Dreaming
When you go to work this morning, don’t leave your dreams at home.
Take them with you. The work you will do today has direct impact on your dreams. It may not seem so until you really think about it, but, as we walk the Path of Life, no moment is given without purpose. Each day and each duty within the day has a dual purpose.
- There is the immediate use of that block of time for the job at hand. This is obvious and to keep your job, it is an absolute necessity. We must keep our mind in the game, if we want to succeed.
- There is also a long range use of our time today. God is at work in unseen spiritual realms affecting the physical world we inhabit. As we frame each day in morning and evening prayer, each day is sanctified for the Lord’s purposes. If the events of the day go as planned; all is well. If they do not; all is still well!
God’s covenantal promise is to make every day count for our eventual good because we have been called according to His purposes.
He reveals these long range purposes to us through our dreams, our inner, guiding vision. God gives us a guiding vision of who He wants us to be and a divine revelation of what He wants us to do. This revelation of tomorrow helps you take on the demands of the day. When you take your phone and your computer with you out the door, don’t forget to bring your dreams along.
Dreams and Visions
For those whose work is less than fulfilling, the days can be long and tiring. Don’t forget that the job you have but do not like is not your dream. Husbands dream of providing for their wives. Wives, at home or on the job, dream of a better home for their husbands, more time together, and a deeper love for each other. Moms and dads go to work each day dreaming of a better life for each of their children
- when they are little and their needs are so close by,
- when they are teens and they are starting to pull away to form their own lives, and
- when they are adults and have transformed into friends whose dreams you share.
All of these future provisions from the hand of God are tied to the work facing us this Monday morning.
For those whose daily work is what we always dreamed it would be, the days can still be long and tiring. The challenge remains; make this day count! Artists who are blessed to make a living with their creativity are always dreaming. Most of these dreams will be years in the making. Today’s work must count as another layer of preparation, another session of practice, another pre-production experiment and another step closer to the dream: the novel, the play, the screenplay, the song, the album, the exhibition, the concert, the ensemble, the role of a lifetime, and of course, “the body of work,” that grand collection of all you have created for the use of others.
There is an essential role for the Holy Spirit in our dreams.
He writes them, produces them, and projections them onto the screen of our minds. Do not neglect the Spirit’s work in your heart. Your dreams press meaning into your work today. Without the guiding dream from God, you may do a terrible thing—you might waste this Monday.
When you go to work this morning, don’t leave your dreams at home. Take them with you.
Scriptures:
Jeremiah 29:11-14 11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Joel 2:28 / Acts 2:17
And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
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.
Proverbs 29:18 KJV / NIV
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Romans 8:28-30
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Ephesians 5:8-17
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You supplied me with an imagination. This means I can “see” things with my mind. I invite the Holy Spirit to heal me of wounds and evil words spoken over me that prompt any disparaging visions within me. Install in me a vision for my life that is based in Your Word and Your will. You have a plan for me; help me find it and walk in it. On the job today, show me realities that are helpful in my work. Give me vision and insight. Give me the courage to dream the dreams You have for me! Supply me with the courage to follow those dreams for Your glory. Amen.
Song:
Be Thou My Vision
Words Translated: Mary E. Byre; Music: Irish Folk Song
1 Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;
be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.
2 Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
be Thou ever with me, and I with Thee, Lord;
be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son;
be Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
3 Be Thou my Breastplate, my Sword for the fight;
be Thou my whole Armor, be Thou my true Might;
be Thou my soul’s Shelter, be Thou my strong Tow’r,
O raise Thou me heav’nward, great Pow’r of my pow’r.
4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise;
be Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart,
O high King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
5 High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright Sun,
O grant me its joys, after vict’ry is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be Thou my vision, O Ruler of all.
Semper Reformanda!
Stephen Phifer
© 2017 Stephen R. Phifer All Rights Reserved
The Path of Life Daily Devotions 