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    Chasing: After God's Dreams for Me
    Chasing: After God's Dreams for Me
    Chasing: After God's Dreams for Me
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    Chasing: After God's Dreams for Me

    By Jen Wagenmaker

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    About this ebook

    God asks us to dream big and follow a challenging path filled with joy and revelation. But sometimes God falls silent while were on that journey. What do we do when we cant hear Gods voice anymore?

    Raised in a loving, Christian home, Jennifer had wandered away from her faith and endured years of struggle in a difficult marriage. When that marriage finally ended, she found herself questioning Gods plan for her life, for her family, and for herself. She resolved to find God in the midst of the turmoil, though, and God reached out to her. God provided during the dark times, and led Jennifer back to the church and a wonderful marriage. God even gave her a vision for a new work that she began to pursue! But in the midst of pursuing that vision, the road took a turn and Jennifers vision for her ministry began to waver.

    In this powerful and honest book, Jennifer talks about how she maintained her focus on Gods vision for her life, and how we can do the same. Using her own stories, reflections on scripture, and the abiding promises of Gods love, Jennifer talks candidly about her struggle with faith and Gods promises, and the joy that comes from realizing that God will never let us down. Chasing is a moving testament to Gods love for each of us, and the joy that can be found as we chase after Gods dreams for our lives.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateSep 23, 2014
    ISBN9781490850238
    Chasing: After God's Dreams for Me
    Author

    Jen Wagenmaker

    Jen Wagenmaker is the visionary founder of Legacy Ministries. She shares her story boldly and transparently with women all over the world. She is the author of Becoming: All that God Created Me to Be, and she’ll inspire you to dream God-sized dreams for your life. Jennifer lives with her husband, Eric, and their five sons in West Michigan.

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      Book preview

      Chasing - Jen Wagenmaker

      Copyright © 2014 Jen Wagenmaker.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      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.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-5022-1 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-5023-8 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2014915806

      WestBow Press rev. date: 9/8/2014

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Chapter 1   Discovering His Desire For Me

      Chapter 2   Letting Him Lead

      Chapter 3   The Call To Obedience

      Chapter 4   Embracing Change

      Chapter 5   Taking Him Out Of The Box

      Chapter 6   When He Is Silent

      Chapter 7   Praising Him Even When It Hurts

      Chapter 8   Developing A Deeper Prayer Life

      Chapter 9   Loving His Word

      Chapter 10 The Vastness Of His Love

      Chapter 11 Living With The Mentality To Serve

      Chapter 12 When God Says No

      Chapter 13 The Beauty In Balance

      Chapter 14 Are You Ready For A Breakthrough?

      Chapter 15 You Are Never Alone

      Chapter 16 Are You Looking For The One?

      Chapter 17 Stepping Out

      DEDICATION

      To my beloved husband:

      I still feel like I am living a dream. Years ago, I could have never envisioned this life that I am living with you. You have taught me how to dream God-sized dreams for my life. May we continue to bear all things, hope for all things, and endure all things together.

      To my Editor Ben Barnhart:

      I would have never finished this project if it were not for your constant support along the way. I am so very thankful that the Lord has brought you into my life to help me carry out the dreams I have in my heart of writing to inspire others.

      INTRODUCTION

      H ave you ever sat long enough in God’s presence to listen for His answer when you ask Him for something? Have you ever pictured yourself being alone somewhere with Him? Ephesians 3:12 says that we have access to His presence. Through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

      I have been on an incredible journey to discover the perfect will that my Father has for my life. It wasn’t until recently that I began to understand that He has an actual plan, even a specific purpose, just for me. He knows the strategy that I’ll need to accomplish His plan, and in order for me to discover it, I must listen to Him and seek His presence for my life.

      I truly believe that He is trying to speak it to me every day. As He has been teaching me how to discern what that looks and sounds like, I grow thirsty for more and more.

      My goal in writing this book is to inspire you to begin to peel back the layers that may have formed between you and our loving Creator. I want to challenge you to look around at all the people, things, and opportunities that each day brings your way, as I believe that He is calling you to Himself. He works every day to show you more of the abundant life that we can have as His sons and daughters.

      Remember, we are all on a journey, and the path that we travel does matter.

      As the bride of Christ, the church, begins to take on the individual identities we were created for, the church and the world will shine more radiantly as Christ makes His return to Earth. We should be a reflection of Him more and more as we approach that glorious day.

      As we discipline ourselves to hear from heaven, the enemy begins to lose his power over us. Our eyes begin to see the bondage that surrounds us, but for some reason we have a hard time letting ourselves become free. Some part of our mind tells us that we are supposed to live in bondage. We may not purposely seek it out, but something inside of us does. The idea of being able to operate from a place of complete freedom on a daily basis is just too unfamiliar to us. The thought of being able to wake up every morning with the freedom to let God have His way does not seem like a reality. Most of us rely on our schedules and commitments, which prevent us from being able to experience this kind of freedom to follow God’s leading. Our calendars fill up with things that make us happy, but somehow we have left no room for new opportunities to come our way.

      What if He really had an agenda for our days, and we were too busy to catch a glimpse of what that is? What if He was constantly orchestrating all of the things in our lives to take place just to show us more of His purpose in our creation? Does your daily routine have a place for Him to show up? If not, I pray that something changes for you as you read this book, and that a dream ignites within you for more of His presence in your days.

      CHAPTER 1

      DISCOVERING HIS DESIRE FOR ME

      Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4)

      Father, I am turning to you with all of the heavy burdens that I have. Please take my worries and concerns and replace them with rest. —journal entry, June 15, 2012

      H ow can we know what God desires for our lives?

      The words found in the scripture above have fueled me over the last few years. I know what I desire to do with my life, but I really want to make sure that my desires are the same things that God wants for me too. I believe that we were all created for a specific purpose and that when we take the time to step back and wrestle with what that may be, then God will begin to give us a vision for it. His desire for our lives will line up with our natural abilities, it will

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