“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12

“Desire realized is sweet to the soul…” Proverbs 13:19


Hopes. Dreams. Desires.

We all have them…. and we want them to come true. And God does too.

God-given dreams and desires are wonderful things. They are God’s gift to you and me. Life would be terribly boring without good, holy, healthy desires and dreams from God. Life pops with positive anticipation, excitement and joy when hope fuels the fires of pursuing God’s best for us.

Our scriptures this week teach us that when desire is fulfilled, life is sweet! A tree of life springs up in our hearts when dreams and desires come to pass. How fun life is when sweet dreams come true. Makes you want to shout and dance. Never feel inhibited when a desire is realized and sweetness fills your soul. Shout if from the rooftop of your heart.

You and I also understand that when hope is hampered and dampened, we become heartsick. I have felt that, and don’t like it very much. I prefer “sweet to the soul” over “the heart sick” any day, don’t you?

A dashed hope doesn’t mean hope is lost. A delayed dream isn’t denial of God’s vision for your life. A desire remaining to be realized doesn’t mean the longing of your heart won’t be fulfilled. God’s dreams for our lives are sweet, especially when accomplished His way and in His time. That’s where you and I struggle sometimes. We want our dreams and desires to come to pass our way and in our time. Be brutally honest….you know I am speaking truth!

So what should we do when we dream dreams that keep our spirit awake and our hearts pounding with godly desire? Glad you asked. David exhorts us to “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. Pretty straightforward advice. If we want God to give us the desires of our heart, we must first delight ourselves in Him.

Delight means to take pleasure in, to derive happiness from. So, do you and I take pleasure in the One who gives the dreams and places desires in our hearts? Or are we more consumed with the dream than the Dream giver?

I believe that if you and I would daily delight in the Lord and trust our dreams and desires to Him, we would be content, happy and in position to see our desires fulfilled.

I wonder what would happen if we talked more about Jesus and less about our desires? What would life look like if we quit whining about unfulfilled desires and instead, rejoiced in God’s daily blessing in our lives? What if we were happy in Christ whether a desire was fulfilled or not? What if Jesus was more than enough for our hearts? Just asking.

Delight in the Lord….or desire of the heart. What comes first in your life?

So let’s get practical.

• Do you delight in the Lord? I take pleasure in Him _____________________.
• What are you hoping for? I am hoping for ____________________________.
• What are you dreaming about? My dream is __________________________.
• What do you desire? My desire is to ________________________________.

How serious are you about putting the Lord above your desires? How serious are you about pursuing your hopes, dreams and desires God’s way? Are you serious enough to trust His plan and timing? Serious enough to keep believing when believing is difficult? Serious enough to keep forging ahead with faith when the devil tells you your dreams are pipe dreams and will never come to pass? Serious enough to leave the doubters in the dust? Serious enough to plow through disappointment, push through discouragement and advance through adversity? Serious enough to trust God, not your feelings?

If you are not delighting in Him (being happy with who you are in Christ, rejoicing in God’s goodness to you, being content with who you are in Him and what you have right now), but complaining, whining and griping instead and throwing pit-poor-me-parties, then don’t expect your dreams and desires to come to pass..

Hopes, dreams and desires that are fulfilled because we love the Lord and His will causes us to dance in the streets of our spirit. Joy that is almost unspeakable floods and overflows from hearts that know how good it is to see sweet dreams come true!

When Sweet Dreams Come True

• Dance in your heart. Rejoice that God has fulfilled your desire.
• Give thanks to God for making your dream your come true.
• Learn lessons from your dream-fulfilling process.
• Share with others what God has done for you and how He did it.
• Be sensitive and compassionate toward people still hoping for something.
• Encourage someone else to pursue and fulfill their dream.
• Start dreaming your next dream!!!


Dear friend, hold on to your hopes. Hang on to your dreams. Never lose heart. Trust God for your desires to be fulfilled.

The day will come when you will dance because your sweet dreams came true!

“May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your dreams.” Psalm 20:4

A Word For Your Week: God-given dreams and desires come true for us when we delight in Him and His plans for our life.

“Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach.” Nehemiah 2:17



Life can be challenging.

Things we build up can come crashing down. Our seemingly secure worlds and comfortable lifestyles can be rocked and shaken. Shattered dreams, personal emotional upheavals, fractured friendships, ruptured relationships, sudden loss of loved ones, job layoffs, and serious financial setbacks, to name a few real life situations, can leave us reeling and feeling like life needs rebuilt.

This week we are going to look to Nehemiah who knows something about rebuilding. Study Nehemiah chapters 1-6. Dig deep into the Word. Walk with Nehemiah through the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls. Nehemiah lays out for you and me a road map for rebuilding our walls when life needs rebuilt.

How To Rebuild Your Life

Review The Ruins Nehemiah 1-2

Nehemiah’s heart was heavy. Jerusalem lay in ruins. Nehemiah left a cushy job to survey the damage. He assessed the ruins realistically. Faced what had fallen down.

What needs rebuilt in your life? Review the ruins. Survey what has happened. Assess what is needed to rebuild. Be realistic as you commit to rebuilding.


Resolve To Rebuild Nehemiah 2:1-5

Nehemiah determined the walls could be rebuilt. And he would rebuild them.

You can rebuild your life. Resolve to do so. Commit yourself to God’s restoration process. Decide to give yourself wholeheartedly to the rebuilding of your fallen walls.


Rally Support Nehemiah 2:17-20, 3:1-32

Nehemiah knew he couldn’t rebuild Jerusalem’s walls without help. So he enlisted the Israelis to assist.

You need a support system to rebuild your life. Who are the people you need to help you? Relatives, friends, your pastor, a counselor? Build a team to help you rebuild.


Remove The Rubble Nehemiah 3:23-30, 4:10

Nehemiah and the people cleared the rubbish. They rebuilt Jerusalem’s new wall on a cleared foundation.

Start removing rubbish. Chuck bad attitudes. Adjust dysfunctional behavior. Clear up and clear out what the Lord directs you to in order to begin again and rebuild.


Raise Up the Walls Nehemiah 4:6-7, 21-22

Neemiah and the people rebuilt the wall side by side. Families worked together to rebuild God’s holy city. The wall went up brick by brick.

Ask God what bricks you need to rebuild. Then lay bricks one at a time. Lay them soundly. Your new wall needs to be fall proof.


Resist The Opposition Nehemiah 2:10, 19-20, 4:1-8, 11-12, 6:1-14, 16

Nehemiah and the people were opposed every step of the way. They prayed, stood guard, and worked together to defeat their adversaries.

The devil does not want you to rebuild. Resist him every step of the rebuilding process. Keep your spiritual armor on. Pray. Stand fast with your support system.


Rely On God’s Resources Nehemiah 2:4-8, 4:4-15

God answered Nehemiah’s prayers for help. He gave Nehemiah favor with the king, support from the people, and victory over his enemies.

Look to the Lord to rebuild your life. Trust Him for everything you need.


Rejoice In Your Rebuild Life Nehemiah 6:15-16, 13:27-43

The wall was finished in record time. Party Time! The people gathered for a praise service on top of the walls. They shouted God’s praises so loud that San ballet, Tobiah and Geshem had to hear them. Rejoicing in the Lord was the order the day.

God will help you rebuild “your wall”. When your wall if raised up, take time to celebrate. Throw a praise party. Invite your friends. Tell them what the Lord has done for you.

Life need rebuilt? Start rebuilding. Begin today. Put your heart and hands to the good work of rebuilding what needs rebuilt. Rise up in the strength of Jesus Christ. Rebuild with the help of the Holy Spirit. Then rejoice, giving glory to God!

“And those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins, you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach; the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” Isaiah 58:12

A Word For Your Week: Rebuild what needs rebuilt with God’s help.

For Husbands:
“Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which God has given you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun." Ecclesiastes 9:9

For Wives:
“She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her saying, “Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.” Proverbs 31:27-29

This week’s Word For Your Week format is a little different than normal. Having just met with a husband and wife whose marriage is struggling, and realizing that Valentines Day is just around the romantic corner, I decided to share with you some rules for marriage that I have found helpful in counseling married couples over the years. There are many more guidelines and principles based on the Bible that could be included here. But I came up with ten that are foundational to a happy, mutually satisfying Christian marriage.

Before I share Roll’s rules, here are a few cute comments about love and marriage by kids.

What do most people do on a date? On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. Martin, age 8.

Is it better to be single or married? It’s better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. Anita, age 9

When it is okay to kiss someone? When they’re rich. Pam age, 7.

How would you make a marriage work? Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck. Ricky, age 10.

What do you think your mom and dad have in common? Both don’t want to have any more kids. Lori, Age 8

• Rule One - Treat each other with respect, dignity and courtesy.


• Rule Two- Be Gracious. Give each other the benefit of the doubt.


• Rule Three - Be BIG FORGIVERS. Forgive sincerely,and as often as necessary.


• Rule Four - Build each other up. Never tear down. Be mutual cheerleaders.


• Rule Five - Do not take up the spirit of offense. Warm hearts. Thick skins.


• Rule Six- No pity-poor-me parties. Grow up. Be secure. Act mature.


• Rule Seven - No pouting or shouting. Establish a silent treatment and yelling free zone.


• Rule Eight - Refuse to be bitter. Always choose to be better. Better is better than bitter.


• Rule Nine - Serve each other. How can I serve my spouse today in practical ways?


• Rule Ten - Keep the romance fire burning. Never let your marital love flicker.

BONUS RULES

• Surprise each other with special gifts.
• Get away from the kids for romantic rendezvous.
• Write a love note or love letter.
• Believe in each other. Trust each other. Bring out the best in your spouse.
• Compliment each other. Heap on loads of love, acceptance, approval and affirmation.
• Release the past. The future is forward. Reach for tomorrow together.

Want a happy marriage? Work on a few of these rules and suggestions. Put in the effort to improve your relationship with the one you love and want to grow old and happy with.

Have fun making your marriage healthier and happier!

A Word For Your Week:Happy marriages happen when healthy husbands and wives make them happen with God’s help.

“And David to Saul, ’Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” I Samuel 17:32


An insightful person remarked “A problem is nothing more than a miracle before God gets a hold of it!” What a refreshing perspective on problem solving! The truth is God is always greater than our present problem. The bigger the problem, the bigger God’s solution is.

Facing a problem of gigantic proportions? Does your dilemma look so big that you feel overwhelmed and there is nothing you can do about it? Think again. Turn in your Bible to I Samuel 17 and take heart from the true, inspirational story of a lowly shepherd boy named David who defeated a nasty old giant named Goliath.

Israel faced a problem—a giant-sized one who towered over nine feet tall and had the army of God cowering in their combat sandals on the battlefield sidelines. Paralyzed by fear, Israel decided Goliath was too big for them to conquer.

It has been said the surest way to mishandle a problem is to avoid facing up to it. Face to face with Goliath, Israel retreated. God’s army bogged down in the shadow of Goliath. They thought he was too big for them to handle.

Problems can stop us temporarily, but we are the only one who can do it permanently.

It’s a fact of life: How you size up a problem determines how you solve it. If your problem is too big for you and your God—you problem will defeat you. If your God and your faith in Him is big enough--you will defeat your problem.

Enter David. David sized up Goliath as no big deal. Israel’s soldiers shrank back from Goliath in fear. Their errant conclusion: This mammoth man is too big to hit. Full of faith, David ran to fight Goliath. His conclusion: This big, mouthy menace is too big to miss!

What a target! Big bullseye right between his eyes. David told King Saul that with God’s help I once killed a lion and a bear and they were nowhere near the size of this overgrown, mutated mocker of the living God! This is a piece of cake. How could I possibly miss this massive mountain of ugly, ungodly man?

The young man of fiery faith and godly courage spoke back to the trash-talking infidel, told Goliath how the day would end up, and then took bold action. David charged Goliath, knocked him out cold with a slingshot, then cut off his huge head with the fallen warriors’ own sword. That’s what I call solving a problem!

The doubters and pouters shouted and no one doubted who the Living God was that day. Glory to God! Goliath was gone.

Faith attacks problems. Fear retreats from problems. Giants either scare us into inaction, or stir us up to action. We choose whether to allow a Goliath (big problem) to dominate us our not. Goliath is not the issue. Our faith in a God who eats Goliath’s for lunch is. (Just kidding about the eating!)

Do you have a Goliath taunting you? Mocking you? Trying to frighten you? You decide if this giant is too big to hit, or TOO BIG TO MISS!!!

With the eye of faith, view your problem as a possibility, not an impossibility. Remember:The things thought impossible with men ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD! (Matthew 19:26)

Don’t let your heart fail because of a gigantic problem. Face your Goliath with faith and solve your problem like David did. Trust God and take action.

A Word For Your Week: Size up your Goliath according to God’s Word and slay it by faith in Jesus’ giant-killing name.

“The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace because he trusts in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way.” Psalm 37:23



“Are we there yet?” Like kids on a vacation trip trapped in the backseat of the car—we are an impatient people. Rather than enjoy the journey, we clamor to arrive at our destination. And we want to be there NOW!

Everyone is in such a hurry today. You and I run here and there, and there and here, like chickens with our heads cut off. We have been duped into thinking that the fast lane of the rat race is where it’s at. Who says we have to run the rat race? I guess the rats do! So many people labor and live at a breakneck, feverish pace in order to keep up with the Joneses. If I read my Bible right, Christians are to keep up with Jesus, not the Jones.

When you study the life of Christ, you find that He paced Himself during His three year ministry. His steps were established (ordered, directed, laid out) by the Father. You never see Jesus stressed out. The Lord never put pressure on Himself to perform or be successful. In the midst of intense opposition and adversity, Jesus experienced the peace of God. Why? Because I believe He was at peace with God’s pace on the way to the cross and resurrection.

Someone said hurry is often the long way around in life. Hurry, scurry, and worry keep many people frustrated. Many people lack inner peace in their lives because they don’t pace themselves. No wonder we have so many stressed out, burned out, freaked out people in our society.

I have always been a high energy person. At times, high gear has been my Achilles heel. As a young boy, I remember watching my first long distance track race. The starter’s gun sounded, the runners took off. I was so disappointed that the runners weren’t sprinting and running in highest gear. The race was 5,000 meters. The distance runners knew something I didn’t.

They understood the principle of PACE. To complete the race, they had to pace themselves over the distance. They couldn’t possibly run the whole course full throttle. They would run out of gas before the finish line if they ran full blast.

As Christians, we are running a faith race (Hebrews 12:1-3). The Lord’s will is for us to finish our faith race victoriously (II Timothy 4:7-8). It’s to our benefit that we run our race at His pace. If we run ahead of God, we will burnout. If we run behindGod, we rust out. But if we run with God, hand in hand with Him in the power of the Holy Spirit, we WIN OUT!

God is a god of peace and pace. He is never in a hurry, He never worries, and He is never late or ahead of schedule. He is perfectly on time, all the time. His secret: a planned, purposeful, peaceful, productive PACE. God’s universe and Kingdom is one of peace when His creatures live life at His pace. A restful, productive pace that energizes us is God’s way.

Isaiah makes it crystal clear: Perfect peace is ours when we steadfastly focus on the Lord and trust Him to quicken the pace or slow it down. Note it is God’s perfect peace that the trusting person will receive. God’s perfect, complete, whole, fulfilling, satisfying peace is something we cannot produce ourselves. Our Heavenly Father is the god of peace who gives peace to His children.

I don’t know about you, but most of the time my problem with pace is not going too slow, but going too fast. Through the school of hard knocks, my hard head is learning that God loves me so much He will find a way to slow me down when necessary!

If we desire to be healthy, peaceful, and productive, we must come to terms with being at peace with God’s pace. If you are out of sync with God’s pace, fall on your face before Him. Confess your impatience. Repent of your dysfunctional desire to control outcomes and have things your way in your time.

Slow down long enough to receive God’s peace. As you fix your mind on Him, His perfect peace will flood your heart. Trust Him to direct your steps and to show you the proper pace to run your race.

You and I are off and running into God’s plan for us in 2012. Great opportunities lie ahead for us to glorify God. Peace with His pace will produce less stress and more success in our lives. So let’s commit ourselves to run our race at His pace this year.

“For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:15

“Great peace have those who love God’s law; nothing shall cause them to stumble.” Psalm 119:165

A Word For Your Week: Christian winners run their race at God’s pace.