DESIRES, DREAMS, VISIONS

Greetings loved ones. I LOVE this time of year. There is a shift in the atmospheric condition as the seasons change from summer to fall. Leaves change colors, there is a nip in the air, and there are echos of Thanksgiving leading to Christmas. One of the ripples in the echo pool is the classic movie...IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (IAWL).

IAWL...is a 1946 "slice of Americana" by Frank Capra. The movie is based on a short story called THE GREATEST GIFT by Phillip Van Doren Stern. Stern originally mailed out the story/plot to his friends as a Christmas card. The movie stars Jimmy Stewart/George Bailey (fresh out of the military), Donna Reed/Mary Hatch/Bailey (her first starring role),Lionel Barrymore /Mr. Potter(resident curmudgeon on the silver screen), Ward Bond /Bert the cop(future wagon master on Wagon Train), Frank Faylen/Ernie the taxi driver (future father of Dobie Gillis), Henry Travers/Clarence Oddbody (angel 2nd class/no wings), and Thomas Mitchell /Uncle Billy...and a recurring star in all of Frank Capra's pictures....Jimmy the Raven.

The plot of the movie is a despondent man...who had his DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS...put on perpetual hold...so others can realize their DESIRES, DREAMS and VISIONS. He reaches a breaking point...after years of getting stuck in Bedford Falls...and attempts to commit suicide...that is thwarted by PRAYER...and a gift of seeing how his world would be without him being born. He eventually sees that he really does have a WONDERFUL LIFE... that was manifested in his friends and family. NOTE: The next play for LAMPLIGHTER'S THEATER at our church is a RADIO PRESENTATION (like Old Time Radio). I CAN'T WAIT. What does this have to do with ME...and you. Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to but ME in bold leaders and you in small letters.

God does have DESIRES, DREAMS and VISIONS for us...and sometimes it seems as if we have entered the GEORGE BAILEY ZONE. This is a TWILIGHT ZONE experience of spinning our wheels on this spinning ball called planet Earth. God has a solution for the DELIGHT DESTROYERS in our lives.

What do you do when EVILDOERS and WRONGDOERS...seem to be getting out of BEDFORD FALLS...and experiencing your DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS?

The key is found in Psalm 37...and specifically in Psalm 37:5.

"DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART." (Psalm 37:5)

This verse is in the context of EVILDOERS and WRONGDOERS seemingly getting away with murder...and having the things that you DESIRE. The whole chapter has a plethora of ACTION words....that you can DO while you can't SEE God moving.

NOTE: Take time and circle and underline all of the ACTION WORDS...and the CAUSE & EFFECT of your ACTIONS in the face of your DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS not coming in to instant fruition.

Psalm 37:5...has the solution...(1) DELIGHT yourself (2) in the LORD (3) and HE (the Lord) (4) will GIVE you (5) the DESIRES
(6) of your HEART.

1. DELIGHT: aw-nag'= to be soft, pliable, effeminate, luxurious, delicate. Delighting as a verb is NOT jumping up and down, clapping your hands together and saying..."I'm deeeeeeeeeeeelighted." It is a yielding...being pliable (to the Lord) not the circumstance. It is yielding our will to His will...and not be hardened in our hearts towards circumstances, evil/wrong doers, and God.

2. THE LORD: We are not delighting in the circumstance. The circumstance may seem impossible. The circumstance may not seem fair (at the time). The circumstance is in constant flux...and may seem unchangeable. But the Lord is ROCK SOLID. He never changes. Circumstances must conform to the Lord...not the Lord conforming to the circumstance.

3. HE= The Lord will DO something...IF you DELIGHT yourself in HIM. It's called the FAITH CAUSE AND EFFECT.

"Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title-deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality--faith PERCEIVING as REAL FACT what is NOT REVEALED TO THE SENSES." (Hebrews 11:1 The Amplified Bible).

4. WILL GIVE YOU: Much like Jabez...when He prayed five specific things in his prayer...GOD GRANTED WHAT HE REQUESTED.

"If you live in Me--abide vitally united to Me--and My words remain in you and continue to live in your HEARTS...ASK whatever you will and it shall be done for you." (John 15:7)

"And this is the confidence---the assurance, the [privilege of] boldness--which we have in Him; [we are sure] that if we ASK ANYTHING (make any request) ACCORDING TO HIS WILL (in agreement with His own plane) He LISTENS and HEARS us. And if (since we [positively] know that He listens to us in WHATEVER WE ASK...we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we HAVE [granted us our present possessions] the REQUESTS we made of Him" (I John 5:14,15 The Amplified Bible)

5. THE DESIRES: mish-aw-law'= a request, desire, petition. Good will (1) give in the sense of planting those desires in your heart
(2) and will bring to pass what he planted in you.

6. OF YOUR HEART: labe=the feelings, the will, the intellect, the CENTER of anything. Deep in the core of your being...in your spirit... in your place of intimacy with Him...in your inner man...is where your DESIRES, DREAMS, and VISIONS are BIRTHED...INCUBATED, AND DELIVERED...way before you actually SEE THEM. You see them first within...where your human spirit is intimate with the Holy Spirit.

"So too the (Holy) Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer no how to offer it worthily as we ought, BUT the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning to deep for utterance. And He who searches th HEARTS OF MEN...know what is in the MIND OF THE (HOLY) SPIRIT---what His intent is--because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints ACCORDING TO AND IN HARMONY WITH GOD'S WILL. We are assured and know that [God being a PARTNER in their labor] ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER AND ARE [FITTING INTO A PLAN] for good to those who love God and are called according to {His] DESIGN and PURPOSE." (Romans 8:28 The Amplified Bible)

NOTE: The design and purpose...are linked with the DESIRES, DREAMS and VISIONS that he GIVES/PLANTS in us.

NOTE TO THE NOTE: There are well orchestrated schemes and attacks against us and the seed of the Word planted within our hearts to STOP production of crops in our lives. (See Mark 4; Ephesians 6; Genesis 2-3)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY!!!!!

Timing is everything...and eventually...you will experience what God has in store for you...if you become focused...and don't try to escape from what you feel is your prison..either Bedford Falls or your circumstances.

Love and Bedford Falls Kisses
Rodney "Can't Wait For The Lamplighter's Production" Boyd