Dream In Soul – Creativity for the Kingdom:

“I’m born to go where they tell me it’s impossible, fan the flame and walk on the water – I’ve got Heaven locked up in these bones…” – JOHNNYSWIM

JOHNNYSWIM is a soul-folk-pop duo composed of Amanda Sudano and Abner Ramirez, who create moving experiences through their unique passion-infused sound and poetic lyrical artistry that delves deep into the soul (think Lauryn Hill meets John Mayer as one Nashville newspaper put it) – if you haven’t heard of them yet you’re missing out!

“Heart Beats” is from their new EP of the same title which features more of my favorites including the inspiring “Make” and “Don’t Let It Get You Down,” which you can listen to below in live performances. Be sure to sample and get the EP at their site johnnyswim.com.

In this interview with Top 3 worship leader BJ Putnam gives great wisdom on embracing and staying faithful to your calling:

There could be that one decision that changes our lives and makes us realize the importance of trusting our Father’s Dream for us…

Here’s a special Dream in Soul Creative Project, part of the I Am Second Spoken Word Challenge – maybe you can relate to my story of finding my true Identity, watch the video below: The Prodigal Daughter Prologue


Featured in this Video: The “What Does it Profit a Man to Gain the World but Lose His Soul” T-Shirt from Dream in Soul Creative Apparel.

Carisha Davis shares encouragement on holding firm to the promises God has for us even when they seem faint and far away…

By definition, the word dilute means to make thinner or weaker by the addition of water or something like it, to make fainter, or to reduce strength. When something is diluted, the potency that it has in its original state is stripped and it is reduced to something weaker, something reducing its strength and capabilities. When we dilute God’s dreams and provisions for us we do that same thing, we thin out and weaken his ultimate dream and provision, pathways that he has set out for us, because we find a cheaper alternative. We settle and we prematurely walk into his plans for us because we take the more reasonable offers.

The full strength solution is his perfect will, the diluted alternative is the enemy’s provision, his presentation of an alternative that is seemingly similar to what God has for us, yet lacking what has truly been set out for us. When we think we are being humble and more reasonable and accept less than his best, we are actually denouncing the greatness and majesty of our Father God. It is easy to settle. Let’s just face it: Our flesh gets tired! We get so tired of waiting out his will and we find the more “reasonable” offer because it might be the best we can get, yet if we would simply wait on him to allot us his provision, we would find that in every situation he would send us his undiluted, full strength best for our lives.

When we dilute what he has promised to us, we ultimately settle, as that is exactly what diluting or watering down our dreams or prayers is doing. Some may argue differently, but we are saying to God that he is not worth the wait, “I’ll take the watered down version instead, Lord.” One of my favorite analogies about this concept is one that I have written about many times and that is the one about the blue prints of life. I picture it like this: When we get to heaven and stand before the King he will have a blueprint of our life in his hand. But in my opinion, the greatest tragedy would be to get there and he present up two blueprints: His and ours. The greatest blessing in my opinion would be for him to pick up just one, the one that he started and finished in our lives and the one in which we submitted to and followed. God wouldn’t risk his reputation on us. The scriptures tell us that he is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19). Whatever he has allotted and set out for you, no man can take away. I am going to say that again and I want you to let it settle in your spirit this time:

Whatever God has allotted and set out for you, no man can take away.

Don’t dilute his plans or water down his provisions and plans to an easier and less potent version that you can ingest prematurely. I remember as a little girl my mom would dilute cough syrups or medicines sometimes to “weaken” the potency, to make it more suitable for me as a child. It is the same with the things of God. We dilute our dreams, we water them down and kill the potency so we can get them as undeveloped children now, rather than wait on God and mature a little bit and eventually receive the full strength dreams. Naturally as I got older, mom didn’t have to dilute anything. She just gave me the cough syrup or medicine, full strength, and that was that. It took time for me to be ready for the full strength, just as it takes time for God to release to us the full strength- the complete dream, the complete release of provision, the complete permission to enter the pathway that he has set for us.

I am going to leave you with this. About a week or so I was driving and ranting to God about something that I had asked for that I felt like I should have already received. I remember saying exactly this: Gosh God, I never seem to be able to get…, when the Lord ministered to me right there a word that shut me up that afternoon and has kept me quiet since. The Lord said:

“Daughter, you are so focused on what you have never had, yet if you shifted your perspective you would see that I am trying to give you something that you have never had, but even more than that, something that has never been.”

He wants to do the same for you.

More from Carisha Davis

Carisha blogs about life and faith at Ramblings of a Ragamuffin Saved by Grace

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Check out some of Carisha’s other recent posts on her blog that are sure to encourage and inspire you:

Lame Expectations
The word tells us of course in James 4:3 that we have not because we expect not… Continue Reading

Target Practice: A Quick Word of Encouragement
“He often cried. He also played his harp a great deal. He had a good voice, so he often sang… Continue Reading

There’s a Blessing in the NOs
A ‘NO’ from God is one of the greatest blessings that he can honor us with… Continue Reading

The Terrorist Called Disqualification
One of the greatest lies that the enemy can tell us is that we are disqualified… Continue Reading

Relationships/Dating: Are Scars and Past Hurts Keeping you From Loving Again?
We all have scars. Scars are our stories. Scars are our testimonies. Scars can be the result of positive or negative experiences from our past; but I like to look at them as survival stripes… Continue Reading

About Carisha Davis

If I could describe myself I would say that the phrase ragamuffin saved by grace is truly who I am. Although I love to speak through my writing, I am an introvert and extremely contemplative. I am an artist and an avid thrifter and dumpster diver, as I love to find old things and restore or refurbish them. I believe in always seeing others for who they can and will become, because that is how God has always seen me. Love God and love people is my mantra. My mission in life is to love God and love people; as well as to inspire, encourage, and do my best to leave a piece of heaven with everyone I come in contact with all the days of my life.

We love supporting others’ dreams here at Dream in Soul and SOAR, and this is a project we encourage YOU to support, from an artist that inspires.

Lynn Cifuentes kicked off a Kickstarter project to help fund for her Staring at the Sky EP, her first release. I first came upon Lynn’s Youtube videos a few months back and was inspired by her moving covers and recently original songs that she’s shared. Here’s what Lynn says about her upcoming project that she needs your help to produce:

Note from Lynn on Staring at the Sky

Hey Everyone!

I am so excited about the great opportunity that I have before me to make this lifelong dream of mine a reality. With your help WE can make this record happen. The EP titled “Staring at the Sky” comes from a very deep place within my heart. It was the tragic death of a very dear friend Timmy in 2008 that got me questioning God about who I am and what purpose I serve in this life. I turned to my journal and started writing down my feelings, anything I read, heard or felt bled out of my pen and onto the pages. It was my way of dealing with my feelings and those simple words turned into melodies and it was as though music and writing were the only two things I was absolutely sure of. I started looking deeper within myself and cried out to God one night and I distinctly remember Him reminding me that my life had a purpose and I would only discover it in Him. That purpose was to just WORSHIP. So I linked up with my pianist and my simple words became songs that I hope will be a blessing to everyone that hears them, and brings worship to the heart of God.

This EP contains 7 tracks that are a mixture of love songs to God as well as worship. This will be my first ever EP and it’s an exciting season of my life, one that requires that I place my complete trust in God. After searching for the right producer I found one who understands the vision and passion I have for this EP. He is located in Nashville, TN and if I accomplish my goal of $5,000 (with your help, of course) I will be able to lay down my vocals, pay for studio musicians, pay the producer and ultimately have a mix and mastered product.

The goal of reaching $5,000 when you look at it, it looks intimidating and at first I thought “Wow, this is too much”. The truth is, it’s not. I believe that if you have a desire in your heart and God places a Dream in you, then you should give Him everything you’ve got to reach the places that He’s carved out for each of us. I want the production of my work to reflect the gift that The Lord has given me and for Him to get the glory for it.

As I write to you all and I reflect on the start of this journey I can’t help but to be thankful and feel blessed. I never thought that I would find the courage to even create this Kickstarter page and invite all of you into the journey with me. I know that this whole thing is a result of Gods leading on my life and that I truly am nothing without His grace.

So with your faith in me and my faith in God we can make this a reality. My motto lately is DreamBIG and I truly believe in this, so if you have dreams, then I pray you do something about it and make it happen 😉

Thanks for reading.

God Bless,

-Lynn

Click here to visit Lynn’s Kickstarter project page and show your support with any amount that you’re led to give. Keep following your dreams Lynn, you’re an encouragement to others to do the same!

Check out some of my faves from Lynn’s Youtube channel a cover of “I See Heaven / Holy Spirit” by Bryan & Katie Torwalt and the first video I came across from her, a cover of Kari Jobe’s “I Know You Are For Me”: