Joel 2:28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour our my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
Oh Friends, I guess the Spirit finally thought it was time for this Sermon from the Basement. (smile) I don’t consider myself a preacher, though my children feel I preach all the time. Anyway, what follows is something I pieced together over the last couple weeks, obviously with the Spirit’s help and leading. The ideas came from different places, as you’ll eventually see, but for some reason, just morphed into this whole that I jotted down. Every so often I’d consider using it as the basis for the Bit, but the Spirit usually nixed the idea. Today, however, when I had something else in mind, the Chief Guide made me pull it out and search for a suitable Bit. So that’s the background. Now here’s the message: Recently I was listening to a sermon on t.v. ‘The Hour of Power,’ and the pastor declared that during the week he had spent time with the Lord asking what message He wanted conveyed to His people. The answer he received was to tell His people to start dreaming again. Wow! What an awesome insight my people! It’s a message that we all need to hear and implement because with all the negative nonsense going on in our world, unfortunately our dreams have been left by the wayside to die. And that’s not a derogatory criticism, since the angry, unhealthy, fearful atmosphere currently existing in our world is certainly not conducive to dreams or dreaming. But the sad fact is that when our conditions are not conducive to dreams, that’s the time we really need to dream. Just like when times are rough, that’s the time we need to dig down deep and bring out all our faith to the forefront. That’s because once we stop dreaming, figuratively speaking, we become dead in the water, just floating along lifelessly and aimlessly wherever the tide will take us. However Friends, that’s not acceptable from the followers of Jesus, who should always be doing, reaching for heights of excellence, not aimlessly drifting like the tumbling tumbleweed in the desert wind. Remember it’s our dreams that keep us healthily alive, that fill us with hope, faith, encouragement, great expectations and a steadfast vision of a brighter tomorrow. And since out Bit is taken from a section on the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His people, if we want to truly experience God’s generous blessings, in fact His extravagant outpouring, then we seriously need to get back to dreaming, for the basis of all our dreams is God’s Word. Now the second part of that message was that God indicated we should not only begin dreaming again, but also to dream big, dream large-scale scenarios. And logically speaking that’s the only way we can dream, for dreams by nature are things we cannot do in our everyday situations, they’re above our present capability. And the rational behind dreaming big is that the bigger we dream, the more hope, faith, hard work, perseverance, determination and diligence we need to invest in those dreams to bring them to pass, to fruition, to reality. Now the second aspect of the Sermon from the Basement, I heard listening to Bubba, Joel Osteen. Hn, hn! My mother and I refer to him as Bubba. And Bubba was encouraging us to talk to our mountains. Yes Friends, those dreams, those difficulties that rise up against us, sometimes seem like mountains; so high, so impregnable, that we often dejectedly think or say, ‘Woe is me! I cannot overcome that mountain.’ But remember two things my people: That with God, NOTHING is impossible. And secondly, that God SPOKE the world into existence. That means, our words, spoken out loud, therefore contain much power. Oh Friends, there’s awesome power in the Word! So we have to speak to our mountains. In Jesus’ Name, we must command them to get out of our way, to leave us alone, be gone, get thee behind me mountain! (smile) And to help us do this, here’s the Mountain Mover’s Prayer, penned by Dr. Robert H. Schuller of the Hour of Power fame. ‘Lord, when I face a mountain, do not let me quit. Give me the strength to keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, or tunnel underneath. And if my best efforts fail, give me the patience to stay and the perception to see the possibilities of turning my mountain into a gold mine, with your help. Amen.’ So Friends, we have to start dreaming again, dreaming large, and talking sternly, in Jesus’ Name, to those elements that keep keeping us from realizing those dreams. But there’s also a third aspect to the message I received. And it’s to put a little LOVE in our hearts, my people. Through some strange coincidence, read God’s plan, a few days later I heard the old duet by Annie Lennox and Al Green that I hadn’t heard in ages; ‘Put a little LOVE in your heart,’ and right there the whole Sermon gelled. How can we doubt the Lord’s mysterious and miraculous ways eh mih breddren? Three separate incidents, over about a ten day period, suddenly came to my mind as the basis for a Bit. All I can say is Wow! I obviously chuckled when the idea was planted, but was even more surprised when I took the time to write it down. Oh Friends, I’ve forgotten the exact words of the song, and can’t seem to find it on my computer. But the basic aspects are; when we see others in trouble, don’t hesitate, lend a helping hand, put a little LOVE in your heart. And the awesome result? The world will be a much better place for all of us. And that’s the Sermon from the Basement my people. Hope it makes sense, and does edify us all. (smile) In a nutshell: We must return to dreaming; dreaming large; talking to our mountains, because there’s power in the Word of God and our words; and then, put just a li’l bit a LOVE in our hearts. That’s the catalyst to tie it all together, and make a better place of this world for all of us to enjoy. Till tomorrow then Friends, God in favour, take care, and stay sheltered under His protective wings. Much LOVE!…to dream…oh to dream big dreams…to move mountains…and people…with LOVE…the LOVE of Christ…
Oh Friends, I guess the Spirit finally thought it was time for this Sermon from the Basement. (smile) I don’t consider myself a preacher, though my children feel I preach all the time. Anyway, what follows is something I pieced together over the last couple weeks, obviously with the Spirit’s help and leading. The ideas came from different places, as you’ll eventually see, but for some reason, just morphed into this whole that I jotted down. Every so often I’d consider using it as the basis for the Bit, but the Spirit usually nixed the idea. Today, however, when I had something else in mind, the Chief Guide made me pull it out and search for a suitable Bit. So that’s the background. Now here’s the message: Recently I was listening to a sermon on t.v. ‘The Hour of Power,’ and the pastor declared that during the week he had spent time with the Lord asking what message He wanted conveyed to His people. The answer he received was to tell His people to start dreaming again. Wow! What an awesome insight my people! It’s a message that we all need to hear and implement because with all the negative nonsense going on in our world, unfortunately our dreams have been left by the wayside to die. And that’s not a derogatory criticism, since the angry, unhealthy, fearful atmosphere currently existing in our world is certainly not conducive to dreams or dreaming. But the sad fact is that when our conditions are not conducive to dreams, that’s the time we really need to dream. Just like when times are rough, that’s the time we need to dig down deep and bring out all our faith to the forefront. That’s because once we stop dreaming, figuratively speaking, we become dead in the water, just floating along lifelessly and aimlessly wherever the tide will take us. However Friends, that’s not acceptable from the followers of Jesus, who should always be doing, reaching for heights of excellence, not aimlessly drifting like the tumbling tumbleweed in the desert wind. Remember it’s our dreams that keep us healthily alive, that fill us with hope, faith, encouragement, great expectations and a steadfast vision of a brighter tomorrow. And since out Bit is taken from a section on the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His people, if we want to truly experience God’s generous blessings, in fact His extravagant outpouring, then we seriously need to get back to dreaming, for the basis of all our dreams is God’s Word. Now the second part of that message was that God indicated we should not only begin dreaming again, but also to dream big, dream large-scale scenarios. And logically speaking that’s the only way we can dream, for dreams by nature are things we cannot do in our everyday situations, they’re above our present capability. And the rational behind dreaming big is that the bigger we dream, the more hope, faith, hard work, perseverance, determination and diligence we need to invest in those dreams to bring them to pass, to fruition, to reality. Now the second aspect of the Sermon from the Basement, I heard listening to Bubba, Joel Osteen. Hn, hn! My mother and I refer to him as Bubba. And Bubba was encouraging us to talk to our mountains. Yes Friends, those dreams, those difficulties that rise up against us, sometimes seem like mountains; so high, so impregnable, that we often dejectedly think or say, ‘Woe is me! I cannot overcome that mountain.’ But remember two things my people: That with God, NOTHING is impossible. And secondly, that God SPOKE the world into existence. That means, our words, spoken out loud, therefore contain much power. Oh Friends, there’s awesome power in the Word! So we have to speak to our mountains. In Jesus’ Name, we must command them to get out of our way, to leave us alone, be gone, get thee behind me mountain! (smile) And to help us do this, here’s the Mountain Mover’s Prayer, penned by Dr. Robert H. Schuller of the Hour of Power fame. ‘Lord, when I face a mountain, do not let me quit. Give me the strength to keep on striving until I climb over, find a pass through, or tunnel underneath. And if my best efforts fail, give me the patience to stay and the perception to see the possibilities of turning my mountain into a gold mine, with your help. Amen.’ So Friends, we have to start dreaming again, dreaming large, and talking sternly, in Jesus’ Name, to those elements that keep keeping us from realizing those dreams. But there’s also a third aspect to the message I received. And it’s to put a little LOVE in our hearts, my people. Through some strange coincidence, read God’s plan, a few days later I heard the old duet by Annie Lennox and Al Green that I hadn’t heard in ages; ‘Put a little LOVE in your heart,’ and right there the whole Sermon gelled. How can we doubt the Lord’s mysterious and miraculous ways eh mih breddren? Three separate incidents, over about a ten day period, suddenly came to my mind as the basis for a Bit. All I can say is Wow! I obviously chuckled when the idea was planted, but was even more surprised when I took the time to write it down. Oh Friends, I’ve forgotten the exact words of the song, and can’t seem to find it on my computer. But the basic aspects are; when we see others in trouble, don’t hesitate, lend a helping hand, put a little LOVE in your heart. And the awesome result? The world will be a much better place for all of us. And that’s the Sermon from the Basement my people. Hope it makes sense, and does edify us all. (smile) In a nutshell: We must return to dreaming; dreaming large; talking to our mountains, because there’s power in the Word of God and our words; and then, put just a li’l bit a LOVE in our hearts. That’s the catalyst to tie it all together, and make a better place of this world for all of us to enjoy. Till tomorrow then Friends, God in favour, take care, and stay sheltered under His protective wings. Much LOVE!…to dream…oh to dream big dreams…to move mountains…and people…with LOVE…the LOVE of Christ…
SCRIP-BITS 