When You Have A Dream

God is so good! His mercies are from everlasting to everlasting! Today’s blog is all about possessing a dream that comes from God. Joseph had a dream, Daniel had dreams and visions, Paul also had a dream. All these men were ordinary individuals whom after surrendering their lives to God had dreams that came alive. Similarly, when we surrender our lives to the Lord, He places a dream within us. Some desire to be pastors, some good authors, some great business women, and only you know the desire that God has placed within you.

A little background about me perhaps nothing new to you. Before re-dedicating my life to God on 15 April 2012, I had no value, no dream, no significance or substance. My life was based on envying and feeling jealous towards others, being bitter about my circumstances, and literally being lost in life. I would undertake certain actions in the hope of impressing my loved ones, or shaming my enemies. I was lost with no direction and no hope. Getting drunk, sleeping around, and gluttony were some of the few things that made me feel better about my condition. I made a choice one day to give my life to Jesus who literally changed my whole life around. One of the things He changed about me is giving me a dream when I though that I was not even worth having one. Hence I say, God is good and His mercies endure forever!

I want to share my weight loss dream with you today. Although I had not acquired in my childhood the necessary information needed to love myself, Jesus revealed the importance of loving, and taking care of my body just after acknowledging that He’s my Savior. He did that through His Word, through books, through my sisters in Christ, and the spiritual leadership He has blessed me with. When God gives you a dream He also provides the resources needed to carry out your dream. This sounds cliché until you actually begin walking towards the particular dream.

A few things to DO when pursuing a dream

Ignore the naysayers

You will be surprised to learn that your greatest critics are those close to you, such as your family and friends. Apart from being called “obsessed”, told that if I loose weight I’m going to look ugly, and regarded as “mentally sick”, the greatest shock came when I was sharing my weight loss dream with my gym partner. She said right to my face, “You will never get slimmer than you are now; gym is going to make you sick because you love it too much!” This is a lady who knows how it feels like to want to loose weight, loves God, and is genuinely friendly. Out of all the people I thought she would understand! Instead of getting furious at what she said, I laughed about it, recalling how Jesus called Peter, one of his closest disciples, a “devil”. Satan is always hiding in some place, situation, or person just like he did in Peter and sometimes uses our loved ones to hurt us. When you’re passionate about your dream, don’t expect people to understand you. Your frustrations when you blow it, your dedication and persistence, and your steadfast spirit towards achieving what you want. Don’t expect people to understand or cheer you up. If they don’t encourage you, they will criticize you. They will make you feel bad and make it seem as if you’re crazy, but you’ve got to ignore them!

“When God blesses you real good, it can be hard to conceal it. You aren’t intentionally flaunting His favor in front of people, but people see it anyway. When God starts blessing you, He blesses you so that you will be seen by others as someone who is highly favored of God. He doesn’t want you to be ashamed of His blessing. He doesn’t want you to apologize for it.”~Jentezen Franklin

Be Persistent

I like this saying, “Water drops cut through a rock not because of their power but because of their persistence.” When I first began living healthfully the beginning of 2013, my weight was 90kg’s. I honestly thought that I was going to quit along the way like on many previous occasions. I have not quit, and the difference between now and then is that then I depended on my own strength, but now all my dependence is on God. When you have the precious Spirit of God by your side he will never allow you to quit, never! I have fallen so many times, I’ve walked around with a sore body for days, and I had worked hard yet remained stagnant. (I’ve been going to the gym for almost 36years and there’s never a single day when my body doesn’t feel like giving up. ~Pastor At). I pondered, what’s the point of living this way if there are no results? I want to eat junk as well; I want to be like everybody else!! Sadly yet fortunate enough, when you have a dream you cannot be like everybody else. There are many sacrifices you will have to make on the way to your dream, more especially when no one is watching. You have to put in hard work, sweat, and faith in God’s promise concerning your life!

Be Grateful

“Thou hast given so much to me-give me one thing more, a grateful heart.”~George Herbert

I have not reached my desired weight yet, still got a long way to go. I realize that in the pursuit of my dream, each day is an awesome adventure, and I am grateful for that! I cannot help but feel the spontaneous overflow of a swelling heart in gratitude to my Lord, Jesus Christ. I’m grateful that even though I fall, my Savior always picks me up. I’m grateful that my Provider always avails all the resources needed to achieve my dream. I am grateful for the good and the bad days- how often do we travel a road that for the most part is flooded with sunshine, and yet we dwell on the shade? Only God could have wrought such a change in me and I am so thankful. (I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus! Phillipians3:13-14).

Tips to loose weight

·         Bare in mind that it is a long term goal, no shortcuts will do. I started on a weight of 90kg’s, and 13 months later I am on 67kg’s.

·         Drink lots of water; don’t limit yourself when it comes to this!

·          Turn your body into a fat burning machine by consuming green tea regularly if not daily.

·         Eat fruits and veggies and avoid fried, processed, packaged foods as much as possible.

·         Play far away from beer, soda, and even juice. Replace all this with pure water.

·         Do cardio and lift weights

·         Read up on health, educate yourself, and follow the veterans on social networks

·         Replace one meal a day with a protein shake

·         Get sufficient sleep, don’t deprive yourself!!

Before And After Pic

All things are possible to those who believe. Be it done to you according to your faith, and when you believe in God’s promises, you will live differently. Ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart and help you fulfill all that He has placed within you. It’s never too late to start, you can start right now!!