Wisdom Combined with Humility

I try to be open and honest in my blogs. I do not pretend to be perfect  in any area of my life.  Although I strive for holiness, I am in a flawed human body with flawed ways of thinking.  I often pray that God helps change me in all areas of my life that require change.  God has been gracious to answer my prayers and often he gently shows me where I need to change by giving my dreams.  

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17

If I have faith enough to believe certain dreams come from the Lord and wisdom combined with humility enough to pay attention to the messages and obey His instructions, I will be capable of change. I have had two dreams in less than a month that have had to do with judging others.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had a series of dreams about Heaven https://thankful-julie.blogspot.com/2020/06/onward-christian-soldiers.html .  In one of those dreams I was talking to a man I do not know in real life and he said something I thought seemed odd.  I cannot remember now whether he used a swear word, if what he said was off-color, or if he mentioned a movie or television show, but I just remember thinking that I was surprised that someone saying such a thing would be in Heaven. I actually had the nerve to judge this man who was in Heaven sitting beside me!  Was I actually assuming just because he said something I perceived to be unholy, that he should be in Hell?  Do not misunderstand what I am saying, I believe that when we get to Heaven we will be changed. We will not be using profanity, telling dirty jokes, or discussing movies in Heaven! 

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. I Corinthians 15:51-53

But what I am saying is that this dream was symbolic of the fact that we (this includes me) should not judge others based on their imperfections.  It is God's job to judge us according to our works and decide whether or not we will get into Heaven or not (Jeremiah 25:14, Matthew 16:27, II Corinthians 11:15, Revelation 2:3 & Revelation 20:13).  You can watch the video I made for my other blog on the subject of judging here: https://abcsofajoyfulmarriage.blogspot.com/2020/05/week-20-short-video.html

The second dream I had that ran along this same thread was last week.  My husband and I often dream we are students in a classroom being taught lessons from the Lord (which is why I chose to name this blog "The School of Holiness"), and most of the time our instructors are angels. I will not explain the entire dream, but the gist of it is that I dreamed I was in a classroom with other students and we were were going through a 10-day seminar with daily training session that included extensive instruction manuals for each day. We we currently on day 7.  Wouldn't that be wonderful to truly sit in a classroom every day being taught the things of God that go beyond our understanding, beyond what we read in the Bible?  Anyway, the teacher, a female angel I have seen in several other dreams (they do not have wings in my dreams), was showing us a video of a preacher. I do not think the man in the video was anyone I am familiar with in real life.  It had been our assignment to watch other videos of the same preacher from home.  I admitted to my fellow students that I had not watched the videos from home because I did not like the preacher, but now  I was feeling chagrined because I realized I had failed the assignment.  If the teacher felt like this preacher had something worth listening to, I should have paid attention.  Once again, I had been unfairly judging someone else's spiritual state based on my standards, not the Lord's.

Let me again be clear to what I not saying.  I am not saying we should accept every pastor's sermon as golden nuggets of wisdom.  If he is teaching a false message, we should never allow him to be our leader, nor promote him to anyone else.  But I believe the message of that dream was to realize that even though some pastors have a misunderstanding about the grace message or other areas I may disagree with, they still may have some valuable things to teach. We need to use discernment with all who preach, but let God judge the condition of their souls.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Philippians 1:9-10

In my daily Bible reading yesterday, while reading Acts 10, I realized that the vison of Peter before he met Cornelius perfectly matched with the theme of my dreams (these verses included at the end of this writing). God was telling Peter not to dismiss preaching to others just because Peter assumed those people were unclean based on his standards. We are to reach out to everyone and give everyone the same message, regardless of race, religion, economic status, etc.  We are not to judge, but to love others enough that we are willing to spread the gospel to everyone in need.  

So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8-9

I am not saying all religions are the same and I have not changed my theology (You can watch my video on my views on salvation on the Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/theschoolofholiness/?modal=admin_todo_tour , but God is definitely teaching me to be less judgmental and not to dismiss other people's walk with the Lord just because they are rough around the edges or their theologies are not exactly like my own. This lesson from God's School of Holiness has been accepted by me and stored away in my heart as I strive to put into practice all that God is teaching me!  

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”

And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

 Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant... While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”

Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?”

And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.” 

Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. 

So Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”

Acts 10:9-22, 28-36