White Christmas?!?!?
All I want for Christmas
White Christmas
Psalm 37:1-6
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Intro
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All I Want for Christmas series:
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Ask God
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Choose Joy: Grief is not an enemy of Joy, but of happiness. Choose Joy!
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Today: White Christmas
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The idealistic view of a Christmas morning, is a fresh blanket of snow covering everything
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Not realistic in certain parts of the country
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I have experienced winter precipitation on our near Christmas only twice.
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But that doesn’t keep me from wishing!
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There is the battle between the “Ideal” and the “Real”
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Today I use the word “Dream” to inspire much of my thoughts,
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This usage is based upon positive things I HOPE in.
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But there are lots of dream types I will avoid today: scary dreams, weird dreams
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To “dream of a white Christmas” is to dream of the perfect, idealistic scenario…but that wouldn’t be perfect for everyone.
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So the word DREAM eventually led me to the word DELIGHT, and to the WORD OF GOD.
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Text
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Verses 1-2: Trust God, He will handle your challenges
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Verse 3:
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Trust in the Lord and do GOOD
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Dwell in the land
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Befriend faithfulness
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Verse 4: Delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desire of your heart
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To delight in something is to really really enjoy it
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Many times what we DELIGHT in and what we DREAM about are similar things
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Let the LORD guide your HEART, and your heart will change to match HIS
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He is in the process of shaping us into HIS image
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Verse 5: Commit your way to the LORD
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Verse 6: He will bring forth your righteousness
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Points
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I’m dreaming of a…
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Lets begin this application section by talking about your LOVE LIFE
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What you LOVE will become your FOCUS, and can take your eyes off Jesus.
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What you love appropriately will become your DELIGHT, and will be matched by God’s will.
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Your heart desires things, and the closer your are to God, the more you delight in HIS WORK
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Elizabeth Elliot: “If God doesn’t want me to have it, then I don’t want it!”
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Dreams come true: Something so amazing, it became true, how amazing!
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To dream of a white Christmas is to dream about something that sounds like the ideal situation, dream of the best
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What are your dreams for your family?
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What are your dreams for your church?
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Why do we need to dream?
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Wishing for the ideal grows our expectation
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Wishing for the ideal increases our vision
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God will use your dreams to increase your Faith
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In Your Dreams!
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Don’t focus on the impossible, but on Christ
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There will be plenty of negativity out there, but it does not have to dampen your dreams
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Young man in a class that said his dream car was a 2016 Honda Civic…
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If he had said a Lamborghini, I might have responded…in your dreams
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But he wanted a Honda Civic…great car, but is it a dream car?
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Apparently!
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There will always be folks out there to rain on your parade, but keep dreaming
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Dream Big
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Don’t settle for someone else’s dream
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What is God placing in your heart?
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Acts 2:17: And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
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In the last days…thats where we have been since the ascension of Christ
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Spirit has been poured
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Prophesy…Speak the truth about God, from God
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Visions…young folks will have a big vision!
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Older folks…dream big dreams
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Dream BIG Dreams and develop GREAT VISION regarding your ministry
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Dream BIG Dreams and develop GREAT VISION regarding your LIFE
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Dream BIG Dreams and develop GREAT VISION regarding your family
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And then, put yourself in a position to be BLESSED by God
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Surrender
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Self sacrifice
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Prayer
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Close
Psalm 37
1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.[b]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.