POWER OF VISIONs AND DREAMS
God had a vision and I believe so did David. He knew he was a King.
Then we look at someone at the opposite side of the coin. Gideon. Afraid. Timid. Insecure. Lonely. He had no confidence. He had little or no faith. Afraid, he would go into hiding to thresh the grain on the threshing floor. No boldness. He came from the tribe of Benjamin, like he said, the least, or most insignificant of all the tribes of Israel. He associated himself with that vision. Insignificant. The least. Yet, in the middle of his muddle, an Angel speaks to him. He receives and assignment. Not any assignment. A God assignment. God sent his messenger to give Gideon an order to do something extra-ordinary. God believed in Gideon. God had to get Gideon to believe in himself. He had to awake Gideon to boldness. Something stirred in Gideon's spirit man, his heart. He sought proof to know it was God. He knew God! He knew the God of His Fathers. The God that parted the Red Sea and drowned the enemy. Gideon had so much boldness (or lack thereof)! that he tested God and asked for not just one sign, but three. Eventually he became Gideon… from zero to hero.
Ruth and Rahab were Gentiles. Non Jews. Non chosen. Non elect. Non significant. Somehow they were written into the Great Genealogy of Salvation. Rahab was not just a prostitute. She was a pimp too. A brothel owner. I often wondered about the scarlet thread that she hung out of her business window; how it was inconspicuous to the customers but a representative and Prophetic sign of the Saviour. A thread of Salvation. Why of all places, would God script a brothel owner and a prostitute into The Blood and into the plan of Saving Grace? A woman of disrepute and disgrace? Of sin and degrading temptation. And Ruth? A Moabitess? Moab… land of chaos. False gods and idol worship. Who befalls marriage to Naomi's son. And falls into loss and mourning along with famine, hardship and widowhood at a young age, even before bearing children. Like Isaiah 54:1 Sing o barren woman, you who never bore a child. Ruth. Picking up barley. Collecting dinner for her and Naomi. Ruth chose God. The God of Naomi. That one simple choice in the face of abject ruin and hopelessness brought about the legendary tale of Ruth and Boaz. Once in a lifetime, everyone gets a fairytale and a happy ending to something that started out seemingly wrong. Ruth. Hope. God's plan for Ruth and Rahab was simple… it was His plan of redemption for the Gentiles. He scripted Gentile Salvation into the hearts and wombs of these two Chosen souls.
Do we know the vision God had of Jesus? How God collaborated with Christ and the Holy Spirit to save the world from its own self? A vision always starts with the end in mind. There has to be an ending to be a beginning. In the beginning there was Agreement between the Trinity that Jesus would save man from the fall and destruction of the curse to redeem the Blessing of Abraham by becoming a curse hanging on a tree. To fullfil all the requirements of the law. To do that He had to be and live sinless, and yet agree to become the fullness of sin and receive God's judgment for all mankind. Judgment. God had to judge Christ fully and completely and charge Him for all the sin of all of man of all of time. Yesterday and today and tomorrow. You were not there when Christ hung on the Cross for sins you did not know that you would commit, trespasses that you would cause, temptations that you would consent to, unrighteousness that would be in your heart, transgressions that you would perform. You were not there. Yet. Unborn. Non-generated. Unaware. Unknown.
But God knew. Jesus knew. The Spirit knew. And they met in Heaven's Boardroom to abide and agree. You were counted in. From the beginning and before the end. Jesus went before you. For you.
TAKE YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW. YOU MAY NOT BE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE. TO GET WHERE YOU ARE ASSIGNED TO BY GOD, WRITE YOUR VISION. IT STARTS WITH THE DREAMS GOD PLANTED IN YOUR HEART. WRITE THE VISION… USE WORDS AND PICTURES. FOUNDATIONAL SCRIPTURES. MAKE IT PLAIN. FOR YOU TO SEE. FOR YOU TO REHEARSE AND SAY. THEN ADD TO THE VISION THAT YOU SEE SOME APPOINTED TIMES. DATES. WHEN YOU EXPECT YOUR VISION TO COME TO PASS. CALL THE END FROM THE BEGINNING. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS. IN ITS APPOINTED TIME. AMEN