Going Deeper
by Pat Russell
“Joseph” – Luke 1:18-25
Pastor Bruce Spear
As I sit to write this, it is Christmas Eve. Advent is coming to an end because the
arrival of His birth is upon us. Pastor
Bruce’s sermon this last Sunday of Advent presented us with two questions to
consider. Perhaps during these holidays,
you could take some time to ponder your thoughts around these questions.
The first is “how might I be able to love like
Joseph?”
His desire to live a righteous life was coupled with his
desire to treat Mary respectfully. He
spent time considering how to act towards Mary, whose actions were
disappointing to him. He listened to
what the Lord said to him through the angel in his dream. He acted on the deeper Voice versus the public
voice. He protected her while honoring
his tribal duty when he took her with him to Bethlehem. He chose to take Mary and the Child to safety
in Egypt when going home would have been more comfortable.
The second is “how might God be speaking to me through my
dreams?”
Here are some phrases from our handout. Pick one and discuss it with someone else.
“Your young men will see visions, and your old men will
dream dreams.” Acts 2:17
“All dreams in Scripture have something in common. They represent the intrusion of God into our
world – an unbidden communication in the dark of night that opens sleepers to a
world different from the one they inhabit during the day – an intrusion that
generates a restless uneasiness with the way things are until the vision and
the dream come to fruition….So the story of God’s goodness and grace is written
in the language of dreams written upon the human heart.” Susan R. Andrews
“Do we not quickly dismiss dreams if we can even recall them
a few moments after we awake? The dream,
however, was enough for Joseph.”
Daniel Harris
“Dreams give your soul wings. And images from dreams are the exquisite
patterns on the wings. Hold your dream
as you would hold a butterfly – in your open, quiet palms.” Jill Merrick
One way to hold your dream delicately is given to us by
David Benner in his book, Care of Souls.
Ask the Lord to give you memory of your dreams and give you
discernment as you consider them. Keep a
pad of paper nearby your bed so that as soon as you wake up you can record as
much as you can remember. Dreams may
fade quickly if we do not write them down.
After writing everything down that you remember, give your dream a
title. Then, what was the theme of your
dream? Next, what was the affect
(emotional impact) of your dream on you?
Finally, what questions did your dream raise for you?
Here is an example of a dream I had in October. I won’t write the whole dream but here are
the answers to the questions. Title: Becoming a Farm Wife. Theme:
integrating into a new community. Affect: proud that I could do it, and embarrassed
that I fell down while leaning in the doorway.
I felt love for the family and the farmer. Questions: what is my new community? Why should I be entering a new
community? I felt older than the farmer,
where do I feel too old for what I am about to do? I was in Nebraska or Iowa where big farming
is taking place; what in my life feels too big for me?
Give it a try. You
never know what the Lord might want you to consider in your life?
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