I Believe In Dreams
I believe in dreams.
Not just the kind of dreams that are a vision for your future that you want to achieve. I actually believe the dreams you dream at night are sometimes the communication of Heaven to your life.
That means the dreams you dream are sometimes God talking to you.
Why do I believe that? Well, the book of Job (33:14-18) says this:
For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds,
then he opens the ears of men
and terrifies them with warnings,that he may turn man aside from his deed
and conceal pride from a man;
he keeps back his soul from the pit,
his life from perishing by the sword.
So God uses dreams to get our attention. He uses them to connect to us when we’ve been so busy we haven’t been attending to His voice. He uses our sleep to speak to us about our lives, if we’d only hear it.
I also believe in dreams because God has used them so consistently in the past. He’s used them with Joseph in Egypt, Daniel and the pagan Kings of Babylon, Joseph (Jesus’ father),and others in the Bible. It’s also a way He promised to speak to us after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Wolfgang Simson says that the bed may be the most prophetic place on the planet for human beings. Most of the time, however, we ignore what we see in dreams because we don’t believe they carry messages from Heaven. They do, if we are willing to seek God out for what those messages are.
In my own life, there have been numerous times Jesus has shifted the direction of my life or spoken into a situation through a dream He’s given to me or a dream He’s given to a friend of mine about me. Many dreams have cleared up confusion about a situation I’ve found myself in. Some have foretold things to come. Some have just drawn me closer to Jesus. The fruit has been healthy and well worth the journey.
I also believe dreams are a reality we’re all called to experience. I believe you can go to bed tonight and God can begin speaking to you in away you’ve never imagined. If you’re still reading this, I pray tonight God begins to speak in your dreams and that tomorrow morning you wake up with direction you could have never imagined. Take a notebook with you and write like mad anything you dream about. Then when you wake up, pray about what you remember.
The tricky part comes when we believe in dreams. Because once we believe that God is communicating to us, we become accountable for the messages God is hand delivering to our nocturnal in-box. We get to live the dream.
If you’ve had a dream that God spoke to you clearly in, leave a message in the comment section below.
Photo Credit: Dreams and Thoughts by Paul-simson.org
You Might Be A Five-Fold Ministry If…
It’s no secret around here that I strongly believe in having all of the gifts described in Ephesians 4:7-11 functioning in a body of believers. To that end, I’ve developed a little test to help you, yes YOU, determine what your “five-fold” or APEST gifting is. Are you ready?
If you are living on a mission from Jesus and fathering others…. you are a Christian.
If you hear God’s voice well enough to declare it to others…. you are a Christian.
If you love to tell lost people about Jesus and have success in making disciples…. you are a Christian.
If you love and care for God’s people on an intimate level…. you are a Christian.
If you know how to teach in a way that gives people understanding of Jesus and His purposes…. (Say it with me everyone!) you are a Christian.
But…
If you are equipping other believers to live on mission and father others….or if you are training other believers to hear God’s voice…or if you are equipping younger believers to reach their friends….or you are giving other believers the skills to care for hurting believers….or you are helping believers teach others….well….you get the idea.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it says,
‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.’(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… Ephesians 4:7-13
The Lost Parable of Jesus
I have this theory that different types of Christians like different sets of parables. Truly evangelical believers love the parables of Matthew 13. End time-focused believers love the parables of Matthew 24 and 25. The list can go on. I suppose you should expect this because each segment of Christians you meet are called by God to manifest a different aspect of Christ.
I have this other theory that a parable in Luke 14 is one of the forgotten parables of Jesus.
It’s sad to me though, because this parable gives one of the most practical instructions on how to manage yourself with humility in a gathering you’ve been invited to. (I think it’s important to note that I believe Jesus would teach something very different if He were teaching you how to host a gathering. Don’t apply Jesus’ lesson on being a guest to the idea of leading or hosting.) Over and over I see believers not put this wisdom into practice.
Below you’ll find the parable in it’s entirety. It’s better if you read it and apply it to your own life. But this time, read the parable as if Jesus meant you to apply this idea in any event you’ve been invited into. How would it change how you act?
And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,
When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,
and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.
But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Now that you’ve read the parable, where does it apply to your life? Are there other places (i.e. like when you’re hosting or leading) where this wisdom won’t work?
Photo Credit: Parables Notebooking by jimmiehomeschoolmom
Cluster Map
