God Has Been Dreaming About You: Discovering God’s Plan for Your Life

By Diane Casey

Have you ever felt like you were meant for something bigger? Something that appears beyond your current situation and your capabilities? Then God Has Been Dreaming About You was written for you. God desires for you to live up to your true potential and His dreams for you are within your grasp. This book provides the roadmap to your dream destination. Read it, study it, live it! God’s word is a promise to each and every one of us and it will not return to Him void. If you are;
 Asking for divine direction
 Wondering what to do with your life
 Considering a career change
 Overwhelmed with life
 Seeking a positive change
 Feeling like you wander aimlessly with no direction
 Searching for your place in ministry
 Trying to find your true calling
 Feeling discontent
Then God wants to make Himself real to you. Prayerfully read and follow the God principles that He has revealed to me in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jan 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483424323

Book preview

GOD HAS BEEN

DREAMING

ABOUT YOU

Discovering God’s Plan for Your Life

DIANE CASEY

Copyright © 2015 Diane Casey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-2433-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-2432-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 01/06/2015

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Dedication

Chapter 1    God Has A Dream For You

Chapter 2    When You Know, You Can Go!

Chapter 3    Say What God Says

Chapter 4    When You Can’t Do What You Want, Do What You Can

Chapter 5    Just Say No!

Chapter 6    The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn

Chapter 7    God Has Perfect Timing

Chapter 8    God’s Glory! Your Promotion!

Chapter 9    Forget The Past

Chapter 10    All Things For Good!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

T o my husband, Mike Casey, thank you for your constant encouragement and for teaching me to dream. Thank you for believing in me and in my book and for your countless hours spent editing and preparing it for publishing. Thank you for being my rock. And thank you for never allowing me to give up on myself and my pursuit of God’s dream for me. I thank my mom, Mary Barnard, for teaching me the ways of God, and for consistently living a life before me that nurtured my faith and my resolve to live for Christ no matter what. Thank you to my son, Mikey, for designing the cover. It is beautifully done. The artistry communicates God’s unfailing promise to those who come to him. Also, I thank my children Mikey and Alyssa Casey, and Lindsey and Ryan Bolin for being co-laborers for Christ, and for your tireless service for our Legacy of Faith Church family.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my loving husband, Mike. He is my constant source for strength. And he is my greatest encourager. To my children and my grandchildren, it is no secret that I am blessed beyond measure. To my mother who raised me in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

In loving memory of my daddy, my sister, Mary Jane, my granny Mary S., and my papa John Henry, who put me in the pulpit at the age of fourteen because he saw the calling that God had placed on my life.

Lastly, I dedicate this book in loving memory of my dear friend Carolyn Hitt. I am forever thankful to God for putting her in my life even if it was for such a short time. Our friendship was a divine exchange orchestrated by God. Had it not been for her there would be no book.

CHAPTER 1

GOD HAS A DREAM FOR YOU

I stood in the midst of a large congregation of people asking God to direct me. I desperately needed for him to speak His purpose into my life. Discouraged, I was ready to give up. My dream was far beyond my reach. That night, however, God spoke a word to me that changed the course of my life. God told me that He had been dreaming about me.

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you. Thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. (Jer. 29:11)

Before my birth God dreamed of what I would become. He had a perfect plan for me. His hope for me has always been to give me a good and fulfilled life.

Do not buy into the belief that God is not concerned about what you do with your life. And do not assume that if you go to church and depart from evil that God will leave you alone to choose your destiny here on the earth. You alone are not responsible for making your dreams come true. God created you with the ability to choose. However, God says, I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life (Deut. 30:19). You can go your own way to choose your destiny. Or, you can choose to enter into the dream that God has for you. When you exclude God from your plans, you are excluding the One who knows you better than you know yourself. You have no idea what it will take to satisfy that longing deep within you, but God does. When you fail to understand that God, in love, has already planned and dreamed for you, you will try all kinds of things to quench that desire. Without the benefit of God’s perspective, you compromise.

I will never forget the day God revealed that truth to me. When my children were young I obsessed about cleaning my house, especially my carpet. I spent most of my time on my knees. I was not kneeling to pray. I was kneeling to scrub my floor. If someone tracked mud into my house, I immediately cleaned it up. That particular day, I had just put my children down for a nap, as I did every day. I had previously bragged to my husband, Mike, that I faithfully followed my daily schedule. He looked at me with a very straightforward look, and in his cut-to-the-chase fashion said, Diane, you live in a rut.

Mike’s words slapped me in the face and woke me up. I was stuck in a rut. For fear of failure, I had compromised by creating a comfort zone for myself. I thought that I had created the perfect haven. In reality, I had locked myself in a spiritual prison. I thank God that He looked beyond the surface and answered the call of my heart. He set me free from my prison.

I sat down to relax while watching a Christian talk show. At that moment, the minister gave an invitation for those who needed salvation. I had been saved for years. Yet, he spoke directly to me. He said that a woman watching the program kept her house so clean that even the nap of her carpet stood two inches high. He asked, Does it really satisfy that longing deep within your heart? Do you cry on your pillow at night wondering if this is all that life has to offer? He described me perfectly. I was compromising, and I had no joy. I lived in a constant state of depression. I stayed physically and emotionally ill. He explained that inside of each of us there is a void that only God can fill. Trying to fill that void with other things is like putting a square peg into a round hole. You can push and push but it will never fit.

I understood those words because they bore witness with my spirit. God desired to set me free. He wanted to restore my joy. And He wanted to revive His dream within me. When God puts His dream in your heart, you do not have to wonder if it is God or not. You know because the truth settles in. It fits, like the round peg fits in the round hole.

There I sat exposed before God. I had spent my days worrying over the nap of my carpet, taking care of my family, and babysitting for extra income. In my free time I planted flowers, spread compost, and rolled huge rocks around my yard for landscaping around my flowerbeds. I could not see beyond the end of my own nose. And when I did, I did not like what I saw. Being a wife and mother is a huge part of God’s plan for me, but, I had not yet entered God’s perfect will for my life. I was not living the life that God had dreamed for me long before I was born.

Have you ever itched beneath the skin? You cannot satisfy your longing by scratching the surface. I suffer from allergies, and sometimes break out in hives. When I break out I itch beneath my skin. I scratch and scratch. But, no matter how hard or how much I scratch I can never ease the itch. Why? I cannot reach the source from the outside. Things that outwardly gratify will never completely satisfy the longing that God has reserved for the fulfillment of His dream in you. Anything less than what God has planned for you will leave you empty and unfulfilled.

Along with the idea that you can choose your destiny comes the burden of the responsibility to make your dreams come true. Often, when you fall short of your own expectations, you make decisions out of discouragement and fear of failure. You sink into feelings of low self-worth. You lose hope. And without that hope, you never rise above the fears that hold you back from reaching your potential. So you settle. You compromise, living out your days in your comfort zone, never stepping by faith into the unknown. You subconsciously make a deal with the devil; I won’t bother you, if you don’t bother me. Thus, he lulls you into a false sense of security.

The book of Esther tells one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Satan used fear of death to tempt Esther to disobey God. God had called her to step out in faith to save her people from annihilation.

Haman, an adviser to the king, had orchestrated this elaborate plan to destroy the Jews. After learning of Haman’s plans Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, sent word to Esther. Through Divine intervention, the king had chosen her to be queen. Mordecai told Esther to approach the King and to inform him of Haman’s plans to destroy the Jews. Esther responded in fear. She told Mordecai that if she displeased the king she could lose her life. Mordecai told Esther that she shouldn’t flatter herself, because she, being a Jew, would not escape death just because she was the queen. He also told her that if she kept silent, God would raise up someone else to deliver His people. But Esther, and her father’s house, would perish. Mordecai added, Who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this and for this very occasion? Esther told Mordecai that she would do what God had called her to do. I will go to the king, though it is against the law. If I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:1-17)

Esther chose wisely, even though fear tempted her to make a deal with the devil. The devil tried to convince her that her title would protect her. She believed that if she stepped out of her comfort zone she would be destroyed. Mordecai’s words proved true. When Esther obeyed God and fulfilled His dream for her, she saved herself and she saved her people. God can send someone else to do what He has called you to do. But, you will be left to pay the consequences for your choices. Say no to fear, and yes to the call of God for you. God has chosen you for such a time as this.

God is not some faraway watchman, who does not care about what you do with your life. Man controls his own destiny is the concept many accept concerning life. God is watching us from a distance, a famous artist sings. These ideas can’t be farther from the truth. God scripted His perfect plan for you before you were a twinkle in your daddy’s eyes. And by His power God will make that dream come true.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of you (as my chosen instrument) and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you as a prophet to the nations. (Jer. 1:5)

Can you imagine that while most considered you a tiny diminutive mass, God had already chosen you for a divine and specific purpose? He had already dreamed about what you would become. When you grasp the truth, you can take your heavy burden, the awesome responsibility of the realization of your dreams, and you can give it to God. He says to those who are weary, Come to me, and I will give you rest. His yoke is not pressing. It is refreshing. And His burden is light and easy to be carried (Matt. 11:30). Simply look to the One who never had a beginning, and will never have an ending. Yield control. Submit to Him.

God has given you a beginning and an ending. When God formed you, He did not focus on a