DREAMS

Acts 2:17,21—“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 . . . And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Holy Spirit descended upon the believers at Pentecost and they spoke in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. This fiery event began a new phase of God working on earth through the lives of people transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. There is profound meaning in the word God impressed upon Joel and reimpressed upon Peter in the passage above.

It is rare when old men dream dreams. Dreams die for many reasons. Some give up on life. Many resist the promptings of the Holy Spirit until His whispered visions are completely stifled. They feed the monster Skepticism and glorify the gods of can’t. Others cower beneath the controlling authority of dream-killers; those with feeble, manageable vision who cannot tolerate anyone else dreaming. You know who I mean, men intimidated by ideas, power and confidence that is not their own. Men too afraid to let the Holy Spirit have His way for fear He might wreck their neatly arranged plans. Others frustrated by a society that disdains its elderly, venerate the past. Speeches are filled with stories of what God did yesterday and slumber is punctuated by reruns. Still others burdened with pain and unending sorrow they cannot understand, give up on God.

Dreams thrive for one reason, the Holy Spirit is trusted, obeyed and honored. The Apostle John exiled to the island of Patmos and near the end of his life, “was in the Spirit” and through his writing we have Revelation (Revelation 1:9,10). God waited until Abraham was an old man to do His most spectacular work through him. It is not age that determines or precludes ministry, it is walking in the Spirit! The old men (and women) I know that dream, have no concept of retirement. They see each approaching day as a new opportunity for God to work through them for the advancement of His kingdom! They embrace adversity as a robe to wear with dignity. They accept suffering as the cost of sin and the price for following Jesus. They grasp the folly in blaming heaven. They understand Satan’s accusing strategy, his vicious lies, and persistent attacks and repel him with God’s word. They whistle while others whine. They follow the call of God joyfully. They are pioneers like my father, whose dreams are still fresh because he walks in obedience and worships a Father Who delights to bless him; like my mother, who faithfully serves at the feet of a beloved Savior.

I praise God for the dreams He gives! How about you? Are you fresh with heaven’s agenda? Does your life pulsate with holy meaning that glorifies God or is it a tired billboard ready to be taken down? Do you understand what happens when the Holy Spirit is free to inspire—people call on the name of the Lord and are saved! Kingdom builders are dreamers! Ask God to give you a fresh word and dare to dream!

O God, pour out Your Spirit on us!

Inspiration

Above all else, a warrior has a vision, he has a transcendence to his life, a cause greater than self-preservation.—John Eldredge in Wild at Heart