| #103 "Dreams and Visions" July 3, 2007 "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." (Luke 1: 30-31 KJV) It is difficult to imagine the feelings of this young Jewish girl when an angel of the Lord told her that she would conceive a son when she had never known a man. Mary was living her life. Eagerly awaiting her marriage to Joseph. Ready to embrace her new role as a wife. She was most likely dreaming of giving Joseph a son one day in the future. After their marriage. The Bible tells us that she was troubled at what the angel said to her and she must have been afraid. The angel of the Lord told her to "Fear Not". God knew her fear, her confusion, her inability to reason this one out. She exclaims, "How shall this be?" Has God ever interrupted your life with a word, a dream or a vision that will change the course of your days from here on out? He has something that He wants you to do. You start feeling a stirring inside. You find that you are drawn to something. It's unmistakable that there's a calling there, drawing you to do ... to dare. It's exciting, but horribly frightening at the same time. You can't reason it out...and you say, "How shall this be? CAN it be?" Maybe you want to start your own business. Maybe you are being called to ministry. Perhaps it's time to start a family and stay home to raise your children. You are feeling the call to go overseas to be a missionary. Whatever you feel tugging at you, exciting you, and making you tingle with the prospect of it... that's your dream, your vision, your calling being conceived by God. God's super is hitting your natural and conception is taking place. God's seed of a dream implants itself in the womb of your future and begins to grow. I know...I know...it's going to take money. The kids are still young and underfoot. What will your family and friends think? You're already so busy. Your life was on course and you knew the direction it was going. And just like Mary, you say, "How shall this be?!" I'm here today to say to you, my friend....don't abort the dream. Just as a natural mother can choose to abort her child, we can abort the seed that God conceives in the womb of our future. We can give way to all those excuses. We can give in to doubt and unbelief. We can choose to reason instead of trust. We can abort the very thing that God has planned for the rest of our lives. God's timing is perfect. He chose the perfect person, the perfect generation in history and the perfect place to conceive His Son in Mary's womb. Shutter to think what would've happened to us all if Mary had refused! And He is choosing you...for this task...for such a time as this...to bring to full birth His plan and purpose for your life. It doesn't matter what side of the tracks you came from. It doesn't matter what side of the tracks you live on today. It doesn't matter if you don't have the right education and training. And it doesn't matter if you don't have the money. It doesn't matter if you don't have the right look or the right friends. When God implants His seed for your future, He will provide all of the nourishment and sustenance and provision that you need to see the birth of your dream come to pass. The angel told Mary that the Holy Ghost would come upon her and the power of the Highest would overshadow her. (see Luke 1: 35) Notice that it was God's Spirit that had the power. Not Mary. You're right...you don't have the power, the means, the whatever, to get this dream birthed. But HE does! Hallelujah! For the angel said to Mary and to you..."For with God nothing shall be impossible." (v. 37) I have also heard that it's "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6) Watch this now...faith opens the door for the anointing. In verse 38, Mary answers the angel by saying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." Bam! Conception takes place. It didn't begin when the angel spoke. It began when Mary spoke. In spite of her questions, her doubts and her fears, Mary agrees with God and His seed meets her egg and conception is achieved. No matter how impossible your dream is...let it be unto you according to that word that God has given you. Agree, don't abort! Believe, don't bemoan. Mary's cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with her own impossibility, tells Mary, "blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." (v. 45) There will be a performance of the very thing that God told you...if you believe! It will be the performance of a lifetime...your lifetime! Start that business. Birth that ministry. Preach the gospel. Sing that award winning song. Write that book. Start a family. Go on a mission trip. Whatever is stirring inside of you, kicking against the walls of your soul and never letting you forget it's there...you can do it. By His might. By His power. And by your willingness to say, "Be it unto me according to thy word". Like Elizabeth, I care about you. I'm cheering you on. I am pregnant with my own impossibility, but I can tell you today that's it's coming to pass. It's worth the risk. It's worth the hard work. It's worth the skepticism and criticism of others. Oh, and one more thing...Promise that you'll send me a birth announcement when YOUR dreams have become your reality! Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. 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