Dream Catcher

When I was visiting Erik and Stephanie Christensen in Arizona last year my husband and I went to the Grand Canyon. At a tower inside the park was a gift shop and I looked around for what to buy my three nieces. Dream catchers with bright colors caught my eye and I picked my nieces favorite colors. One of my nieces struggles with nightmares and was thrilled with the myth that the dream catcher would catch and keep her bad dreams. Even as adults we struggle with the issue of our dreams. As children we imagine a future that we want for ourselves and do everything possible to obtain that image in our heads. The problem is we cannot foresee every variable that we will meet along the way. As a child I didn't know if I wanted to be married and have kids. I played along with my friends without telling them I wasn't that thrilled about either prospect. I wanted to write fiction and compose music but no one my age liked either one of those dreams. As I grew up God taught me that if He doesn't define the dream we will live life in disappointment and regret. As a teenager I thought it would be cool to go to the Air Force Academy and talked and planned it out with my dad. He was so excited but then I found out that I wouldn't be able to get in because of my asthma. I was disappointed but after time I developed a new dream, to go to college get my degree in psychology and go on to pursue my masters and PhD. It took quite a good bit of my twenties just to finish my bachelor's degree and along the way I realized my health was continuing to deteriorate. The year I was to graduate my now husband asked me to marry him and I was stunned, not because he asked but because it had never been my dream. I was afraid because I wasn't sure it would make me happy. What I discovered was that God was asking me for my dream again to give me another dream. I said yes believing God was calling me to be married to Todd. Not long after we were married I became so ill I had to quit work and give up any hope of getting my masters or PhD. I was again disappointed because I thought my dream and my value were linked. For a long time I didn't have a dream. My husband and I knew God didn't call us to be parents and we accepted that without regret. I was learning in those years to let God make my dreams. I studied scripture, learning Greek and Hebrew. I learned how to talk to God and listen to what He had to say. Then my dream came, the one I had always thought about but never thought of as being a goal. I wanted to teach but more than that I wanted to disciple. So when my health got even worse and I had to drop out of choir and praise team, I wasn't disappointed but understood God was asking for that ministry to give me His ministry for me. It wasn't long after that I started working with Rita Carr and then SALT and finally discipling and teaching the way God had envisioned for me. Although marriage wasn't my dream God had other plans. Even though the norm was to have children, God said no. My identity is not defined by the dreams I have for myself but the one He has set aside just for me. I could have been the bratty child stomping my foot that God took away from me my goals in life but instead I learned that what He asks for isn't as valuable as what He wants to give me in its place.

Greek Word of the Week

Rhema-(4487) from rheo meaning to speak or make a statement. Rhema means specific words, or statements. In John 15:7 Jesus said they we are to abide in His rhema. Unfortunately it is translated as word. John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the word. Word here is actually logos which really means logic or reason. So word is used in two different places but are in reality two different Greek words. Matthew 4:4 Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy, saying that man cannot live by bread only but from every (rhema) that proceeds from the mouth of God. So what is the difference between rhema and logos then? Logos is the general expression of the thoughts of God while rhema is the specific subject matter or promises that God imparts. There are specific promises that God made to Abraham that dealt only with his descendants and those that only dealt with gentiles. But God's characteristics are the general logos that we must understand in order to accept and understand the specific. Jesus gave specific instructions to the apostles such as unconditionally love one another, unconditionally love your enemies, and trusting Him for salvation. But when He says Spirit, the God in John 4:24 He is stating what is logos or the general information about God. Both logos and rhema are meant to work together to show individuals what God wants us to know about Him. Does this require that we create a new vocabulary to let people know exactly what we mean? It actually might help to become more specific about what we quote so that other believers understand what is the specific and general information about God. It also reminds us what promises are to Israel and to the church so that we do not claim what isn't ours.