Imitation Game
Last week, I was reading in Genesis 37 about Joseph’s dreams. God gave him a couple of dreams in his teenage years that were not fulfilled until much later in his life. God gave Joseph a sign of how he would be used in the future. It was a promise that was eventually fulfilled. Dreams and visions are powerful tools that God uses to get us in the right frame of mind so that we will fulfill His work. God uses dreams and visions to introduce Jesus to others of different faiths. There have been a couple of times in my past when God has used a dream to move me in the right direction.
I had another dream over the weekend. I don’t yet know the implication of the dream. I was left with two impressions. The dream showcased God’s glory in the sky. I was watching the sky fill up with shooting stars. They were streaking across the sky in a most spectacular way. At the same time, in the opposite direction, fireworks started to go off. The attention was drawn to the man-made attraction instead of the God-made glorious display. We are told in Scripture that God puts signs and wonders in the sky to give us warnings and announce His big events. He chose a new star to announce the birth of His Son.
The first impression that I had when I first woke up from the dream was that Satan always tries to draw our attention away from God. He uses imitation man-made attractions to get our attention away from God’s calling in our lives. He cannot create so he imitates. It’s a far more inferior appeal than the original glorious design. Is it not the case that we chose the thing that gives us the short term gain, instead of waiting on the long term increase? We choose the imitation when we should wait for the great thing that God has promised us. We lose our focus.
I read an article the other day that the Inuit people (who look to the sky for their guidance) noticed the stars were no longer in the same place. The article mentioned that it could have been due to a large earthquake that recently happened that changed the position of the earth. I too have noticed something a little different about the placement of the sun. I thought it was rising a little differently over the last couple of months, but I thought it must have been the winter season placement. I just couldn’t remember if this was the same place in the past. Maybe it truly is different.
If this is the case that the earth has moved slightly, then does that explain the unusual weather patterns that we have experienced lately? Is God announcing a big event in the skies? I know this is also the four blood moons year as well as the solar eclipse happening in just a couple of days from now. We are to pay attention to the signs of the times; to be ready for whatever God is doing in the world around us. Also, I am looking to see the imitation that will surely come to draw us away from our intended God-given focus. Distractions are Satan’s best tool.
The other impression from my dream was that not everybody was ready to see God’s glory. There were a few people in my life that would not focus on God’s glory; they ran toward the imitation and missed what God had intended for them. Let not that be the case in the real world. Let my dream remind us that we are to be ready for what God is going to do. We are to make sure those around us know of God’s glorious work that has already taken place and what is to come. We are to stay alert for what is happening in the world. And stay alert for the imitations so that we will not be drawn away from God’s purpose and plan for each of us.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” Mark 13:32-37
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