Dear Friends in Christ:

Happy New Year to all of you! We are living in very exciting times. Although the Bible tells us that these are perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1) these are also great days of opportunity for the Body of Christ. The Scriptures give witness to the fact that God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh in these last days, and that these are times for dreams, visions, miracles, signs, and wonders (Acts 2:17-21). As this year begins I want to challenge you to think bigger and to expect bigger than you ever have before.

Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20 tells us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that works in us. Whatever the dreams or visions that are burning in your heart God wants to outdo that. He wants to do bigger and better things than we have ever experienced. But it won’t happen automatically without our cooperation. We need to prepare ourselves and to position ourselves to step into this move of God. It’s not only up to God what happens in our lives. He has a plan and His path for us has been determined according to that plan yet we must apply ourselves in faith and obedience in order to live it out.

A good example of this is what God spoke to Joshua as they prepared to enter the promised land. Joshua 1:3 records these words, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you”. That sounds to me like God is giving Joshua a challenge. Basically, He is saying I will back you up as far as you are willing to go. If you have faith enough for 10 steps I’ll give you that much land. If you have faith enough for 100 steps I’ll give you that much land. If you have faith enough for 100 miles I’ll give you that much but you’re going to have to show me by putting your foot on it. As far as you’re willing to go that’s as far as God is willing to take us. So you see it’s a partnership. It’s not only up to God nor is it only up to us. We get to choose by revealing what is in our hearts. And what is in our hearts is revealed by the actions we take.

I think about when we were children and someone would dare you to do something. Maybe it was a silly thing like jumping over a fence or chewing a whole pack of bubble-gum and you knew deep down that you could handle it. But maybe there was a little uncertainty that made you kind of afraid of losing face. The more you hesitated the more the other kids would press you to do it. “Aw, c’mon! You’re just chicken! You can’t do it.” they would say. Then came the clincher. Someone would double-dog dare you. You could pass up just an ordinary dare but not a double-dog dare! All of a sudden you found some inner strength to rise above your fears and doubts and you overcame with courage.

That’s just a silly example but I really feel like that’s sort of what God is saying to us in this hour. The heart of God is saying, “I double-dog dare you to dream big and to think big, because as big as you can imagine I’m going to do better than that. I’ve got some things up my sleeve like you’ve never seen that I can’t wait to show you”. He just needs someone to trust Him and open the door of faith so He can show Himself strong on their behalf.

Let’s be those kind of people. Let’s dare to think big in these awesome times we live in. Get your faith out there and pray bigger than you ever have. Get your faith out there and believe more than you ever have. Get your faith out there and let God use you in a greater measure than ever before. Now is the time and we are the people. I double-dog dare you!

For His Name,

John Merola