Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Christmas Story: Dreams

When I was reading the Christmas story this morning, a theme popped out to me: Dreams. There seems to be a lot of dreams in this story.

"And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 1:19-20)

"Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way."(Matthew 2:11-12)

"Now when they had departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain their until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." (Matthew 2:13-13)

"But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 'Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." (Matthew 2:19-20)

"But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'"(Matthew 2:22-23).

Why were there so many dreams in this story? Well, lets look at why they were given:

Given to Joseph so he would not divorce Mary-Matthew 1:19-20

Given to the Shepherds so they would not tell Herod where Jesus was-Matthew 2:11-12

Given to Joseph to flee to Egypt to save Jesus' life from Herod-Matthew 2:13-13

Given to Joseph to leave Egypt to go to Israel after Herod died-Matthew 2:19-20

Given to Joseph to not go to Israel, but dwell in Nazareth to fulfill prophecies-Matthew 2:22-23


Have you ever had a dream from God? Have you ever had a vision? Satan knows that these dreams and visions are dangerous to him, because we are focused on them. When one has a dream or a vision, we need to obey them, just like Joseph and the wise men did in the Christmas story. It's easy to say we have a dream, but takes incredible faith and trust to actually live them out.

Are you living your dream and vision from God?????

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