A Dream Believer

By Stephen Kellison Jr.

In todays society, with all of its wide array of allurements that bid for the eye, pampers the soul, and consumes the thoughts and conversations, the Christian and non-Christian have done one thing, and that is throw God in the backseat of the heart and mind. Societal wants have compromised biblical truths, but God is looking for believers through whom he could work, just as he had in the early church era, so that He would be what consumes the thoughts and conversations of those who profess to be believers. This book has biblical qualities that God is calling for His believers to have, which will leave the majority of you in awe of God, as you will find in one powerful testimony in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479743773

Stephen Kellison Jr.

Born and raised in Virginia, as a child I was miraculously healed of rare kidney disease. Since that time I have seen the hand of God preserve me from a lot of life-threatening situations that have left people scratching their heads. I am married with three children and in 1996 I became a born-again Christian. In 1999 I became an ordained minister. In 2006 I published my first book entitled To Soar to New Heights. In 2010 I became a grandparent.

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Copyright © 2012 by Stephen Kellison Jr.

Library of Congress Control Number:  2012920653

ISBN:

Hardcover  978-1-4797-4376-6

Softcover   978-1-4797-4375-9

Ebook        978-1-4797-4377-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Contents

My Deepest Appreciation

Introduction

Chapter One:   Humbleness

Chapter Two:   Obedience to the Word of God

Chapter Three:   Prayerful

Chapter Four:   Passionate

Chapter Five:   Committed

Chapter Six:   Surrendered

Chapter Seven:   Thankful

Chapter Eight:   Courageous

Chapter Nine:   Anticipator

Chapter Ten:   Genuine Repentance

Chapter Eleven:   Transformed

My Deepest Appreciation

I want to thank God for choosing me to write this book. If it wasn’t for him I could do nothing. I owe my life to him, for all He has done for me, starting at Calvary. You are an awesome, God, and deeply loved and appreciated.

I want to thank my wife, Lisa, for all that she does to make a house a home, and to say I love you.

Caleb, Nathan, David, my children, I want to say that I am very proud of each and every one of you. May God’s will be done in your lives. I love you. Also, thank you for all your help with the laptop issues.

To all the ones that read this book, I thank you and pray that you will be blessed by it. May God’s will be done in your lives.

Introduction

The book you hold is quite possibly the most life-changing truth you might ever encounter. I say this with the utmost confidence, not because I have written it, but because it has life-changing truths in it which point you to Christ. If you allow the Holy Spirit to use this book to penetrate your heart, I believe the way you look at life and live will take an upward turn.

The disciples of Jesus witnessed many great miracles. They watched in astonishment as the dead were raised and blind eyes were made to see again at the command of Jesus Christ. They saw thousands of people fed by just a few loaves of bread. They witnessed Jesus stilling the storm on the water with a command. They witnessed love, compassion, mercy, and grace first-hand from the Father in Heaven.

In the days of the early church, we are taught that Peter, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, could deliver a message and thousands of people came to know Christ. We are shown how one man named Saul goes from being a hater of the Gospel, to becoming Paul, one man that God used mightily for His kingdom. We also are shown how the believers were one in heart and mind to the point of sharing all their personal possessions together. There is so much more that was recorded for us in the Book of Acts on the first believers’ lifestyle.

We now come to today’s society; we see all the violence and wickedness that man is capable of. We watch the rich and famous do whatever they want; if they get caught, they pursue a dream team of legal defense. I am sure we all remember the famous murder case of Mr. Simpson. I think the whole world tuned in nightly to see him and his dream team of lawyers. We also watched as man has tried to assemble dream teams in the Olympics, where the best of the best from every sport is chosen to compete against the world. Every year, we watch professional sports have their all-star games and pro bowl games, where the fans would vote for the line-up by either popularity or skill.

This brings me to the whole reason for writing this book. As the Holy Spirit began to stir my mind with thoughts of a dream believer, I was led to share with you, my reader. I believe that what I received from God will change your life forever if you are willing to act on the truths found in this book with the word of God. The Word of God will place you on the narrow road that leads to life and peace.

The question now is what are the characteristics we should possess to be this person. The answers found in this book will change your life forever.

Chapter One

Humbleness

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand,

that He might lift you up in due time. Cast all your

anxiety on him because

He cares for you.—1Peter 5:6-7

We live in a society today with a lot of worries. We worry about how to pay our bills, feed our families and maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Many will do whatever it takes to get ahead in life. We have to remember that God’s recognition counts more than human praise. God is able and willing to bless us according to His timing. We have to humbly obey God regardless of present circumstances.

Carrying our worries, stresses, and daily struggles by ourselves shows that we have not fully trusted God with our lifes. It takes being humble to recognize that God cares, to admit our need, and to surrender the need to God’s care. Jesus said to us, Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.(Matthew 6:25-34)

Worrying damages our health, consumes our thoughts, disrupts our life, and has effects on how we treat others, but most important, reduces our ability to trust God. There is a difference between worry and concern. Worry immobilizes, but concern moves us to action. Therefore, letting God have our cares calls for action not inactivity. Don’t submit to circumstances, but rather to the Lord, who controls the circumstances.

To seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness means to turn to God first for help, to fill your thoughts with His desires, to take His character for your pattern, and to serve and obey Him in everything. People, objects, goals, and all other desires compete for priority. Any of these can quickly become most important to you if you don’t actively choose to give God first place in every area of your life. Jesus said in Matthew11:28-30, Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.There are two types of people in the church today, the wise (arrogant in their own knowledge) and the little children (humbly open to receive the truth of God’s word). It becomes children to be humble and grateful. When we come to God as our Father, we must remember that He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, which obliges us to come to Him with reverence as to the Sovereign Lord of all, yet with confidence as one who is able to defend us from evil and supply us with all good things.

We are forever indebted to Christ for all the revelation we have of God, the Father’s will and love for us. Our Savior has invited all that labor and heavy-laden (in some sense all people are) to come unto Him. People burden themselves with fruitless cares of wealth and honor and empty pursuits of pleasure. Those who labor to establish their own righteousness also labor in vain. The convinced sinner is heavy-laden with guilt and fear, and the tempted and afflicted also have labors and burdens. Jesus Christ invites all to come to Him for rest for their souls. He alone gives this invitation; people come to Him when feeling guilt and misery, believing His love and power to help. This is the Gospels call; whoever will, let him come. All who come will receive rest as Christ’s gift, and obtain peace and comfort in their hearts. In coming to Him, we must humble ourselves and believe that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the author and finisher of our faith, and take His yoke and submit to His authority. We must humble ourselves and learn all things about Him. He accepts the humble and willing servant, however imperfect we are. Here we may find rest for our souls and here only. We need not fear His yoke, only humbly submit to it. His commandments are holy, just, and good. It requires self-denial, but it is abundantly repaid, even in this world, by inward peace and joy. It is a yoke that is lined with love. The assistances He gives us are powerful, the encouragements are suitable, and the comfort that is found in the way of responsibility is so strong that we truly say that it is a yoke of pleasantness. The way of calling is the way of rest. The truths Christ teaches us are what we rest our souls upon. Great is the Redeemer’s mercy, why would anyone seek rest from anything else? We should humble ourselves and come to Him daily for deliverance from guilt, sin, cares, fears, and sorrows. Forced obedience is a heavy burden. In vain do we draw near to Jesus with our lips while the heart is far from Him?

Why is it so tempting to love pleasure rather than God? Pleasure is something we can control; God cannot be controlled. Most pleasure can be obtained easily, but humbling ourselves before God requires effort and sometimes sacrifice. Pleasure has a drug like effect; it takes our mind off ourselves and our problems. Humility and love for God reminds us of our needs and our responsibilities. Pleasure cooperates with pride. It makes us feel good when we look good in the eyes of others. To be humble toward God, we must lay aside our pride and our accomplishments. To be humble and submit to our God will bring greater comfort to the soul than gratification of pride and ambition. To be humble under His mighty hand, we need to cast all our cares upon Him, personal cares, family cares, cares for the present, cares for the future, for yourselves, and others on God for all these cares are burdensome and hinder our delight in the service of the Lord, and torture and distract our minds. But the remedy is to leave every event to His wise and gracious disposal. Firm belief that the Divine will and counsel are right will calm the spirit of a person. Humility preserves peace and order in all Christian lives, but pride disrupts them. Proverbs 3:34 states, He mocks proud mockers, but He gives grace to the humble. When God gives grace to the humble, He will also give wisdom, faith, and holiness.

What True Humility Means

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!—Philippians 2:1-8

For many people, even Christians, live only to make a good impression on others or to please themselves. But self-ambition or vain conceit brings discord. Paul here stresses spiritual unity, asking the Philippians to love one another and to be one spirit and purpose. When we work together, caring for the problems of others as if they were our own, we demonstrate Christ’s example of putting others first, and we experience unity.

Selfish ambition can ruin a person, but genuine humility can build a life. Being humble involves a true perspective of