The Tailored Life Sample

The Tailored Life I remember when I first started writing Tailored Dreams. I knew God was leading me to write a book, but couldn’t figure out what type of book to write. I didn’t feel accomplished enough to write an autobiography, and I wanted to make sure that I was writing something that other people might enjoy. Then one day during a conversation about this book, that at the time didn’t even have a name, she said something that opened my eyes. “What are you known for?” she said, and I said confidently, "I’m an encourager. I believe God gave me a gift to encourage people." “Then write about that,” she exclaimed. Sounds simple, write about what you know about. Tailored Dreams is a book I’m quite proud of, because it helps people figure out purpose, but not just plain old ordinary purpose, God’s Purpose. He gives us all gifts. He plants seeds in us. He tailors us. The Tailored Life is about living in that place, living the life God intended for you to live when he created you. I challenge you to do what YOU are known for. You are the star in the story of your life. God is the writer and director. This reading plan will challenge your thought process, because your thoughts control your actions, and your entire life is made up of actions. We want that life and those thoughts and actions to always be tailored by God. We all have the power to dream. We all naturally want to be better and not bitter. We want to accomplish what God has predestined for us, but how. One of the biggest adversaries to our dreams and to our faith is our own thoughts. Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." Another popular quote on this topic is by Robert H. Schuller and says, “The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking.” In this reading plan, I will build on principles I talked about in a previous plan, titled Tailored Dreams. These principles can also be found in my book by the same name. Dreaming is a beautiful thing, but without the correct thought process they will remain stagnant. Your thoughts are the fuel for your dreams. Your thoughts cause you to either move closer or further away from converting dreams into reality. So a Tailored Dream without Tailored Thoughts is like a luxury car without gas; it looks good but won't take you anywhere. If you aren't sure what a Tailored Dream is, let me give you a great biblical example of a Tailored Dream. The story of Joseph provides a perfect example. We have all heard this story before his tumultuous road realizing the dream he had as a boy, took him from a pit, to a rich man's house, to a prison cell falsely accused of a crime he did not commit, to betrayal again by a baker and a cupbearer, and then to a high position in Pharaoh's court. God gave me a revelation that Joseph did not have an ordinary dream; he had a Tailored Dream, a dream that is steeped in the will of God. This kind of dream is never easy to accomplish, but at the same time it is impossible to fail, because it's God who is doing the tailoring. What we think is testing or suffering is really God tailoring our dreams. It is God using the difference between his will and our will as the measuring tape, as he combines grace and mercy as the fabric for the tailoring of your dreams. He uses failures as chalk to create the pattern that he uses to guide us with his hand as he begins to cut out our dream. Then he uses your faith as the thread and his holy spirit as the needle to sew it all together. You must fall in love with the process in order to be a Tailored Dreamer. You have to find a praise in the pain, see his selection, in rejection, and glory in knowing that though it's hard now, it will get greater later! What are you thinking about? Are your thoughts providing fuel for your dreams, or starving your dreams? I encourage you to commit to finishing this plan as we deal with the deadliest enemy to our success and God's will for our lives; our own thoughts. Prayer starter: Father, today I ask that you align my thoughts with your thoughts, and my ways with your ways. Help me to overcome negative thoughts and to cast down any thought that contradicts your will for my life. I am not a failure. I am a person, who has failed, that serves a God that can never fail. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Go to www.danielchristianbradley.com to purchase your copy of Tailored Dreams or to subscribe to The Tailored Life Blog