{"id":1841,"date":"2017-06-21T20:18:49","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T00:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/?p=1841"},"modified":"2017-06-21T20:20:35","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T00:20:35","slug":"a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anglicanconnection.com\/a-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"A DREAM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night\u2026<\/i>\u00a0(Daniel 2:19)<\/span><\/p>\n

Dreams fascinate us. They can tease us with the hope they may come true, but they can also terrify. In the past, as in some cultures today, dreams were often treated as portents of the future. So people called on the \u2018wise\u2019 and fortune-tellers to interpret their dreams. These days modern psychology suggests that dreams can reveal our subconscious desires and fears. However, there are well-documented occasions when individuals have had some kind of premonition of the future \u2013 particularly of disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel chapter 2 records a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar experienced. It was so real that he called in his wise men and scientists, wanting them to tell him the meaning. However he had forgotten what it was and threatened them with death if they couldn\u2019t interpret the forgotten dream, Daniel was called in. On being told of the situation he called on his three companions to pray. Prayer was an essential part of Daniel\u2019s life. He prayed because he trusted God.<\/span><\/p>\n

God answered that prayer, revealing both the dream and its meaning. In essence, God showed Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and the Israelite exiles in Babylon that there would be the rise and fall of four great empires (Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome). But overall and throughout it all, God would be there, working out his great purposes for his people.<\/span><\/p>\n

The purpose of the dream was to encourage God\u2019s people to persevere. They were going through dreadful times. Exiled from Jerusalem, they had lost all that was dear to them. \u2018Never give up,\u2019 God was saying to them. He says the same to us today: \u2018Don\u2019t give up your trust in me, your prayer, or your courage to serve.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

We who live on the other side of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, have even more reason to put our trust in the one God who has shown himself in the course of history to be true and trustworthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Romans 5:1-5 we read:\u00a0<\/span>1<\/sup><\/span>Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u00a0<\/span>2<\/sup><\/span>through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.\u00a0<\/span>3<\/sup><\/span>And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,\u00a0<\/span>4<\/sup><\/span>and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,\u00a0<\/span>5<\/sup><\/span>and hope does not disappoint us, because God\u2019s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflect.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0We cannot live a meaningful life in the present unless we believe something positive about the future. What hope do you have for the future that keeps your life fresh and vital now?<\/span><\/p>\n

Optional.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0Read Daniel 2; Romans 8:28-39<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>– – –<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 John G. Mason \u2013\u00a0www.anglicanconnection.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night\u2026\u00a0(Daniel 2:19) Dreams fascinate us. They can tease us with the hope they may come true, but they can also terrify. In the past, as in some cultures today, dreams were often treated as portents of the future. So people called on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31,33,32,34],"class_list":["post-1841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-on-wednesday","tag-dream-big","tag-hope","tag-meaning","tag-purpose"],"yoast_head":"\nA Dream by John Mason Anglican Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We cannot live a meaningful life in the present unless we believe something positive about the future. 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