Dare to Dream: Finding Your Purpose and Fulfilling Your Destiny

By Alice Brown

Dream seeds are the beginning of finding the things in our life that give us purpose and fulfillment.

Excerpts from the book: "One of the obstacles to dreaming and fulfilling our destiny is fear." "Deep within every person, very deep down inside, is a spark of life crying out to fulfill something for which we were created." "Without a life purpose as the compass to guide you, your goals and action plans may not ultimately fulfill you." "I believe there is something inside of us that tells us we were made for greatness, and it creates in us a longing to know our purpose."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098005726

Alice Brown

I am a retired military wife and homeschool teacher. My daughter initially talked me into writing. While eating lunch at the local Wendy's, I mentioned my favorite vampire television series had just been canceled, and how disappointed I was.Her response: Mom, why don't you write a vampire book?My response: I wouldn't even know where to begin.And that is how it all started. By the time the meal was finished, we used every scrap of paper and available napkin to plot out our first story.Today, we often collaborate on our story ideas to open new worlds in the sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, and romance books.

Book preview

Chapter 1

What Causes Us to Lose Hope and Stop Dreaming for the Future?

Many of us have big dreams, or at least we once did. When we were kids, we dreamed of being famous, or having a big family, or becoming a doctor or scientist, or making a big impact in the world in some way. We knew we were created for great things, we just didn’t know what they were. We daydreamed and played and thought of all the things we might become. We had grandiose ideas of the things we might accomplish.

We grew older and made plans for our future. Sometimes, those plans turned out well, and sometimes, they didn’t. But we kept pressing forward because we knew there was more to life than we were experiencing. There were victories and setbacks—sometimes very daunting setbacks—but something inside of us, something bigger than us, kept us hopeful.

As we continued in life, the disappointments and failures accumulated, but we maintained our hope because we held on to the God of all hope. But somewhere along the way, we stopped dreaming. The setbacks, failed dreams, and goals that led us to a dead end rather than fulfillment, all had their say in squelching our dreams. Even if we held on to God, some of us put our dreams on the shelf; we could no longer handle the disappointment. Our hearts had become sick, and we didn’t even know it. We just stopped dreaming!

One of the other main obstacles to dreaming and fulfilling our destiny is fear. You have probably heard the acronym for fear: False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear can paralyze us and keep us from fulfilling our dreams. Fear is that thing that says you will fail or you will never accomplish that so don’t even try.

I heard Danny Silk at a conference once say, The dogs of doom are standing at the door of our destiny and barking loudly. But when we get up close, we see that what we thought were Rottweilers are really only Chihuahuas with big megaphones.

Fear can be a real thing when we are in physical danger. But fear can also be a spirit trying to stop us from being all God created us to be.

And of course, our own self-defeating thoughts can sabotage our dreams. Breaking our agreement with the lies we are believing and replacing those lies with the truth that God says about us can open us up to a world of possibilities—a world where we can dream again.

Chapter 2

Knowing the Father’s Heart for Us

At some point in our lives, most of us were told that God loves us. Many of us may remember singing this song in Sunday school: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong—they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, yes Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

It is very simple and very profound at the same time. But did we know what we were singing? Did we believe it? Some of us did, and others just sang the words we were taught. But because we had no relationship with Jesus, we really did not understand the words.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, make him Lord of our life, and receive his forgiveness, we enter into his grace and his kingdom. As we grow in relationship with him and read his Word, our hearts and minds are transformed to be more like him. At the point of our salvation, we become a new creation in Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)!

The Word of God teaches us to not think the way the world does but to have our minds renewed. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will (Romans 12:2, NIV).

But do we know his heart for us? Or are we still wondering why the God of the Old Testament looks so different from the God Jesus came to reveal. Are we still trying to understand how God could be so mean and destructive in the OT and still love us?

All of the Old Testament is not the Old Covenant. We need to look at what happened to create the Old Covenant and why the children of Israel did not enter into the blessing God offered them at Mt. Sinai.

Although I could go into great detail about God’s covenant journey with mankind, the types of covenants, and why we have an Old Covenant, I will reserve the bulk of that teaching for another time. What I want to convey to you now is that God offered the Israelites a Grant Covenant at Mt. Sinai. A Grant Covenant is one where the greater king blesses the lesser king (or covenant partner), and there are no strings attached. God said they would be to him a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). God wanted each one of them to be his representatives on the Earth. But the Israelites became fearful and told Moses to get the rules from God and tell them what he said. Deuteronomy gives us a bit clearer picture of what happened:

When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me. And you said, "The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them. But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the