Laced With Grace

This is a PG-13 rated post! DO NOT read any further if you are not prepared to be smacked in the ears (or eyes since we are reading) with adult language.

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It is a rare event for my husband to be home during the week. This week because of jury duty, he has been at home instead out of town on business. Yesterday at 2:45 my husband, who was excused from jury service, decided to ride along with me to pick up our daughter from the middle school. She is always delighted to see both of us waiting in the car.

We pulled up to the curb and parked, rolled the windows down and waited. The bell rang, instantly kids were walking, talking on cell phones, running, yelling, everywhere around us. Horns honked as mothers waved at their kids and at their neighbors who passed by. It is mayhem around the Jr. High.

As we were waiting for our daughter, watching, and listening to the craziness, a large black pickup truck rolls by our car on the opposite side of the street. The windows of the pickup are down and a high school kid is blaring music from the cab. It is loud enough to vibrate our car in time to the beat. The annoying black truck became stuck in traffic and stopped next to us. Of course!

Okay, I am not too old to like loud music. You should be around the house when I am cleaning. I blast praise and worship so loudly my dogs hide. However, the lyrics of this particular rap are what got me in a twist. The rapper shouted, “Shut up -itch” followed by more suggestive and outright disgusting lyrics.

My husband and I stared with mouths agape.

As much as I might want to protect my daughter from the ugliness of life, I realize I can’t always. There were probably three dozen eleven and twelve year olds who heard these words yesterday out on the street.

I took a minute later that evening to talk with my daughter about the objectionable rap song. She and I talked about how our words affect others and ourselves. We talked about how to choose them wisely.

Proverbs 12:18 (New International Version)
18 Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

James 1:19 (New International Version)
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

Colossians 3:8 (New International Version)
8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Okay, so I guess I got worked up over this incident, becoming concerned for all the male youth in America. What is the world coming to anyway?

Then I remembered the stupid things I did as a teenager. I thank the Lord that He has redeemed me from the bad-girl choices of my youth. It is in Him we find forgiveness of our yesterdays; hope for today and optimism for the world of tomorrow which includes boys who listen to rap. *grin*

Thank you for joining me here today. I know you are busy. I am humbled you took time to read my ramblings about our youth in America. Have a great day!

Whatever you think of theology and history, this is the day that I remind myself that it is ME that needs the reforming.

One of the “letters” of the reformation is the “T” – total depravity and I am it.  Some days it seems like if there’s a temptation (especially chocolate) I will fall to it.

Reminding myself of the “T” reminds me that the folks whose sin I look down on – I am like them.  I am a sinner.  It is only by God’s grace that I stand in His presence redeemed.

I cannot reform myself; it is by grace alone that I am washed in the blood of the Lamb, made clean and saved.

It is not that I have to clean myself up and then God will accept me; it is that Christ takes me, washed me and I am saved.  If He waits for me to get my act together…well that probably will not happen.

When Paul wrote, “it is not of yourself…” he must have been thinking about me.

This is where I go on Reformation Sunday.   Faith…Grace…Christ.

Some time ago, a new Christian in a group I am in had a dream. She noticed something odd about it and came to the group, asking for help interpreting it, and whether it was even from the Lord. Her biggest fear was that it was not from God and that the sense of awe and wonder she had were not “real”. There were several ladies who were concerned about “dealing with dreams”. A friend of mine requested that I share my response here.
Here is a quick synopsis of her dream:

She and a friend (the one who brought her to Christ) were running from some unknown being and ran in the side door of a church (not reverently –they were fleeing). There a priest (unknown to her) pronounced a benediction over her and anointed her with oil and she felt an incredible sense of awe at God’s glory and protection. Then she woke up.

The following is my response to her:

If this dream brought you a sense of awe and wonder and of God’s Holiness then it is from God. You can test it against scriptures and see. Being anointed with oil is a Biblical concept and a sign of blessing by God (*Psalm 23:5). And if, in your dream, you were fleeing something or someone and came in by the side (instead of in reverence at the back of the church) may I suggest that this a sign of coming in as an equal, not as someone below a priest but as a fellow Christian equal as Jesus points out in Matthew 23 (in fact I just spent time reading that this morning, when Christ speaks of the scribes and pharisees and warns the people to consider each other equals instead of calling one “Father” and another “Rabbi”.) And the fact that you were fleeing someone makes perfect sense because by coming to Christ we are fleeing Satan and all His legions and it is only in Christ that we can stand and fight. It sounds very much to me that the Lord intended you to gain a sense of how Holy and wonderful He is and to place a blessing on you. He loves to bless us and shows each of us that He does in a way that we can understand.

We are called to test all things against scripture. If we are not testing all things it is very easy to be lead astray. I often dream dreams that I am not sure of and for many years I was afraid of them. Finally I learned a few steps to deal with them.

1. Pray for wisdom and help understanding. If it is from God then He will help you better understand what it meant or why He sent it. If it is NOT from God then He will help you throw it off.
2. Does the dream leave you feeling in awe of God? Does it glorify Him? The prophets fell down prostrate before the angels who came to them in visions and they were speechless with amazement and recognition of their own sin when they stood before the throne. Unlike the prophets, who had a measure of God’s Holy Spirit but were not constantly filled–they were under the old law, we are members of the coming kingdom, our sins are covered in Christ. We do, however, still feel awe and amazement when we are before God’s glory. If the dream leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth then it is probably NOT from Him.
3. Know God’s Word. Know the symbolism of the Bible–read it through the whole way. Knowing the Old Testament and the symbolism there helps us, not only better understand dreams but also better understand the symbolism of the New Testament. (The woman who dreamed this dream is a new Christian but she was also reading the Bible straight through from the beginning and really making headway. God’s Word is ALL useful for understanding, teaching, discerning, and edifying.)
4. Do you notice any symbols in the dream that are also used in the Bible–are they glorifying God, if so how are they used in the scriptures.
5. Once you are at peace about it, don’t dwell on it. Glean what God wants you to glean–if it is from Him write it down (so you can remember it later), if not forget about it–Satan loves to hold us back from being our best in Christ.

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.– Acts 2:17 (NIV)

Lord, thank you that You still speak to us through many means. I pray that You would protect us from Satan’s attacks on our minds, help us to discern the Truth and be able to spot his attempts, and keep us from fear.

Have you ever dreamed dreams?

In Christ’s grace and peace,

Heather