Integrity- People of God

Dreams, visions and imagination are God given tools of the soul that transcend us from the drudgery of our present reality and our everyday monotony, to having peace in our present situation and hope for our future. God has made us in three parts; body, soul and spirit. Most people tend to pay so much attention to the body, ensuring it has all it needs and wants that they sometimes lose sight of the needs of the soul and spirit. We become so engrossed in obtaining the basics, food, clothing and shelter for the body that we lose sight of and are remiss in the things of the soul and spirit.

Our soul is motivated by hope and the expectations we have in God’s purpose and plans for our lives. God’s purpose has never changed. We were created to have dominion over our circumstances and to replenish the earth with God’s glory. God’s glory is Who He is, God’s glory is love, and therefore our purpose is to reflect the love of God in all we do. With hope in God’s word we can change what we have been taught by this world system about who we are and how we live our lives. God’s word changes our thoughts and our expectations that we are no longer tethered to the shackles this world has placed on us. With hope we dare to believe we can live a different life than the one society, our families and this fallen world has assigned to us.

Romans 5: 1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

This fallen world system has sought to entrap all mankind; their body, through slavery and addictions, their soul through the lack of knowledge and the oppression of truth. Their spirit is dead and in darkness and ignorance to the light of Christ and His Salvation. When we allow our God given dreams and visions to inspire us and give us hope of a future, our imagination can take us to a place of belief that there is more, we can do more, we can be more, and this belief leads to faith. Faith believes that God can and He will do what He has promised in our lives.

Belief says God has done it before and He can do it again and faith says He will do it again, for me! Faith believes in the love God has for us. A love so strong that nothing we do can ever stop His love. A love so faithful He would never leave us alone. Though we may go through difficulties and hardships, we will survive because God is making a way. We may go through some troubles and struggles and yet, we will flourish if we do not faint, because He will never leave us nor forsake us.

We see the visible trials and look at the struggles but they are only temporary and God instructs us to look at the things that are not seen. Use your imagination to see what He says about us, to see what He has promised so that your hope will help you endure these temporary trials, which will only display your true beliefs. God has planted in us dreams and visions of the eternal life and His love for us.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

We are to use our God given imagination to see past the natural situation and with hope expect to see the undying, endless, never ceasing love that God has for us. Though we may sit in darkness and our life appears to have gone up in flames and ashes, our Hope is in the Almighty God. God is able to raise the dead and breathe life into what was once lost. Our Hope must be in God. He is faithful even when we are not.

We can dream and imagine our future with Hope and great expectation of what God is doing on our behalf based on His word and not in some vain folktale that was designed to keep people trapped. Though we may not understand it, our faith rises in knowing God is The Master Engineer, The Orchestrator. He is in every detail, situation and circumstance and He is working all things for our good and His glory.

We must keep our eyes on the hope of His calling and His love for us. Knowing the truth of His love for us enables us to stand in the time of trials and hardships. For example it is in the testing of a metal that proves its authenticity and worth. So it is in the testing of our faith, through trials and adversity that displays our true convictions and beliefs. We should understand the testing of our faith is imperative and necessary. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is only displayed in this process of testing

Remember it is our God given hopes, dreams and visions of our future that we determine and create for ourselves that allows us to stand in faith and trust the love of God for us.