Ep.9- Let’s talk about Holley Gerth’s “You’re Made for a God-Sized Dream” part 3.

to Thoroughly Equipped, a podcast for women where we compare the popular women's ministry teachings, books, conferences,

Bible studies, etc. to Scripture. Our focus is 2 Timothy 3 16 to 17, that all

Scripture is God -bred and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hello ladies and welcome back!

So let's just dive into today's discussions, shall we? The last couple of episodes we had been looking at Holly Gerst's You're Made for a

God -Sized Dream, opening the door to all God has for you. In the first part of this series we looked at Holly's claims that we are all made for more, how to determine if we've received a

God -sized dream, and what a dreamer's heart looks like. In the second part of this series we looked at what comes next for those who have been given

God -sized dreams and what to do with our fear. We compared some of her claims to Scripture and took a little extra time to look at what it says about fear.

Today we're continuing on to part 3 of this four -part series as we dive into chapters 6, 7, and 8.

Now, conventional wisdom calls us to take some time and think about the consequences that can result from our choices.

A wise person will count the cost and prepare for what may come when making big decisions. It is a prudent person who looks ahead and prepares for danger while those who do not are described as simple in Scripture and suffer for it.

Proverbs 27 12. One who anticipates trials and hurdles and plans what they will do is one who will not be caught off guard when and if they should come.

One who is wise will gather many wise advisors and seek their counsel while making plans. That's Proverbs 15 22.

This is Holly's goal in chapters 6, 7, and 8. She gives disclaimers and advice on how to press on and pass through the most common issues we may face when going after our dreams.

So chapter 6 is titled the disclaimers. Holly wants us to understand that certain expectations can knock us off our paths to our dreams if not confronted so she includes what she calls disclaimers.

These are bits of insight that she holds to be important to keep in mind as we pursue our God -sized dream.

So for disclaimer number one she titled it you will never feel ready. She goes into a story of a time when she received a packet of seeds from a local farm she visited.

Day after day she told herself she would plant them but continually put it off till the opportunity plant that year had passed.

She claims that just like these seeds our dreams can be put off for fear that we're just not ready.

So to counteract this she tells us that after we know that God had asked us to do something then it's time to act.

Quote yes there are times for waiting and proactively seeking God's voice but when we are already know what he's asked us to do it's time to plant.

Sow your seed in the morning and at evening let your hands not be idle for you do not know which will succeed whether this or that or whether both will do equally well.

Ecclesiastes 11 6. Don't wait until the time feels right. Don't wait until you feel ready.

You will wait forever. End quote page 107. Now I find her use of Ecclesiastes here very interesting.

If you've ever done a study on this book you would know what it's about. Vanity. That everything under the sun that is done without the fear of the

Lord and apart from his commands is done in vain and is worthless. Let's look at this verse in context shall we.

I'm going to start at verse 5 and read all the way to verse 12 14.

As you do not know the way the Spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

In the morning sow your seed and in evening withhold not your hand for you do not know which will prosper this or that or whether both alike will be good.

Light is sweet and is pleasant for the eyes to see the Sun. So if a person lives many years let him rejoice in them all but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many all that comes is vanity.

Rejoice oh young man in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes but know that for all these things

God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and the years drawn near of which you will say

I have no pleasure in them before the Sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain in the day when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men are bent and the grinders cease because they are few and those who look through the windows are dimmed and the doors on the street are shut when the sound of the grinding is low and one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song are brought low they are afraid also of what is high and terrors are on the way the almond tree blooms the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails because man is going to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets before the silver cord is snapped or the golden bowl is broken or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern and the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it vanity of vanities says the preacher all is vanity besides being wise the preacher also taught the people knowledge weighing and studying and arraying many

Proverbs with great care the preacher sought to find words of delight and uprightly he wrote words of truth the words of the wise are like goads and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings they are given by one shepherd my son beware of anything beyond these if making many books there's no end and much studying is a weariness of the flesh the end of the matter all has been heard fear

God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of men for God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing whether good or evil now that was

Ecclesiastes 11 5 all the way to 1214 basically the end of the book so this is really fascinating to me the writer of Ecclesiastes starts by telling us that we do not and cannot understand the work of God by mere observation of life youth work and death we can see that while one may put one's effort into life our youth and work etc death will come and strike it worthless yet in the end the author instructs his son to reject the many books to which a study of their topics brings weariness but the teachings and writings that are given by one shepherd the words of truth that instruct us to fear

God and keep his commandments these are not worthless why is that because God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing whether good or evil so here is what this passage implies in regards to Holly's teaching in this book that regardless of whether you feel you are called to a dream or some life purpose in the end the result of that dream or purpose will be worthless if you and I do not fear

God and keep his commands I can raise up a large mission to which I feed and bring out many out of poverty yet come judgment it will be worthless in keeping me from God's wrath and eternal punishment if I even told one little lie thought one lustful thought coveted something

I did not have and did not love everyone as I love myself James 2 10 the whole duty of man is to fear

God and obey his commands that is his instruction and that is his purpose for all men

Holly goes on to warn us that there will be times when disclaimer number two we will not like our dreams and disclaimer number three that there will be times when you feel alone but in disclaimer number four titled success will look different than you think she explains that sometimes

God can quote move the finish line just before we think we're going to cross it he changes up the course he's doing that so we remember that success is not about results it's about a relationship

God is not all that interested in your getting things done if he made the world in seven days there's nothing he can check off his to -do list without your help what he wants on this journey to your dream is intimacy with you success is simply obedience in quote page 115 but notice that she means the obedience to the

God sized dream we are to obey God when we receive a dream and pursue it and when we obey we become more intimate with God except this is not found in instead scripture tells us what to do so we may do the works of God purpose -driven dream doctrine in essence rejects the law and replaces it with a purpose that is what

God has called us to and because we transgress it the law I mean we are separated from God this is important because no amount of being some dream we believe

God has given us will bring us intimacy if we transgress even one of the Ten Commandments God sent his son to fulfill a law and obey so we can be made right with God through faith and this is the work of God that we trust in Christ that's

John 6 28 to 29 the dream is not what gives us intimacy Christ is what gives us intimacy success is about obedience and if Christ has given us his obedient life then biblical success is about Christ Holly goes on quote with God there aren't half twos involved he gave us free will with him all the steps of our dreams are get twos

I get to take this promotion so I can make a bigger difference I get to make this company a success so I'll have more resources to share with those in need

I get to reach this goal so I can glorify God in quote page 115 let's contrast her get twos to Paul's get twos

Paul got to share in Christ's sufferings to be lashed like Christ to be weak with those who are weak to suffer and be poured out as a drink offering for other

Christians that's 2nd Corinthians 11 23 to 33 Philippians 2 17 and Paul got to glorify

God in his death these two are the get twos in Christ Jesus as well disclaimer number five one day this dream will be your new normal as we go through life so do our dreams and as we are chasing these dreams

God reveals himself to us says Holly quote each new dream he places in your heart and has you pursue is an opportunity to know him in a different way maybe one dream reveals his faithfulness another shows you his strength then the next one helps you discover his infinite tenderness in quote page 119

I'm sorry but our dreams do not reveal God in this way God in his word has revealed to us his faithfulness his strength his tenderness etc dreams in our hearts do not do this in fact any experience or lived out dream does not reveal

God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit and his kingdom like scripture does

Peter tells us that scripture is more sure than any experience so much so that he instructs us to pay attention to it as a light shining in a dark place that's 2nd

Peter 1 16 to 21 the problem with making the claim that each dream is an opportunity to know

God in a new way is what conclusions one may come about to about God and his character if the dream should fail or lead them to suffering or even death human wisdom takes these types of occurrences and claims that God is upset that we did not have enough faith that he does not exist or even perhaps goes as far to say

God is evil and then what type of a conclusion can one draw about God's character if we succeed we in our sinful flesh may conclude

God is one who is pleased with us because we obey this is an even more dangerous assumption because it rejects

Christ and his word yet it's scripture that tells us that he works all things out for the good of those who love him that's

Romans 828 it is this revelation given to us by the Holy Spirit through Paul that we can trust that in sufferings evil and death good works or God works things for good and it's scripture that tells us our obedience is as filthy rags that's

Isaiah 64 6 that to God it is faith that pleases him not obedience that's

Hebrews 11 6 and James 2 14 to 16 so all experiences are limited and tainted because they are observed through sinful flesh this is why scripture is so important it judges our experiences and our thoughts

Galatians 310 it reveals the truth and who the Son the

Father and the Holy Spirit are and what they have done all right chapters 7 is titled when your

God sized dream goes wrong we all have had times in life when we seem to be thrown what the world calls curveballs these times when we just living a life and then something happens that seems to take us in different directions than we thought we were going

Holly anticipates situations that may come during your pursuit of your dreams that may veer you off course or stop you in your tracks those are the times when your

God sized dreams appear as if they're going wrong in this chapter she discusses what to do if and when things aren't working as we expected so one of the things she encourages us to do when our

God sized dream gets derailed is to try again she points out how some of us tend to give up on things especially if they're not going as we plan just like the characters in the

Old Testament we are to be like them and never give up no matter what is placed before us quote when we look through scripture the paths to dreams being fulfilled are full of zigzags and try agains along the way

David was anointed by the Prophet Samuel and told he would one day be king yet the years that followed were filled with the current

King Saul chasing him through the wilderness and attempting to take his life talk about a detour

Joseph got sold by his brothers and unjustly thrown into jail before becoming second to Pharaoh it's all about being faithful where we are and refusing to quit until we see the vision

God has placed in our hearts become reality in quote page 127 the scriptures here of course are not stories about men going after and fulfilling their

God sized dreams they are about God's faithfulness to use sinful men to bring the

Messiah David and Joseph are archetypes of the Messiah David is a king who conquers a giant he foreshadows

Jesus conquering Satan Joseph story has so many similarities to Christ now there's a gentleman named

Chris Rosebarrow who does a great job showing Christ in his podcast fighting for the faith and in this episode titled for the students of Liberty University I provide the link below in the details of the podcast

Mr. Rosebarrow does a fantastic job expositing Christ from the text and giving examples of how it's often used to tickle people's ears but moving on Holly continues quote listen closely if you've heard the call then you must go

God will make sure you get to where he wants you in the end so try try again end quote page 128 if you're called you better obey she's right

God is God if he calls you it's with authority and he is a good

God he's not a God who leaves you in the dark or in any way unclear about what he commands of you it's all found in scripture to be told you must find your purpose or dream and must go and do it is quite a burden it's a burden that disguises itself as flattery which we will get more into in chapter 9 critique oh yes it's wonderful to feel that God needs us so much to fulfill this

God -given dream that only we can accomplish it but it does it at the expense of call of the calling that his word has given us it makes us look outside of scripture for direction in our lives neglect what direction is in God's Word and lies to us that we're actually doing what

God demands among changing your perspective and guarding your heart as ways of dealing with your dreams when things go wrong we are to remember that it's never the end just like how the rain eventually stops the problems that come along as we chase the dream will into the rain will never flood your dreams and wash it away claims

Holly quote for 40 days waters flood the earth Noah and his family float on an ark wondering what will happen next in the earth story finally a rainbow appears a visual promise that God will never again flood the world yes it will rain but never again will the water overcome

I believe that promise applies to us too you will not be flooded by disappointment to the point you can no longer keep your head above water you will not be washed away without God realizing what's happening in quote page 131 to 132

SMH here if only you could have seen my face when

I read this section the promise of the rainbow does apply to us too but it's not a promise that our dreams will not be flooded away that God sees and will keep them afloat the promise is so much better he promised that he would not wipe clean the whole planet of humanity again and foretold the future arc that would save his people from the final wrath to come that's first Peter 3 18 to 22 the promise of the rainbow transcends dreams it transcends goals and hit transcends our purpose it was and is a promise that God righteously executes judgment and at the same time is gracious to save the undeserving chapter 8 how to stop sabotaging yourself sometimes it's not things outside of ourselves that hinder our

God sighs dreams but that which comes from within when this happens there are a couple things

Holly suggests we do to get us back on track one of these is to remember that we're only human quote you don't have to be afraid that your limitations will keep

God from accomplishing what he wants to do through you even Jesus grew tired got thirsty and hungry and had other human limitations what does that tell us being human is not a sin

God can and will accomplish all he wants to do in and through you your limitations won't prevent that but pushing yourself to the point of burnout just might in quote page 139 yes

Jesus humbled himself and took on flesh Hebrews 2 14 to 15 he took on human nature to perfectly completely obey and fulfill the law

Matthew 5 17 because we humans born of Adam are under a curse while being human is not a sin all of humanity is under the curse of sin this curse is what

Augustine coined as original sin we sin because we are born of Adam that's

Romans 5 12 it is our nature this is the curse that Jesus set us free from 1st

Corinthians 15 22 Romans 5 19 and Galatians 3 10 to 14 she's right that our limitations do not keep

God from doing all that pleases him but there's something worse than this our limitations keep us from God himself

Habakkuk 1 13 scripture tells us that we were dead in trespasses and sins

Ephesians 2 2 1 being dead I would say is definitely a limitation it's a limitation that keeps us from God the ultimate good he loved us so much that while we were his enemies he sent his son to reconcile us to him

John 3 16 Romans 5 7 to 8 and while dead made us alive with Christ Ephesians 2 4 this is the gospel and this is what the whole of scripture is about so I have a couple questions about these statements one our limitations won't prevent

God's work but pushing ourselves to the point of burnout just might so God's will can be prevented if we become burnt out is our burnt out stronger than God's will if God is limitless and can more than make up for what you and I are lacking wouldn't he just make it so you would never burn out or even give us strength to go through the burnout she then goes on to motivates us to simplify our life as this can be one way in preventing ourselves from sabotaging our dreams quote the goal isn't to avoid stress but instead to realize that both kinds cause withdrawals from our emotional and energy accounts what does this mean for your

God -sized dream you have made a way that naturally means that there is less to go around elsewhere in quote page 145

I completely agree that the God sized dream you feel God directing you to will take up time and energy this is another problem with this doctrine if we are not in scripture looking at what

God says his will is for us and what good works look like then we will pursue the dream and neglect

God's Word quote when you say yes to a God -sized dream you're committed committing to a significant investment in your life that means cutting back on extraneous emotional and energy expenses and other areas because many dreamers are big -picture idealist we often underestimate the cost of what we're undertaking

Jesus put it this way suppose one of you wants to build the tower won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it for if you lay the foundation and I'm not able to finish it anyone who sees it will ridicule you saying this person began to build and wasn't able to finish

Luke 14 28 to 30 these verses are talking about the cost of being a disciple and ultimately that's what we're talking about too this isn't just going after the more you want in life instead this is about saying yes to God and following him faithfully through God -sized dreams there is always a cost is it worth it oh yes but being able to finish well means as Jesus says above understanding the cost and planning for it ahead of time in quote page 145 all right so let's look at Luke 14 28 to 30 in context now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes even his own life he cannot be my disciple whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost whether he's had enough to complete it otherwise when he has laid a foundation is not able to finish all who see it begin to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what

King going out to encounter another King in war will not sit down first and debate whether he's able with 10 ,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20 ,000 and if not whether the other is yet a great way off he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace so therefore if any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple so what does

God's say is the cost of being a disciple to give up all possessions to follow

Christ except this is not what she's talking about here she's talking about giving up what we might spend our energy on that does not help us accomplish the

God -given dream holly equates discipleship with following our purpose but counting the cost to walk faithfully through God's eyes dreams is different than counting the cost to follow

Jesus see one makes us give up for a supposed purpose to which the purpose fills ourselves instead to be disciple of Christ we give up all our possessions and carry our cross laying down our lives for Jesus who tells us to love our neighbor day by day minute by minute the giving up the counting the cost is just like he said he who loses his life will gain it

Matthew 10 37 to 39 but it is a life with the goal being Christ not the

God's eyes dream which is about us and what we need to do to accomplish it Paul explains this beautifully in Philippians 3 7 to 11 whatever gain

I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord for his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain

Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death that by any means possible

I may attain the resurrection from the dead so the cost of being a disciple is our lives our energy and our efforts to gain

Christ and be found in him another way we can sabotage our dreams is by trying to go after it alone

Holly directs us to get connected to find other people who will mentor ladies who will encourage someone we can train who is just starting to pursue their dream and women who will cheer us on then she warns of who we don't need these are there are three types of people she explains that we don't need to listen to quote avoid negative people as much as possible in quote page 149 as they will shoot holes in your dreams and get you discouraged quote be ready for doubters in quote page 149 who tells you that your dream is silly or foolish and quote stand guard against bullies in quote page 150 who intentionally oppose your dream as I am the one who is critiquing this doctrine that Holly is teaching

I would definitely put myself under the bully that God says dreamers don't need and that's fine they can call me a bully if you have sat through this critique and thought this about me

I would ask am I speaking the truth are the concerns I'm bringing up based on God's Word are they legitimate does scripture instruct us to pursue the dream desire or purpose we feel

God is directing us to do or does it give us more concrete instructions to follow instructions that are not about us but about our neighbor such as our husband's children's homes etc so would

I be wrong in telling a woman who followed these doctrines to look and focus on what

God says to do in scripture instead of some dreams supposedly from God now that we know who to avoid

Holly explains that we have to decide to be on our side quote it's time to stop coming against us and instead stand with God as we say

I'm not perfect but I'm deeply loved made in God's image and have everything

I need to be all he's called me to be in quote page 151 for myself I do not have everything

I need to be all that he's called me to be I one need Christ and his righteousness to I need scripture

God's Word because it's what thoroughly equips me for all that God calls me to do it equips us for every good work 2nd

Timothy 3 16 to 17 so how about you do you have everything you need Holly also claims that what we say about ourselves matters quote when you wound yourself with your words it's the same to God as if you're doing it to someone else in your life

Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves that means all the one another statements in scripture ie be kind to one another encourage one another apply in our relationship with ourselves to research has shown that those with a healthy self -relationship are more likely to be loving to others as well humility is strength under control it's knowing who are being secure in that and then choosing to serve in quote page 152 to 153 she seems to think that we don't love ourselves scripture says differently it claims that we already love ourselves we already apply the one another statement to ourselves hence why

God has commanded us to love others in the same way we love ourselves this is the fulfillment of the law

Matthew 22 36 to 40 Romans 13 8 to 10 Galatians 5 14 scripture tells us that sin is the result of loving ourselves more than our neighbors and more than we love

God that is one of the reasons that God gave the Ten Commandments to show how we love ourselves more than others so how does this point play out well do we ever covet that's the

Tenth Commandment we covet because we love ourselves and want to what others have do we ever lie we lie because we love ourselves and want to protect ourselves in some way or another if loving and being kind to ourselves was an issue

God would tell us to do it instead he shows us that we already love ourselves and commands that the same love we have for ourselves should be given to others also where does she get her definition of humility

Google's dictionary states that humility is modest or low view of one's self importance

Wikipedia describes it as a quote sense of unworthiness a liberation from consciousness of self a form of temperance that is neither having pride nor indulging in self -deprecation in quote that's from humility definition

Wikipedia to have humility is to know the truth about ourselves in light of God's Word and put others before ourselves do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross

Philippians 2 3 to 8 in light of Scripture we know we are sinners deserving

God's wrath like the rest of humanity Ephesians 2 3 yet Christ took on the form of a servant and humbled himself obeying to the point of death so that we who would believe would receive salvation from God's wrath true humility for those who follow

Christ comes not from a healthy self relationship knowing who we are and being secure in it but is a result of knowing we deserved punishment like all the rest but trust in Christ secure in what he has done for us and serving

God by serving others so I don't know about you but the more

I went through this book the more burden I feel will be placed on those who might read this because the burden of trying to discern if God has given us dreams to which we are called to obey we must be on guard of things that will keep us from fulfilling the dream we must weigh the cost of chasing the dream making sure we simplify our lives disregard those who may try to give us discouragement even if it was to point us to Christ or scriptures instructions instead of the dream and to make sure we have a healthy relationship with ourselves instead ladies let us focus on what

God commands of us in Scripture let us count the cost to follow Jesus let us trust that nothing we do can sabotage