THE LANGUAGE OF DREAMS

   God is always attempting to communicate with us and one of the methods he uses is the language of dreams. Throughout the course of my life God has revealed many things to me through dreams, but one of the most astounding occurrences involved my son, Joshua.

   It was early one morning and I was getting ready to go to work. I was standing in the dining room and had just poured myself a cup of coffee when Joshua came out of his bedroom.

   He walked down the short hallway and when he reached the dining room he said to me, "Dad, I had a weird dream last night."

   "I know, and I'll tell you what it was," I answered back.

     I then commenced to tell him exactly what he had dreamed and when I finished, he stood there with a stunned look on his face.

   "That's right. How did you know that?" He exclaimed.

   Now he was amazed enough that I knew what he had dreamed the night before, but my next statement really seemed to shock him.

   "I know what you dreamed last night," I explained, "because I had the same dream."

   While that story may sound rather hard to believe, something very similar is recorded in the Bible regarding Daniel and the three Hebrew children.

   The Babylonian ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream that troubled him deeply. He wanted to know the interpretation of the dream so he called for his magicians, astrologers, enchanters and sorcerers.

   Once they arrived he put a demand on them that seemed impossible. Not only were they commanded to tell the king the interpretation of his dream, they also had to tell him what he had dreamed.

   Furthermore, anyone failing to do as the king ordered would be facing a certain penalty of death. The lives of Daniel and his three Hebrew companions also became threatened so they cried out to God for mercy and the understanding of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

   Chapter 2, verse 19, then tells us:

        "Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of

          the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of Heaven."

   When brought before the King, Daniel said to him,

         "No wise men, magicians, enchanters or astrologers can

           show to the king the mystery the king has asked, but

           there is a God in Heaven who reveals mysteries."

   Many people today still seek answers from those involved in occult practices such as astrologers and some even try to communicate with the dead through those claiming to be mediums. But whatever does not bring you closer to God, only serves to take you farther away.

   My particular experience helped to strengthen my faith in God's ability to speak to me in dreams while also revealing to me that He watches over my son at night, even in his thoughts.

   

   God alone can be trusted to give us the answers we seek and, while He can communicate in a variety of ways, He just may choose to speak to us through the language of dreams.

      

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GOD KNOWS YOUR THOUGHTS AND CARES

    

     I attended church one Sunday evening with a couple of friends. After the service, we decided to go to a local fast food dairy store and have some ice cream.

     I was sitting in the back seat and, as we traveled along, I leaned forward and began to share with my friends some of the wonderful supernatural ways in which God had been using me lately.

     Phil was driving and Fay was sitting on the passenger's side. I could see Fay plainly and no sooner had I finished speaking than I clearly heard her say,

     "I wish God would use me that way."

     Though I never saw her lips move, I distinctly heard those words, as if she had spoken them out loud.

     I was so convinced of what I just heard that I turned to her and said,

     "God will use you. All you have to do is believe."

     She turned her head toward me and, with an astonished look on her face, asked,  "Why did you say that!"

     I said, "Isn't that what you was thinking?"

     "Yes," she replied. "But I  never actually said anything. How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

     "Because I heard your thoughts," I replied.

     We have this example in the New Testament where Jesus new men's thoughts:

             "And at once some of the Pharisees said within themselves,

             'This Man blasphemes!' But Jesus, knowing their thoughts,

              said, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts?' " - Matthew 9:3-4

     The words used here, "said within themselves", means the Pharisees were thinking this, but  didn't say it out loud.

     Another case of the Lord knowing man's thoughts is recorded in Luke 

     11:16-17.

             "Others testing Him, sought from Him a sign from Heaven.

               But He,  knowing  their  thoughts, said to them:"

     The word "testing" in this verse means the people were trying to manipulate Jesus into doing something. They were using deception to trick Him but Jesus knew their real intent because He could read their thoughts.

     Jesus said in I John 14:12 -

             "Truly. truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works 

             that I do, he will do also;"

     Christ was able to know men's thoughts through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling him and, according to this scripture, Christians are capable of  experiencing some of the same supernatural manifestations of God that Jesus did.

     One of the nine spiritual gifts mentioned in 1st Corinthians the 12th Chapter, which is available to all believers as The Holy Spirit wills, is the word of knowledge. This is the ability to supernaturally know facts about people, places and things, just as Jesus did .

     In my particular case, the Lord was temporarily granting me the ability through the word of knowledge to hear the longing of this woman's heart. 

     Now, I have found that God always has practical reasons for the things He does and it appears He had a two-fold purpose in this particular supernatural manifestation of His Great Spirit:

   1.  It was meant to build up my own level of faith and understanding in the  

        Gifts of The Spirit.

   2. More importantly, it occurred to give Fay assurance that God knows  her    

       personally and loves her enough to take the time to respond concerning

       the cry of her heart.

               What an Awesome and Loving God we serve!

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STANDING AT THE DOOR

   Looking back, I can't even tell you what the argument was about.

   All I remember was that the boys' mother and I were standing in the living room of our home and the conversation had escalated into a shouting match.
  

   I don't have to tell you, that is never the wise or proper way to communicate with anyone but, then again, when you're angry all reason seems to fly out the window anyway.

   Point is, our emotions had reached a fever pitch and we were now just snapping back and forth and arriving at to no peaceful resolution at all.

   Then, when I was right in the middle of a heated comeback to a seemingly sarcastic remark, I suddenly heard what I thought was a knock at the front door.

   Extremely annoyed at this unwelcome and untimely interruption, I quickly marched across the room and jerked open the front door, only to find no one there. I stepped outside and looked around but didn't see a soul.

   That only seemed to heighten my irritation and I walked back to the middle of the room and resumed my verbal retaliation exactly where I had left off. But it wasn't long before I heard the knock again.

   This time it dawned on me. The knock wasn't coming from outside the house, it was coming from inside! I actually heard it from behind a wall on which hung several photos of our two boys who, fortunately, happened to be gone at the time.

   I knew the only thing that was behind that wall was a very small utility closet, but I opened the door anyway in case something might be there. But, just as I had expected, there was nothing in it except for a few board games, a broom and a waste basket.

   Now, I knew it was impossible for a knock to have come from behind that wall, but I also couldn't deny what I had clearly heard. As I started back toward my wife, I glanced up on the wall beside the front door and noticed a picture my older brother had given me.

   It was a painting of Jesus standing outside of a home and knocking on the door.

   Below the picture was inscribed the scripture from  Revelation 3: 20 which reads,

                    "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears 
                      my voice, and opens the  door, I will come in to him, and 
                      will sup with him, and he with me."

   I would like to say, at that point we both got the message and quit our arguing. Unfortunately, and amazingly, that's not true. We continued to keep up our offense and defense and, as is usually the case, we got absolutely no where.

   Sadly, our marriage eventually ended in divorce. Now, these many years later, I'm convinced we witnessed a supernatural event that day, since there is no natural explanation for what happened.  I'm also convinced that Jesus had used that knocking sound to distract us long enough to give us time to calm down.

   I also believe that He purposely drew our attention to the wall with the boys' photos to let us know that we needed to learn to get along for their sakes!

   If we would have been more spiritually inclined at the time, instead of so bull-headed, who knows how things might have turned out. 

   How often is it in our lives that Jesus tries to intervene and prevent us from making some terrible mistakes, only to have us ignore him?

    How much heartache, misery and loss could we avoid if only we would take the time to respond to him when he is knocking on the door of our heart?

   I encourage you to listen for His leading as you go about your daily lives and not be so intently focused on what you are doing that you do not take the time to respond when He is wisely, lovingly attempting to influence your decisions and guide your footsteps. 

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