Sunday, August 5, 2012

The Costa Rica Mission: Revelation through a Dream


Day 25: August 5, 2012
God gave me a really cool dream last night. In all reality it was probably a bad dream but I got something good out of it. I think the setting of the dream might have been the end of the world but I’m not sure. In the dream Satan was coming up to earth and taking people captive and bringing them into Hell even before they died. I was in a group of people that was captured. When we were first captured, Satan and his demons were having get into different categories. You were either a first, second, or third degree sinner. Satan wanted to make us feel as ashamed as possible. Many of us, went into the third degree sinner category, trying not to look around at anyone else. After we had been processed we were all put into a big room and we were locked in. But the group that I was with started to look for a way out, a way to escape Satan’s prison. And a couple times we found a way to Heaven and we were overjoyed to be with God. But Satan realized we were missing and came and got us. God tried to reason with him and work something out so that we could stay, but Satan wouldn’t let us go. We were stuck. And Satan continued capturing other people and they were trapped too. At one point I asked someone else, “But how does Satan have the power to keep us here since Jesus died on the cross?” And someone answered me, “He didn’t die on the cross.” So we had no way out, we were stuck. There was nothing we could do. We were all sinners and had no way to keep ourselves in Heaven because Jesus never died on the cross.

I had never thought of that before. What if Jesus hadn’t died on the cross? What if God didn’t have power like he does? I have just always taken for granted that Jesus did die on the cross and we are offered freedom. I’ve never thought of it any other way. In that dream I felt hopeless. There was nothing I could do, Jesus had no way to keep me in Heaven and Satan kept taking me back. Not only that, Satan had increased in power and could do whatever he wanted on Earth. Jesus wasn’t just creating a way for us to get to Heaven when he died on the cross. He was defeating and conquering Satan, Satan’s control over us was death. Death was the punishment for our sin and when we died we were on our way to Hell because of our sin. It was Satan’s control mechanism, a way to steal all of God’s children away from him. When Jesus died on the cross, he took that control from Satan and freed us from his bondage. He created a way for us to live forever. Death was conquered and life and freedom was increased.

So I thought of that dream when I was worshipping in church this morning. I had been praying that I wouldn’t take salvation for granted and that I would find joy in it. And that dream provided the revelation I needed. I am free! I am not defeated by Satan. Satan doesn’t have the power to take me captive in Hell nor does he have the power to taunt me or keep me in bondage on earth. Jesus has conquered him! I am free! Now that is something to have joy in!

After church we had a lunch for everyone that helped with the teams over the past couple of weeks and also a farewell to Anna. She is leaving early tomorrow morning. Afterwards we hung out at the church while some played a game of baseball. It was a good time.

After that, Christine invited several guys from the youth group to come over and watch a movie. We watched Act of Valor and hung out for a while with them. Christine said hanging out with them makes her feel like she’s hanging out with her brothers.

That was it for today, tomorrow I’m helping in the school again and getting ready for the team to arrive on Tuesday. Keep praying for me in this last week that I am here!

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