Come Alive! August | 14th | 2012

This week I want to encourage you to come alive to your dreams and wake up to your potential! What is that one thing buried in your heart you've always dreamt of doing?  Sometimes we find ourselves doing something so similar to what we've dreamed of doing, that we settle for satisfying rather than striving for the spectacular. We end up sleepwalking through life -- connected to an artificial life support that is a weak substitute for our own ability to breathe and become. I like what Dr. Steve Maraboli advises: "Free yourself from the complexities and drama of your life. Simplify. Look within. Within ourselves we all have the gifts and talents we need to fulfill the purpose we've been blessed with." In Ephesians 5, Paul writes that the Lord urges us to, "Wake up from your sleep!" Paul explains: "Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives" (Eph. 5:11-16 MSG). This is why empowerment is so important. As author Howard Thurman suggests, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive." Empowerment is the practice of coming alive! It is the process by which an individual is equipped and strengthened to discover their potential, identify their capabilities, and access the resources they need to maximize their effectiveness. Could things be the way they are because you're the way you are? What one thing can you do that will change everything? This week, practice coming alive to your potential. Don't be afraid to dream out loud! If you wake up to the greatness--the dream--God has planted within you, He will be faithful to complete what He has begun!  Ephesians 4:14-17 AMP: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you and give you light. Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity]...Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is.