If you can dream it, you can do it.Walt Disney

I grew up watching Walt Disney’s “The Wonderful World of Color”. I could hardly wait until 5:00 PM on Sunday evenings, even though we had to turn the show off a little early to go to 6:00 PM worship services. The shows were wholesome and nearly always built around a good set of strong moral principles, so Mom and Dad never minded us watching as long as we were ready to go when the time came.

There was something magical about the opening of the show. It started off with fireworks and a castle! Then the announcer (I can still hear his rich, animated voice) came on and gave the needed details from last week’s show, as well as a few teasers to peek your interest for the evening’s show.

The shows were about pirates and castaways and absent minded professors. They were funny and exciting and absolutely riveting.

The bad guys never won, back in Walt’s day, nor were there any scantily clad girls or suggestive themes.

It was always a dream world, and I miss those days more than just a little bit.

Walt had a theme – “If you can dream it, you can do it” - that, when you think about it, was really built on a teaching from Jesus’ ministry. Jesus said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” Now the context was to His apostles and clearly was only usable according to God’s will, but what a promise it was!

We, today, can ask for anything in Jesus’ name and, if it’s according to God’s will and furthers His kingdom – and we ask believing – we will receive it!

Wouldn’t that type of understanding change your life? Wouldn’t it make it more fulfilling and, at times, even more exciting? Wouldn’t it make a difference in the way you viewed life? Wouldn’t it make just getting out of bed more exciting because you knew the day was going to be jam-packed with meaningful living?

Wouldn’t life be different if you knew you were going to Heaven if you would just be faithful?

If you can dream it, you can do it!

“Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.”

Jesus (Matthew 7:7, RSV)

“A bag heavy with gold, or a clay tablet carved with words of wisdom; if thou hadst thy choice, which would thou choose?” By the flickering light from the fire of the desert shrubs, the sun-tanned faces of the listeners gleamed with interest. “The gold, the gold”, chorused the twenty-seven. From the book, “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason

The passage from the fictional account above indicates a very real problem: Most people, when presented with a choice between wealth and wisdom, will choose the money every time. This is curious, because it has been well established that money cannot buy happiness. Still, most people reject this oft proven truth, so they go for the gold.

I am often shocked at the lack of Bible study on the part of most people. Most people say they want to go to heaven, but they give this lofty goal little more than lip service. But we must realize that there is an eternal principle contained within the pages of Scripture that teaches a man cannot have quality results without quality effort. So most men - men who consider themselves righteous - really don’t have any basis for that claim. The reason is that they really don’t know what the Bible teaches, because they have never spent the quality effort that God requires to learn His truths.

And, if we are honest, the real reason that we so often do not know what the Bible says is that we simply do not have the time to really read it -we are just too busy pursuing the "gold".

Are you taking the time required to find out what God wants you to know, or do you rely on the wisdom of your preacher, your parents, or perhaps even your drinking buddies? The twenty-seven camel herders chose a bag of gold over a tablet filled with wisdom, so they remained camel herders.

The path to heaven is not always easy, and it is rarely the most popular of paths. God allows us to choose between the fleeting wealth of this world and the real wealth of His word. One will fade away and one will last for time eternal. Which, by your own actions, are you choosing?

“Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold… she is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.” Proverbs 3:12-13; 18, NIV

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Abraham Lincoln

In Stephen Covey’s book, "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People",he included the habit of “sharpening the saw”. What he meant was, in order to be successful, you must hone your skills in such a way as to gain the expertise needed to excel in your chosen endeavor.

We notice this is true in just about every walk of life. While many students are accused of being “teacher’s pets”, in reality they are the ones who are willing to put in the study to be an “A” student. Many athletes just seem to be lucky, but this so called “luck” usually stems from the hard work of endless practice. And on the job, fellow workers often have their own derogatory names for those who always seem to be promoted ahead of themselves, but they rarely see the extra work and preparation that these go-getters put into their careers that their workmates are unwilling to do.

But you and I know from experience that we always seem to do better when we practice, study, and prepare. It is a principle of life that Abraham Lincoln recognized, and it was an understanding that gave him a competitive advantage over others who seemed more likely to succeed.

It is this “sharpening of the saw” that will make all the difference in your service to God. So many people just “jump in” to religion without first finding out what God wants. Others will do the right things to become a Christian, but rarely pick up a Bible to find out from God’s word how a Christian is then supposed to live. As a result, many Christians live a sub-par life and fail to enjoy the benefits and successes that God wants them to enjoy.

Then there are those who understand one of the greatest “secrets” of success. They first find out what it takes to become a Christian, then they spend the rest of their lives finding out what God wants them to do…and then they do it!

One other thing about sharpening the saw: It will make your work easier. It is easier because a sharp saw cuts better. That’s why old Abe saw the benefit of spending twice the time in preparing for the work as it took him to do it, and it is why highly successful people of all ages have seen the need for the same before getting to the chopping down their own “trees”.

If it has helped great men throughout the ages in something as simple as life, just think what it will do for your service to God!

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15, RSV

I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street I met a man who had no feet. Denis Waitley

It was the first race of the day, and our daughter was running the first leg of the 4X100 relay. Her team had just come off of a very good showing at the Christian College Indoor Nationals so we were looking forward to big things in the outdoor season. We had missed the end of the season last year because Becca had pulled a hamstring, making this year’s outdoor season all the more anticipated.

Becca started off great, blazed around the corner, and headed for the acceleration box for the handoff.

Then she pulled her hamstring.

After seeing the trainer, we drove back to campus. Becca and her sister Cherise went up to her room to drop her stuff off, while Carolyn and I walked around campus to kill time before we went to dinner. The walk was, as you might imagine, rather quiet. I was feeling bad for Becca, bad for her teammates, and more than a little bad for myself: We had been looking forward to a big season, and now it appeared to be uncertain at best.

Then Carolyn and I came across a sweet young lady with a sweet expressionon her sweet young face coming towards us on the side walk… in a wheelchair!

And I got a much needed lesson in perspective, and an even more important lesson in gratitude. You see, just before Becca’s race, I had prayed for what I always pray for: That Becca would stay safe and healthy. And, while she may have had the minor inconvenience of a pulled hamstring, when her day was done she was safe and healthy.

And she had the prospect of walking normally again – in fact the prospect of running again, very soon, with blazing speed. But this sweet young lady– the one with the sweet expression – does not have that same hopeful prospect.

And I was humbled. And I was more grateful than I had been in a long, long time. And I was more than a little bit ashamed at my lack of perspective and at my lack of genuine gratitude for what God has done for me every day of my life. The good news is that stupidity and ingratitude are fully curable. The better news is that we are going to heaven someday if we will only be faithful.

And that sweet young girl in the wheel chair? She will be there, too, if she will be but faithful to God. And she has something to look forward to with great anticipation: A new body with new legs and the prospect of healthy walking – maybe even blazing speed running – for all of eternity, because God is good!

Do you have that prospect? Better make sure!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. II Corinthians 4:16-17, NIV