Powerful Dreams

Today, in the quest for keeping Christ in Christmas, I read in Matthew about the birth of Jesus. Here is where Joseph and the Wise Men enter the story in detail. Read - Enjoy...

Matthew 1:18
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

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Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,2 saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.5 They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

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And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

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Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

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Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, Out of Egypt I called my son.

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Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

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A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

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But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,20 saying, Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene.

As I was reading this, I was struck by the fact that although it appears from previous reading that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Mary and the Shepherds while they were awake, He chose to reveal Himself to Joseph and the Wise Men in a dream. Why the difference? I don't know!! But it makes me wonder if it wasn't to show us that God speaks to us all in very different ways, none more valid than another.

What made these men pay attention to these dreams and not just chalk them up to a bad pizza before bed? It is not clear in scripture, but I wonder what would have happened if they had not paid attention to these messages from heaven.

I can't say that I have had God speak to me in a dream (can't say that I haven't either) that I can remember, but I do know that I have heard the voice of the Lord in many different ways in my life. How many times have I second guessed what I thought I was hearing from Him? Passed it off as "to weird", "it must be my flesh talkin", or "bad pizza"...

So, once again, how about you? Have you heard Him speak to you? Did you hold on to those words and obey or did you write it off? I pray the Lord NEVER stops to speaking to me, to us, and I that my relationship with Him is strong enough that I will recognize Him when he does. I should be able to tell the difference between a message form God and bad pizza for Pete's sake!

Keep listening. I know I am!

Angels and Shepherds - an Odd Pairing

OK, so today's reading brought me to Luke 2. Probably one of the best known Christmas story passages. One of the things that struck me while reading it again with fresh eyes was the part about the angels and the shepherds. Here, take a minute to read it:

"8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.10 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them."

So, you're sitting around the camp fire with the other shepherds, havin' dinner and relaxing after a long day of tending to the sheep and all of a sudden this (what I presume to be) huge and menacing angel appears in the sky above you. And to add to the spectacle, "the Glory of the Lord" was there to. Now, I'm not to sure what that means exactly, but if it is the "glory of the Lord" I am thinking about, it is probably the same one that made Moses glow when he saw it - or at least something similar. It's no wonder that the next line was written: " and they were filled with fear."

I think we have become desensitized to the pictures of angels we see in children's books or on our Christmas cards to think they are these beautiful women in flowy gowns with amazing wings and never a bad hair day. On the contrary, they are men and while they still probably never have a bad hair day, every time I remember reading about them it talks about the people being afraid. I imagine they are very are amazing but daunting creature that would set the manliest of men back a few feet. Got the picture in your head?

The scene continues and after the shepherd's have calmed down a bit and can focus enough to listen, the angel brings his message about the birth of Jesus. If all that was not enough to let them know this was no ordinary child, God ups the ante by sending a angel choir to serenade them for a little bit. Talk about an experience. WOW!

So, I am am reading this and I asked myself "why did God choose that particular group to give the news to first?" I think the answer is in the next part of the passage. It says that when the angels left, they discussed it for a few minutes and decided to take a little road trip to see the baby. Now this was not like waiting a couple days after the birth to let the mother recover and bond with her child and then visiting. It says they "made haste", booked it over to the stable to see this awesome baby. Then, they told everyone they came in contact with after that about their experience. Bottom line, I think God chose them because he knew he could count on them to spread the word about His son.

It makes me wonder how many awesome experiences I miss because God knows that I will keep it to myself and not spread the word to everyone I come in contact with or because He knows I will be to busy to notice.

I am quite positive that I would fall into the category of so many before me and be scared out of my wits if a choir of angels decided to give me a private concert. But I'll happily deal with the dear, if it means I shine so much from being in the presence of His glory that I can't keep my mouth shut about it!

Lord, open my eyes to extraordinary experiences from you. Help me to be found faithful enough that you don't pass me by because you know I will keep it to myself. Make me shine so everyone I come in contact with knows I have seen You!