3 minute read
Living The Dream
from June 2020
38 // June 2020
by Angie Bishop
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Angie Bishop is from Rome, Georgia. She loves sharing her story with others in hopes to encouraged and show them a way to Christ. No stranger to life’s woes, but gives God all the glory for his guiding hand and unending love and provisions for her. Her goal is to share with others that Gods love changes the person despite their circumstances! About The Author A re you living the dream? Are you successful? Is your life simple, mediocre? How do you measure life in terms of success? Last night, I was watching America’s Got Talent. As I watched each contestant, I was drawn in by how they viewed life. In most of their stories, they shared their struggles in life and how those things have driven them to want to become more in this life. So they went for it: taking their talent to a big stage, showing the world you can do anything you want to and “live out the dream,” as most of them stated. I love a good overcomer story! They certainly do inspire me, but I just couldn’t help but think, “I pray they don’t think this is all there is to life.”
Personally, I don’t feel having all the money, riches, and fame in the world brings peace to anyone. Happiness, yes, for a moment, but that fades. Those things are earthly, and “success syndrome” is a great enemy of an effective ministry. I know not everyone thinks heavenly minded, so for some in this life, it is “living the dream.” They measure their success by their own accomplishments. I couldn’t help but think, though, I’m not living the dream; I’m living a beautiful reality. I’m blessed with needs met, and I have overcome a lot!
Do we have a success story, or do we have a living testimony of how God has helped us through? Success isn’t what we accomplish but what God accomplishes through us. Remember, we accomplish nothing in this world on our own! It’s not our victory: it’s God’s! I’m not “living the dream”: I’m living the reality of life out with a real, living God dwelling inside of me, helping me recognize the importance of life, praying and doing my best to stay in God’s will to accomplish what He wants me to be successful in to bring Him honor and glory. I am living a simplified, but glorious, life with trials, temptations, failures, heartaches, and struggles. That’s life!
The difference between dreams and reality is that dreams are fairy tale-like, taking you to a state of mind of unreality. Reality is the here and now, things that actually exist rather than appearing to be imagined. Those things mentioned above— temptations, trials, etc.—exist in all of our lives, and none go unscathed, but we can all face them and endure them and even see the beauty in them when Christ lives in us. If you’re going through life wondering if there’s something more or what you can do to live out the dream, stop. The best success in this life is when we decide to let God live in us and through us. He is real, He exists, and He’s all you need in this life to accomplish success! Nothing, absolutely nothing, comes from ourselves.
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7). This is how I measure success!
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Everyone has a story to tell. Share yours with us and see how your story can change someone's life. Contact Melissa Phillips: articles.goodnews@gmail.com Contact Bekah Prytherch: articles.goodnews@gmail.com
