Lost in *Happily Ever After* Mode

Cinderella dreams of Prince Charming and a life better than her humble role as a servant. She sings and has a starry eye out the window and longs for what could be and lives in a world far beyond her own. She is often so day dreamy that she barely realizes she exists in reality. I feel like Cinderella sometimes. Sometimes I want to escape reality and be whisked away by a prince or a knight or just be on a desert island with some peace and quiet. Then I have to snap myself back to reality.

5:45 am my alarm goes off, time to work again! I often take myself away to another place when I am driving the 20 minute plus drive to work. I think about my future and about how life could be or should be or what not. Sometimes I step into *little girl* mode and think about how my prince would come and save me from this wretched world I am in. Then I really have to snap myself back into the real world.

Sometimes as humans we love to wishful think. I love to daydream. I can’t help it!

But as said before I often have to snap myself back into reality because if I live in *happy every after* land I am no good to myself or anyone else.

So many times I am guilty of thinking of 5 years from now or even longer when today is what matters! If I miss today I am missing my life. I am missing the good things that God is doing for me in the present. I should worry about the future because it is mine to look after, but I shouldn’t live there. It isn’t here yet! Someone once said that if I live in the future I am missing golden opportunities for the present. I should pray for God to lead me today not tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come.

So as much as I love to think about what tomorrow holds for now I will live happily ever after in today…

WHATS ON YOUR MIND?

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Several months ago my heart was stirred and I have found myself pondering a simple question. I have begin to look at everything I do, everything I think, everything I plan, I am looking at my home, and my life. The answer to this question is obvious, it seems we answer this question without thought at time, but I fear that our obvious answer, our quick response is not that answer that shows in our life.
The question that needs to be answered, will determine how our eternity will be spent. 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Several months ago my heart was stirred and I have found myself pondering a simple question. I have begin to look at everything I do, everything I think, everything I plan, I am looking at my home, and my life. The answer to this question is obvious, it seems we answer this question without thought at time, but I fear that our obvious answer, our quick response is not that answer that shows in our life.
The question that needs to be answered, will determine how our eternity will be spent.
WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?
Several months ago my wife awoke early in the morning, I woke up to hear her praying and turned to check on her and she begin to unfold the dream she had dreamed about the endtimes, she told me early in the morning about the things that scared her in the dream, and she said Ryan, the thing that stood out to me the most is that it felt like it was soon, everyone was not much older than they are now. Immediately her dream drove me to prayer, because to often do I think about heaven as being something so distant.

The past year every heaven song I have ever heard has played through my mind. "Some glad morning, when this life is over I'll fly away." "There shall be light in the evening time, " "This is the church of the book of revelation and one of these days we're going to move a little higher." "I'm going to take a trip, on the good ol gospel ship." "When the roll is called up yonder ill be there." "This world is not my, I'm a just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue." "What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see. When I look upon his face and thank him for his grace." "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be." "We're going to sing, and shout and dance about when we get over yonder, oh want we have a time." I will be honest with you, I have heard preaching all of my life. I can count on one hand the services that I have missed. I have heard good preaching since I was a child from my Grand Pa's, Pastor Stan Gleason and Pastor Terry Black. I probably can not recall every sermon my Papa Vanderford preached during the time I attended there as a child, but I can tell you before we dismissed during that prayer, I can quote it about word for word, God keep your hand upon us until we gather together at the appointed time, and help us to be ready to hear those wonderful words, well done thou good and faithful servant.

For the past 25 years my family, my pastors, the ministries that God has put in my life have all be preaching he is coming back soon. These past few months as I have prayed and thought about it. My mind has been filled with men and women of influence in my life, what made them so powerful to me. Of all the ways they influenced me, the one common thread through their ministries, is they had heaven at the forefront of everything they did or said. Their sermons, their songs, their lessons, their talked all had heaven as a priority. I realize that we have to be in this world, but biblically I realize that we don't have to be of this world. I believe there was an era of time the devil was trying to convince the church that hell wasn't real, I think in 2007 he is trying to keep heaven off our mind. I believe the devil is reminded very quickly about the damage that can be caused in his agenda, when a holy ghost filled apostolic man or women gets heaven on the forfront of their minds. I believe his mind drifts back to the apostles. They lived each day as it was there last, they testified, they preached, they prayed, the literally believed that Jesus Christ was coming back during their lifetime. My mind begin to wonder what would happen to us if we got leaving on our mind. What would happen if in the morning we woke up and said you know what this could be my last day, If you don't know, or you cant imagine. I can, I believe we would be getting reports from our local schools of students that caused a disturbance, because a prayer meeting broke out during some conversation, I believe there would be new bible studies started, I believe prayer rooms would be full, I believe we would sort through our homes, our priorities, our life just to make sure our bags were packed for leaving.

LEAVING ON MY MIND by The Bowman Family

This old house I'm living in it sure needs some repair; The windows and the shutters are letting in the cold, cold air. I say to myself, I'm gonna fix them if I can find the time; But all I've been getting lately is leaving on my mind. Lately all I've got is leaving on my mind; It seems that's all I think about most of the time; And soon and very soon I'll leave these troubles far behind; Lately I've got leaving, leaving on my mind. So I guess I should be looking for a better place to live; But I can't seem to get excited about this world and what it can give; I couldn't care less if I could buy it all with one solitary dime. For what good would this old world do me with leaving on my mind? Lately all I've got is leaving on my mind; It seems that's all I think about most of the time; And soon and very soon I'll leave these troubles far behind; Lately I've got leaving, leaving on my mind.
WHATS ON YOUR MIND?