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Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Gold must Grow: The Beauty of a Faith that is Tested and Tried - Purity 469


Gold must Grow: The Beauty of a Faith that is Tested and Tried

Purity 469 07/13/2021 Purity 469 Podcast

Good morning  

Today’s photo of golden fields of wheat with a top of a green tree just cresting over the horizon comes to us to from a friend who loves to enjoy God’s creation and goodness and loves to share what they have learned about God with others. 

Although we are months from harvest time, my friend’s photo caused me to ponder the finished product of the harvest and what transpires to bring a crop to the point that it is fully grown and ready to be collected and used.  

Harvested crops really are the product of hope and endurance.   A farmer prepares the ground by clearing any remnants of the previous year, fertilizing the land, and then plowing it, and planting the seeds.  Farmers continue to tend to the crops and monitor their progress and do their best to make sure they are provided for and free from pests or other hindrances to their growth.  They may be able to irrigate the land to make sure the crops are watered but that is all they can do.  The crops rely on sunshine and the miracle of growth that is put inside the plants by God.  God and man set the conditions for the crops, but the crops are left in the field to wither and die or to grow and flourish.       

Lately in upstate NY, we have had a mix of days with blistering heat and sunshine and other days with a series of thunderstorms, high winds, and rain that have torn up parts of the countryside causing trees to be broken, with some being ripped out of the earth by their roots.

In the fields, crops are left exposed to the elements and have had to endure hot weeks without rain where those without enough water begin to wither and fade.  During the rain and storms the winds rip through the rows of the crops, blowing past and around some plants, causing others to break.   The changing conditions can cause some of the crop to become weak and die or the adversity of the extreme weather conditions can cause the crops to become firmly rooted and to be stronger from their experiences.  The crops who endure will produce fruit and will grow golden at the end of their cycle and eventually be harvested by the farmers who placed their hopes in them.    The golden harvest doesn’t come over night and it doesn’t come easy.  The gold must grow.  

Sometimes on our walk on the path of Christian Discipleship, certain themes come up from multiple sources and you get an idea that the Lord is seeking to encourage or comfort us. One theme that has come up lately, and that is appropriate for all times and seasons, is that of suffering trials and going through them by walking by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.   

I’m currently in 2 Thessalonians in my morning Bible study and consult Warren’s Wiersbe’s commentary for further insights and understanding and today’s study was full of nuggets of truth regarding dealing with the adverse conditions of life and how our faith is an anchor that can ground us to endure the blowing winds of adversity and that can grow and become mature through the process of trials.  

The following are some “highlights” from Wiersbe’s commentary. The list I present may seem simple or random, but I assure you that there is profound truth in these insights that have the fruit of experience and God’s wisdom behind them.:

“Not only does prayer change people and situations, but so does praise…. One of the best weapons for fighting Satan is praise.”   - We are to pray through our trials and thank God for what He has provided and for His presence.  “Praise works!”

“A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. New believers must expect their faith to be tried, because this is the way God proves whether or not their decision is genuine. Faith, like a muscle, must be exercised to grow stronger. Tribulation and persecution are God’s ways to strengthen our faith.[1] 

The Christian life is not always easy. Christ told His followers that the world would hate them like it hated Him.  The suffering and persecution that we go through will cause our faith to be exposed as false or it will cause us to depend on God more, which will cause it to grow.  

“…God never wastes suffering. Trials work for us, not against us (2 Cor. 4:15–18; James 1:1–5). If we trust God and yield to Him, then trials will produce patience and maturity in our lives. If we rebel and fight our circumstances, then we will remain immature and impatient. God permits trials that He might build character into our lives.[2]  

“When a person in difficulty forsakes the Lord and the church, he shows that either he has never been born again, or that his spiritual life is very weak. A true Christian who is growing will be faithful, come what may.[3]  

Our Christian faith and the path of Christian Discipleship is fueled by our decision to be faithful. We are to trust the Lord and practice our faith through prayer, praise, Bible study, good works, and service to God come what may.  

There was more wisdom presented then I have space to share today but I will conclude with Wiersbe asking and answering one of those tough questions regarding our faith.  

“Why live a godly life if your only experience is that of suffering?

As Christians, we must live for eternity and not just for the present. In fact, living “with eternity’s values in view” is what makes our Christian life meaningful today. We walk by faith, and not by sight.[4]

 

Our lives are not only defined by our existence here on earth.  We have the hope of the return of Christ, our eternal destiny of living in His kingdom, and the promise of a new heaven and a new earth.   

With this in mind, we can endure the trials of this life and when we stay in communion with the Lord by living by faith, He gives us the strength, wisdom, and love to not only persevere but to serve as an example of His goodness and grace. 

With Him, we can make it through and even while we are in the midst of uncertain times or the deep pain of trauma, we can stand in His love to find comfort and offer that love and comfort to others.  

Those trials in life that we face will cause our faith to grow.  The blistering heat of persecution or the storms of adversity that we suffer through will help us to be strong in our faith and will result in a life in Christ that shines forth like gold and cause us to be harvested for use in God’s eternal kingdom.   


This morning’s meditation verse is:

Romans 2:4 (ETRV)
4 God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don't understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives.

Today’s verse makes no bones about it.  God has been kind to us and given us new life through faith in Christ to help us to change our lives.     

God has been very kind to all of us.  Through Christ, He has forgiven us of all our transgressions and adopted us into His royal family.   His kindness, mercy, and grace has taken us from the kingdom of darkness and our fate to suffer God’s wrath to grant us reconciliation and peace with God and given us entrance into His kingdom where we no longer need to fear death.   

God also has been patient with us, allowing us to live our lives without Him to see just how foolish, hopeless, and futile the ways of the world are.  He allowed us to live our lives independent of him and to suffer the consequences of our own poor choices. When the time was right, and I’m sure we all wish it had been sooner, the Lord saved us from ourselves.  

But today’s verse tells us that it wasn’t just for our salvation that the Lord called us into relationship with Him.  He calls for us to be conformed to the image of His Son. He wants us to be holy for He is holy.  If we are sons and daughters of God, we should endeavor to change our ways to God’s ways to start showing that family resemblance.    

When we come to Christ, no matter who you are, there is a lot to work on.  Before Christ we were trained and programmed to live according to the world’s ways.  Unfortunately, Satan influences the world system to perpetuate some really ungodly philosophies and attitudes. Satan’s influences can be seen by obvious immorality but also are revealed by subtle things like pride, selfishness, self-righteousness, and independence of God.    

So when we come to Christ, God draws us and encourages us to change.  For some, what needs to be changed is obvious as some besetting sins have plagued them all their lives. For others, offenses of the heart need to be addressed as God calls us to be kind, forgiving, and loving.  

Often believers go about changing the wrong way. They try to do it in their own strength by whipping themselves into submission by the power of their own wills. But while that may work for some, that’s not the way that God wants us to do it.  

We were saved by faith and that is the way that God provides for us to change too! While changing our behaviors and thoughts will require some exercise of our wills, the way that God wants us to overcome is by activating our faith, by believing that God has already given us the victory over our struggles and by believing that all the power and strength that will need to overcome has already been given to us.   

So don’t think nothing of the kindness that the Lord has shown you, instead understand that God’s kindness and love was purposeful.  God wants you to enjoy an abundant life that is free of all the mistakes and troubling thoughts and emotions that you have suffered from before coming to Him. He loves you enough to not only want you to change but He also gives you all that you need to change.  

So take a look at yourself, choose one thing to give to God, believe that He will help you to surrender it to Him and follow where the Lord leads you to go.  If you continue to have faith in your victory that is given to you by God and continue to walk with Him, somewhere down the road you will discover that your besetting sin has been set aside. You will rejoice of course but show the Lord that you understand His kindness by giving Him even more of you to change.  

Our relationship with the Lord never ends. So why not use what He given us to experience all He wants us to have.  

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness, continuing Chapter 7.

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $15.00:

Wrong Responses to Those Who Frustrate Goals

If our goals can be blocked or uncertain, how do we respond to someone or something that threatens our success? We may attempt to control or manipulate people or circumstances who stand between us and the achievement of our goals.

For example, a pastor's goal is to have the finest youth ministry in the community. However, one of his board members attempts to block his goal by insisting that a music ministry is more important. Every attempt by the pastor to hire a youth pastor is vetoed by the influential board member who wants to hire a music director first. The pastor's sense of worth and success in ministry is on the line. So he shifts into a power mode to push the stumbling block out of the way. He lobbies his cause with other board members. He solicits support from denominational leaders. He preaches about the importance of youth ministry to gain congregational support. He looks for a way to change the opposition's mind, or remove him from the board, because he believes his success in ministry is dependent on reaching his goal of having a great youth ministry.

Suppose a mother believes that her sense of worth depends on how well her children turn out. Her goal is to raise perfect little Christians who will become doctors and lawyers. As her children reach their teen years and begin to express their independence, however, their behavior doesn't always match her ideal. She is heading for a collision course because her children want their freedom and she wants to control them. She must control their behavior because she believes her success as a mother depends on it. If they don't attend the functions she wants them to attend, they can't go anywhere. If they don't listen to the music she expects them to listen to, they lose their radio and TV privileges. Somehow she never heard that parenting is an 18-year process of letting go, and the fruit of the spirit is self-control, not child control.

It is not hard to understand why people try to control others. They believe their sense of worth is dependent on other people and circumstances. This is a false belief, as evidenced by the fact that the most insecure people you will ever meet are manipulators and controllers.

People who cannot control those who frustrate their goals will probably respond by getting bitter, angry or resentful. Or they may simply resort to a martyr complex, which I perceived in the woman whose husband wouldn't come to Christ. She had been unsuccessful at getting him into the Kingdom and her faith and hope had shriveled to depression. So she resigned herself to bear her cross of a hopeless goal and hang on until the rapture. Unless she adjusts her goals, she will live the rest of her life in bitter defeat.


Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

Join our “Victory over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship



[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 192). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 193). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 193). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 194). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Monday, July 12, 2021

The Mandela Effect? – The Truth of Work, Meaning, and Purpose - Purity 468


 The Mandela Effect? – The Truth of Work, Meaning, and Purpose

Purity 468 07/12/2021   Purity 468 Podcast

Good morning  

Today’s photo of this Ship Builder’s Memorial under a heavenly blue sky on the shores of the Long Island Sound comes to us from a friend’s recent visit to Port Jefferson NY on Independence Day.  I love the contrast of the statue against that blue sky. It gives the impression that these ship builders are seeking to make a vessel that will allow them to take a celestial voyage to heaven.      

It's Monday so I also share it to point to the paradox of having to live and work on the earth and hoping for life beyond this mortal coil. In our Christian walk of discipleship we teach the need for balance that comes from being in harmony with the Lord our God and by being at peace with ourselves and others here on earth. 

While man’s penchant is to choose one thing over another in most things, the word of God encourages us not only to love God but to also love our neighbors as ourselves. The Bible also indicates that there are various functions to be performed by the members of the body of Christ, with the example of the Apostles having the task of studying and teaching God’s word, while other saints’ purpose was to essentially work in the kitchen to provide for the early church’s physical needs.  But the Apostle Paul also showed that while He was all about expanding the kingdom of God with His missionary and church building efforts, he provided for himself through working as a tent maker.  He famously said:

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 (NKJV)
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.
12 Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
 

So we just can’t focus on our spiritual lives to the exclusion of our physical lives, nor can we just focus on our physical lives with no consideration of our spiritual lives.   In this world we must provide for the physical needs of ourselves and for our families, so for most of us that means we must work.  

When we become overly focused on the physical world, we can use our intelligence and ability to work to strive for all the best things this world has to offer. We can amass wealth and live in the lap of luxury.  However, no matter what empire we may build up around us, if we don’t have a relationship with God through Christ, our efforts to enter God’s kingdom are as hopeless as the ship builders in today’s photo’s chances of taking a voyage to the sky.  

If we overly focus on our spiritual lives in a selfish manner where we only seek to commune to God by ourselves, we may neglect our physical needs but more importantly we would actually become disobedient to God’s will for our lives to go out into all the world and to make disciples and to love our neighbors as ourselves.   

The state of the world demands that we provide for our physical needs, but ultimate reality demands that we acknowledge that our time on earth is limited and that we must seek to be reconciled with the One who created us, who defines meaning and truth, and who determines the course of existence and our entrance into eternity.  

Yesterday I watched a film, The Mandela Effect, that pondered the concepts of false memories, multiverse theories, the possibility that reality is some sort of simulation, and that things in our universe blink in and out of existence with or without the presence of an observer.  



In the film, a man has suffered a tragic loss and seeks the advice of a “Christian” liturgical minister who holds deist views apparently and doesn’t contradict the man’s belief that God made the universe but then just left mankind to do what they please without His interaction or presence.  The minister merely offers that God gave us some guidelines to live by in the Bible but states that we can never know the meaning of life, but he sought to encourage the man that he could know the purpose of his individual life. 

That was it. That was all the minister had to offer.  He basically stated that the meaning of life was an unknowable mystery, but we individually could know our purpose.

I guess knowing our purpose would entail what job you have, what personal relationships you have, and what hobbies you enjoy, which could describe the complete content of our lives on earth.     

But in this script, the “Christian” minister fails to address the spiritual realities that are revealed in the person of Jesus Christ or the big question of what happens when you die!  The man came to get answers or at least some comfort for his loss and the minister fails to provide either. 

So the man, a video game designer, seeks to build a program to upload to a supercomputer, to “crash the system” of existence in order “to reboot” it and reclaim his lost loved one because computers fix everything! The film was entertaining and interesting but the premises of all these super intellectual ponderings made the same mistake that the minster made.   

They either don’t know, don’t care, or forgot about God and His plan for humanity that is fulfilled through Jesus Christ.  

God is the ever-present observer over all things in time and space, so nothing is blinking out of existence when no one is there to observer it.  

If there are multiverses, God is present in al of them and the trinity demands that Christ would be Savior in all of them.  

The Mandela Effect which is the phenomenon of confusion over remembering things that didn’t actually take place or are not true is a combination of the product of a fallen world that is changing and falling apart moment to moment, influence from the evil forces of darkness that deal in confusion and deception, and the pride and infallibility of man.  Just because you and many others are wrong or misremember something doesn’t mean that there is a conspiracy or that life isn’t real!

The idea that our reality is a simulation is a nihilistic lie from pit of hell because who else would try to convince you that out life isn’t real leading to the conclusion that the consequences of our actions don’t matter or that life is meaningless. Satan would.

These ponderings are the flip side of being too spiritual. These ponderings of philosophy and science are man’s desperate attempts to explain life without God.    

So if you are overly materialistic or have an intellectual view that dismisses God, you are out of balance.  

The truth is that life does have a meaning. The question of existence for anyone living in the last two thousand years is answered in the person of Jesus Christ.   All that we do or think about during our lives on earth will come to nothing if we fail to be reconciled with the God through faith in Jesus Christ. 

So as we walk in this world we must find Christ and make Him our Lord and Savior. 

After that we can enjoy the assurance of a life of meaning and purpose as we receive the Truth, the Way, and The Life that God wants us to experience.

So stand in your faith in Christ and enjoy the freedom that comes from knowing that you are in harmony with God and that your faith gives you the capacity to know peace as you face the challenges of another day.             


This morning’s meditation verse is:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV)
10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Today’s verse speaks about our future hope and the protection that we have in Christ.

Verses like 1 Thessalonians 1:10 are a great comfort to us because they assure us of our safety from the wrath of God and that the universe will not just run down like an old watch and fade to black.  

Our faith in Christ gives us forgiveness of our sins and exempts us from our rightful reception of God’s wrath.  God shows us mercy and grace because of our faith in His beloved Son.   

As this verse tells us, Christ not only died for us, but He was also raised to life.  The Jesus story isn’t over.  Christ is alive in the heavenly realms and will one day return for those who have faith in Him and then pour out the wrath of God on the unbelieving world.  

While the idea of God’s wrath and judgement could scare us, we should be motivated to speak the truth of the gospel to help others be reconciled with God through faith in Christ.    

For the Christian, our destiny of eternal life is sealed the moment we put our faith in Christ, and we need never fear death or God’s wrath.  Our salvation and the future hope of the return of Christ should carry us through our lives with peace, joy, and purpose.  

 

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness, continuing Chapter 7, with the section on our emotions being God’s red flags of warning.

 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $15.00:

Anxiety Signals an Uncertain Goal

When you feel anxious in a task or a relationship, your anxiety may be signaling that achieving your goal may be uncertain. You are hoping something will happen, but you have no guarantee it will. You can control some of the factors but not all of them.

For example, a teenager may believe her happiness at school depends on her parents' allowing her to attend a school dance. Not knowing how they will respond, she is anxious. If they say no, she will be angry because her goal was blocked. If she knows all along that there was no possible chance of their saying yes, she will be depressed because her goal will not be achieved.

Depression Signals an Impossible Goal

When you base your future success on something that can never happen, you have an impossible, hopeless goal. Your depression is a signal that your goal, no matter how spiritual or noble, may never be reached. We can be depressed for biochemical reasons, but if there is no physical cause, then depression is often rooted in a sense of hopelessness or helplessness.

I was speaking at a church conference on depression when a woman who was attending invited my wife and me to her home for dinner with her family. The woman had been a Christian for 20 years, but her husband was not a Christian. After I arrived, I quickly realized that the real reason this woman had invited me to dinner was to win her husband to Christ.

I discovered later that the woman had been severely depressed for many years. Her psychiatrist insisted that her depression was endogenous and she staunchly agreed. I believe, however, her depression stemmed from an impossible goal. For 20 years she had based her success as a Christian on winning her husband and children to Christ. She had prayed for them, witnessed to them and invited guest preachers home for dinner. She had said everything she could say and done everything she could do, but to no avail. As the futility of her efforts loomed larger, her faith faltered, her hope dimmed and her depression grew.

We had a nice dinner and I had an enjoyable conversation with her husband. He was a decent man who adequately provided for the physical needs of his family. He simply didn't see any need for God in his life. I shared my testimony and tried to be a positive example of a Christian. The last time I saw the woman, she was holding on to slim threads of hope. Her depression affected her positive attitude in the home, and her witness to her husband only weakened, further obliterating her goal.

You should, of course, desire that your loved ones come to Christ, and pray and work to that end. When you base your sense of worth as a Christian friend, parent or child on the salvation of your loved ones, however, realize that this goal may be beyond your ability or right to control. Witnessing is sharing our faith in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. We can't save anyone. Depression often signals that you are desperately clinging to a goal you have little or no chance of achieving, which is not a healthy goal.

Sometimes depression reveals a faulty concept of God. David wrote: "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?...How long will my enemy triumph over me?" (Psalm 13:1, 2, NIV). Had God really forgotten David? Was He actually hiding from David? Of course not. David had a wrong concept of God, feeling that He had abandoned him to the enemy. David's wrong concept led him to an impossible goal: victory over his enemies without God's help. No wonder he felt depressed!

The remarkable thing about David is that he didn't stay in the dumps. He evaluated his situation and realized, "Hey, I'm a child of God. I'm going to focus on what I know about Him, not on my negative feelings." From the pit of his depression he wrote: "I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation" (Psalm 13:5). Then he decided to make a positive expression of his will: "I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me" (Psalm 13:6). He willfully moved away from his wrong concept and its accompanying depression and returned to the source of his hope.

With God all things are possible. He is the God of all hope. Turn to God when you are feeling down, as David did. "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God" (Psalm 43:5).


Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

Join our “Victory over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Sunday, July 11, 2021

Are These Dreams Prophetic or Demonic? – Trump Apocalypse


 Are These Dreams Prophetic or Demonic? – Trump Apocalypse  

Are these Dreams Prophetic of Demonic? - Podcast

Special Edition 07/11/2021

Good morning,  

As I have reported and indicated in the past I have had a mixed bag of results in terms of having dreams that were meaningful in content.   I mostly have reported or indicated my negative experiences with dreams. 

I have had nightmares that seemed to be influenced by the demonic forces of darkness. I would classify the nightmares I had as demonic based on Dr. Neil Anderson’s definition in The Bondage Breaker which says “…when someone has grotesque nightmares with images not previously seen or heard, then I would suspect that the origin of the dream is demonic[1]

Based on Anderson’s definition, I recently had a demonic dream in which a large demonic humanoid beast in medieval dress came storming into a room I was in and started hacking people to death with a large sword. It was terrifying and jolted me awake but as I have had other nightmares in the past the fear dissipated quickly as I cursed the enemy upon waking and even gave him some credit for sieging the opportunity to torment me. 

I normally sleep with worship music, or a Christian audiobook playing in the background and say a prayer for good sleep and God’s protection. These measures have been effective at keeping the enemy at bay. But in this instance I had awoken briefly turned off my alarm and audiobook and decided to get another hour’s sleep without these protective measures and the enemy came storming in like a bat out of hell.  

While Anderson indicates that when the content of our dreams relates to the people we know, things we have seen, or places we have been to are probably not demonically influenced, I have also had dreams in the past that have started with familiar places and characters in my life and as they progressed the dreams took a sinister turn as the people in my dreams would change in their demeanor, and or appearance, becoming grotesque, violent, or  threatening. 

An example of one of these dreams involved a woman I knew in my past that caused me to be sexually tempted initially but as I drew away from her in the dream, she became malevolent in attitude and what was alluring suddenly was revealed to be putrid and rotting flesh.   While I had my difficulties with this particular person in the past, she wasn’t that bad, brother.  I awoke disturbed by the enemy’s temptation and deception and frankly a little relieved that the person in the dream was no longer part of my life. 

I know, wow, MT have you ever had any good dreams?

Of course, in fact, in my past I have also had some instances of dreams with prophetic undertones. While the dream’s content had common place situations they were revealed to be quasi-prophetic when the situations that I experienced in the dream seemed to manifest and come to pass in the real world after the fact.   

I had a few dreams like this but the one that is most memorable one involved myself talking to my pastor and my friend, Garret, about going on the next mission trip. I was asking if our church would be going to India again to work with Bishop Sudheer Mohanty for his Christian Life Centre Ministries as our church hadn’t been to India for a couple of years.  

The next day I was serving at our church as the audiovisual tech for our midweek service and was telling Garret about my dream and my hopes to go to India on a future mission trip as he had been there before.  As I was talking to Garret, our pastor came up to us and informed me that we had a guest speaker for the evening.  When I asked who the guest speaker was.  He told us that the speaker was Sudheer Mohanty!  

I had no previous knowledge that Mohanty was coming, and I told my pastor that I had just had a dream that involved him the previous evening.  While our church wasn’t planning a mission trip to India, Mohanty had come to us.  Mohanty’s message was encouraging but I was more encouraged by the prophetic possibilities of the content of my dreams to reveal or hint at future events.  

Like I said I had other dreams around that time that did the same things, but their memories have faded from my mind over time and have been lost considering my negative experiences of dreams that didn’t come true.   

I have shared about how during and after my marriage ended, that I became infatuated with a woman in our church and envisioned a future with her as my faithful Christian wife.  My obsession was fueled by my desires to live for the Lord, by her attractiveness as a Christian mate, and by several dreams I had that included our courtship, wedding, and serving the Lord together.  

Because of my few quasi-prophetic dream experiences, I believed that all the dreams involving my “dream lover” were messages from the Lord telling me that I was to be married to this woman and that we would serve the Lord in ministry as husband and wife.  


 
As much as I was convinced that our destinies were tied together, I had a lot of doubt as well. There is a significant age difference between us and while our interactions have been positive they were few and far apart because of the natural separation that exists with people from different age groups.  Add to my doubts the trauma of a somewhat nasty divorce and the facts of my middle age status and its not hard to diagnose my obsession and dreams as the product of a mid-life crisis.  

So as much as I hoped for my dreams to come true, I was perplexed as how I could bridge the gap between friendly acquaintances and courtship.   I honestly talked myself out of any attempts to approach this woman several times but earlier this year I was hit by an impulse to make an overt gesture to indicate my interest on Valentine’s Day, of all days.   My message didn’t reveal the depths of my fondness or hopes, although I guess the cat’s out of the bag now, but while she thanked me for my sentiments she made it clear that she had no interest in a romantic future together.  

I was equally hurt and relieved by the rejection.  I was relieved that I could let the obsession go and I was hurt that the visions of her as my Christian spouse went up in smoke.    I was also hurt and devasted that my supposed prophetic dreams proved to be nothing more than my desires being played out on the sleep canvas of my mind.  

The consequences of this disappointment caused me to become totally disillusioned at the idea of prophetic dreams and my previous experiences of prophetic shadows from other dreams were quickly forgotten, and now hard to recall, because what I thought was the Lord’s leading my destiny turned out to be nothing.

I say that but in total transparency I must admit that I still must stand on the truth of my dream lover’s rejection because my obsessive heart, or the enemy, likes to chime in on occasion that my dreams will come true, just not yet.  Having hopes for certain outcomes can be damaging when the facts of reality assure us that they will not happen. So when I am tempted to hope beyond hope for a relationship that seems likely to never occur, I agree to be open to the possibility of a future fulfillment but firmly take the position that it will never come to pass for my own sanity.      

Now that I have set the stage with my past experiences of dreams being quasi-prophetic, false prophecies, and demonically influenced, the reason I decided to share all this is because I had a whopper of a nightmare dream that promised future devastation for the world at large that involved the former President Donald Trump. 

To set the stage for my political beliefs, I was formerly a registered Democrat with a very liberal attitude on most issues before coming to Christ.  Since being born again and understanding the spiritual implications of moral issues, I have had an almost complete 180 on my political opinions. However, I am now registered as Independent as I have some misgivings about some of the Republican party representatives and quite frankly, Trump himself. 

As for Trump,  I acknowledge and appreciate the positive things He did for our country and religious freedoms as president and am sharing a link that highlights them ( https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/ ) but I also have doubts and misgivings about Trump as a person and particularly about him as a “Christian”. The Lord knows the truth and I leave it to Him to deal with Donald.

As for following politics and the news in general, I don’t. My lifestyle as someone on the path of Christian Discipleship has me more focused on the things of God more than the things of this world.   Politics are not anything on my radar.  So to have dreams with any political undertones is not normal.         

Anyway, in a dream I had early this morning, I had visions of an apocalyptic landscape of fire and destruction and out of the rubble a masked figure approached me out of the smoke.   The masked figure was Donald Trump! And He approached me and others on the street to make a prophetic speech of doom.  

He addressed the crowd to tell us that we had been attacked with a nuclear device and that he had actually been killed by the blast but that he had put in automatic measures to unleash an armed response on our enemies that would result in the end of the world, stating that part of it involved dropping our own nukes on the sight of the former World Trade Center, as our country had enemies both foreign and domestic.

Trump stated that he was making this announcement as a final warning to the citizens of the world so that they could make themselves right with the Lord before the lethal response was unleashed.  The Trump -like figure also made an offhanded comment that he was personally pleased to get some personal payback on his enemies.  

I awoke from it feeling a little freaked out and cursing the enemy for this latest nightmare.     

As Dr. Neil Anderson’s definition of a demonic dream seems to apply to this situation, and my prophetic dream record of the past is far from perfect, I would say that this dream is more of the enemy’s imagination than that of a divine prophetic warning for the future.

With that said, as a precautionary measure maybe we should look for new candidates in next presidential election.

Also I would encourage every Christian to be diligent in sharing the gospel because, although I don’t believe the end of the world will come in the form of a nuclear apocalypse, I do know that Christ’s return will be like a thief in the night and that we need to be used by the Lord to share the good news of Jesus Christ to bring others into the safety of His kingdom.  

What dreams may come? I’m not sure but the word of God tells us that Christ will come and that when He does there will be hell to pay for those who reject Him.   Placing our faith in Christ gives a new and eternal life that is protected from God’s wrath. Avoid the nightmare of life with God, by placing your faith in Jesus and working to expand God’s kingdom.  



[1] Anderson, N. T. (2019). The bondage breaker®. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers.