Truth to Teens

Monday, April 11, 2016

A Girl Has Gotta Have a Dream!

Hey, Gabriel Girls!

Do you have a dream? A big dream? If not, it's time to get one.

Why is it important to have a dream? Because God said in the Bible that a person without a dream will die (Proverbs 29: 18). Not die physically, necessarily, but die spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically.

WOW! That is serious stuff!

What is a dream? A dream is a revelation from God that usually comes in the form of a burning desire to be or to do something. For example, many years ago, I had a burning desire to be a writer, so I became a writer. I have a burning desire to be like Jesus, so I am becoming more and more like Jesus.

Where do dreams come from? They come from God. They are God's gift to you to inspire you to fulfill His purposes in the earth.

Some dreams, however, are not from God but from our own selfish ambition. It is important to know the difference.

How can you know if a dream is from God or from your own selfish desires? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1--Will my dream glorify God? Will it make Him famous instead of making me famous?

2--Will my dream help other people, or will it benefit only me?

3--Is my dream beyond my human ability to achieve? In other words, do I need a miracle from God to achieve my dream?

If you can answer yes to these three questions, then your dream is from God.

But what if you don't have a dream? What should you do?

Simple. Ask God to give you His dream for your life. Then keep your eyes open as He answers your request.

Dreams are the stuff of life. Dreams will keep you young. Dreams will keep you happy. Dreams will help you to change the world for Jesus.

Go get a dream! :)

TWEETABLES:
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." ~ Proverbs 29: 18 (CLICK TO TWEET)
"Dreams are the stuff of life." - Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET)

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Copyright 2016 by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. All Rights Reserved.

To Become a Gabriel Girl, you need to qualify as follows:

You need to be born again. This means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and the Lord of your life.If you don't know how to do this, click here.
You need to have a desire to tell others about Jesus wherever you go and whenever you can.
You need to commit to following Jesus by reading the Bible and praying every day and by obeying Jesus' command to love Him and to love your neighbor.
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MaryAnn Diorio, PhD, MFA

Welcome to my Goodreads Happy Place! I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a wife, mother, and grandmother. I am also a widely published novelist and former Adjunct Professor of Fiction Writing. I write novels, short stories, and poems for children and adults. I have been married for 54 years to a wonderful man who is a retired ER physician. We have two awesome daughters, two very smart sons-in-law, and seven precious grandchildren. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, painting, playing the piano, and walking outdoors. I'd love for you to visit me at www.maryanndiorio.com where I host a blog for adults called "Winning with the Word.". My blog posts at "The Reader Connection" appear once a week at TheReaderConnection.blogspot.com. I created this blog to honor all readers, especially my own. My favorite book is the Bible, and my favorite Bible verse is John 8:32: "You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." I am eager to get to know my readers better. So please contact me at info@maryanndiorio.com. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Is Your Dream for Your Life God's Dream for Your Life?

Hello, Gabriel Girls!

I want to extend a warm welcome to all of you! Did you know that the Gabriel Girls are now in several countries of the world. Praise the Lord! This is His doing!

Here is a list of the countries from which our sister Gabriel Girls hail:

United States
Russia
Ukraine
Ireland
France
Germany
Italy
Slovakia
Portugal
Canada
India
Singapore
Australia

WOW! Isn't God amazing? Just think. We are from all over the world yet united in our love for Jesus Christ! Together we can do great things for Him.

Today, we're going to talk about what it means to do great things for God. When I was a teenager, I had big dreams. I loved languages and wanted to be a linguist and a college professor. But little did I know that my dreams were not God's dreams for my life.

At this time in my life, I did not know Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord. So I followed my own way and my own dream. I studied languages, and I taught at university. But I was not as fulfilled as I thought I would be. In fact, I was disappointed that my dream was not making me as happy as I thought it would.

When I was 25 years old, a young woman told me about Jesus. She explained that I needed to be born again in order to receive eternal life. Eventually, I accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord, and at that moment, my life truly began.

When I turned 30 years of age, something surprising happened. I began to have a desire to become a writer. I had never considered writing as a profession, but the desire to write kept increasing. I soon realized that my desire was actually God's call on my life. He wanted me to be a writer, not a language professor.

So, I started to write for Jesus. And I haven't stopped. Now, 40 years later, I'm still writing for Jesus and loving every minute of it! (I don't believe in retiring; I believe in refiring! :) I'm never bored when I write. When I wake up in the morning, I can't wait to get to my writing studio. When I'm not writing, I'm thinking about writing.

Am I famous? No! Do I want to be famous? No! I want Jesus to be famous! And, through my writing for Him, I am doing everything I can to make Him famous throughout the world.

Am I doing a great thing for God? Yes. Why? Because I am obeying Him.

You see, doing a great thing simply means doing what God has called you to do. It means obeying His Word and living for Him. It means doing what the young woman did when she told me about Jesus. What she did was a great thing. Because of her witness, I came to Christ and have led countless others to Christ since then.

There are two ways of looking at life: the world's way and God's way. The world defines doing a great thing as becoming famous or earning a lot of money. God defines doing a great thing as being obedient to Him.

Are you being obedient to what God has called you to do? You may not yet know the call He has placed on your life, but you can be obedient to Him day by day as you seek to live the way Jesus lived. If you are obedient in the little things God asks you to do, you will be obedient in the big things He asks you to do.

Now pray this prayer with me:

Lord Jesus, I want Your plan for my life, not mine. Show me what You want for my life. Then give me the courage to put aside what I want and to embrace what You want. In Your Name I pray. Amen.

TWEETABLES:
The only way to be truly fulfilled is to do what God created you to do. - Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET)

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