Dream Skippin'

When I was a kid, and my family went to a lake, I would soon get bored with whatever we were doing, and go down to the beach by myself. Of course, I'd grab a stick or a rock and throw it out into the water. Why? Because I was a kid, and I was bored. Gotta do SOMETHING!

"Quit throwing rocks in the lake! You'll fill it up!"

"Yeah, right," I said to myself, and walked further down the beach. That's when I saw another kid skipping stones on the surface of the water. So, I tried it. It didn't go well. Lots of distance, one big splash.

Then I saw another kid doing the same thing, so I copied what he was doing. It wasn't long before I was stone skippin' for real. 21 splashes was my record.

Last night I could NOT sleep. I kept waking up, falling asleep, repeat, repeat, repeat. It was like I was skippin' stones again, only with my consciousness, not water.

This happens every once in a while. Kind of like a family trip to the lake. And I have discovered something. Dream skippin.' The place between asleep and awake is where dreams occur. At least for me.

Dreams get born from our overactive imagination, or pepperoni pizza. But also, dreams can be born of God.

“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions." - Joel 2:28

"And He said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream." - Numbers 12:6

"In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter." - Daniel 7:1

So, dreams can come from God, but they can also can come from spicy food. So, how do we discern truth from gas?

I once had a dream that was SO incredibly real, I still remember it to this day. Nothing ever came of that dream, to MY knowledge anyway. Weird.

And have you ever had a dream that was really enjoyable, but then you woke up, and then tried to fall back asleep again? How did THAT work?

When I have a dream that seems important, I actually get out of bed and write it down, in case I forget it before morning. That happens a lot. Many have even made appreances in these stories.

Sometimes dreams are just dreams, but then there are times when dreams are so incredibly vivid that they must mean something, right? Are they from God? Only God knows for sure.

Now here I go again

I see the crystal visions

I keep my visions to myself

- Stevie Nicks

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac

Living The Dream

I have a friend at the architectural/engineering firm I work at who spends most of his time in the field. Construction observation is his job.  He keeps an eye on contractors, making sure they do things right and according to the plans we have drawn.

One particularly hot and humid day, my friend came in from the field after a hard day's work.

 "How are you doing?" I asked.

My friend had just spent the entire day working in an un-airconditioned headworks building at a local waste water treatment plant. I don't want to tell you what he smelled like.

"Livin' the dream, Bob. Livin' the dream," was his reply. I'm not sure but . . . I got the impression he was being sarcastic.

We all have dreams. I'm sure my friend does not "dream" about working in another waster water treatment plant. What's your dream?

I recently asked that question on Facebook. Here are a few of the answers I received.

One wanted to save the earth with all of its environmental issues, another wanted to travel to visit a friend they had never seen. Yet another wanted to end racism and hatred. But the last two answers I received stood above the rest. One wanted "No sadness, no pain, no violence, no hunger."

The last comment I received was the best I thought. What do you think?

"A better, more peaceful world where it was easy to lead people to Christ. All on our knees praising our Creator as one."

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all could live THAT dream?

God can speak to us in our dreams and I think we too can speak to God in OUR dreams. Sometimes we need help interpreting the dreams we have. Daniel was an amazing interpreter of dreams. I kind of wish I could understand some of the dreams I have had over the years. But then again, the only dreams that really need interpreting are the ones that glorify God.

"However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed." - Daniel 2:28

When I was a child I went to see the Blue Angles. I dreamed of being able to fly one day. The following video shows some pilots who had a similar dream. They TRULY are living the dream.

Dreams - Van Halen (featuring The Blue Angels)

Be Thou My Vision

The clock may have changed to Daylight Savings Time but it's still pretty dark when I drive to work at 5:00 AM. It's been a while since I have seen the sun in the morning. It's also been a while since I have played any music on the CD player in my car. I usually drive in silence or I drop in a CD from an audio Bible and listen to John or Acts. But the other morning I dropped in an old worship CD I had burned several years ago and was amazed at how the songs seemed so new and fresh.

There was a time in my Christian walk that these songs brought tears to my eyes. Their words reminding me of the goodness of God, His loving promises and, of course, the death of His Son. I love listening to Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art and Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Any of those songs could be played at my funeral and I would be singing along with them from heaven.

The lyrics of one song in particular caught my ear this week. One LINE from that song actually. The song was Be Thou My Vision. It was the very last line of the song. . .

"Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all."

Heart of my own heart - the deepest part of our hearts, our very soul, must belong to God. He has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. He loves us unconditionally, eternally and without doubt.

Whatever befall - now matter what happens. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. His love never fails. Love wins. There is nothing we can do that will separate us from the love of Christ.

Still be my vision - This has got to be the key line of the entire song. The writer is singing in the previous words about struggle, pain and all the bad things that can happen to us. Yet the writer is saying he still wants God. God is everything, now matter what happens. It still bothers me that some churches and pastors have "vision meetings." Why? God provides our vision. Not man.

O Ruler of all - Like I just said, God is everything. He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. God IS all and rules over all. Nothing happens that is not known to Him. He spoke and heavens were created. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And think about the title of the song - Be Thou My Vision. What if our eyes could see what God sees? What if we knew the causes of a hurting heart? What if our eyes could see the lonely woman contemplating aborting her baby? What if we could see the young man's heart as he puts a gun to his head? What if we allowed our hearts to love like God's heart so we could be God's instruments in this world?

This world needs Jesus. There isn't a single problem that couldn't be solved by having more Jesus in it. The middle east, cancer, suicide, depression, hunger, loneliness, disease. You name it, God can fix it. Would you please pray with me this morning?

Father in heaven, give us your eyes to see the hurting and down-trodden of this world. May WE love them as YOU love them - unconditionally. May you grant us the wisdom and patience and perseverance to see each opportunity that comes our way. And may we ALWAYS share the truth, in love, for those who need to hear it. May your glory be pronounced in every household and in every heart. Lord, please, be our vision as you send us out, messengers of the truth, lights in the darkness - always hoping, always trusting and always loving those whom you place in our lives. May you be praised for YOUR vision. It is ALWAYS perfect. Amen.

Be Thou My Vision - Sandi Patty