Wednesday, October 11, 2023
‘In the last days,’
God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters
will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream
dreams.” (Acts 2:17. New
Living Translation)
No, not the recurring one where
I realize that I have forgotten my sermon manuscript back at the house when I arrive
at some church to preach. And there isn’t
enough time to go back and get it. So, I have to preach “off the cuff”. That’s
more of a nightmare, of sorts.
I am not prone to having religious
or spiritual dreams. Like, maybe - almost never. But there I was in a crowd of
people. I think it was a sporting event. We were all cheering. But all of a
sudden, a message from somewhere interrupted our sporting cheers, the one simple
word, “Praise!” It began to take over the mood of the crowd. Before long,
everyone spontaneously grabbed their neighbour’s hand and lifted their arms together
to the sky and began shouting in a unified voice, “Praise!” I had the feeling
that this was happening throughout the world. Then I woke. I was left with the strong feeling
that this was supposed to be topic of my blog today.
This verse immediately came to
mind as well. “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and
gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians
2: 9 -11, NLT)
Old men dream dreams, indeed.
Perhaps my subconscious was
being influenced by the terrible events in Israel and Palestine. My soul is weary
of conflicts, wars, violent hatred, the inhumanity, the brutality that is in
the world. Enough is enough, already. Maranatha, Lord Jesus. Pease come Lord Jesus,
and put an end to this stupidity and evil.
Help us, Jesus. Put all of
humanity on the same pages of peace, love, peace and unity. Help us to create a spirit of unselfish mutuality,
unbridled compassion for one another, unjudgmental respect despite whatever differences
we may have between us. Help us to unite
behind your name to bring peace and good will to all of humankind. May your
kingdom come!
The stuff of dreams, I suppose.
It is hard for the world to give
in to the ways of Jesus. Jesus is right when he said that the Way is narrow. It is narrow because we clutter the entrance to
the Way with too much sinful garbage and blockages. We try to bully our way through
the entry way. We elbow others out of the Way. We push and shove. We put up
barriers so that others can’t get through.
“Come back, God—how long do
we have to wait? And treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise
us with love at daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long. Make up
for the bad times with some good times; we’ve seen enough evil to last a
lifetime. Let your servants see what you’re best at - the ways you rule and
bless your children.” (Psalm 90: 13 -15, The Message Bible)
Old men dream dreams!
“I have a dream that one day
every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low,
the rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made
straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it
together. This is our hope. This is a faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone
of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of
our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will
be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail
together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one
day.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
Dale
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