Edition 3 of the End of the World Dream

Thursday, December 22nd, 2005

Edition 3 of the End of the World Dream

The three things:

1. Is there a fact to believe here?


2. Is there a promise to trust?


3. Is there a command to obey?

Topics:

1. Doing the Right Thing

The Battle between Good and Evil (Romans 7)

1. Motivation & Preparation


2. Help Others

Genesis 32:22-28
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."

But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

27 The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.

28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

I like this scripture because it is all about overcoming. Struggles can become a good thing if it creates perseverance, which ties into the scripture in Romans 5.

Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I suffer, I struggle. I wrestle with God. And the only way to handle the situation is to trust in God and persevere. James also says 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. So when I push through, I then mature… maybe just a little, but it is maturing. It is growth. And I reflect on this so when I look at the story of Joseph, it adds a little flavor to the study.

Genesis 37:19-35
19 "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. 20 "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. 22 "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing- 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.

28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"

31 Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."

33 He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.

Wow, the guy has a dream… not a favorable dream… and gets shipped off because of it… he was very fortunate to not loose his life. His brothers were motivated to do the wrong thing. Anger causes motivation, emotions in general cause motivation… so what motivates me? Love? Anger? Frustration? Bitterness? Worldliness? I know I have done some things wrong in my life motivated by unrighteous things… it goes without saying. I am an addict, so selfish gain is definitely apart of my past. I could have heard Joseph’s dream and very easily have sold him out, if not worse. The ray of hope in all this was Rueben, who was, I think, maybe trying to save himself and his brother by putting him in the cistern. There were 9 other angry brothers there… I don’t know if Rueben could’ve taken them, and I don’t he thought he could either, based on his suggestion to place him there in the first place.

Genesis 39:2-6
2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

8 But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

Now, this is probably a good looking gal. Potiphar was well off, and in those days, I guess you could just go down to the market and buy yourself a wife. And with the Egyptian Credit Card he had, he could drop some money down. So here’s this woman hitting on him, she’s probably never been denied anything in her life, or at least since she was married to Potiphar, and Joseph says NO. His motivation was God. He wanted to please God. His motivation was to do the right thing, not something wicked and sinful to God, but to please God and his master, Potiphar. (I could tie this in to the workplace, pleasing the boss, but I won’t. I don’t have a 9 to 5 right now…)

So, the story continues:
Genesis 39:19-23
19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. 20 Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.
But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

So now Joseph is in prison, but he is still taking care of things. Even in the worst of times, God blesses me. If I were to be in prison, would I be looking for the blessings? Or would I be bitter? I think Joseph may have been tempted with bitterness and anger, but his motivation was to please God and he persevered through it all. He became like a manager to Potiphar and the Prison.

Genesis 41:41-49
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt." 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, "Make way!" Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.

44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt." 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

This looks to be the last scripture, but I see that Joseph then prepares for the event as it comes… Egypt stores enough food to feed the world. The United States pretty much feeds the world right now, but how long with that last? I don’t know. (He’s on third.) What I do know, is the preparation I am thinking is the preparation of the soul. How ready am I? More importantly, how ready is my neighbor? Do I share my faith? Is the church growing in abundance? It could also grow more than it is and really the growth of the church is not what I am concerned about. My concern is this: Am I doing my part? I guess I knocked into what I am going to study tomorrow, but it’s never to early to do tomorrow’s work today. Anyway, Merry Christmas! Hope to hear from you all soon.

Edition 2 of the End of the World Dream

Wednesday, December 21st, 2005

Edition 2 of the End of the World Dream

The three things:

1. Is there a fact to believe here?
2. Is there a promise to trust?
3. Is there a command to obey?

OK, I have had some thought into this whole thing. A lot of prayer and some side discussions with friends and some research into dream interpretations (which that really got me nowhere)… and what is my conclusion? Well, not much. Now the first edition of this was back on November 21st, a month ago… (I didn’t wait a month on this on purpose, it just happened to fall that way), and a few things I realized: 1) My dream COULD be about the end of the world, but I do not know for sure, simply because there was no Jesus coming back, no angels, no sky opening up and fire reigning down, that sort of thing… I made that assumption based on the events in the dream. 2) Dreams, I personally believe, of this nature are meant as a sense of motivation. A dream of such caliber and exact in nature from the previous dream I had can simply be to motivate me to: a) do the right thing, b) motivate me to prepare for such a day, and c) help others if such an occurrence should happen. With the reoccurring dreams that I have had in the past, which honestly don’t happen often (a handful in my lifetime thus far), the do come true, but not always immediately. In fact, I don’t remember one happening within even a number of months of the dream. I have tried to reason with myself as simply ignore it, but I almost think it would be foolish to do so… and what is wrong with preparing for a huge catastrophe?

Now, I am going to check out the three things:

Doing the right thing: I don’t really think I need to go into this with scripture… why would God want me to do anything less than what is right? Romans 7, though, does place the whole thing into perspective, though. Verse 11 says 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. Sin does everything to seize the opportunity given it. Sin is going to see that I am trying to do the right thing, and do everything to sabotage every effort. Verse 21 goes on to say 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. The struggle within me… what am I to do, well, take the road less traveled. The narrow road, which is straight, has a little gate, and probably rusty from lack of use. When I go to work, I prefer the highway, more cars but the guarantee to get to work on time is very good… the back roads tend to have less cars, less chance of accidents (and if a car hit another car intentionally, would that be called a purpose?), and generally the same amount of time to get there depending on the distance of travel. But when the sinful nature hits, it’s telling me to take the highway where everyone is at… but to get where God wants me to go, I should take the back road. And even if I give into the temptation, hop on the highway, my rescuer is there to gear me back on track: 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So, I guess I will work more on this in the next few days. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. This will be the first for me as a father… exciting to say the least… Johnny Out.

A Simple Update

Tuesday, December 20th, 2005

A Simple Update

The three things:

1. Is there a fact to believe here?


2. Is there a promise to trust?


3. Is there a command to obey?

Well, Monday was the day. I missed a QT. It was a good stretch, 172 straight days. My previous was 109, which was also this year. Obligations and such, I guess they caused me to loose focus, but God loves me, and so long as missing doesn’t become a habit, then I feel that the consistency that I have been shooting for has been accomplished. I was wanting to create an excuse to be able to say I was spiritual in one way or another and thus allowing myself to say that I had a QT in one form or another, but that would be creating a loophole. God doesn’t want loopholes. God wants a good heart. I have a good heart, but by creating a loophole, I would be deceiving God, myself, and it could even have an impact on others by doing such a thing.

Loophole (noun):

1. A way of escaping a difficulty, especially an omission or ambiguity in the wording of a contract or law that provides a means of evading compliance.


2. An ambiguity (especially one in the text of a law or contract) that makes it possible to evade a difficulty or obligation.

Matthew 7:9-13
9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

The Pharisee’s created loopholes for people. They helped themselves to do things they wanted to do and it nullified the word of God. And the kicker is they many things like that! Are loopholes holding me down? Am I creating a loophole to get out of something I know I need to do? I must say, I am tempted from time to time. I even follow through with them on an occasion or two. I am tempted about this whole Christmas thing, because my doctor advised me to spend Christmas at home and not tote my son all over the Metroplex. Very tempting, indeed to do so… I have a loophole if I want to use it… the question is will I go and encourage family, as I am in the habit of doing, or will I stay home and rest and not stress my son out by constant travel? To some, this may seem like an easy choice, but to me, it isn’t a shoe in for either side.

Hebrews 10:22-25
22 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The bible does say that I should not give up meeting together. It should be a habit to do so… it also says to encourage one another… if I don’t meet with my church family; it makes it a little harder to encourage them. Jesus himself taught in the church of there time, the temple courts, and the Pharisee’s challenged him there. Matthew 21:23 says that Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?" He was teaching in the temple courts? How about that… and even in Mark 14:49 it says “49 every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” Jesus preached at the church every day! Now, I am not saying to have church service everyday, but we have a precedence before us that shows we meet every Sunday. I personally don’t care if it is on a street corner (which would be rather cool, I think), a house, or in a church building, but to find the loophole of Saturday evening doesn’t jive with me… I mean, if Easter fell on December 25th, would we jump to Saturday night instead so we can hide Easter eggs the next morning? In essence, that’s what I see. We have Sunday service Saturday night so that we can hide eggs the next morning. This is going to be it for me on talking about the whole Christmas issue (at least for another 6 years (). Anyway, another 171 days to a tie and I’m looking forward to it all!

Another Side Study - Talents

Friday, December 16th, 2005

Another Little Side Study - Talents

The three things:

1. Is there a fact to believe here?


2. Is there a promise to trust?


3. Is there a command to obey?

Matthew 25:14-30
14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

19 "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

22 "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 " 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Note: Now, I was thinking last night about how sin is like hiding the talent. If I have a gift, and I don’t use it, I stuck it in the ground and covered it up, letting it rot away. But here is another thought: what if I do the opposite of that talent (and I know that the opposite of doing is not doing, but work with me hear) – consider how someone may cuss and swear like that of a sailor… and then call themselves a Christian to spite all. But would that not be the opposite of a clean and wholesome life? One who lusts, that would be that of the do not lust scriptures throughout the bible. And in a sense, that would also be mocking God and shunning the talents God has given us. I would be guilty of the same sin of the one who buried the talent.

Talent (noun):

1. A person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity.

Weeping (adj.):

1. To express emotion, such as grief or sadness, by shedding tears.

Gnashing (verb):

1. To grind or strike (the teeth, for example) together.


2. To bite (something) by grinding the teeth.

Surely I possess the ability to not cuss or swear, surely I possess the ability to be kind to others, and surely I have the ability to worship my God. That’s three talents already! And I know there are plenty more that I have been blessed with. I can see how people don’t enjoy the ability of being stricken with Bi-Polar disorder, but I think I have reached a point to where I am actually glad I have this condition. I mean, on the surface it somewhat stinks, but on the grand scheme of things, it causes me to push myself beyond my limits. I know I have to do certain things and by “forcing” myself to do them, I am glad for doing so. At the time, my heart grumbles and gripes, and I may not even voice my thoughts, but during and especially afterward, I look back with joy for doing so. I, for one, don’t want anything to do with weeping and gnashing of teeth. I don’t want darkness. I don’t have much, but what I do have, I am especially grateful for: I have God, family, and friends… is there anything more precious than that? Those are three more talents that we have for each other. I want to multiply those talents. I guess that is another way I can look at being fruitful. Have a great weekend, I may or may not be posting… only time will tell.

A Little Side Study - Unity

Wednesday, December 15th, 2005

A Little Side Study - Unity

The three things:

1. Is there a fact to believe here?
2. Is there a promise to trust?
3. Is there a command to obey?

The parable of the geese:

As geese fly in a “V” formation, each bird flaps its wings creating uplift for the bird behind. In this particular formation, the whole flock adds 71% more to the flying range than if each bird flew alone. Whenever a goose falls out of formation it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone. It quickly gets back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the others in the flock. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose takes over the lead. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep going and keep up their speed. When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly again, or dies. They then rejoin the formation.

LESSON: People who share a common direction can get where they’re going faster and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed in the direction we want to travel. It’s a good thing to share the “hard yards”. We need to make sure that our “honking from behind” is encouraging and uplifting rather than something less helpful. If we have as much sense as a goose, we’ll treat our fellow travelers in the same manner.

(Milton Olsen)

Now, I changed the format (which is fairly common for me), but all the words are the same from this story.

Psalm 133:1-3
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

Romans 15:1-6
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:1-11
1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Note: I think I see something here… the story of the geese and how easily unified they are when they put their mind to it. And not only do they do the task, but they do it joyfully and stand by their comrades to the ever so bitter end. And when they partake on their journey, they encourage each other all along the way! So how good and pleasant it is when we live in unity? Am I trying to live in unity? Am I trying to be like-minded and have one spirit and purpose? When was the last time I asked God to give me and others a spirit of unity? OUCH! Now that humbles me right there, because I can’t think of the last time I prayed for such a thing… I can’t even think of the last time I thought about the whole unity issue… but I think of the geese and how they allow others to lead and gracefully, I might add, and how the others encourage the leader all the while that goose is leading and am I doing that? I don’t know… (OH YEAH, HE’S ON THIRD) I like to think that I am, but I don’t know… (THIRD BASE) I try to be honest with myself, and it has been my goal of late to encourage others, it’s like a little purpose I have inside me, and with the story that was presented to me today, it lights that fire all the more. I mean, if a goose can do it, then surely I can encourage others, right? I mean, it’s a GOOSE! Surely, I can outdo a goose, right? But here’s the thing… it is a part of the goose’s nature. Is it a part of mine?