Is it really just a DREAM?

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” ~Gail Devers

Throughout your life, you acquired dreams...

 

Dreams of what you'd be when you grew up

Dreams of having a family

Dreams of the car you would ultimately want to own

Dreams of your highest accomplishment

Dreams of starting a business, non-profit, or school

Dreams of being a best-selling author, actor, ball-player, or entertainer

 

Dreams...Dreams...Dreams.

 

But how many of them actually became reality? You may be thinking that I'm telling you NOT TO DREAM... But on the contrary, I want you to continue to DREAM. Just because one particular dream did not manifest in your life doesn't mean many of the others won't either. 

 

Have you kept track of your dreams? No matter how big or small they are, all dreams are important. Worked properly, dreams go through several stages:

 

Dreams ---->   Projects ----> Programs ----> Plans ----> Goals ----> Purpose

 

But dreams can't reach its intended purpose without you taking them from off a page in your journal and onto the specified area it is supposed to go to. It needs to have an intended target. Your job is to reach for the dart and throw it in the direction it was meant to hit.

 

Once you do that, you are well on your way from just having a DREAM to living a REALITY! A life one is meant to live--full of Purpose and Meaning! Keep dreaming... they will soon become the very essence of who you are.

 

To learn more of how I can give you the keys to unlocking your dreams, go to my website: Keys to the Kingdom Christian Coaching.

 

Until next time, 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2013. Dr. Lily Jenkins. All Rights Reserved.  You may share or print any and all posts as long as you quote or cite Dr. Lily Jenkins' name on, within, or by the posts. http://www.lilyjenkinsministries.com
http://www.keystothekingdomcoaching.com

Life Struggles

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

The moth seemed to be stuck and appeared to have stopped making progress. It seemed as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth; so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But its body was swollen and small, its wings wrinkled and shriveled. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to and able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a small, swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. The man in his kindness and haste did not understand that the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was necessary to force fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight upon achieving its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget the power in the struggle.

Gotta Have Faith

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:26 KJV




Lately I've seen many people, during this uneven economy all of a sudden want something they can cling to that deals with the word, "FAITH". You see license plates with the word "Faith", people will buy jewelry, plaques, and clothing that has the emblem of "Faith". But do they really honor God with their... Faith?

Faith in the greek is pistos which means believing, assurance, unwavering, not moved. It's the type of faith that no matter what might be in front of you, or what it might apprear to look like in this world, you have the faith that what you have asked God for will come to pass.

However, if you don't act on the faith that you have and wait for something to fall from the sky, it won't happen. You take that first step towards the destiny God has placed within your spirit and watch God take the rest. If what you are passionate about really lines up with God's purpose for you is, you will have the favor you need from God, and favor from man (provision, wealth, business connections, etc.) to do what you couldn't do on your own accord.

In the above scripture, "works" can also be your seed. How many times have we really needed something from God, and because we don't have enough in the natural, we feel that we don't want to give up the little we have for FEAR that we won't have what we need to pay our bills, have food on the table, or clothes for our children? I've certainly been there. But it wasn't until I tapped into the ever present power of God's word, that I started to really get a revelation on some things.

First, I remember reading about when Jesus was with the multitude for three days(Read Mark 8:1-21). It says that He had such compassion for the people because they had had nothing to eat. So he took what my Pastor (Pastor Dollar always calls a two piece fish dinner :) with five loaves of bread that a young lad had in a basket. He told everyone (men, women, and children-could have been around 4,000) to sit down. He took this two piece fish dinner, gave thanks or in the Amplified version- blessed it, brake it and gave it to his disciples to set before the people. Do you know it multipled? Everyone had the chance to eat, and the bible says they were filled. When they took up the remaining meat and elements of the bread, it was enough to fill seven baskets. I'm sure it was pretty hard for that young lad to take seven baskets back home. My God! Hallelujah!

Then in I Kings 17: 10-16, it tells the story of a widow woman in Zarephath who felt that she and her son were on the verge of death with nothing left to eat but a handful of meal and a little oil. But as Elijah was passing through the city, he stopped in and TOLD the widow woman to fetch for him a little to drink. Now at that time, I can tell you she was not looking for anyone to tell her what to do with the little that she had. So she had a little attitude, but did go to fetch him what he wanted. But then in the middle of getting it, he called out to her to also bring him a morsel of bread. I can see her swaying her head around to him, maybe even her hand on her hip as she said, "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat and die. (verse 12, KJV).

That's where we are sometimes. We feel we have to hoard the little that we have, thinking that's all we got. However, how many of us know that God wants us to have more? He said, "I have come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly" (or to the full)--emphasis mine (John 10:10).

So Elijah told her to "Fear Not." You have nothing to fear when you know you have Jesus on your side. Well, the story ultimately goes to where she obeys Elijah, makes a morsel of cake for him first, and brings it to him.

Then he makes a declaration or promise to the widow woman that from now until the Lord sends rain upon the earth, her barrel of meal would not waste, nor shall the cruse of oil fail. She, he and her house ate a many days! That's God!

What we have to do is when we pray, we BELIEVED, we RECEIVED, what we PRAYED, and it shall come to pass---never doubting, never wavering, nothing missing, nothing broken, and never lacking any good thing! It's as if when praying, you already know that as that request comes out of your mouth, you already have it. It's past-tense Faith! Thank You Jesus! I got this thang ya'll! And you need to get this too!

You gotta have faith that moves mountains!

Be blessed my brothers and sisters!

All you need is Jesus!

Lord, what a wonderful time in Jesus this past Sunday! God is doing a shifting in the body of Christ. Many people don't understand about the recession and why they are losing money, why the NASDAQ and the S & P 500 is closing everyday with millions of dollars lower than before. It's because the wealth of the wicked is being transferred into the hands of the righteous! Hallelujah! If you are a child of God, you have nothing to worry about because you are about to get an increase of wealth coming to your house! Start shouting right now!

No need to get afraid, a switch is about to take place, the last is getting ready to be first! You ought to get happy right now! Thanks be to God! We are saved, and we should know who is on your side. My pastor, Dr. Creflo A. Dollar, always asks, "Who you wit?" I know that sounds politically uncorrect, but when you think about it, he's right.

Just because you may be losing your job in a week or two--don't get upset, and let the devil stop you and make you take a second-thought about who you wit! God is getting you ready for your next assignment--he's setting you up to be blessed! Yes Lord!

All you need is Jesus! Hallelujah! I'm getting happy all over again!

This is what you need to do during what the world is declaring a financial crisis:

"And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God." (Phil. 1:28 KJV)

What God is saying here is this: when it looks like the devil has your back up against the wall, don't be frightened, stare at that old devil, and start shouting and praising God. It will paralyze the devil, and the evidence of your salvation will be in your countenance amidst all Hell breaking loose. It is a sure token that God is deep on the inside of you!! That's an assurance that no devil in Hell can promise you! God has your back and nothing around you should stir you to doubt and unbelief.

Keep your heads up my brothers and sisters. It's time to fight back-use the word of God as your weapon and resist the temptation to succumb to the world's way of thinking! Think and use the word of God over fear and doubt in your life.

Praise God!

That Something Within

That Something Within
Jackie Dove-Miller

There is something within me
That is strong enough
To keep me from toppling
Over the edge of
Sanity,
Over the ledge of
frustration
Or over the hedge of
All-out foolishness.
It leads me to prayer
When I would otherwise
Break.
There is something in my make-up
Or my bringing up
Or just the way I look up
That straightens my back
And bows my head.
It becomes the focus of my meditation.
The sentiment in my supplication,
The reason for my transformation.
That thing inside me
Has me choosing light
Though darkness covers all.
It wells up like ocean waves
Come to drown those who
Think they deserve to push me back
Hold me down or
Steal my joy.
I have a spiritual strength that
Grows deeper and speaks louder as I get to know
More about who I am.

"Where did IT come from?" Someone recently asked.
I answered, "In my developing stage, someone said out loud,
'You sure are good at _______,'"
My puny soul embraced that seed,
and it planted itself deep inside me and took root.
I tested that tiny bit of ego-strength against
The negative family messages that focused on
What I was NOT good at, making me feel small
And disconnected.
I was NOT good at being like my mother
Who was all but saintly.
I was NOT good at being
Like my sister who was beautiful and dainty.
I was NOT ballerina thin, nor prissy neat,
But I WAS good at ________
And when I looked a little further, I discovered that
I was GOOD ENOUGH.
Good enough to bear fruit
And reap a harvest.
Good enough to plant a seed
In others and watch them grow
Magnificent and free.
I was GOOD ENOUGH to relate to
The GOD inside of me.

So, this poem is for all my sister-friends
Who don't yet know that
YOU are better than what your mothers,
your teachers, the men in your life,
or even the good sisters in church have called you.
Because God has called you Blessed
And HIS is the only voice that matters.
So, here and now, I pray OUR sister-prayer,
Dear Lord,
Help me to release
the self-doubt
That lives in my heart.

Remind me daily
That I am the product of
Your hands...
And all that
you make... ALL THAT YOU MAKE
Is Perfect. Amen


Taken from Inspirationpeak.com, assessed March 30, 2009.

Everyone Has a Story to Tell-Part 2

Many people usually don't know where to begin when it comes to writing their own personal memoirs. Some people feel that a memoir chronicles their entire life, pinpointing the major events that influenced and shaped them the most. Some people will take a particular event and create a "story", of course non-fiction in nature, but focus on just that as the basis of their memoirs with the hopes of informing or entertaining readers, and their overall message or theme sticks out for all to take in. It's all up to you. There is and should never be a set format in which to write a personal memoir, because it is just that, "your personal Memoir.

So when thinking about where you would like to start in your quest for writing the personal memoir, maybe ask yourself a few questions.

1. What are some of my most memorable moments? They can be sad, embarrassing, loving, or fun. They can be life-changing, or just matter-of-fact. But whatever they are, they have to big enough for you to want to share with others. Stick to big stories and less on the technical details.

2. How far back in my past should I go when pulling an important event into my memoir? What is meant by this is---you never want to bring a story from your life to paper that you cannot fully "show" to your reader. It has to be so vivid from your memory that others reading it can get a visual picture of your life, as if from the outside looking in.

For example: Being rescued from a house fire. Obviously you wouldn't just tell us you were rescued by firefighters late one night. You would go more in depth by "showing" exactly how they rescued you.

"As I was dangling outside of my second story bedroom window, sashaying a white bedsheet high in the air to signal I was there, a firefighter caught a glimpse of my hanging there. He quickly pulled a ladder in the direction of my silhouette, climbed up to my window and caught me before I could no longer take in the smoke that filled my lungs."

3. Do I want to base my memoir on a certain time period, i.e.,childhood (school) years, or as an adult (relationships, divorce, how you became the President of a Fortune 500 company or a successful entrepreneur)? It's important which angle you want to take when writing so that you are not all over the place with no end in sight. Once you know what is most important for your book, stick to it.

Now once you have all of your fundamental events, situations, and life experiences that's suitable for YOUR memoir, now begin to write. It doesn't matter about grammar, and the technicalities of writing perfectly. That will come with time once it's finally done and you're ready to edit. But remember we are only on Part 2. We will talk next time about creating a speaker voice that will be true to only your work and that will set you apart from other stories that are out there. Until next time, WRITE YOUR WAY TO DESTINY!

Be sure to leave your comments about this or the Part one of "Everyone Has a Story to Tell!"

Be Blessed!

Shake It Off and Step Up!

Hallelujah! This is what we need to tell ourselves each and everyday! Take a Look at This!--Lily

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or - whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow.

"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

THAT'S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT AND BLESS US! Remember that FORGIVENESS--FAITH--PRAYER-- PRAISE and HOPE...all are excellent ways to "SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP" out of the wells in which we find ourselves!

- Author Unknown

Ch. 57 Atlanta Live Interview

I wanted all of you to be the first to view my recent TV interview on Atlanta Live Ch. 57. What a wonderful time I had on the show with Host Shelley Hendricks! Please be blessed by my testimony and be sure to share with others! God Bless!

Lily

Feature Article in Inspired Women Magazine

If you are looking for a testimony of one woman's own date rape tragedy and how she overcame it, please click on the banner that will take you to my story in Inspired Women Magazine. It contains a never before told account of my college dormitory experience that I now share with other young women that I'm sure will also bless your spirit.