Dream In Soul – Creativity for the Kingdom:

“Be patient, work on yourself…what is your purpose? Be passionate about that and get yourself ready because when God brings you the right person you have to then be able to receive them…no person is going to be able to fill you up.” – DeVon Franklin

Being a twenty-something myself, love is one of the most popular topics among my peers and I (and the theme of many a Facebook status update announcing friends’ engagements and nuptials and reminding singles of their status – thanks alot Mark Zuckerberg;).

For our first Dreaming of Love Inspiration Interview I spoke to DeVon Franklin who is Senior Vice President of Columbia Tristar Pictures and author of the bestselling book Produced by Faith (one of my favorite books about pursuing your purpose and divine dreams featured previously on Dream in Soul, and his wife Meagan Good a talented actress from movies such as “Jumping the Broom” and “Think Like a Man.” In the first part of their interview they give advice to singles on purpose and preparing for a mate, and talk about the book they are writing together on waiting.

Stay tuned for more from DeVon and Meagan and other inspiration and resources on relationships in the Dreaming of Love Series at DreaminSoul.com.

Last year DeVon and Meagan shared their story and advice to other couples and singles at a special service “Kingdom Love” at One Church International hosted by Pastor Touré Roberts (author of the book Purpose Awakening). Watch them share their hearts in a raw and real way below:

More from the Dreaming of Love Series Coming Soon! Be inspired by these posts on Love and Waiting:

A Note from Dream in Soul Editor Julene

God writes the best #Love stories – you don’t have to strive, compare, or hold on to someone who doesn’t treat you how you’re worth. You are worthy not because of the physical or material, anything you did or didn’t but because of Whose you are…

You’re already affirmed by He who wonderfully made you in and for Love. When He desires to bring people together in & on purpose He will do it intricately, strikingly and beautifully beyond anything we can imagine or dream for reasons deeper than we realize. Keep your eyes on Him – He’s our true eternal prize. There is no greater Love. – Julene Fleurmond, Editor of Dream in Soul

More from the Editor’s Journal:

How He Loves…Always

He loves me?

Sometimes experiencing what we call romance in this world leaves us wondering what love truly is. You feel that happy pounding and patter in your chest when he reveals a bouquet of roses and candy. Getting hurt though can peel away the layers of our hearts, like someone plucking the petals from a flower…

Want some more inspiration on Dreams and Purpose? Check out these past Dream in Soul Interviews:

A Shining Living Miracle: Interview & Inspiration from Life Coach & Speaker Evelina Solis of Sol2Soul

Evelina inspires others to surrender to God and live with purpose in the darker places of life…

Read More »

Art Lessons From God: Interview with Visual Artist Tony Snipes Founder of ALFG & Kreative Kingdom

Tony Snipes, a visual artist and founder of Kreative Kingdom, gives advice to other artists on discovering their creative purpose…

Read More »

SOAR Interview With Jenna Lucado Bishop – Dreaming On In Life & Faith

Jenna Lucado Bishop talks about her role on the Revolve Tour and gives advice on God-given dreams and serving Him right where you are…

Read More »

Charting Out the Master’s Plan: Interview with Kirk Franklin On His Book The Blueprint

Kirk Franklin speaks to Dream in Soul about The Blueprint for standing firm in life’s storms…

Read More »

Through any trial you’ve been through, the harvest and lives you can impact because of what you endured is greater than the dry season you experienced. You may have been squeezed by circumstances & confused by people who seemed to leave your life – but it had purpose beyond what you can see.

In my quiet time I heard “the desert purified your praise and depth of your love.” I know it’s a word of encouragement for someone else too. Restoration and new beginnings – that’s what I believe for you this year and beyond…

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

You survived and are stronger, your spirit is more resilient than you know. Suddenly surprises & the fruition of dreams & tears you sowed lay ahead…it’s winter but springs are coming, baby! Seek your Father and you’ll find Love, fulfillment, clarity, direction, new creativity & all you need… Your story is powerful and sharing it can influence the lives of many, bringing refreshing hope to others. Dreams bloom in due season for purposes deeper than you can imagine and you were made to Flourish for such a time as this – dare to step boldly into your purpose and nourish your divine dreams…

– Julene, Editor DreaminSoul.com

Below – Dream in Soul Creative Expression: Be Inspired by a Poem I Wrote As Encouragement for Dreamers On Overcoming and Understanding the Wilderness

God is calling us higher in this season and is doing a new thing on the Earth – will you be part of it. This year make a commitment to pursuing your purpose intentionally and boldly…

Pastor Touré Roberts of One Church LA (which we have featured in our previous “Ministry Watch” and “Message Pick” features) and author of the soon to be released book “Purpose Awakening” has launched a special free 12-week online coaching course called “Preparing for Purpose” to help you engage in your calling. I’ve been blessed by the encouragement and wisdom Pastor Touré has shared for years now and this course has been giving me keys to focus on as God leads me deeper into my calling this year.

At the end of 2013 I felt disconnected from my purpose, stuck and with a lack of clarity in how to move forward on the visions God has given me, and discouraged because of feeling isolated and not seeing the seeds I’d sown come to fruition in the ways I expected. Listening to various messages from Pastor Touré and starting the “Preparing for Purpose” series has renewed my hope that the past years of pain and trial have been preparing me for the purpose God is continuously unveiling in my life. I’ve really resonated with this series and the topics that have been covered, from “Vision,” “Discipline,” “Finding your Tribe,” “Preparation,” to “Embracing Change,” these are all areas I’ve found important to develop in my own journey of living out destiny. Pastor Touré will teach you how seeking God and taking steps revealed by Him will lead you in the right direction.

Pastor Touré shares both motivation and practical steps you can take to truly make the course relevant to your life and divine dreams. I encourage you to do the reflection exercises and really delve into the questions, writing down the vision and making it plain so you have something of substance you and your purpose tribe can run with. Check out the video introduction to the series above and visit ToureRoberts.com to join the course.

Watch the first video of the “Preparing for Purpose” series “Vision” below and click here to see the following weeks’ videos and exercises:

“Every life began as an epic idea.”

Purpose Awakening: Discover the Epic Idea that Motivated Your Birth

Click here to pre-order the book Purpose Awakening that releases March 18th.

PURPOSE AWAKENING, the breakout book of international speaker Touré Roberts, is about that transformational moment when you are awakened to the purpose of your life. Your life began with a brilliant thought in God’s mind. Your purpose, therefore, is the awakening to that thought. In this groundbreaking book, Touré introduces a new way to perceive the meaning of purpose. As he says: “You don’t find purpose; purpose finds you.” In fact, purpose conceived you; it was the catalyst for your birth.

This thought-provoking book opens with the revolutionary concept that “Every life began as an epic idea.” This new way of finding your purpose will empower you and change your life forever. You haven’t even begun to live until you find out why you are here.

Touré uses personal stories, humor, and eye-opening analogies to take you on a transformational journey. You will learn how to discover your unique purpose, know God’s voice, identify and choose purpose mates, end wrong relationships, put an end to fear, grow your faith, and so much more.

PURPOSE AWAKENING will also give you a relatable and practical guide that will instill confidence, peace, and fulfillment by demystifying the journey to purpose, and enabling you to discover your own unique awakening. Being more than just a “feel good book,” PURPOSE AWAKENING provides true direction and gives parameters that guide the purpose-seeker. It will set you on a life-changing course to discovering the good idea concerning your life and the joys of seeing it fulfilled.

Click here to pre-order the book Purpose Awakening that releases March 18th.

“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.

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.