DREAMS AND VISIONS

Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Ecclesiastes 5:3,7
For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words... For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also many vanities; BUT FEAR THOU GOD.

When we talk about dreams, the song "Dream the impossible dream" pops up in my mind. When we hear the Commencement speeches to graduates, there is always a reference to "living your dream". We all dream dreams and we all see visions, so we set our course to fulfill our dream and live the vision. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE DREAMS AND THE VISIONS? Shouldn't we ask that question before we hop on the train of our dreams?
When I am traveling, I want to know the beginning and the ending of the trip and all the little stops along the way? Life is a journey, so before we move out on the path of that dream and vision, it is logical to ask "What is the source?"
There are three sources of dreams and visions: Carnal, which is your own wishful thinking; Demonic, which is from the dark side; and GOD given, which is always true, righteous and good.
Notice in the verses quoted, that "vanity" plays a part in our dreams. The carnal person will seek vain things and will build their lifestyle upon vain imaginations. These dreams are a house of cards which the winds of time blow down. They are like the man who built his house on the sand; when the rains came and the floods, the house fell.
Vanity inflates the ego and excites the possibility of greatness and achievement through human effort. This sounds ok, to the naive hearer, so many follow this road and work hard, only to find that their labor has not lead them to their desired end, so they are disappointed.
The last phrase of the quoted verses from Ecclesiastes tells us how to focus our life, not on dreams BUT ON GOD. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. A wise person does not follow whims and fancies, hoping for the best; a wise person asks of GOD and follows the path He sets for them.
Before GOD formed us in the womb, He knew us; we are a part of His great plan for humanity. To walk the journey of GOD'S plan for your life, KNOW HIM and follow Him, He will direct your path.

DREAMS AND VISIONS

Monday, June 7, 2010
Joel 2:28,29 and Acts 2:17,18
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. (Joel 2: 28,29)
And it shall come to pass in the LAST DAYS, saith GOD; I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams; and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.(Acts 2: 17,18)

Today, begins a week of daily devotions on DREAMS AND VISIONS. We will discuss many Scriptures on this subject and define tools of discernment for understanding dreams and visions, whether they are of GOD, of our self, or of the devil. First, we must understand that dreams and visions are a part of the outpouring of GOD, the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of time, increasing to the great outpouring at Pentecost, through today and forward to the coming of Jesus.

I quoted the two Scriptures, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament, to underscore the fact that GOD has spoken these words for all times, not just for the time in which they were spoken. We are in the LAST DAYS, and so we look for this Word of the LORD to manifest itself in our Church, in our Christian friends and in ourselves. Notice in the Acts Scripture, the LORD GOD says: "and on MY servants and on MY handmaidens I will pour out in those days of MY Spirit." This tells me that those who are born again, believers in JESUS Christ, will be the ones upon whom the Holy Spirit will fill. This tells me that there are steps of preparation for the infilling of the Holy Spirit: 1. Born again; 2. Baptized into Christ; 3. Servants/handmaidens of GOD; 4. Filled with the Holy Spirit.

JESUS paid the price for our salvation with His own Blood, without His Blood on the Mercy Seat in the Heaven-Temple, we would be lost. Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST and you shall be saved, you and your household. Salvation is the first order of business. When we are saved, we need to be washed clean of all our sins. When we are washed, we become a new creation, old things are passed away, behold, all things become new. This new person is a servant/handmaiden of the GOD. GOD delights in giving His servants power and strength, so He fills them with His Holy Spirit. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit of GOD that dreams and visions come to us from GOD. These are guides from GOD in righteousnessand are confirmed by His Word. He has also given us tools to discern whether a vision or dream is of GOD, the devil, or our own wishful thinking. THE WORD OF THE LORD, SCRIPTURE.

THE GREATEST TOOL OF DISCERNMENT IS THE WORD OF THE LORD, HIS HOLY SCRIPTURE. READ GOD'S WORD DAILY

COMPASSION OF CHRIST

Saturday, June 5, 2010
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of GOD, who hath reconciled us to Himself by JESUS CHRIST, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.
I don't think that I am being disrespectful to GOD by saying that this verse from 2 Corinthians 5, is GOD'S organizational plan for the Church. I love the way that GOD made sure that we had a perfect plan for the gathering and activity of the organized body of Christ. GOD had such compassion for the world that He made sure that there was a plan in place for the spread of the Gospel throughout all the world. He did this so that, in the fullness of time, all people would come to JESUS and through Him be saved.

We begin this plan with this statement: ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD.

1. Born again people of GOD through Jesus Christ
2. Old things passed away; behold, all things become new
3. A people reconciled to GOD by Jesus
4. Mission and ministry - RECONCILIATION TO GOD

The Church is the Body of Christ, reconciled to GOD by the Blood of Jesus; Born again people; New creatures; with a ministry and a mission to reconcile the world to GOD. We are a part of this plan of GOD and we have a lot of work to do. The people of this world are confused by every wind of doctrine and are tossed and turned like ships in a storm. ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD and GOD wants everyone to be saved, we have the word of life to turn the darkness of confusion to the bright light of stability. Let us be the compassionate heart of GOD, reconciling the world to GOD through Jesus. We have the whole Gospel; let's use it.
We beg you, in Christ's stead, BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD.

COMPASSION OF CHRIST

Friday, June 4, 2010
Matthew 14:35,36
And when the men of that place had knowledge of Him, they sent out into all the country round about, and brought unto Him all that were diseased, and besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

The compassion of JESUS was not just in thought, word and deed, the anointing was in Him, on Him and around Him. Is it possible to be so anointed that your garments would be powerful instruments of GOD'S healing? The answer to that question is, "yes". The relationship which we have with the LORD touches every part of us and extends outward, beyond our physical limitations. The more you know the LORD, personally, the more He reaches through you to touch others.
The Apostle Paul said: "that I might know HIM, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering; that I might be conformable unto His death, the death of the cross." The men in these verses knew JESUS by reputation and some knew Him by experience; the men that were gathered from the country side, knew JESUS by reputation, so they brought the sick to JESUS so that they would be healed. They probably knew about the woman with the issue of blood who was healed by touching the hem of His garment. His reputation drew them.
There are other levels of knowing which we can experience and be changed into His likeness. We can know Him through His Word; we can know Him as we yield ourselves to Him and be born again and Baptized; we can know Him in our daily life, as friend, companion, healer, deliverer; we can know Him in power through the Baptism with the Holy Spirit; we can have intimate time with Him in prayer; we can know His heart and feel Him pulse, share His breath and know His mind. Yes, we can have the mind of Christ. Yes, we can touch and heal, restore and deliver in His Name and for HIS HOLY NAME SAKE. He shares his life with us every day and every moment of every day. Give Him your heart and He will give you His.
May GOD arise in your life; dispel the darkness; restore the light; heal your wounds and bring you to know His Love.

COMPASSION OF CHRIST

Thursday, June 3, 2010
1 Samuel 10:6,7
And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs are come upon thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; FOR GOD IS WITH THEE.

This portion of Scripture is very powerful. I am struck by the similarity between this call and anointing of King Saul and the words spoken to Mary, the mother of Jesus, by the angel Gabriel. (Luke 1:35). In each case, the transformation of the person into a new being, with a new way of life, was the act of the Holy Spirit coming upon them. Saul became King, by the act of GOD, by the Holy Spirit; Mary became the Mother of Jesus, by the act of GOD, by the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever wanted to be changed into a person who is rightly related to GOD? Have you ever wanted to leave behind the old world of fight, sin, darkness and hatred? Do you want to be a new creation, old things passed away and all thing becoming new?
Then, let it be so to you, open your heart to the compassion of GOD, for He loves you. Allow him to be the first love in your life. Embrace JESUS; embrace the Cross; let His Blood wash you from sin and make you clean; invite the Holy Spirit to fill you with Himself and anoint you with Holy Oil.
Let it be so, when these signs come upon thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; For GOD is with thee.

COMPASSION OF CHRIST

Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Matthew 9: 36
When He (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they were faint, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Jesus is moved with compassion by the conditions of men. Jesus, the Son of GOD, saw the need, felt the need and responded with abundance. This is the heart, the feelings, and work of GOD. Love, kindness, joy, gentleness, goodness, faith, patience, peace come from GOD. These are His way of responding to human need. Why does He respond this way, when humankind treats Him so badly? He responds this way, because that is who He is. GOD can not lie; GOD can not go against His nature; GOD keeps His Word, therefore, GOD heals the sick, mends broken hearts, sets captives free, removes heavy burdens and CARES. Compassion is the way of GOD and He calls us to be people of compassion, reaching out to the poor, the sick and the needy. He asks us to be watchful for people who are abandon and hurting. He asks us to feed the hungry; clothe the naked; visit those in prison; heal every wound in His Holy Name.
Let your heart be moved with compassion as you walk the road of life. See need, feel the need in your heart, respond to the need with abundance. In Jesus Name.

GOD IS FAITHFUL

Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Psalm 138: 8,9
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You keep me safe; You stretch forth Your hand against the fury of my enemies; Your right hand shall save me. The LORD will make good his purpose for me; O LORD, Your love endures forever; do not abandon the works of Your hands.

Are you aware that the LORD has a plan and a purpose for you that he will not abandon, but will make good? We were fearfully and wonderfully made by the LORD, with a mission and a ministry; a plan and a purpose set for us. All we have to do is look to Him and find His way and find our way through this life.

I will share with you a story, recounted to me last night: Yesterday, a woman was looking and loving the beauty of the Sedona landscape, when she saw a young man jump off a bridge to his death. She witnessed the whole thing and was very shaken when I saw her. " I wish I could have talked with him before he died, I would have shared the LORD with him and GOD'S love for him. I felt so helpless." she said. This dear woman is a life long Evangelist with a long history of Evangelistic Ministry with her Husband. "She felt helpless."

Have you ever felt helpless in a situation? The life of the young man did fulfill a purpose and a plan, this woman was brought to her knees in humility, saying: LORD have mercy on this young mans soul.Great compassion arose in her heart as she spoke lovingly about this young man. We talked about how useless we are without GOD; how helpless we are without Him; and that when we are empty, He fills us with the oil of his Holy Spirit. We shared the Gospel and loved the LORD together. The young man inspired the passion of the WORD of GOD.

We are all the work of GOD'S hands. He watches over us and never slumbers or sleeps. His love, mercy and compassion follow us every day of our life. He saw us before we were formed in the womb and He loved us with GOD-love. Let us love Him with all the love in our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves, passionately.

Is it possible that the young man in the story could have been saved by the outstretched hand of a person who loves GOD? Could he have been brought to Christ by the WORD of the LORD shared with him by a humble person? We don't know. What we do know is that we must be alert to sharing the Good News of the Gospel with everyone and be known as the light-bearer for GOD in this dark world.

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE; PEOPLE NEED THE LORD.