A Big Bright Star

21/12/20

This morning the Lord caught my attention. I have been asking for wisdom about many situations over this past year, and this morning He reassured me and made me smile. I hope you can follow my meanderings.

I’m aware that my mind is often a cross between a sponge and a chameleon, and after all the blogs, articles and videos I’ve read and seen, and all the differing conversations, viewpoints, news and ideas – it is easy for me to just have a head full of contradictory jumble. A lot of stuff makes sense to me and a lot of it doesn’t. The trouble is, each viewpoint is somebody else’s sworn truth and apparent identity, that they will defend with vitriol and passion…

Unfortunately for me, the official story is usually the one that makes least sense to my understanding of the world – that and the marauding aliens coming from Andromeda to steal human kidneys…

So the ideas are not originally my own, but how I process them and the end composition and arrangement of the process is, though it shifts and changes from day to day.

My mind, like my heart and my life, is a work in progress.

I had just been writing my morning pages, filled with lamenting and questioning God about all these restrictions being imposed on the world… As I do often, as I spew out the jumble from my head, I was also writing my thoughts about the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which the cloudy sky will prevent this astronomy enthusiast from seeing tonight… and about the date (because I love patterns, and 21-12 has a lovely symmetry that will be perfect next year) … But mostly I was praying for Peace for all those whose planned Christmas festivities were suddenly scuppered by the PM’s announcement on Saturday; and praying for wisdom; and drifting my questions into an article I read yesterday, about democracy v. dictatorship… I found myself questioning the premise that we live in a democracy in the UK, as I have for some years, but especially… Then I drifted uncomfortably back to the star – was the “STAR” that led the wise men to Bethlehem a great conjunction, or was it the glory of God as a supernatural sign for them to follow? And how do us mere mortal Christians know which opinions of all the great wisdom of the present age to follow. Sure, as Christians we follow the God-breathed Word in the Bible and we listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but we also live within the world’s political system and have been given a creative, rational mind… And we are told that “wide is the gate that leads to destruction; but narrow is the path that leads to life, and few there be that find it.”

Forgive me, because I’m aware that what I’m writing is a reflection of the jumble of thoughts and not a coherent argument; but the truth is that I don’t have a coherent argument. I know that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have the light of life. For God did not sent His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” And I know that I trust Him with my every last breath of life. But for the rest… I honestly do not know what to believe!

Anyway, as I knelt to pray, I turned to read the next page of the little advent book (that I have had since 1998, when every advent I would kneel with my infant boys and light candles and read the story for each day. There was a large fold-out scene of Bethlehem on which we could place the stickers for each day, but all that remains today is the book. This year I have been writing out the prayers daily and sending it to each of my sons in their own respective, grown up households.)

He tells us to come to Him as children…

This is what I saw and read today, and what I want to share with you, from the little advent book: –

Day 21

A Big Bright Star

Matthew 2:1-2

Today is 21^st December.

Today’s picture is of the big bright star.

We don’t know much about the wise men but we know that they recognised the star. They knew it would lead them to Jesus.

Isn’t it amazing to think that a big bright star up in the sky led them to the tiny dark stable where baby Jesus lay?

The wise men chose to follow the star to Jesus. People probably thought they were completely mad! Do you think the wise men felt a bit silly setting off to follow a star while everyone else ignored it and went on eating their supper?

Sometimes our friends laugh at us for choices we make. Sometimes people try to make us say and do things because everyone else is saying or doing them. This time everyone else was wrong. Everyone else can often be wrong.(my italics)

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we remember the wise men. Thank you that they didn’t care what anyone else thought – they followed the star to Jesus. Please help me to do what I think is right no matter what everyone else is doing. Amen

Yes, Amen and Amen. So on the day of the winter solstice and the great conjunction or Jupiter and Saturn, musing over number patterns of the dates and praying for wisdom to follow God and not the world… He gives me a reflection on the big bright star that the wise men followed, despite what everyone else thought… We pray for courage to do what is right, no matter what the majority think… and where do we find the scripture for the star? Matthew 2:1-2 another 2-1-2 pattern like the one I began with as I wrote 21-12-20…

I just love that God meets us where we are and understands our idiosyncrasies like no other.

I wish all my blogging friends and readers a most blessed Christmas, full of wonder, peace and great rejoicing – and may you find Jesus and follow Him and His light every day.

A Dream Diary

A Dream Diary.

Dreams occur mostly in what is called REM (rapid eye-movement) sleep – it is a shallow sleep state where our muscles are paralysed and occurs at various points throughout the night. To deprive a person of this REM sleep can lead to memory loss, psychotic or paranoid behaviour and tremors. It is clearly a useful time and state given to us to process all the input our brains have received throughout our waking time.

To avoid ‘dream amnesia’, ask God to give you dreams and ask the Holy Spirit to recall to you as you awake, the things you experienced in your dreams. If you are afraid of what you may dream, tell the Lord and ask for His presence and protection.

Remember, God used dreams to speak to, to warn (like Joseph, the foster father of Jesus), to encourage and to get the attention of many characters told about throughout scripture, and He used people like Joseph (the colourful coat chap) to interpret dreams for the benefit of a nation. God will speak to you through your dreams too, if you ask.

Tell yourself that you will remember your dreams and be intentional. Have a note-book and pen ready to write down what ever is in your head as soon as you awake. Some of it may still slip away as you write, but if you leave it till after your breakfast, chances are it could all be gone.

You do need to be intentional and disciplined if you want to do this. But it is not difficult.

You may not recall a dream every morning, and many/most may seem quite banal, record them anyway. I was recalling on average 4 – 5 every week, whilst I kept this discipline.

1 – Prepare – ask God, tell yourself and have pen, paper and a little time set beside your waking.

2 – Recall and scribble down your dream, with as much detail, colour, people, events, feelings, words spoken, sounds heard… as possible.

3 – Note your feeling state in the dream and as you record it.

(Now you can make a coffee if you want and if necessary, you can come back to the the next bit a few hours later.)

4 – Connect – Jot down the previous days events and major concerns.

5 – Summarise now what YOU think the dream is telling you. Thank the Holy Spirit and thank your sub-conscious mind for making the effort to enrich you with all of this. Listen to what both God and your mental state is telling you.

Below is another dream I had and an example of how I put these steps into practise myself.

[10/10/19

I had a request to present to the King. I had been excited, passionate and courageous to request an audience, but now I had no choice but to go before Him, I knew that the King had every right and power to decide to destroy me. I was so terrified and aware that I was not even beautiful, like Esther. I was led by a guide through a maze of plain stone corridors, hewn out of the rock – like a massive cavern. It was all bare stone, some flares for light, mounted along the way, like a 13^th century dungeon… I kept telling the guide I needed the toilet, but she just laughed and shrugged and continued, with me struggling to keep up. I was rehearsing my plea and praying, wanting to slow down and to find a toilet…

She led me into a slightly larger bare stone cavern, with just a wooden table and stools in one corner. My guide silently took me in front of the standing, cloaked King and she backed out the room, leaving me shaking in awe and fear before this power behind the hood. I fell to my knees at His feet, not knowing how to behave or what to say – I hadn’t been told how to address him… I couldn’t even remember what my request was any more. I just waited in a heap at His feet. In a gentle boom He commanded “Come” and touched the top of my head. His touch gave me courage enough to stand and I followed His command to get a stool and sit with Him at the misshapen table. The stool had sort of collapsible legs and I couldn’t get them to work as I fumbled to obey… my own legs were collapsing too, but I knew I would live and He would be gracious to hear and grant my request. So then I remembered some of my plea (about wanting to teach the children about a kind, Christian King…) and tried to rehearse it, so it would make sense, as I faffed, nervous and jibbering still, with the stool panicking… Then I looked up at Him… and awoke!]

Points 2 and 3 – I included points 2 and 3 in this description

Point 4 – I had been working in the preschool two days previous and had nervously begun to be excited about the thought of going back to working in a classroom with young children. Very preoccupied with XX and his very recent tremendous despair and pain.

Point 5 – I’ve been accepted to bow before my King and bring my requests to Him – so comforted by this today as I need to spend so much time on my knees before Him, for XX and his life and transformation. I can go to Him in my fear and trembling, knowing that He is listening and accepts my request. Thank You, majestic King of eternity, for hearing my prayer.

Christmas blessings to all you beautiful people who read my posts. I really appreciate you.

May your Christmas be blessed with fun and family, love and laughter, peace and great joy. xx

Dreams

I have been reminded again about some dreams that the Lord gave me over a year ago already, but they are still fresh today. As I recalled the dreams I felt they would be an encouragement to share them with you. The following dreams are all from one slumber. I have another to share, but will do it in a separate post, to avoid making this one too long.

It has also encouraged me to begin again my dream diary, as I would like to receive more dreams from the Lord. I’ll explain the simple process of the ‘dream diary’ in the next post.

06/10/19 – Recalling the dreams:–

[a- I went to church feeling very tired. I was asked to go out and be with the children doing Sunday-school, but really I would have preferred to rest in the service and in God’s presence and hear from God… But I went with the children, feeling a bit disappointed, unsupported and taken for granted. A young man also came out with us and He did everything. He was ‘like’ Jesus and the children and I were completely comfortable and relaxed with Him. I sat down at His feet and rested in such incredible joy, as He did everything so beautifully and I felt almost smug – dead chuffed that I’d made the best choice to come out and be with the Master – that I wasn’t just getting His words, but getting Him in person!!

b – Next He took me out to a big house – not all that spectacular from the outside – nor seemingly at first glance from the inside, almost tacky, though it had an amazingly grand staircase that fanned out at the bottom, wide and inviting – the hallway was round and simply stunningly white and gold and silver, both cozy and intimate, yet vast and unfathomably expansive… We were greeted with gentle, welcoming familiarity and warmth and I was tempted to stay and look around – all around the sides appeared single beautiful spiral rope ladders going to individual rooms and I wanted to go up, it was so pretty and warm… the joyful hostess said I was welcome any time, that she had already prepared me my own room to stay whenever I’m ready, but my guide was reminding me I had things to get on with still and was being distracted. I felt so happy, but surprised and reassured to see that I had a perfect home waiting for me after all.

c – Then we went back outside and some children were gathering and were waiting for this man… We went through the streets, picking up others – like the Pied-Piper – attracting children, waifs and strays and many curious individuals. There was such joy on this adventure as we meandered through the streets, singing and laughing. We came to the side of a busy motorway, behind a big barrier, and on this side a great number of trestle tables had been set up into one long table, lining the road. A feast was being laid on the table and we were all seated. There were snow-capped mountains in the background, so I got out my camera to capture this amazing scene of the outdoor feast, the beautiful people and mountains behind… As I stood back to look in the view-finder, I saw masses of demons swirling and racing around, all around the road and trying to get under the table and between the people; I was shocked! I took a few photos, but the demon spirits were not visible on the photos, only through the lens – but I showed others and they could see the spirits through the camera lens… I knew that The Lord had “prepared a table for me, in the presence of my enemies”.

d – We had the most amazing feast and then got taken from there in a car – I was looking out of the back window as the sky and surrounding areas became very heavy and threatening-looking – I could see forked lightening over the beautiful snow-capped mountain and a rainbow appeared as if to halo the scene – it was impossible to photograph what I saw, but I said “God is really showing off over there!”]

Today I will resist giving my own interpretation of my dream, though to me it was beautifully obvious. I have been reminded of this dream, and blessed by it, on countless occasions since.

In my next post I will share another beautiful dream from the Lord, and I will also share some tips on how to keep a simple dream diary, for any of you who would like to begin remembering and receiving your dreams. I hadn’t been remembering my dreams until I began this process, so don’t be discouraged. It can be done. God is so good.

My church jokes that “your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions” That makes me an oldie, but I’m happy to receive anything and everything from the hand and heart of my Lord.

Maybe you have had a dream from God that can be shared to encourage others too?

JOY

I’m so blessed to reread this. Suzie still needs to hear it over and over.

dawnfanshawe

Yesterday and today Sue has been experiencing an incredible sensation of hope and of joy. This has come from the revelation that she can never earn her innocence or salvation. To get it right, to live by the rules, all these things are impossible to achieve in their totality. But that is the good news of Jesus – by believing in him, we appropriate His innocence, as the person bringing the spotless lamb in times past did (he would place a hand on the head of the innocent lamb and exchange his sin for the lamb’s purity. The lamb carrying the sin and guilt would then be sacrificed in his place and he would have been given pardon) And Jesus came to restore that lost innocence for all people, for all time. If we believe He carried ALL of our sinfulness to the cross and was sacrificed to bring innocence…

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