Thursday, May 23, 2013

Needing Joseph's help!

Today I went back to a village for follow-up where a team from CU had shared with last week.  Five men had come forward last week wanting to believe.  These men were the first believers ever to emerge from their village which is over 400 years old!

I told them last week I'd be back this week so today I went out there.  I found them all and they were still very excited about their new faith.  We went through some initial discipleship lessons and they wanted to be baptized.

However, before we went one of the men pulled me aside and said "i need to ask you something." He went on to explain that he'd had a dream he wanted me to explain.

I can honestly say this is the first time anyone has ever asked me this.  I admitted that I could only offer my opinion and that I was not like Joseph in the Bible who could, through God's help, interpret his dream.

He told me the following dream that he said he had the night that he'd believed last week:

"I was laying on the ground crippled with broken legs.  I couldn't walk, I couldn't move, it was like I was dead.  Then I saw you [talking about me] and a white dove.  You said to me "get up and walk" and the dove came and touched my legs.  I was instantly healed and I got up!"

Now, this is already pretty amazing but listen to this next part.  Remember, here's what this guy knows theologically speaking. He knows a brief Creation to Christ story and he knows Romans 10 about how to believe.

"When I got up, the Holy Spirit descended on me and saved me!"

I told him that I didn't think his dream was too hard to understand.  That God had used me as His messenger to bring the Gospel to him.  That he was dead in his sin and needed to be healed/saved.  God did this and has given him new life.

Now, the amazing thing is his use of "Holy Spirit." This is not an easy concept for our Muslim background believers to understand and even many of our mature believers struggle with this doctrine. 

In fact, I had never mentioned the Holy Spirit in my brief interactions with him thus far.  God had revealed this truth to this brand new believer. 

It was just an awesome reminder of how God is still using the supernatural today.  He is still speaking to His children through dreams and visions. 

1 comment:

  1. Thank you soo much for sharing this, it was such an encouragement to me tonight. It brought me to tears. God is SO mighty in control, that it leaves me dumbfounded at the smallness of my understanding of Him and the smallness of my faith. But...how faithful He is to increase our faith through messages like this! I once had a similar dream, except I was on a completely barren and parched earth and I was supposed to go around from one crippled person to the next (exactly like what that man shared), sharing the words of Life, redemption through Christ, with them. I've often wondered if this is how God sees this earth, and, in stark contrast, how lovely the Lord Jesus Christ is, and how life-giving it is when He cleanses us of our sins and renews us in the Holy Spirit!!! It is truly amazing how the Holy Spirit, through you, brought those men to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll be praying for them, for all of you, and for that entire village.

    ReplyDelete