Something i picked up from a daily email devotional...pretty insightful but dun read too much into it lah~
DREAMS: GOD'S FORGOTTEN LANGUAGE?
"I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied" (Philippians 4:18).
Dreams. Do they have meaning and purpose? Does God still speak to people through them? And what on earth does today's text have to do with dreams? Stick with this article and you will see.
Technically speaking, dreams are the right or creative side of the brain communicating to the left or logical side of the brain. They are often visual symbols of what we are
feeling deep inside. Clinical tests have shown that we all dream every night even if we don't remember what we have dreamed.
Dreaming is one of nature's ways to relieve tension. In one test, sleepers were monitored with electronic equipment to show when they were dreaming. As soon as they started to dream, they were awakened and the dream stopped. The test
had to be discontinued after several nights as the people in the test were becoming too emotionally distressed.
Some dreams can be caused by an emotional upset; others by stress or physical pain. Following an operation on my Achilles tendon, which I snapped twice in three months, for several days I kept dreaming over and over that I was falling and snapping my tendon. These were more like nightmares!
At other times dreams can be very insightful. For instance, some dreams have clearly shown me conflicts from childhood that I needed to resolve.
When we have repeated dreams on a theme--such as when we are trying to run from something but can't move, or when we are being chased but can't get away, or falling and can't catch ourselves--may indicate an unresolved fear or conflict from the past. It's nature's way of notifying us that we need to resolve some long forgotten memory.
But does God ever speak to us today through dreams as he did in Bible times to the patriarchs and prophets?
At times I think God still uses dreams to communicate to us. On one occasion when my organization (ACTS International) was facing a severe financial crisis, I was
feeling very afraid and discouraged, and fell asleep during my morning devotional time when I had a fascinating dream. In the dream I heard a voice that said very clearly,
"Philippians 4:18 makes sense to me."
Immediately I woke up, opened my Bible to that passage and read the following: "I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied!" I had never memorized that Scripture verse so it didn't come from my memory bank! That
certainly encouraged me and, by way of interest, we did survive that crisis.
Some dreams may be from God. Most aren't. However, the ability to dream is. And we have been given them for a purpose--at least to relieve stress and to gain insights
for personal and spiritual growth. The difficulty can be in interpreting them correctly. However, through prayer and practice we can learn to do this and use them creatively.
"Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28).
Dreams not only give valuable personal insights but also have given many creative insights. Some inventors, for example, have received profound ideas from dreams. I recall reading how the inventor, Elias Howe, designed the first sewing machine. He was having great difficulty in conceiving a workable needle. When he was close to running out of money, he had an unusual dream. He dreamt that he was about to be executed because he failed to design a sewing machine for the king of a strange country.
In his dream he was surrounded by guards, all of whom held spears that had been pierced with holes near the tip. Howe woke up and immediately rushed to his workshop. The perfect concept for the sewing machine needle came to him in this
dream. Within a few hours the first sewing machine design was well on the way to being completed.
I have heard it said that the theory of relativity came to Einstein in either a dream or a vision. Apparently he saw it on a beam of light. I have also read that the design for
the first radio tube came to the inventor in a dream.
Was it time for these discoveries to come into the world and did God give them to the persons who were trained to understand them and put them to use? Or did they just
happen by chance? I prefer to think the former.
So whatever we think about dreams, as we said yesterday, they are a God-given gift in that he gave us the ability to dream. Whether we repress them as many do, ignore them as most do, or use them for creative purposes as some do is entirely up to each individual.
To remember dreams it can be very helpful to keep a pen and pad at your bedside and record any dream that makes a strong impression on your mind. Speaking personally, dreams have given me many valuable insights for growth and
recovery.
December 5, 2003
Been Thinking About The Values Of Christ
Mel Fisher has been called the world's greatest treasure hunter. His motto "Today Is The Day" came true on July 20, 1985, when his team found the Mother Lode of their dreams in the tropical waters of the Florida Keys. After years of salvaging shipwrecks of lesser significance, Mel's team discovered stacks of silver bars, chests of silver coins, gold, and jewels on the ocean floor. They also recovered thousands of other artifacts from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, the richest Spanish treasure ship ever lost in the Western Hemisphere.
People like Mel intrigue and inspire us, because we are all fortune hunters at heart. We all spend enough time with our hopes and dreams to understand the principle that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).
What do we consider important?
At the very least, we are all hunting for happiness, significance, and love. Many of us are also doing our best to find a comfortable home, reliable transportation, and good food. Along the way, we value meaningful work, restful weekends, and friendship. We make sacrifices as we look for good health, physical safety, and financial security.
Such values make us all treasure hunters. All are important, and all seem to have been in mind when the wisest of teachers said to His disciples, "All these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:30-32). According to Jesus, this kingdom was like a "treasure hidden in a field" (Matthew 13:44).
What are the values of Christ?
When Jesus spoke of "the kingdom of God" as the ultimate treasure, He used a term His Jewish countrymen understood. He knew they were looking for the coming of a Messiah and a return to Eden marked by goodwill and world peace. What His countrymen were slow to understand about this coming world-order is the value it would place on salvaged wrecks.
Mel Fisher looked for lost treasure. Jesus looked for lost people. Mel Fisher built a museum of salvaged artifacts. Jesus was building a community and kingdom of salvaged lives. Jesus treasured people others despised. He loved His enemies at His own expense. He honored those who admitted their need of others. He held dear those who cared for others. Above all, He valued His Father in heaven, who loves all of us far more than we love one another or even ourselves.
How are our values like the values of Christ?
The importance Jesus put on human need shows that our interests are closer to the heart of God than we might think. Before becoming our Teacher and Savior, Jesus was our Creator (Colossians 1:16). He is the one who gave us our desire for good food, friendship, and happiness. He built us to look for relational intimacy, personal acceptance, and freedom from worry. As the God who created our capacity to think, He gave us a thirst for knowledge, discovery, and value.
How are the values of Christ different from our own?
Although there are similarities, the treasures our Lord lived and died for differ from our own in several ways.
(1) He knew how to be grateful for the gifts of life without worshiping them. We are inclined to make goods into gods, and then into demons that destroy us.
(2) He taught us to use the material resources of this world to love people. We are more apt to love things and use people.
(3) He taught us to see the joys and pains of this present life as the reflection of a world to come. We sometimes live as if there is no heaven or hell beyond the present.
(4) In the pursuit of our dreams we often act as if the treasures of life are beyond ourselves and beyond our ability to find them. Jesus taught us to see that there are treasures of perspective within ourselves that we often overlook.
One of the countless gifts of Christ is a sense of priority and timing. In His Sermon on the Mount, the Teacher from Nazareth puts our values in perspective (Matthew 5:1-10). With a few words of timeless wisdom He shows us how to ultimately find what we are looking for. According to Jesus, the most well-off people in the world are not the materially rich and famous. Those who are to be envied and congratulated are the ones who see their desperate need of God and of one another (v.3). The most blessed of all are those who mourn their wrongs to the point of surrendering to God (vv.4-5). With submissive hearts, they hunger for relationships that give them a chance to show others the mercy they themselves have received (vv.6-7). With hearts full of love rather than lust, they seek to bring lost people back to God and to one another--even at their own expense (vv.8-10). These are the attitudes that lead us first to one another and then to the priceless kingdom that has been prepared for us.
We admire Mel Fisher because he and his crew found the sunken treasures of the Atocha. We applaud his success. Yet in our more thoughtful moments we remember the One who is really the greatest treasure hunter who ever lived. He looked for the love-filled will of God and found it. He searched for lost people and rescued them. At the expense of His own life, He paid for treasures infinitely greater than material convenience. Then to those who would trust Him, He said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Father in heaven, You have given us so much. The miracle of life is beyond our understanding. The opportunity to know You is a gift beyond comparison. The people around us are priceless. Please forgive us for losing sight of what is most important. Please forgive us for ignoring You, Your will, and the hurting and lost people for whom Your Son died. May today be the day that Your kingdom comes and Your will is done in us, as it is in heaven.
Mel Fisher has been called the world's greatest treasure hunter. His motto "Today Is The Day" came true on July 20, 1985, when his team found the Mother Lode of their dreams in the tropical waters of the Florida Keys. After years of salvaging shipwrecks of lesser significance, Mel's team discovered stacks of silver bars, chests of silver coins, gold, and jewels on the ocean floor. They also recovered thousands of other artifacts from the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, the richest Spanish treasure ship ever lost in the Western Hemisphere.
People like Mel intrigue and inspire us, because we are all fortune hunters at heart. We all spend enough time with our hopes and dreams to understand the principle that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).
What do we consider important?
At the very least, we are all hunting for happiness, significance, and love. Many of us are also doing our best to find a comfortable home, reliable transportation, and good food. Along the way, we value meaningful work, restful weekends, and friendship. We make sacrifices as we look for good health, physical safety, and financial security.
Such values make us all treasure hunters. All are important, and all seem to have been in mind when the wisest of teachers said to His disciples, "All these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:30-32). According to Jesus, this kingdom was like a "treasure hidden in a field" (Matthew 13:44).
What are the values of Christ?
When Jesus spoke of "the kingdom of God" as the ultimate treasure, He used a term His Jewish countrymen understood. He knew they were looking for the coming of a Messiah and a return to Eden marked by goodwill and world peace. What His countrymen were slow to understand about this coming world-order is the value it would place on salvaged wrecks.
Mel Fisher looked for lost treasure. Jesus looked for lost people. Mel Fisher built a museum of salvaged artifacts. Jesus was building a community and kingdom of salvaged lives. Jesus treasured people others despised. He loved His enemies at His own expense. He honored those who admitted their need of others. He held dear those who cared for others. Above all, He valued His Father in heaven, who loves all of us far more than we love one another or even ourselves.
How are our values like the values of Christ?
The importance Jesus put on human need shows that our interests are closer to the heart of God than we might think. Before becoming our Teacher and Savior, Jesus was our Creator (Colossians 1:16). He is the one who gave us our desire for good food, friendship, and happiness. He built us to look for relational intimacy, personal acceptance, and freedom from worry. As the God who created our capacity to think, He gave us a thirst for knowledge, discovery, and value.
How are the values of Christ different from our own?
Although there are similarities, the treasures our Lord lived and died for differ from our own in several ways.
(1) He knew how to be grateful for the gifts of life without worshiping them. We are inclined to make goods into gods, and then into demons that destroy us.
(2) He taught us to use the material resources of this world to love people. We are more apt to love things and use people.
(3) He taught us to see the joys and pains of this present life as the reflection of a world to come. We sometimes live as if there is no heaven or hell beyond the present.
(4) In the pursuit of our dreams we often act as if the treasures of life are beyond ourselves and beyond our ability to find them. Jesus taught us to see that there are treasures of perspective within ourselves that we often overlook.
One of the countless gifts of Christ is a sense of priority and timing. In His Sermon on the Mount, the Teacher from Nazareth puts our values in perspective (Matthew 5:1-10). With a few words of timeless wisdom He shows us how to ultimately find what we are looking for. According to Jesus, the most well-off people in the world are not the materially rich and famous. Those who are to be envied and congratulated are the ones who see their desperate need of God and of one another (v.3). The most blessed of all are those who mourn their wrongs to the point of surrendering to God (vv.4-5). With submissive hearts, they hunger for relationships that give them a chance to show others the mercy they themselves have received (vv.6-7). With hearts full of love rather than lust, they seek to bring lost people back to God and to one another--even at their own expense (vv.8-10). These are the attitudes that lead us first to one another and then to the priceless kingdom that has been prepared for us.
We admire Mel Fisher because he and his crew found the sunken treasures of the Atocha. We applaud his success. Yet in our more thoughtful moments we remember the One who is really the greatest treasure hunter who ever lived. He looked for the love-filled will of God and found it. He searched for lost people and rescued them. At the expense of His own life, He paid for treasures infinitely greater than material convenience. Then to those who would trust Him, He said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Father in heaven, You have given us so much. The miracle of life is beyond our understanding. The opportunity to know You is a gift beyond comparison. The people around us are priceless. Please forgive us for losing sight of what is most important. Please forgive us for ignoring You, Your will, and the hurting and lost people for whom Your Son died. May today be the day that Your kingdom comes and Your will is done in us, as it is in heaven.
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