If you haven’t read the first and second articles on the subject of sacrifice please do so before reading this article.  Each article builds on the foundational concept of the true meaning of God’s sacrifice and the importance of how we often neglect or fulfill God’s intended purpose. Scripture explains the purpose and right application of sacrifice, if we read scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit. Without his help we often go off the rails in our understanding what God is after what the sacrifice Christ did for whole world.

If you haven’t read the first article on the subject of sacrifice called “Sacrifice – At What Point Does It Matter”, please do so before reading this one.  I opened the first article discussing the sacrifice of men trying to find and save a solider called Ryan in the movie “Saving Private Ryan”. The main premise is that sacrifice by both God and man should move us to respond by giving value to the one who gave.

Every now and then I watch a movie that stirs my soul in ways that causes me to reflect on the whole concept of sacrifice and what it means. I was watching “Saving Private Ryan” the other day and as I watched the older man playing Ryan, now old and walking slowly, it caused my emotions to swell because I remember his concern in the movie of whether he had lived a good life and was a good man. The captain in the end of the movie, as he was dying, grabbed Private Ryan and said “Make Your Life Count” because a whole squad of men had died to save just one man.  Some people don’t like war movies but this one spells out the great cost of victory.

This is the fourth and final part on dreams, so if you haven’t read the first three, please do so before reading this final article. Dreams are far more important than we have been led to believe and I believe they can be awakened and developed if we understand their importance.

Everyone dreams though not everyone remembers their dreams. Some people have learned to “Process” their dreams and they have found a way to remember what seems elusive to most of us. Dreams are a powerful tool in our lives whether we understand them or not. Some kids have grown up be afraid of their dreams because of perhaps having one particular dream that was more of a nightmare. Some have learned how to “Program” their minds to drift off to dream in a certain way or on a certain subject. Some people just discount dreams all together as a mystery that can’t be understood or just relate them to chemical changes in the body.

With all the violent protest happening regarding the Supreme Court justice and various candidates running for office, it’s easy to feel like you just want to keep your head down and your mouth quiet lest someone notice you and take out their frustration or hatred on you.  But is that the right thing to do just because others are vocal and acting like fools?  What if this is the perfect time to be vocal about what you believe in and do it with respect?

All of us experience worry, anxiety and fear from time to time. This is a human experience. These issues become a problem when they become long-standing “friends” that seem to bring about a paralysis in our spiritual and emotional development. When the average professing Christian reads the New Testament the picture that is portrayed is one of victory and success. All too often believers in the forgiveness of Christ aren’t yet sold on how God wants to impart victory as well as forgiveness.

The topic of being spiritually and emotionally paralyzed will be covered in a total of 4 parts. If you have not read the first two parts, I would suggest reading them first. This is Part 3 and we will be covering a root cause that many fear looking at. It’s a target to look at when trying to figure out and overcoming the problem of being spiritually and emotionally paralyzed.  Keep in mind that all of us have a tendency to look for a “silver bullet” fix and resolve our problems no matter what they might be. The truth is that life is often more complex than we care to realize and so are the problems. That being said, there are answers to resolve this problem of being paralyzed in our lives and a passage from the Gospel of John is a good example.

I spent time with a good friend in Denver, Colorado this week and was gripped with a fresh awareness of just how good friends are. We are meant to be encouragers in this life rather than consuming our time and energy purely for our own comport.  How sad when friends gather together with just entertainment as their main objective. We are called to do so much more if we only would listen to the Spirit of God and surrender our will to the Creator who can make our life count for something other than just being a consumer or just for entertainment.

This series started with an article on “What Paralyzes You?“, which dealt with the topic of things in our lives which can paralyze us both physically and spiritually. I also stated that when an area of our soul becomes paralyzed through actions of others or ourselves our perspective of life becomes distorted, thus we live less than God intended. God always intends for us to do great things with our lives yet so few grasp that truth, let alone walk in it, myself included.  If you haven’t read the first article on this topic please read that first.