Our Comforter...

This has been ...a week...to say the least.  It started off on a high... anticipating the holiday with family and friends, being thankful for so many blessings. 

At the start of the week, a new friend at church asked me a wonderful question. She wanted to know more about the Holy Spirit, more specifically, spiritual languages. It brought back such a freshness to my heart...thinking back on the days when I first trusted Him. It really brought me to the main question, why should we receive the baptism of the Spirit? 

Oh sure, many will say... to pray more effectively, or to feel His presence, but the real answer is power.  Not power to do as we please, but to do as HE pleases. He gives us power to witness, to live lives where doing the right thing, doing the hard thing, doing the impossible...is possible, because He is right there providing His power...never expecting us to have it within ourselves.

So, that leads me to the rest of the week.  I marveled at the strength two of my sisters had in the loss of their brother and their father this week. How can they do it? How do they speak of the joy in knowing their loved ones are with the Lord, rather than burying themselves in their grief? I'm again reminded of the Holy Spririt...Our Comforter. The same God who gives us power to witness, to live the life on the path less traveled, gives us...comfort.

So, how are these connected? How can I even begin to fathom this divine power He places within us? How can I begin to grasp that the God of the Universe...the Holy Spirit...would choose to live within me?  And so, there it is...He is our strength and our hope...He is our peace in the midst of the raging storms.  When life's battles reveal our weaknesses, they also become an opportunity to reveal His power. He is the hope that lifts us from our dispair and promises new life. So, when you find yourself in a mixed up week of ups and downs, and really just want to find something to hang onto until the merry-go-round stops...remember...He's always there.

To Dream or Not To Dream...

Dreams can be powerful things. Some friends of mine claim they never dream. I know that it’s just that they don’t remember the dreams, but in a way it seems sad. Sure I could do without the nightmares, but then there are also those joyful dreams…the kind that inspire us, that make us believe all things are possible.

A couple of nights ago, I dreamed that a dear friend and mentor was mad at me…absolutely furious…he was disappointed in me and wanted to just cut me off from his family and friends. In my dream, I never really knew what it was that made him so mad. He honestly seemed so disappointed. I did find out that it was due to lies that were said by someone he thought he could trust… and in the end, it was all cleared up.

But the feelings that stood out were not feelings of self-pity or anger. I was at first confused, and then desperate to have the truth be known, then finally…I gave up and let God be in charge (why is that always my LAST action?) and only then, did the truth come to light.

Because I believe God wants to always teach us something through our dreams, I pondered this one long and hard. I think I realized that the thing we all need to remember is that we shouldn’t react when faced with injustice. God calls us to act in accordance with His Word. We are to act in grace…ALWAYS. But this isn’t something that is automatic for any of us. It must be learned.

I’m reminded of Mr. Miyagi with Daniel-san…”Wax on, wax off…” God wants my drawing nigh to Him to become as natural as breathing. If I have to stop and think before I react, well…sometimes I just won’t. But if I read His Word, pray, draw close to Him, get to know His heart…then, I can learn what it means to think and act with His heart. So, in this case, God used my dreams to teach and stretch…

It's funny how we all are taught something new and different, even from similar dreams.  It was such an odd dream, so out of character for that person, I felt I had to tell him the dream and what I learned.  Maybe the message wasn't just for me?  God has such a sense of humor!  That very night he also had a dream that his loved ones were mad at him, and he too had done nothing wrong.  He shared what he learned about himself through that dream in his sermon Sunday.  About feeling unappreciated?...maybe we all seek acceptance of those around us more than God occassionally?  We should find peace in knowing our place in Christ...in knowing who we are and who we belong to.  Such rich lessons! I'm in awe of the way God works! How He reaches right into our minds to touch our souls! 

 

So, the next time you have a weird dream, ask what it told you about yourself and what God wants you to learn or see. It usually isn’t about the situations themselves, but our reactions. Good choices, bad choices, feeling like you have no choice…the mysteries our minds want to unravel during our sleep…God is willing to make clear. 

G’Night…. and ”Sweet Dreams!”.

No Regrets...

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've blogged. Sometimes, what is stirred up in your life is on too personal a level to blog about.  Sometimes, connections to our past can be bittersweet memories.  That's a big part of my journey this past month.  Maybe you too have certain memories of your past that are bittersweet...regrets that are mixed with the good times. 

Have you ever looked back on highschool days, for instance, and just smile at the memories of field trips, lunchtime banter, or some winning point you scored, to be flooded with the feelings of regret for being a wall flower or not standing up to the class bully or maybe for being too much of a conformist instead of being your own person?  Why does this happen? Why can't we just let go of the pain and embrace the good times? 

Some might argue that the regrets are what keep us straight today. There may be some truth in that, but I also feel that we spend a lot of our lives beating ourselves up for not being THEN the person we are NOW. This is kind of crazy if you think about it...afterall...we are the person we are now BECAUSE of those experiences. We grow, we learn, we change and mature...those very experiences we regret are often the stepping stones to the person you are today.

So, the next time you feel those deep regrets...turn around and thank the Lord that these moments now allow you to feel you need for grace, to empathize with others, to now "do the right thing".  Be thankful and praise Him that He has used the evil done against us AND the evil we ourselves wrought, and has transformed it into a blessing known as wisdom and understanding.  Don't punish yourself for acting as a child when you were a child...rejoice that you're an adult. Don't beat yourself up over failures...because you acted in the knowledge and strength you had at the time...instead be thankful for your wisdom today and His grace along the way.

Clear the path ahead by not regretting the hard steps along the way but by praising Him for the blessings they have brought and the clearer vision today!