“THE WONDERFUL BLESSINGS OF
DREAMS AND VISIONS”!
By: J.FARRELL FISHER, OCT.18-20, 2017
How many do you know over your lifespan who live IN “the wonderful blessings of dreams and visions”? I hate to say it, but I’m afraid that there are many lives you come in contact with who know nothing about “true dreams and true visions” from the mind, will, and heart of Holy God! It was an anonymous writer who long ago wrote: “A vision without a task is a dream; a task with a vision is drudgery; a vision and a task is the hope of the world.”
And for certain, without dreams and visions from the heart and mind of God, lives on planet earth live in the midst of meaningless existences with no hope for a ‘blood-redeemed, Christ-purchased life, blessings, and anointings from the ONLY Savior and Lord and conquering King of kings! How many do you know who, yes, wonder, “Why am I here?”, living with dark curtains, like night, when Holy God would have them living in the “Sonlight of Eternal Presence”!
Have you witnessed men “who soar” because they caught a “dream or a vision”, even unaware it was God Himself, so they give no glory or honor to the Inspirer of their soul? Sadly, many are totally unaware of the Dream and Vision Maker and Author and pat themselves on their backs for their ‘genius labor’? At the same time there are those with poor physical eyesight, yet because of their faith in God, with poor eyesight they astound family and friends with the riches they possess from God in their ‘dreams and visions’ even beyond those their nearest and dearest ‘talk’ about!
You are aware that there are ‘great men’ in the world who accomplish great things, but in their ‘self-back-patting’ they are blinded or have ignored Holy God as, yes, the Author and Finisher of ‘their’ “Faith Dreams”! Visions, dreams, artistic master-pieces, medical miracles, athletic abilities, financial brilliances, creative stepping-stones of better ‘pathways’, are ALL from the mind and heart of the Creator, Holy God, the Eternal Three-in-One: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit who “guides us into all truth”!
I’m sure you’re aware of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem and of ‘the wise men’ from the East who came to Jerusalem, saying, (Matthew 2:2), “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” But neither the ‘wise men’ or King Herod were interested in Jesus’ birth spiritually but for knowing His location where they could kill Him!
Christ Jesus was birthed! Matthew 2:10 says, When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. (It’s good and godly to rejoice in the birth of Christ Jesus!). The true believers fell down and worshipped Him, but then, Verse 12 says, “…being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”
Look at Verse 14! Joseph is instructed by God about ‘taking the young Child to Egypt’ because God knew the scribes and Pharisees wanted to kill Him! Verse 14 says: When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
It’s not just a few verses but a number of years later, and Matthew 3:13-17 illumines us more concerning King Jesus, the Promised Messiah, King of kings and Lord of lords! It tells us: Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and You are coming to Me?”
But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and BEHOLD, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And Holy God, the Father of all mankind and of His Son, the Lord Jesus, blesses all of mankind, whether they receive it or not, unveiling the eternal Gospel of Christ, God’s “Promised Messiah”, God’s “Blood Redeemer”, even giving the “gifts” of repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross AND the empty tomb! We serve a Risen Savior and Lord! It’s why in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Paul was inspired to write:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” “In Christ – new creations”! “In Christ – new creations given the ministry of reconciliation”! “In Christ – ambassadors for Christ”! “In Christ – entrusted with ‘the word of reconciliation’?” “In Christ – imploring people to be reconciled to God”? “In Christ – true believers becoming the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”?
But you hear the ‘pretenders’: “You disciples who truly believe you’re ambassadors of Christ! I joined His church – that’s all that matters!” Really? In Acts 3:25-26 Peter said to the “Jewish pretenders”: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities.” And having been turned from their sin AND sin natures, true disciples were to be turned, yes, to the ministry of world redemption! “God so loved the world (lost, alienated from, captives of their sin natures and Satan, bound to the ‘flesh’ needing “Spirit-birth”, God sent His Son!)”. And as “followers” of Christ, we unite in His message, ministry, and mission: ‘I came to seek and to save that which is lost!”
It was a lady by the name of Katherine Logan who stated: (Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations”, (p.465), “A vision foretells what may be ours. It is an invitation to do something. With a great mental picture in mind we go from one accomplishment to another, using the materials about us only as steppingstones to that which is higher and better and more satisfying. We thus become possessors of the unseen values which are eternal.”
“Possessors of the unseen values which are eternal”? In Galatians 2:20-21a, Paul said: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh (one’s physical body)I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God…!”
But some do set aside the grace of God because their ‘grit’ is more important to them than God’s grace! Rather than the Resurrected Presence of Christ in them, some choose to serve in the ‘best’ (?) of self-effort, neglecting the glory of the Resurrected Christ! How many do you know who “profess Faith” yet are strangers to the vision of the glory of God He desires to pour out on them?
In Joel 2:28 God spoke – have YOU heard Him speak to you? “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, you’re young men shall see visions.”
It was a dramatic, victorious day for the early church after the resurrection of Christ when Peter had an awesome unveiling of Truth for the early disciples and us when he spoke in Acts 2:36-42, Peter saying, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter, and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and of prayers.”
Question! “Do you see yourself as one of those early believers who encountered the Resurrected Christ and learned of their eternal destiny in Him?” It was Jonathan Swift who in his writing, “Thoughts on Various Subjects”, wrote: “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” When I read Swift’s words I immediately went to 1 Peter 1!! Examine carefully Verses 3-16!! Peter said:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [Last time? How about the “last days” of deceptive Jewish practices that crucified Christ with 70 AD the days of their destruction?].
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of faith – the salvation of your souls.
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (Check Isaiah 53!). To then it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things which angels desire to look into.
THEREFORE gird up the loins of your mind, be sober (serious-minded!), and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation (or unveiling) of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Dare I ask? Believe I will!! “Do you personally live fully surrendered, living as one who clearly understands that he/she is no longer his/her own because he/she was purchased in and through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, understanding he/she is no longer his/her own but distinctively is owned, blessed, loved, and cared for by Almighty God, by His Son, and by the Holy Spirit, as His earthly family of faith, and, yes, understanding he/she IS Christ Jesus’s faithful ambassador and honorable representative of the King of kings and Lord of lords?”
Have YOU “girded up the loins of your mind”, determined to live “sober and serious-minded” because of God’s call and purpose for your earthly life, and are “resting in your hope fully upon the grace of God” as He called you and appointed you as Christ’s “salt and light” in the darkened world around you? William Pierson Merrill and Aaron Williams wrote the old hymn, “Rise Up, O Men of God”, and it was published in the old Broadman Hymnal in 1940! It says: “Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things; Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men of God! His kingdom tarries long; Bring in the day of brotherhood And end the night of wrong.
Rise up, O men of God! The Church for you does wait, Her strength unequal to her task; Rise up, and make her great!
Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet have trod; As brothers of the Son of man, Rise up, O men of God!” Are YOU a man of God or a weak wimp?