“DREAMS AND DREAMERS"

Good Evening to All!
As I prepared the answers for the Bible Quiz, I couldn’t help but feel a pull to elaborate on that subject.  Therefore, this is the subject of my post as well.

Now, according to my Hayford’s Bible Handbook, it gives this definition for dreams.  A dream is a vision in the night. The root of this noun is the verb chalam, “to dream.”  Dreams of various types are mentioned in Scripture, ranging  from the product of one’s imagination  to the vehicle of God’s communication with a person (compare Ecclesiastes 5;3 and Genesis 20:6;  see also false dreams,” Jeremiah 23:32).  Many biblical figures such as Jacob, Laban, Pharaoh, Solomon, and Nebuchadnezzar, are known for having dreams (see 1 Kings 3:5; Daniel 2:1).  Joseph and Daniel are the dream champions  of dream revelation; each not only received his own dreams but also interpreted the dreams of others.
 
The Eastern people, and in particular the Jews had a very great regard for dreams.  They observed them, and applied to those who professed to explain them.  We see  this ancient custom among the Egyptians, in the history of Pharaoh’s  butler and baker, and in Pharaoh, himself.
 
Joel 2:28 states:  “And it shall come to pass that will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

This was a prophecy, brought forward into the New Testament.  According to the Bible, God’s Word is settled in heaven.  In other words it does not change.  He does not change, nor does His mind.  Everything God had for us back then, He has for us now.  The Old Testament was to lead us into the New Testament.  Therefore, what they did back then, we can do now.  

The trouble is today we don’t seem to have the faith that they did back then.  That is where our problem lies.  We put our faith in everything but what we should.  If we would go back to FIRST PLACING OUR FAITH IN THE GOD WHO CREATED US and knows us better than we know ourselves, then we would have no problems doing what they did back then. 

Not only that, but I truly believe that many of us hear from God, we just are too “busy” to listen, or doubt that it’s Him.  I know that from experience.  I will hear Him speaking to my heart, yet I will second guess it.  “Is that just me thinking that, or is it truly God?  Why would He want Me to do that?  He ought to know I’m not equipped with that kind of knowledge.” 

 Well, I have a very intelligent word for myself on that matter,  “DUH!”  He knows what I am and am not equipped to do.  He will equip me to do anything He wants me to do.   Not only that, but as far as dreams and visions go, He doesn’t use the “important”or scholars  for all His work.  He uses people just like you and me. 

 We are just as important to growing His kingdom and spreading His Word as the Scholar, or theologian.  We matter.  We are important to Him. 
Listen to your dreams.  Pray about them.  Let Him talk to you about them.  Let Him use you in whatever manner He chooses. 

Scriptures about dreams are spread all throughout the Bible.  Here is a list if you are interested in reading more about them:  Thick, dreadful darkness, Genesis 15:`1; Seeking God’s Will (that’s a good one)  Genesis 28:11-22; Revealing the future  Genesis 37:5-10; Divine utilization of visions, dreams  Numbers 12:4-6; Dreams as vehicles of evil  Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Zechariah 10:2; Symbol of unreality  Job 20:8; Warning in a dream  Job 22:14-17; Cause of dreams  Ecclesiastes 5:3; dreaming of food, awakening hungry  Isaiah 29:8; Prophetic dreams of delusion  Jeremiah 23:25-29;  Pleasant sleep  Jeremiah 31:26;  Interpreting visions, dreams  Daniel 1:17 (Chapters 2, 3, 4);  Dreamless sleep  Micah 3:6;  Instructional dream  Matthew 1:20-21; Macedonian vision  Acts 16:9-10; Assured in a vision  Acts 18:9-11.   If you want to do an in-depth study on this subject this is a good start on the scriptures. 

As you can see there are many of them listed for the Old Testament, and some in the New. 

The answers to the Bible Quiz “Dreamers” are as follows:

1. Jacob  (Gen.28:12) ..
2.  Pharaoh  (Gen. 41)
3.  The magi (wise men)  ( Matt. 2:12)
4.  Joseph’s  (Gen. 37:5)
5.  Paul  (Acts 16:9)
6.  Solomon  (1 Kings 3:5)
7.  Daniel (  Dan. 2)
8   Joseph  (Matthew 1:20)
9.  Peter  .(Acts 10:3-6)
10.  Pentecost (Joel 2:28)  (Acts 2)
11.  Daniel  (Daniel 7)
12.  Pilate  (Matthew 27:19)
13.  Saul (Paul)  (Acts 9:10-16)
14.  Joseph  ((Gen. 40)
15.  Gideon  (Judges 7:13)
16.  Ezekiel  (Ezek. 43)
17.  Psalms ..(Psalms 126:1)
18.  Peter ( Acts 10:9-16)

I hope you did well.  If you had to use the scripture reference, I also hope that you were able to take the time to maybe read a little bit more than  just the answers to the questions.  God’s scriptures are like nuggets of gold, with one difference.  They will never lose their value. 

Have a Wonderful Evening and May God Bless!

“PRAISE AND WORSHIP"

Good Evening to All!

First let me tell you that the answers to last night's Bible Quiz are at the end of this post.

Now, I have two words for you to ponder; praise and worship. All too often, these words are interchanged with each other, when in reality they are completely different.
I know this, yet I find myself doing the same.  I pushed it to the back of my mind, and a young man who preached our Wednesday night service, brought it to the fore-front once again for which I am thankful.


The word “praise” is defined in the dictionary as:  the act of expressing approval or admiration; commendation.  A young man who was preaching in place of our Pastor Wednesday night brought up some VERY GOOD POINTS.
 
He said something very enlightening to us.  “Anyone and anything can be praised. We praise our children for doing well in school, or making good decisions.  We praise our co-workers and employees for doing good jobs, we even praise our pets for not doing things they shouldn’t or doing things they should. Praise is for anything and anyone.  R.J. told us that praise is given from a distance. 


Worship requires a relationship.  It allows us to feel God’s heartbeat.  It is KNOWING who God is.  It makes us want to “do for God” rather than have the attitude  “what can God do for me”.   The definition of worship is: Honoring with extravagant love and extreme submission. 

Most of my long time readers know that I am of Pentecostal faith, and believe in demonstrative praise.  I used to say demonstrative worship until I realized the difference.  I stand with lifted hands toward God, shouting hallelujah, singing , and clapping to my Savior as instructed to do in Psalms.  It seems as though when I do this,  I completely focus my attention toward God, and everything else fades into the background.  I barely hear the music, and definitely don’t pay any attention to anyone else around me.  It is as though it is just God and I alone in our own little world.  


I start by praising Him whether I feel like it or not because God deserves my praise no matter how I feel even if I don't feel well.  He alone is worthy.  I feel as though He blesses me for praising Him.  After all, His Word says He inhabits our praises.  Anyway, as I am praising Him,  I am rejuvenated and by the time it’s time to be seated and get into the message, ready to let God’s Word fill my heart. 

Worship goes deeper than praise.  It starts with a reverent attitude.  It is respect from our heart to God.  It is given to God in our lifestyle, the way we talk, act, dress and walk.   Worshipping God does not stop when we walk out of church.  If we truly love God and worship Him, it carries out into the world, and into our homes. 
 

Worshipping is loving God for WHO He is and NOT focusing on what He has done for us.

The answers to last night’s Bible Quiz are as follows:
1.  a.  Whether Gentile believers should be required to convert to Judaism  (Acts 15:6-19 NIV)
2.  a.  Barnabas wanted to take mark with them; Paul didn’t.  (Acts 15:37 NIV)
3.  c.  Now it’s time to forgive him and comfort him.  (2 Cor. 2:7 NIV)
4.  c.  Jars of clay  (2 Cor. 4:7 NIV)
5.  b.  Refused to eat with Gentiles when the legalists were present   (Gal. 2:14 NIV)
6.  a.  to do good works, which God prepared in advance fore us to do  (Eph. 2:10, NIV)
7.  d.  All of the above  (1 Thessalonians 4:16 NIV)
8.  a.  Men  (1 Timothy 2:8 NIV)
9.  c.  Those who are rich in this world  (1 Tim. 6:17 NIV)
10.  d.  All of the above  (1 Tim. 1:7 NIV)  

Good night to All and May God Bless!

"LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY" WRONG!

Good Evening to All!

February is the "month known for the holiday of "commercializing "love".  The stores will be bombarding us with greeting cards speaking of love, all kinds of candy, stuffed animals and flowers.  The jewelry stores will be plastering all of the television networks and newspapers with messages of  how we women just can't imagine not having a new diamond ring or necklace.

The thing is I really don't care ANYTHING about any of those things.  I would just as soon have my husband take me out to eat, or cook for me and wash the dishes.  Anyone can go to a store and spend money, but to do something one doesn't really enjoy doing just to show their spouse that they love them is really special.  Does that thought sound familiar?  On a MUCH, MUCH, MUCH SMALLER SCALE of course. 

And they spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.  And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and pout His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.  (Matthew 27:30-31)

 

My devotion for today brought up the movie of years past titled "Love Story".  It mentioned the coined cliche, "Love means never have to say your're sorry."  How wrong can they be?  That is exactly what love is.  Being able to say you are sorry and admitting when you are wrong.  Also if you have not done anything wrong and still saying you are sorry. Love demands that we ALWAYS say we are sorry.  How else can relationships be restored whether they are relationships in families or churches or even at our jobs? 

Saying we are sorry is a type of sacrifice, which is part of love.    To admit falibility is a sacrifice.  We are all human, we ALL make mistakes.  There is no shame in admitting it and to apologize. 

The Answers to the Bible Quiz of this past Friday are as follows:

1.  c--Establish churches in every land  (Matthew 28:18-20)
2.  c--David   (1 Samuel 21:4-5)
3.  b--Is for us  (Mark 9:40)
4.  b--A woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus' head (Mark 14:3)
5.  c--Caiaphas  (Matthew 26:57)
6.  d--Only the Father  (Matthew 24:36)
7.  b--Which of them was most important. (Mark 9:34)
8.  a--Get behind me, Satan   (Matthew 16:23)
9.  d-- All of the above  (Mark 7:33)
10.  c--Ritual hand washing  (Matthew 15:2)

Good Night to All and May God Bless!

"DO YOU SOMETIMES FEEL IGNORED BY GOD?"

 Good Afternoon to All!

It seems as though I have found a "snag" in my new blogging routine.  I was going to post everything 3 days, thinking that it would give more people a chance to check out my posts, but I have decided that, that is not such a good idea if I am going to include Bible Quizzes.  By the time I post the answers, y'all might have forgotten the questions!  LOL!  Anyway, I apologize and will try to do a better job from now on, and post more frequently.

My post today was inspired by my Bible Study which I am attending while here in Yuma.  We are studying Beth Moore's "A Study of David - Seeking a Heart Like His".  I was doing my lesson when the Scripture text of Isaiah 59:1-3 was brought up:

Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:  (2)  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.   (3)  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

This text was written of Saul as he was still after David.  He was terrorized by the idea of going up against the Philistines because he had prayed to God, yet God had not answered him, so he inquired of the "witch of Endor".  

My topic is about why we don't always hear God's answer to our prayers.

Many, many years ago when I was a child, I attended church regularly.  I even sang in the choir on Wednesday nights.  I thought I was doing everything right.  I had "told' Jesus that I accepted Him as my Savior, and "tried to be a good person."  As I grew older, I continued to adhere to the Ten Commandments as much as possible (or so I thought), you know, the ones that didn't take too much effort and that didn't interfere with my lifestyle.  All the while thinking I was still being a good Christian, because I believed in God and had accepted Jesus.  

The problem was, the older I got, it seemed the farther away from God I got.  I quit going to church all together, and of course after I got married, my lifestyle changed, unfortunately not for the better. I won't go into details, but I was definitely NO ANGEL.  All this while I still considered myself a "good Christian" even if I wasn't following Christ's lead. 

The thing is, during all of this, I still prayed when I needed His help.   Sometimes He listened and answered my prayer, and sometimes He didn't.  I don't think it is that He didn't hear me,  I have always gone on the premise that He hears our prayers and that He answers them, it is just sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no, and sometimes, not yet. I am so thankful that I have developed an intimate relationship with Him and hunger more and more for His teaching, so that I have no doubts about my eternity being with Him. 

It of course is a continual journey and I will ALWAYS be learning something new from Him just as I have within this Bible Study.

After doing this Bible Study, I am finding that I have been wrong.  Of course it isn't that He CAN'T hear, it is that He chooses to disregard our petition until we realize that we have done wrong in His eyes and right our wrongs.

This is why I am looking at things in a "whole new light".  From now on, I won't look at it as yes, no or not yet.  I will pray, wait a little while, then search my heart as to why He hadn't answered my prayer yet.  Then I will REPENT, ask His forgiveness and pray my prayer again.  When I do this, it seems as though I hear or see the answer He gives me so clearly.

As I continue to grow, He shows me more.  He has definitely made me realize that if I expect to spend eternity with Him, I need to obey Him, respect Him and His wishes for my life.  Let Him have the reins to guide me.  I also need to acknowledge to Him and accept responsibility when I have sinned against Him according to His Word (whether I see anything wrong in it or not) and REPENT.  Turn TOWARD Him.  As long as I have sins which I have not repented from, or even if I am at odds with Him (sulking because I didn't get my way) I need to give myself an Attitude Adjustment.  If I want Him to respect me and answer my prayers, then I have to give Him the same treatment by respecting Him by Obeying Him.  The best way to do that is to read His Word so that we will know exactly what is expected of us.

In the end, THERE WILL BE NO EXCUSES.  God will not accept excuses for our actions because if we love Him we will read His Word and make sure we do what He wants.

Bottom Line:  If you EXPECT ANSWERS to your prayers, then DO WHAT GOD EXPECTS OF YOU.  Repent, and ask forgiveness for what you do wrong, so there will be NO wall between your prayers and God's ears.  

I had a friend ask the other day, "what if I don't know if I have committed any sins?"  All I could tell her is what I have started doing.  I pray and ask God to "search my heart".  He can see things there that I may not know even exist.  I ask Him to search my heart and remove anything that is contrary to what is of Him and to please forgive me for these sins.


I hope this helps to answer some of y'all's questions as well.  

 The Answers to the Bible Quiz we had on Tuesday will be posted below.

1.  c--Saul  (1 Sam. 10:21-22 NLT)
2.  a--He fell out of his chair and died  (1 Samuel 4:18)
3.  c--He performed a prebattle sacrifice himself, which only a priest should do. 
(1 Samuel 15:20)
4.  b--David (They were his older brothers)  (1 Samuel 16:12)
 5.  a--Delivering bread and cheese to the army  (1 Samuel 17:17-18)
6.  b--A tax exemption and his daughter's hand in marriage  (1 Samuel 17:24)
 7.  b--He wasn't used to it.   
(1 Sam. 17:39)
8.  c--and David his ten thousands!  (1 Samuel 18:6)
9.  b--David jumped aside and apparently kept playing the harp for Saul. 
(1 Samuel 18:11)
10. b--She put a dummy in bed and said David was too sick to be arrested.
(1 Samuel19:13-14)

 Have a Wonderful Day!

May God Bless