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Dear Saddleback Family,

In last weekend's message, Pastor Rick unlocked the tools for a healthy imagination. As you go through your week use the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you learned into practice.

If you missed this message, click here to watch it online.

DARING TO IMAGINE
Daring Faith: The Key To Miracles – Part 4

Exercise your faith and God given imagination by asking yourself questions and then acting on each of the eight truths Pastor Rick taught us this weekend.

1. My imagination shapes my life.
   . . . For as a man thinks in his heart, so he is.    
   Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)
   
   Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. 
   Proverbs 4:23 (TEV)
   
   How has your imagination been shaping you the last few months?
2. Imagination is essential to living by faith
   What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.                                                      
   Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
   
   We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.
   2 Corinthians 4:18 (NCV)
   
   What do you have the confident assurance God is wanting to do through your life?
3. Great lives are built around great dreams
   May God enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see the hope that his calling holds for you.                                   
   Ephesians 1:18 (NJB)
   
   Where there is no vision, the people perish . . .
   Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) 
   
   What is the biggest thing you can imagine God doing with your life?
4. God's Dream for my life is bigger than my dream.
   God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by his Spirit working deeply and gently within us.
   Ephesians 3:20 (Mes)
   
   Does God have a dream for your life that's bigger than your dream, maybe bigger than the dream you just wrote down in question 3?
5. Doubt is the enemy of imagination
    If you need wisdom, just ask God for it, because He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. But when you ask God, you must believe in faith and not doubt. For a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven back and forth, and tossed about by the wind.  Such doubters cannot decide       about anything they do, so they should not imagine receiving anything from the Lord.                  
   James 1:5-7
   
   The man said, 'Please heal my son if you can.'  Jesus replied, 'What do you mean, "If I can?" Anything is possible IF a person believes.' The father replied, 'I do believe, but help me not to doubt!'
   Mark 9:22-24 (NLT)
   
   What are the doubts you are facing? Tell them to God, and ask him to help you to have wisdom even with your doubts.
6. God's Spirit & God's Word fuel my imagination.
   "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever. That helper is the Spirit of Truth . . . you know him because he lives with you and will be IN you!"                      
   John 14:16-17 (GW)
   
   Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your law . . . Help me understand the meaning of your commandments, and I will meditate on your wonderful miracles."
   Psalm 119:18, 27 (NLT)
   
   Do you need to make a fresh commitment to a daily quiet time of reading the Bible and praying?
7. Growing my character will clarify my vision
   To your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add patience; and to your patience, add service for God; and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love for everyone. IF all these things are in you and are growing, they will help you to be useful and productive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But anyone who does not have these things cannot see clearly.                                                
   2 Peter 1:5-9 (NCV)  
   
   What character quality do you feel God is challenging you to strengthen?
8. If a dream is from God, it will be connected somehow to His Church & Plan for the World
   "If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life."                 
   Mark 8:35 (NLT)
   
   How is your dream connected to His Church and plan for the world?
   Finally, ask yourself the three questions Pastor Rick challenged us with at the end of the messag3
   
   What if?
   Why not?
   Why not me?