I Dreamed a Dream

When I awoke this morning, I woke with a feeling of uneasiness.  I very seldom remember my dreams but this morning the pictures in my mind were very clear.  I had been dreaming just prior to awakening.  I thought about the scenes and just had to write down what I remembered and what the pictures in my mind seemed to mean to me. 

My Christian friend, and former nurse co-worker CC, and I were in a subway station.  In order to get our tickets we each had to fill out a form.  We filled them out and handed them to the man in the ticket booth. I paid him $15.00 cash for the two tickets.  Everything seemed to be vague and in confusion around us.  Only CC, the ticket taker, and I were in focus.  I think the haziness of the area around us was what gave me the unsettled feeling which I felt when I woke up.  I was carrying a bouquet of white flowers.  The ticket man wanted to take them away from me.  I refused and covered them by wrapping them in a scarf which I took from around my neck.  Some small blossoms came off the flower bunch and fell in two rows on a shelf in front of the ticket booth.  I looked at them and left them there.  Then the ticket man offered me another stemmed flower.  It was a wilting white and purple flecked lily.  I refused to take it.  At that point my dream was over.  I woke up.  I started to brew my coffee and sat quietly to reflect upon the dream which I dreamed. 

I ask myself, “Why was this dream so clear when I do not unusually even remember my dreams”? 

1-CC and I were both very sure of where we were going.

2-We did what we had to do to get to our destination.   We filled out the forms and paid for the tickets.

3-I wasn’t willing to give up my flowers.  I wrapped them and protected them.

4-Some small budded flowers had to be left behind.

5- Everything around us was hazy and vague with a sense of business and confusion.

6-We refused to take the wilting stemmed lily with us.

Could the following thoughts explain these 6 points?

1-Eternal Salvation.  CC and I are sure of our eternal destination.

2-Jesus has already paid the price for our entrance into eternity.  We will trust and obey.  We will do what He asks.  We will be obedient and generous.  We are living in God’s will and plan and He will be glorified in and through our lives.   

3-The only treasures that we will be able to take with us into eternity are our family members and others who know Christ as their Savior.

4-We do not want anyone to miss the train to eternity.  We do not want anyone to be left in the world without the hope of Eternity.  God convicts us.  We choose to believe or not to believe.

5- Living in the world, not knowing God by choice or because no one has shared God’s Love in Christ with them causes confusion and a sense of being lost.  The lost are busy without purpose or priorities.  They ask, “What is life all about”?  We can tell them!

6-“Now is the Day of Salvation”(2Corinthians 6:2).  Tomorrow, in earthly time, may never come.

All are welcome into the Kingdom of God; individuals from all nations, all races, all backgrounds, and all economic positions.  Our outward appearances or positions in life have nothing to do with our inward, heartfelt relationship and connection to the one and only True God, the Creator of all.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  If we “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, and our household” (Acts 16:31).  I believe God’s promises.  I find these promises in His word.  I love the Lord, His word, and His promises.  My heart has been convicted by His Holy Spirit.  It is not formal religion or a denomination that I am talking about.  I speak of a personal relationship with a personal God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  I believe and I have received Him into my heart.  May He keep filling my human spirit with His Holy Spirit as I study His Word and draw nearer to Him.  I feel His presence and am in constant communication with Him in prayer, praise, worship, and thanksgiving.

He is omnipresent with me.  I know He can speak to me in my dreams.  He wants my life to be a witness for Him.  This dream convicts my heart and gives me a sense of urgency to share my Lord with others.  I am better at writing then speaking so this blog is an attempt to tell others about God’s Love; a love which I have experienced personally.  God IS standing at the door of your heart knocking.  Ask Him in.  If you are right and He is not who He says He is; you have lost nothing.  If He IS who He claims to be in His Word, and if “NOW IS the day of Salvation”, you have gained everything.  He WILL make His presence known and your life will never be the same. 

Lord, give me obedience and boldness to do your will and proclaim your plan of Salvation to those I love and to those you place in my life and on my path.  May you be glorified in my witness and in my life.  Amen   

God's Spirit Speaking to My Spirit Through His Word

Last Night, each time I woke up, the words “Psalm 107” would come to my mind.  I went directly to that Psalm when I got up this morning.  God is speaking to each of us.  I will be writing about what He said to me.  In the words of the Psalm, God told me that His mercy endures forever.  He is good and He tells me to always give thanks. 

He reminds me about His redeemed, whom He has gathered from their wandering in the wilderness.  This is the condition of each of us prior to receiving His gift of faith.  We are hungry and thirsty and our souls faint.  As the Israelites cried out to the Lord in their trouble, He delivered them, and He has delivered me.  He leads me and is my dwelling place.  He satisfies my longing soul.  He fills my hungering soul with goodness. 

Not wanting to know God keeps one in darkness and in the shadow of death.  God does not want us to rebel against His Word nor despise His counsel.  He is the Most High and He saves us out of our trouble, afflictions, and distress.  When we believe, He breaks the chains that bind us and He brings us out of darkness.  Our spirits are reborn into His light.  I thank Him for being my light and my salvation.  My spiritual eyes and ears have been opened so that I can see my life and the circumstances of life with a greater understanding and in a greater dimension.  This is my understanding of what I read in verses 1 through 15. 

Verses 16 through 19 speak about God breaking the gates of bronze, and cutting the bars of iron in two.  I have been attending a Bible study on the book of Daniel. Are these verses prophesying about the times of the Greek and the Roman Empires?  At this time Israel was under the rule of the Roman Empire and was being afflicted because of its iniquities and unfaithfulness to God.  The people cried out to God and He saved them from their distress.  He also does this for us when we cry out to Him in our afflictions.    He hears our prayers and our pleas and He will rescue us.  As I looked into the meaning of "gates of bronze and bars of iron" most saw them as God tearing down the prison gates and the walls which bind His people.  Verse 20 says, “He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions”.   Could this verse be talking about Jesus, The Word?  We do see Jesus in the Psalms.  Read Psalm 22.    God’s Word is fascinating and life changing.  If you haven’t experienced it for yourself, start by reading the Psalms and the Proverbs.  The more I learn, the more I realize how much more God wants to teach me.  Learning the Word increases my faith (Romans 10:17).   

The author of Psalm 107 is unknown.  It was written to celebrate the Jew’s return from exile in Babylon.  There are times when God allows us to go into exile where He can get our attention.  During those times we draw closer to the only One who can help us through, and deliver us.  This Psalm goes on to talk about God’s goodness and His wonderful works.  We see the works of God in nature.  God asks us to come to Him rejoicing and telling others about His goodness.  He wants us to come to Him with praise and thanksgiving.  In the last verse of Psalm 107, verse 43, we read, “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord”.  God increases my understanding as I read His Word and walk in his presence.