Note: Thanks to some recent developments, we have quite a few new readers who may not really be familiar with what Nourish The Dream is all about… so we felt it was time for an introduction of sorts. Enjoy!

Has God Called You To Business?

A little over ten years ago, I stepped out of my full-time job as a Pastor and went full-time into the business my wife & I had started several years earlier. It was a gigantic leap of faith for us at the time, but we were responding to a strong sense of calling and the belief that we had clear direction from God.

The problem was that the idea of being “called” to do something other than “ministry” (as we understood it) didn’t jibe with our training. After all, once you were “called to the ministry,” the gifts & calling are without repentance, right?

An Anointing for Business?

We were in for a few paradigm shifts, some of which had been bubbling below the surface in me for a number of years. One of the first ones that crystallized for me was that the “anointing” of God isn’t reserved for people behind a pulpit or leading worship or working on the mission field.

Today, I would argue that there’s an anointing available for anyone doing what they were created to do.

Business may not seem very “spiritual” on the surface, but there are numerous examples in Scripture of people who were anointed to do very “non-spiritual” things. Metalworking (Exodus 31) and killing giants (1 Samuel 17) are just a couple of quick ones that come to mind.

“But business deals with ‘filthy lucre’!” some may argue.

It’s true that “greed” is going to come up in this discussion. We might as well get it out of the way. Anyone who has a greed problem or deals with love of money needs to take it to God and get rid of it. But I would argue that more people struggle with “love of money” and misplaced trust in money when they don’t have any or have no means of getting their needs met than those who have some. Perhaps that’s a debate for a different day, but you can think about it. Either way, without the manifest Grace of God, any fleshly lust can consume a person regardless of their position, calling, daily work or status in life. Enough said.

Staying Away From Evil

That said, it’s time to address something that’s a real problem with the Church today. To some extent, it’s been an issue for hundreds of years, but it seems that in the United States it really matured in the latter half of the 20th Century. Somewhere along the line, we decided that certain elements of society were inherently “evil” and Christians should stay away from them. Politics, Hollywood and business are big examples.

After years of study, I’m more convinced than ever that God doesn’t think like this. Quite the opposite, in fact. From Scripture, it’s clear that God is trying to invade every corner of society and infiltrate it with His Kingdom. (If you need a Scripture to start with, let’s take Matthew 28 back out and study the Great Commission.)

But we’ve raised a few generations of believers who don’t see things that way, so we have some unlearning to do.

And those who—like me 10 years ago—have a sense of calling or anointing where business is concerned, need to be retrained with a new Biblical foundation for work.

We also need relationships with others who share our calling.

We need to be authenticated in our callings and allowed to dream about not only what we’re built to do here on the earth, but also about what a future would look like with believers in every corner of society who are authenticated and functioning in their callings.

Wow… what a dream!

My friend… this isn’t just a dream born in the hearts of some radical people. This dream was born in the heart of God. It’s His dream… and it’s time for us to bring it to life!

Care to join me?

If this resonates with you, don’t miss your opportunity to connect with others like you in Tampa, FL March 30th & 31st, 2012. This will be 2 days of life-changing teaching, training, equipping & inspiration from Godly business leaders who taken major territory for the Kingdom and unabashedly created millions of dollars in profits along the way! Check out the details now!

SOPA: Are You Prepared To Be Silenced?

Here at Nourish The Dream, we are incredibly passionate about the success of small businesses and entrepreneurs. We work tirelessly to produce events and resources that will help “nourish the dream” of business ownership and success in the lives of people. And that’s why we feel it’s important to bring SOPA (and its evil twin: PIPA) to your attention.

Depending upon when you read this, the links above may not be working. That’s because Wikipedia is “going dark” for the very first time (at least for its English version) in its history in order to protest this outrageous piece of legislation.

Why Sound the Alarm?

On the surface, the idea behind these bills is honorable and even noble: to stop the illegal downloading & sharing of content protected by copyright. The biggest beneficiaries of this action are relatively obvious: record labels, movie studios and others who create content which is ordinarily sold but which is being pirated (something which, I would like to note, is already illegal).

The egregious nature of the legislation comes not from its ostensible purpose but from its far-reaching, dangerous implications. Specifically, as the legislation is currently drafted, it gives incredible powers of internet censorship to the US courts. Further, it places ridiculous demands upon search engines to no longer provide links to sites which are accused of violating copyrights.

Picture a world where Google is required to police its search results at any given moment for links to websites which have not been proven to be guilty of violating copyrights. Picture a world where your small business website can be shut down at will by anyone willing to throw out a complaint.

In short: the legislation as drafted violates the free speech rights of US citizens via censorship without due process of law.

What About Piracy?

First let me say that we make our living creating content and enjoying the wonderful protection of copyright law. Without copyrights, it would be very difficult for our parent organization to recognize revenue from the training products it creates. Similarly, here at Nourish The Dream, we value very highly the ability for us to create and distribute CDs, MP3s and (soon) DVDs of materials to empower, train & equip the business owners and entrepreneurs we exist to serve… and to, in turn, achieve revenue from those sales to fuel our mission and to give us the ability to create new & better products as we go.

It is therefore of no small significance to us that there be appropriate tools in the hands of legislators and law enforcement agencies to go after piracy and shut it down where possible. We fully understand that no retailer would leave their shop doors unlocked at night with no one watching. There are evil people in the world, and the “honor system” doesn’t always pan out well in the end. Hence the need for proper protections for those who create items of value.

All of that said, SOPA & PIPA do not place appropriate powers in the hands of the right parties to solve the issues they purport to address. Rather, they place undue power in the hands of a few while effectively crippling the business model of many valuable companies who contribute to an open, free (as in speech) internet.

Looking for something to do about it? Visit AmericanCensorship.org or sign this petition on WhiteHouse.gov.

Who Is Responsible to Create Your Economic Opportunity?

One of the (many) things that frustrates me about the current political discussion in the US has to do with economic opportunity. As is typical in the realm of politics, the debate over how to create economic opportunity is framed in such a way that an underlying presupposition is passed on to everyone as fact.

In this case, the presupposition is this: that government can and should create economic opportunity.

Government cannot create—nor has it ever created—economic opportunity. In fact, the reverse is often true. The original colonists that came to this land from Europe were fleeing from oppressive governments whose tyranny dominated many aspects of their lives, not the least of which was their ability to produce wealth.

But before we get carried away into a purely political discussion (which is not my purpose), I want to ask the real question at the heart of this thought:

Who is responsible to create economic opportunity for you and your family?

Think about that for a moment. When you’re pining away for a larger paycheck (or perhaps any paycheck), who is it you hold responsible for it? Who do you look to to bring that about?

Sadly, many people today look to sources like:

• an employer
• Uncle Sam
• “the economy”
• Wall Street
• Main Street

What about you?

Some will say, “I look to God to create economic opportunity,” and will cite scriptures like Philippians 4:19 (“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”). That sounds very noble and very spiritual, but many people who say things like this are in dire need. Something’s missing.

I’ve got more to say about this, but I’m interested in your thoughts. Fire away in the comments below and let’s have a discussion!

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV)

Today I want to pick up where we left off last… talking about the Prince of Peace.

Isaiah used some interesting language in describing the coming Messiah. The Child would be born, yes… and that’s why this passage comes to mind at Christmastime. And while Jesus would carry the “identity” described in this passage at His birth, clearly no government can rest upon the shoulder of an infant — even if He is the Son of God. Thus, it’s important that we let these words describe to us the man Jesus, and not just the baby.

Prince. It’s a nice term we use to think about someone who is the son of a king. And yes, Jesus is the Son of The King. But it’s also important to realize that in the 1500s and 1600s as the Scriptures were first being translated into English, it was perfectly normal to refer to the Sovereign Himself as “Prince.” In fact, the translators of the King James Bible wrote a letter to King James in which they referred to him as “Prince.” By then, James was certainly on the throne of England and was ruling as King. It was a reverential term ascribing to him the highest levels of authority in the land and it conveyed their deepest respect of him and his power. I assure you it was no slight… or it would’ve meant their heads.

Thus, when we see this word appearing in Isaiah 9:6, Jesus is being referred to as the King of Peace — the Sovereign Ruler whose life and reign would produce and be characterized by peace. It echoes back to Melchizedek who, in the time of Abraham, was referred to as the King of Salem. “Salem” is from the same Hebrew root as shalom, which is the word used here by Isaiah

Receiving Him as King of Shalom

Receive the King of Shalom

Both words refer to something that we need today… the real peace that Jesus promised and gave to His disciples. The concept is one that goes much deeper than we may realize. Jesus is the King of peace — the kind of peace that rises up, violently even, to overwhelm the onslaught of trouble, stress and anxiety that assaults a person whose life or livelihood is threatened.

The gift of this kind of peace means that we have completeness. It is utterly and entirely disconnected from circumstances and outward appearances. Regardless of what is going on around them, a person experiencing this type of wholeness is confidently assured of their security, safety and soundness. They understand that what they possess is greater than anything life may throw at them, and they draw from a deep well of resources that enables them to look fear in the face and overcome it.

Today, I believe the Body of Christ needs a renewed understanding of this powerful, precious, valuable gift of peace. When Jesus commanded his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,” He wasn’t giving them an impossible directive. He was saying to them, “Here is My peace. It’s the peace you’ve seen Me use and will watch me use to overcome sin and shame on the cross. It’s yours to use so that you can keep your hearts from being overwhelmed by the great difficulties that are coming your way. Use it as I use it. Overwhelm your circumstances and dominate them. You are and will be complete in Me. Here is real power for you today and for always. Let this peace overwhelm you, and extend my reign of peace and wholeness into the lives of everyone you encounter.”

My friend, receive peace today. The power and promises of God are yours. You have real ability to conquer any circumstance, challenge or obstacle in your path. Look to Jesus and allow Him to teach you how to use it by His Spirit. It’s a powerful component in His plan for you to overcome.

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 NKJV)

Hundreds of years before the Baby whose arrival we celebrate at Christmas time, Isaiah declared about Him:

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV)

There’s much to be said about the deep meaning contained in these prophetic words. But today I want to focus on the name, “Prince of Peace.” It sounds so nice… and in the context of the Nativity, where we imagine a “Silent Night” of tranquility as a newborn baby sleeps in a manger, it’s easy to attach the words “Prince of Peace” to a meek, humble and lowly figure who walked the earth 2,000 years ago.

But that’s where I believe we miss the point. Yes… Jesus was meek and humble and certainly lowered Himself to interact with mankind. But we miss the deeper, more powerful and even violent nature of the Prince of Peace.

“Violent?!”

Yes… violent.

You see, through the economic turmoil of the last few years, if there’s one area that has been shaken in the lives of believers… and shaken hard, it’s in this area of peace. You may have lost a business, lost a job, lost a home, maybe your marriage… or perhaps you’ve danced dangerously close to the brink of one or more of these. No one may know the level of anxiety, distress or perhaps even despair you may have felt. You may even yet be feeling it right now.

I had lunch a year or so ago with a friend and client who had been on a visit to Israel. He wasn’t going to see the “Holy Land,” per se. Rather, as a Jewish physician, he was visiting not as a tourist but as someone who has a deep connection to the inhabitants of Israel. He told me about his visit to a border town called S’derot. This city is situated 1 kilometer from Gaza and has been constantly bombarded by rocket fire for years. He told me something that really shocked me: virtually every child living in S’derot suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I’m no expert on the topic of PTSD, although my father and other veterans have told me plenty about it. One thing I know to be true — it affects every part of your life. Your brain is re-wired and your life is spent trying to protect yourself from whatever might come next. You quite literally live waiting for another bomb to go off.

If you’ve experienced or come close to experiencing a life-altering event in the last few years… or even if your life has merely been disrupted by the fast-paced level of change in our society, then you may know something about living under extreme stress. Perhaps you’re living the way those Israeli children live: shell-shocked and waiting for the next bomb to go off in your life.

I certainly don’t mean to trivialize the experience of people who live in a real war zone, but I believe that many of us who have faced a disruption in our livelihoods or have been on the brink (or over the brink) of disaster find ourselves in desperate need of what Jesus told His disciples He was leaving with them: peace.

It was clear He was leaving them with a tangible gift. It wasn’t just a nice fuzzy feeling as they sang “Silent Night.” Rather… something they could use to overwhelm the difficult circumstances He was telling them were on the way. I urge you to take some time to read John 14-16 and see the entire context. Jesus was telling the disciples that their lives were going to be in jeopardy. Not only was He leaving, but after perpetrating a brutal execution on Jesus Himself, the rulers of the synagogues were going to be coming after them. And it began to take place only a few weeks later (in the book of Acts).

Jesus used the words, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” repeatedly. He made it clear that they were not to permit their real, tangible internal peace to be rocked regardless of what was coming.

What kind of real peace can overwhelm circumstances that would shake anyone to the core? What could rise up inside a person and cause them to be able to keep their heart from being troubled when not just livelihood or lifestyle, but actual life and limb are being threatened?

That, my friend, is what Jesus gave to us.

Believers today face a number of unique challenges where it comes to really reaching out for and achieving success. Religious training has, unfortunately, not done us any favors along these lines… something we’ve talked about repeatedly here. But today I want to bring up one of the challenges that all of us face.

This nasty critter is more fundamental, more universal and more subtle than perhaps any other obstacle we must overcome. It’s one I hate to even name. It’s partly a belief about ourselves (and about God), but it’s better described as a condition that controls us.

What's Holding You Back?

This one will cause you to second-guess yourself. It will make you feel like a fraud. It will cause you to want to avoid contact with your Father God. It will undermine your faith. It will sideline you.

This controlling condition has weakened the greatest among us. It has aborted dreams, robbed destinies and prevented miracles. You were born with it and so was I. Once in a while someone seems to be more or less immune to it, but most of us suffer silently.

And in the greatest of ironies… it’s already been dealt with.

The condition I’m referring to could most easily be called shame.

We certainly have Adam to thank for this. He entered life without it. All of us since him have been born with it. Jesus whipped it on the cross, but our souls are wired & trained to accept its presence. Efforts to eradicate it from our lives are like getting the car aligned… only to hit a nasty pothole. Again. And again.

A few months ago, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine that started a chain reaction. He’d been studying the subject of shame, and like interlocking puzzle pieces it connected right up with some of what I’d been studying. It was truly a pivotal moment.

Since then, it’s as though God has been showing me shame everywhere. And I’ve become convinced that conquering the effects of shame in our lives is not only critical for our own sakes, but it’s being highlighted by God as an area in which He wants to work right now.

Shame is a Thief

Here at Nourish The Dream, we often talk about dreaming big dreams. But if we don’t deal with shame, it’s hard to dream at all. Your “big dream” today might just be surviving. You may find yourself sitting in the ashes of broken dreams… maybe you experienced a foreclosure, a bankruptcy or a business failure. You may have lost a job, lost your marriage or are separated from your children. You may think that dreaming any kind of dream at all right now is out of the question.

I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. When Jesus said, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” (Matt 28: 20 NIV) He didn’t mean, “I’m with you unless you goof up.” He is with you. Right now.

And it’s in His great heart today to tell you that He took your shame. You’ve been made righteous. The charges against you haven’t been dropped… He took them Himself. For you. On your behalf. The penalty for your sins and your mistakes has already been paid.

Religion tries to tell you that you have to suffer for your sins & mistakes. But Jesus suffered so you don’t have to. You’ve been placed in complete right standing with the Father today. As with the woman caught in adultery, the only One capable of condemning you is justifying you. He’s releasing you.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what you haven’t done. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. God’s favor and power to overcome the challenges and obstacles you face is aimed at you today. Jesus earned righteousness so He could give it to you.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV)

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17 NKJV)

We’re going to spend more time on this subject in the days ahead… but if you possibly can, take a moment and give this a listen today:

Bezalel is my hero. Well… one of them. Aholiab, too.

You may not remember their names. Chances are, you’ve never heard a sermon preached on them or even a Sunday School lesson that does anything more than mention them casually (if at all) when plowing through the Old Testament.

But what God says about these two guys is amazing. It’s one of the most fascinating, inspiring moments in all of Scripture:

“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you….” (Exodus 31:2-6 NKJV)

There are only a handful of instances in the Old Testament where someone is described as being “filled with the Spirit of God.” Off the top of my head, I can only think of 3 or 4. There are lots of occasions where the Spirit of God comes upon someone. But we usually think of the Spirit of God within someone as being a New Covenant benefit — only available to us after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

But here sits Bezalel. He’s completely unknown. All we know about him is that God filled Bezalel with Himself. And He also gave him wisdom, understanding and knowledge… and for what? Was it to lead the nation? Was it to fight the enemies of Israel? Was it to be a prophet? Was it to teach God’s people amazing hidden truths?

Nope.

It was to work. God anointed Bezalel (and Aholiab and some other unnamed artisans) for workmanship.

My friend, if you’ve ever thought that God only empowers and enables preachers, missionaries or influential leaders with supernatural ability, it’s time to look at Bezalel.

God had a plan. He gave Moses the blueprint and detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle. God wanted it a certain way and He let Moses know that He had already prepared the right people for the job. It was going to require specific skills — in metalworking, sculpting, carving, etc. But more importantly, for it to turn out the way God wanted… it was going to require someone who had the ability to let God breathe upon their work.

Out of hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of Jewish people under Moses’ leadership at that time, how many of them must have acquired skills of this type in Egypt? We know the Egyptian culture was filled with gold, jewelry, elaborate sculptures and carvings.

But one person caught God’s attention. In fact, God was so pleased that he dropped Bezalel’s name to Moses and Joshua there on the mountain as He laid out His plans.

My friend… today I want you to realize that you were created by God for this very hour. You weren’t born by accident. You are alive at this very moment because God has a plan. He has never stopped working. All of your life experiences — the training, schooling, education (or lack thereof), successes, failures, all of it — have led up to this very moment.

Allow God to breathe on you today. Let His Spirit fill you with power and ability to do what you do. It doesn’t need to be in the pulpit, on the mission field or in any form of what we call “ministry.” Let God take your efforts today and turn them into “workmanship.” Be excellent. Be the best… not out of your own ability, but out of His strength. Reach out to Him today. He wants to use you!

For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…. May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. Ephesians 3:14, 16 AMP

Photo: David Monniaux.

In this episode, we’re reviving the Nourish The Dream Podcast! This is going to become a regular feature around here, and with today’s installment, we’re going straight for a very difficult subject.

How Have the Circumstances of Recent Years Affected You and Your Dreams?

With a rapidly changing, often difficult business climate for the last few years, many people have experienced hardships and dealt with circumstances they may have never previously imagined possible.

In today’s podcast episode, we address head-on the death of your dreams. Hopefully you haven’t dealt with some of the difficulties… loss of a business, bankruptcy, foreclosure, loss of a marriage, loss of a job. But if you have… or even if you’ve only been impacted in a small way, you may be hearing a message about you and about your future. And it may be time to take another look at that message.

Listen today and be encouraged!

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NKJV)

It’s really an easy concept to wrap your head around: with the Creator of the universe — the all-supreme Ruler — on your side… who or what could really stand against you?

The big problem seems to come from that little tiny, 2-letter word: “If.”

Maybe it’s never happened to you, but I know what it feels like to really question whether God is really for me or not. The question isn’t really about God or His character. The question comes from whether or not I qualify to have God on my side.

The righteous are bold as a lion. Prov 28:1

From Sunday School in my childhood through countless sermons ever since, I’ve been given reason after reason to believe that I don’t. And being the analytical person that I am, I can spend hours (literally) rehearsing all of those reasons. Even when I think I’ve been on good behavior, all I need is time (and usually not very much) to come up with some reason that I’m disqualified from the favor of God.

Perhaps it sounds silly to admit this. And hopefully you don’t deal with this kind of thinking. Frankly, it doesn’t affect me very much when things are going well. But if there are challenges… if things don’t seem to be going my way… if I’m up against some obstacle that doesn’t seem to want to budge, this line of thinking rears its ugly head.

Ultimately, you have to settle this question. Is God for you or not?

Ironically, the very passage from which this Scripture is drawn contains some real solid answers. Reading the verses that precede this one, you find that as someone who is in Christ, you have been:

• foreknown by God
• predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son
• called by God
• justified by God
• glorified by God

The One who knew you beforehand… decided ahead of time…  that as you enter into covenant with Him, He would begin conforming you to the image of His Son, Jesus. He called you. He justified you — or literally, “He declared [you] righteous.”

I once heard someone say that if today is Wednesday (and it is, as I write this to you), if God suddenly decided He wanted it to be Thursday and then said, “It’s Thursday,” then it would be Thursday! Just like that. All of our watches, calendars, computers, and systems would suddenly say “Thursday” instead of “Wednesday.”

You see… we don’t get to vote. The Blood of Jesus was shed on your behalf. By receiving Him (a choice we do get to make), you became a recipient of this declaration that God made: “You are Righteous.”

“Who shall lay a charge against the choice ones of God? God is He that is declaring righteous, who is he that is condemning? Christ is He that died, yea, rather also, was raised up; who is also on the right hand of God–who also doth intercede for us.” (Romans 8:33-34 YLT)

In other words… no one (not even you) has the authority to charge you with failing to qualify for God’s favor. Only God has that authority, and He is the one declaring you righteous! If someone were to lay a charge against you, it is over-ridden by the declaration of God! Jesus has the authority to condemn, but He is the one interceding (“going between”) on our behalf!

Don’t believe me yet? Here are some places to spend some more time studying this out: 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 5:4-5, Ephesians 6:14, Revelation 12:11, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 3:9

The bottom line, my friend is this: because of Jesus, you qualify for the Favor of God today. He is for you. He said He would, “never leave you nor forsake you.”

Whatever challenges or obstacles you may be facing in your business, your family, your finances, your health, you can silence the voices that try to convince you that you don’t qualify for God’s favor. Once you settle that question, you can move forward with boldness and confidence! (Proverbs 28:1 NKJV)

Believing this — really accepting it as true — will affect everything you do. David would never have run out onto the battlefield against Goliath had he not been certain God was with him.

What will you do today, knowing that God is for you?

—

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Anyone who studies the languages of the world will tell you that words matter. A lot.

In fact, my wonderful wife, who is a Speech-Language Pathologist by training, talks about how words & language (among other things) are involved in literally “wiring the brains” of babies and toddlers. This wiring impacts us for the rest of our lives. It doesn’t just affect what we think… it affects the way we think, often without us being aware of it.

This is why two different people who speak the same language but who come from different cultural backgrounds can hear the same person say the very same thing, and come away with two completely different understandings about what was meant.

Are you living in the future? Or in the past?

This is a very powerful concept, with far-reaching implications, which is why I was so startled when I recently discovered something I had never learned about the Scriptures:

Ancient Hebrew has no “future” tense.

Now while you’re letting that little tidbit settle in on you for a moment, let’s remember a couple of very interesting things:

• The Hebrew Scriptures have shaped and molded our understanding of the very character & nature of God for centuries.
• How we view those Scriptures (i.e. from a very Western, logical mindset for us English speakers) impacts our understanding of how God interacts with our lives

Now that you’ve had a moment to noodle on this… let’s take all of this a step further.

When God spoke the promises we read in the Old Testament, He didn’t use a future tense. He spoke them as if they had already occurred.

This should come as no surprise to us, really. Since God created both “time” and “space,” He clearly exists without them (“outside” of them, so to speak). Therefore, from His eternal perspective, anything that will happen (to us) has already happened. So it’s a very natural thing that He would speak through a culture that did not use a future tense like we do.

This is a very spiritual idea. Spiritually speaking, if something “will be,” then it, “already is.”

This is an understanding that Robert Young, author of Young’s Literal Translation and Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, brought to bear on his incredibly powerful rendering of Genesis 12:

And Jehovah saith unto Abram, ‘Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.’ (Genesis 12:1-3 YLT)

Other English translators have interpolated a future tense for us in order to to help us modern (linear) thinkers make sense out of passages like this one.

But reading it in something closer to its original tense (as rendered by Young) radically changes things. ”I make you become a great nation. I bless you. I make your name great. Be a blessing. I bless those blessing you.”

My friend… today it’s time to gain a little perspective. We know that since we are “in Christ,” we have been seated in heavenly places — at the right hand of God — far above principality, power, might & dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world (age), but that which is to come.

It’s time we look at our lives from that point of view. From God’s point of view, you “are blessed,” because you, “have already been blessed.”

Does this mean that the evidence of it has already materialized in our lives? No way.

Does it mean we should fight for it and contend for it to come about? Absolutely.

Just like Abram, whom God renamed “Abraham” (father of many nations), we must accept the Truth of what God has spoken about us, believe it, and speak it. Abraham began declaring himself the father of many nations long before he had any children.

From what I read in Romans 4, it was Abraham’s believing that caused what God had spoken to become a reality. This believing (and speaking) is the pattern God gave us through Abraham for obtaining the promises as described in Hebrews 11.

Friend, what are you looking forward to in your life that you believe God has promised you? Today, it’s time to move it from the future tense in your thinking and speaking. Put it in the past tense where it belongs. It’s already done! Do this and watch what happens in your life!