Kathy—When I was in my twenties I got a call out of the blue from a lady I didn’t know well. She called to ask me if I interpreted dreams. As it turned out, the lady who called had twenty-two years of dreams and most of her dreams had elephants in them. After sitting with her for hours, I couldn’t interpret even one of her dreams! The only thing I could see clearly was that the elephant was a symbol. So, I went home and in desperate prayer I asked the Lord what the elephants represented. In my inner hearing, I heard, “A religious spirit.” His answer came so quickly that it left my logic in the dust! I was dumbfounded and totally doubting my ear to hear. I thought, ‘Lord, how can I say that to that lady? How can I explain that to her when it doesn’t even make sense to me?’ He said, “You look up the characteristics of an elephant in the Encyclopedia and I’ll show you how they parallel a religious spirit.” So, I did, and He did. My point is that if you have to search for understanding, He will make it worth the effort.
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Obeying What Jesus Taught
As the people of God assemble today may they be refreshed and inspired in the knowledge that Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father is their Lord and Savior and oversight in spite of the chaos and difficulties. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. 19 So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.” (Matt.28:18-20)
God Communicating in Symbolic Language
Kathy–I’m sure we have all wondered at times why everybody does not dream literal, plain dreams with clear communication and no search and discovery needed. Joseph in the New Testament saw the angel in a dream and understood clearly that the instructions were to flee to Egypt with Baby Jesus and Mary. Those were literal instructions that they could act on and they did. However, if we consider other scriptural examples of how God communicated, He often communicated with the prophets of the Old Testament in symbolic language. The dry bones in Ezekiel and the feet of iron and clay on the statue in Daniel were symbolic. Even Jesus often spoke in parables instead of literal details, and you know He was communicating with the crowds that kept gathering. Yet sometimes even the disciples had to ask Him for clarity later. So, I suspect that having to pursue understanding is part of God’s plan and purpose, probably for reasons like, 1) seeking God for wisdom builds relationship with the Lord, and 2) pursuing understanding is how we develop an ear to hear, and 3) every time we pursue God’s wisdom and clarity, we always discover more than we went looking for.
Self Awareness
Melissa–I want to talk about one piece that is absolute necessity in the year to come. That piece is self awareness. This may sound like a simple thing you would think comes naturally, but that is not so. We have become so self-focused that we tend to confuse the two. They are not the same. Self-focus is the Band-Aid that falls off with every raging flood. Self awareness connects the dots, and raises a standard against the flood (Isa. 59:19). Let’s look at the literal definitions of the two words. Awareness means informed, alert, knowledgeable, sophisticated. (dictionary com) Focus means a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity. As a geological term, focus means the point of origin of an earthquake. (dictionary com) Focus is narrow, where as awareness is broad. I particularly love how focus is the point of origin of an earthquake. Well, if that doesn’t just say it! Self-focus leads to personal earthquakes, and self awareness keeps us from them.
