to escape the wrath of King Herod. He was later told by a dream when to return to his homeland and by another to go to live in Nazareth.
When Jesus was on trial for His life before Pontius Pilate, Pilate’s wife sent a message to her husband: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him” (Matthew 27:19). And except for one repetition of a prophecy of the Old Testament concerning dreams, that’s all there is about dreams in the New Testament.
There were, of course, visions, and I believe the main difference between the two is that visions still contain a direct word from God, whereas God seems to have discontinued using ordinary dreams as a means of carrying His message. His Holy Spirit, sent on the day of Pentecost, now speaks to individuals. Indeed, the Holy Spirit of God and God’s Word, the Bible, as well as prayer, are our sources of spiritual life, although I cannot completely rule out the possibility of God’s using a dream or a vision in our day.
Sometimes we are fearful of our dreams. Perhaps we have nightmares. Our fears about dreams or nightmares can become less powerful, less fearsome, when we discover that we share them with quite a few other people. In addition, they become much less troublesome when we share them with our Heavenly Father. Our greatest assurance is that we cannot drift beyond the Heavenly Father’s love and care. He will listen to our fears always and at any time.
Many ages ago, God spoke directly to Isaac, and His promise still stands: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you.”
A Quiet and Holy People
March 08
Cyprian of Carthage, North Africa, became a martyr for his faith under the Roman Emperor Valerian in 285 AD. Among his many writings was a simple letter to his friend, Donatus, and although written many centuries ago, it really speaks to our times.
This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden, under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see—brigands on the high roads; pirates on the seas; in the amphitheaters men murdered to please applauding crowds; under all roofs misery and selfishness. It is really a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasures of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians—and I am one of them.”3
Some things are just as bad . . . some worse since that writing. There are still brigands on our highways, and we still read of pirates on the seas. I don’t know of any amphitheaters where men are murdered to please applauding crowds, but we do have cruel mayhem in the wrestling ring and in the bullring for the same purpose. There are certainly many murders in our modern world. Under many roofs, there is misery and selfishness. We have a veneer of sophistication that was lacking in those early centuries, but human nature has not really changed that much. We have learned a host of new ways to gain the pleasures of this sinful life.
Yet in the midst of these troubling times, there continues to be a quiet and holy people who “have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They have overcome the world.”
Jesus Himself showed the way. In forty days of desperate temptation at the outset of His ministry, He was offered, among other temptations, “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” (Matthew 4:8). He was offered this if He would bow down before the Evil One, but He refused. And He led and taught His little handful of quiet and holy people.
As Cyprian wrote so long ago: “These people, Donatus, are the Christians—and I am one of them.” May that be our testimony too.
My Brother
March 09
A church member was driving his pastor along a busy freeway when they came upon an accident scene. A car was overturned on the center strip, and a man was standing by the overturned car, dazed—his face smeared in blood. A police officer directed traffic by the scene. All this was taken in at a glance as the two drove slowly by the scene. After traveling several hundred yards past the scene, the driver suddenly braked, pulled over, and stopped, saying, “Holy smoke, pastor, that was my brother.”
Sometimes as we go barreling down the highway of life, we fail to notice those by the roadside who are hurting.
Jesus told the parable of four men involved in a similar drama, which we call “The Good Samaritan.” It was not a super highway, but it was a highway. The highway was a lonely road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A traveler was on his way to Jericho when robbers set upon him, beat him terribly, and took everything he had. Three other men, also traveling alone, came upon the scene. Two of the lone travelers, seeing the desperately hurt man at two separate times, didn’t want to be involved and passed by on the other side. They didn’t want to be involved, but they were. They saw him . . . and they left him.
Finally the third man came along—a foreigner, a hated Samaritan. He stopped, bound up the victim’s wounds, put him on his own beast, took him to the nearest inn, cared for him overnight, and left money with the innkeeper to continue the man’s care. He also promised the innkeeper to reimburse him for any further expense when he returned.
That’s brotherhood.
A Sign of Spring
March 10
We all love to see the signs of spring, particularly after a long, cold winter. When the snow melts, trees begin to bud, blossoms start appearing, grass begins to “green up,” and other early signs of spring occur. We eagerly anticipate the coming of spring.
Some of Jesus’ enemies came to Him on one occasion and asked Him to show them a sign from heaven, some indication that He really was who He said He was—the Messiah. Jesus immediately referred to an old weather forecaster’s sign. “When evening comes,” noted Jesus, “you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times” (Matthew 16: 2–3). Then He added that the only sign they would receive would be the sign of Jonah.
At that, of course, they drew a blank. The salvation of Nineveh depended on the prophet Jonah, but a great fish had swallowed him. However, God delivered him, and Nineveh was saved. As Jesus put it on another occasion, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).
Jonah’s experience was a sign of salvation to Nineveh, so the cross of Jesus and the empty tomb become signs of salvation to a needy world—signs of spring, if you like.
Out of Ashes, a New Life
March 11
The wonders of nature never cease to amaze. God has designed such harmony and balance in the natural world. A prime example of this is the lodgepole pine tree, which is found extensively in British Columbia and the Northwest United States. The lodgepole pine belongs to what is called a “fire origin species.” When the cones of the lodgepole pine fall to the ground, they are sealed shut so that the seeds do not germinate in response to water and sun. The pine cones rest on the forest floor, sometimes for decades, until a forest fire sweeps through and the heat from the fire melts the seal; then
