Читать книгу Beyond the Horizon - Harry A. Renfree - Страница 73

March 07

What sort of dreams do you have? Perhaps you don’t dream at all . . . or not very often. Most of us, I believe, have quite a few dreams, and sometimes they are very odd.

In Old Testament times, God used dreams many times for sending His messages to people. In the New Testament, however, this method of reaching people came almost to a halt. Joseph, in a dream, was told of the coming of the Christ child and directed to take Mary as his wife. Joseph was also told to flee to Egypt after Jesus’ birth in order to escape the wrath of King Herod. He was later told by a dream when to return to his homeland and by another to go to live in Nazareth.

When Jesus was on trial for His life before Pontius Pilate, Pilate’s wife sent a message to her husband: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him” (Matthew 27:19). And except for one repetition of a prophecy of the Old Testament concerning dreams, that’s all there is about dreams in the New Testament.

There were, of course, visions, and I believe the main difference between the two is that visions still contain a direct word from God, whereas God seems to have discontinued using ordinary dreams as a means of carrying His message. His Holy Spirit, sent on the day of Pentecost, now speaks to individuals. Indeed, the Holy Spirit of God and God’s Word, the Bible, as well as prayer, are our sources of spiritual life, although I cannot completely rule out the possibility of God’s using a dream or a vision in our day.

Sometimes we are fearful of our dreams. Perhaps we have nightmares. Our fears about dreams or nightmares can become less powerful, less fearsome, when we discover that we share them with quite a few other people. In addition, they become much less troublesome when we share them with our Heavenly Father. Our greatest assurance is that we cannot drift beyond the Heavenly Father’s love and care. He will listen to our fears always and at any time.

Many ages ago, God spoke directly to Isaac, and His promise still stands: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you.”