It’s 1:35 a.m. and I woke up from a dream.  Rarely do I dream and normally by morning I have forgotten what the dream was about.  It took place at church.  It concerned a person who, it seemed, I knew very well but awake I could not place him.  He was an usher at church and during the service he just was not his normal self.  It was very evident that he had lost his sparkle, that positive demeanor and his passion for helping others find a seat.  I am now fearful that if I don’t get up I will have forgotten what happens when I awake in the morning.  Hurriedly I make a few notes and head back to bed.

The alarm goes off in my head at 4:00 a.m. and it’s time to start another day.  I decide that it is important that I make a few more notes and I cut short my normal routine.  So I get back to the dream. Do dreams sometimes come from the Holy Spirit?  My son had a dream that he was driving in one of the worse parts of Los Angeles.  In his dream he became aware of where he was and had the inclination to get out of that area quickly.  Two weeks later he was driving in one of the worse parts of Las Vegas and that dream came to him.  He considered the dream could be a premonition and that he had better get out of that area immediately.  What do you think about dreams?  Can they be Holy Spirit inspired?

Back to my dream!  After the service I met him and asked if he was having some problems.  He stated that he was having trouble living a Christian life.  I told him that one of the greatest problems many Christians have is knowing what the Bible teaches and then being able to trust what God promises.  He can be trusted.

A few years back I was stopped at a red light. As the light turned green I started to pull out and felt led to look to my left.  A pick up came through the intersection at about 45 mph.  Had I pulled out I would have been broadsided.  There is no doubt in my mind that I was prompted by the Holy Spirit.  Since then I never pull out without looking both ways and proceeding carefully.

If you have read my blogs you realize I believe that one of the greatest problems many have is believing that Christ lives in us and through us in the form of the Holy Spirit.  It is so hard for most to accept that we have a counselor and protector willing to help us.  Yet, many Christians live life in their own strength, ignoring the Holy Spirit’s help.   I believe that God allows all kinds of situations to occur until we finally accept and become dependent upon Him.  How often have we learned through Scripture that tells us to surrender our spirit to God?

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  How long should it take for new Christian’s to learn that we are to allow Christ, who is in us, to no longer live with our sin nature?  Are we not to die to our old life and live as the Holy Spirit guides us?

No matter how frustrating and difficult life seems we must realize that God will see us through it.  I Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  Do we expect life to be free of all difficulties?  If we never faced serious problems who would we depend upon: God or ourselves?  That I believe is our major problem.  We depend on ourselves too often and God is allowing problems to exist in order to teach us to rely upon Him.

I woke up before I found out what the individual’s (in my dream) problems really were and whether he accepted my advice or not.  At least we tried!