oh...... and have anything that my little heart desires. What an IDIOT!!!! I was. In the moment, it was really difficult to see that those desires were ours, not His. Again, it was never our intention, but guess what, it wasn't the right dream. Not a lot of Spirit guidance in our lives at that time.
He has a better dream for us! One that has the most saught after locations. All the homes are mansions and the streets are made of gold. Our most valuable commodity on this earth, and He laid the streets with it. All of a sudden, where I live or what I live in, what I drive or what I want to drive doesn't seem quite so spectacular anymore. This dream that so many of us strive for and work so diligently for is so BORING!!!when compared to our heavenly home that we someday get to return to. I know for a fact that my dream is a lot less inspiring than His reality.
So why do we forget that? Even now that I am much closer with His Spirit and I can actually see the path that He is lighting for me, I can still forget. My desires and wants tend to creep back in and block out a little bit of His light. So is it wrong for us to have some of these things? Maybe. Is it wrong for us to want some of these things? Maybe. Is it wrong for us to justify some of these things? Maybe. ( I'm really good at that one) I strongly believe that God absolutely wants us to live our earthly lives here to its fullest. I strongly believe that He wants to bless us financially, materially, and physically. However, I most strongly believe that He wants to bless our Spirits far more than anything that this earth can provide. Having that knowledge also shows me why He is not necessarily just going to give us the one thing that He knows will literally destroy us all. All of the junk that over time will seperate us from Him.
On a daily basis, we all experience a battle in a war that was already won for us. None the less we all still wage on. Our Spirit that Christ owns and has redeemed, is seeking to empower us and fulfill all of our earthly desires by lifting our focus above those desires and on to Him and His Gory. Our mind and flesh, however, is still in the realm of this earth and as such can still be deceived by the devils temptations. The devils deceptions and strongholds are the reasons why we can lose focus from time to time. Simply put, with the best intentions, we can still go from wanting His desires for us to wanting our desires without even realizing it. So does the battle necessarily have to continue here in this life? Can we be completely sanctified while we wait for our homecoming? I'm not completely sure on that one but I do know that Christ left us [so] we could have authority over all demonic oppression and utilize the power of Christ' holy name and overcome those pitfalls in our lives.
So again I go back to the rhetorical question of is it ok to have all of the things that I mentioned earlier? Absolutely, providing that your heart is for His church, His sick, His homeless, and most importantly His Glory!!!! Is it ok to desire and reach toward some of those things that I mentioned earlier? Absolutely, providing that your core desire is to be completely Spirit lead and conviction leads to obediance.
For me, He has allowed me to learn a beautiful lesson. He does want to bless my family financially, and will, providing our hearts are prepared to pass those blessings on and He would be Glorified. He does want to bless my family materially, and will, providing that our family is prepared to use those gifts to bring joy to others and He would be Glorified. He does want to bless my family physically, and will, providing that our hearts break as His does for the lost and broken of this world, and He would be Glorified. He does want to bless my family SPIRITUALLY without limit, and will, providing that we continue to live a Spirit lead and obediant life so that when He asks us to follow wherever and into whatever, we go.
A "couple" of the guys and I talked about some blindspots in our lives. The question was raised to what some of those may be for each of us. For a long time in my life the idea of that desire for stuff and security was absolutely a blindspot in mine. I knew that and learned that prior to this particular discussion but reflecting back on it since, I have realized that this revelation was in and of itself one of the greatest blessings that He has gifted me with. With that gift I learned that He is the fulfillment of all desires! He can make us content with nothing! He also is [THE] provider of all things and because of that wants nothing more than to bless us with the most He has to offer. That may include things of this world but it also may not, because He will not give us anything that we could desire more than Him! We as parents would never willingly allow our kids to have something they desire more than anything knowing all to well that it would harm them or even worse cost them their lives. Yet the devil tries to decieve us into thinking, "I know what I need, I know what I can handle". Guess what, I don't know but I AM does! The Great I AM will fulfill my families needs and desires!
There is saftey in His light. There is freedom in His light. Most of all, there is a future supreme BLESSING in His light!!!
If all of our desires are not Him and for His Glory, than they really are no different than a fix of heroin! We will never find that one fix that satisfies us. Christ can satisfy us beyond what we could ever dream of and will!
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