Hello friends. This week as I was having my morning quiet time, I was reminded about a powerful dream that I had in November 2016. It was when I was researching and thinking a lot about the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. (I don’t remember my dreams much and so when I do, I write it down quickly to process it with the Lord later and ask for clarification.) These two dreams that I had back-to-back were pretty straightforward. I hope they help you too.
Helmet of Salvation dream
Yesterday I had this dream where the enemy was throwing rocks at me. From the way he was throwing he only cared about hitting my head. He was very intent on aiming my head. As I successfully ducked many attempts, after a while one rock finally hit me on my head. Then just like the cartoons, I was stunned and blacked out seeing stars around me. This is when I woke up and heard immediately within me – “helmet of salvation”.
I’ve read about the armor of God in Ephesians 6 many times but for the first time I knew I had to delve deeper into understanding more about the ‘helmet of salvation’. I’ve assumed this helmet is about being sure of your eternal salvation no matter what. This is true but there’s more than this obvious point. Here is a link that I found which does a good job explaining further simply and concisely.
https://www.gotquestions.org/helmet-of-salvation.html
Poison ☠️ dream
This morning I had another dream! I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. When I put my hand on that area I felt a small hard round object protruding out. This object started moving upwards throughout my digestive system and eventually it got lodged near my throat area. I used my fingers to pull it out from my throat. Within this small clear ball, I saw inside a tiny pill. With my fingernails I popped open the ball and clear liquid came out. Then I took the pill into my fingers trying to investigate it. It was a pill capsule. When I pulled apart the capsule, the pill’s powder came out. This is when I woke up.
This morning as I prayed about this dream, I felt the Holy Spirit informing me that the enemy dropped a small pill into my food to get me very sick. When I inadvertently swallowed it, the Holy Spirit encapsulated the deadly pill so it wouldn’t dissolve into my body. As I’m maturing and desiring to consume more varied and solid spiritual foods, sometimes I get concerned about the food sources. I just want to follow God’s way and not get deceived in a weird way. This dream reassured me that even if the enemy cunningly dropped a deadly pill into my spiritual food, the Holy Spirit will protect me from digesting the poison. I’m guessing that it’ll simply be ‘pooped out’? I’m glad in this dream I regurgitated it out. Lol! Praising God for the many creative ways that we are protected from the schemes of the enemy!! So don’t be afraid to dig in and eat!! We are always protected!
Psalm 91:1 Living Bible (TLB)
We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
(After remembering this poison dream from 2016, I felt peace. I will continue to be open and receptive to the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.)
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The famous actor Robert Duvall passed away this week. I didn’t know much about him. I was blessed to read this article about his faith. This older article is about his work in writing and getting ready to play a flawed pastor in his 1998 movie, The Apostle. He also talked about his praying mother and highly decorated father in the Navy.
If anyone is fasting for lent, please read this good article about how (and how not) to fast. There are also more articles below the article about fasting.
https://www.crossway.org/articles/how-and-how-not-to-fast/
Sexual assault and violence against children is much higher than you might expect. This is something that I pray and fast about regularly in the two prayer groups that I lead. These statistics are older but you’ll get an idea of how prevalent it is in our country. I’m sure it’s the same or worse in other countries. The USA just spends the money to track it.
This very courageous man wrote a book about his story as a child victim of sexual abuse by someone close to the family. He lives in NJ and is not very far from our church if anyone wants to reach out to him.
Here is his book:
https://www.amazon.com/Calls-Redeemed-Childhood-Addiction-Redemption/dp/B0CM1CG7H9
Christine Caine speaks candidly in this interview about how she was sexually abused as a child by someone close in the family.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-lee-warren-podcast/id1646611974?i=1000748879682
She is the founder of A21, the anti-human trafficking organization that I have been supporting for the past 14 years. https://www.a21.org
It is remarkable how God redeemed their lives from such evil done against them as children, and now look at them – fierce, powerful and lovingly serving God’s people with their stories of redemption and victory. If someone you know have experienced sexual abuse, please share their stories. With God, all things are possible.
The late pastor Tim Keller wrote a book about walking with God through pain and suffering. No one is exempt from pain and suffering on this earth journey. Since it is part of the journey, it’s very wise to learn how to process pain and suffering biblically.
This week I also read a very good article by Our Daily Bread ministry about mending a broken relationship. They used Jesus Christ as the main example of how we should follow in his footsteps in relationships. Since relational discord is very common, please read this great article on how to handle strife in relationships biblically.
https://www.odbm.org/en/spiritual-living/family-relationships/mending-a-broken-relationship
Since I read this article, when I came across this picture in my Pinterest feed, it caught my eye. When I hear/read a spiritual message or simplified summary like this picture, I also like to do my own research. How? I read the Bible verse in the entire context and in a variety of translations since the English language is limited or gets lost in translation from the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. I like to read it in NKJV, VOICE, AMP. I also like to get a bird’s eye view on the cultural and historical situation taking place. Our modern, western perspective comes with many biases that can skew how we understand the scriptures. I generally do my Birds Eye view research using the Bible project, a good study bible, or learning from good Bible scholars and teachers. If you need some guidance, please reach out to me.
To make it easier for your study, here are the Bible chapters in VOICE for these verses. Sometimes I share scriptures in the Korean language with my mom. Biblegateway has an impressive collection of languages!
– https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205&version=VOICE
– https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206&version=VOICE
– https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2014&version=VOICE
– https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206&version=VOICE
– https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209&version=VOICE
College campuses are continuing to have revivals! Praise God! Here is a good article and recap by Moms in Prayer ministry about it. The annual collegiate prayer is launching next week. Please adopt a campus or two, and pray/fast for them. This article will have the link to sign up. Revival starts and sustains by prayer. 🙏 We need all hands on deck for prayer 🙏.
These newborn babies in Christ will need a lot of guidance and support in everything. I have been praying that we, older Christians will be a deacon of light in the church, and just by watching us, they will “read” the Bible.
I loved this sermon delivered in 1993 by the late pastor Tim Keller. I completely agree with his message. I had to use my mind A LOT in the past 15 years of being a student of the Bible and following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
The Battle for the Mind
“Many Western people today think that Christianity is for people who don’t want to use their minds, that if you’re educated and thoughtful you wouldn’t believe. They think that to be Christian you’d have to jettison your thoughts and surrender to a realm of feeling, to a leap of faith.
But the Bible tells us the opposite. In 1 Peter, when it calls us to holiness, it says we must prepare our minds. Holiness includes the whole person—including the mind. In fact what Peter says and what it says all through the Bible is not only “May Christians think,” but “Christians must think.” It’s fundamental.
Let’s look at how 1 Peter shows us that 1) Christianity requires you to use your mind, to be thinking and rational, and 2) Christianity is the only thing that really encourages thinking and gives a basis for it.”
As we study the Bible, follow its teachings, and pray with understanding and love; may our Lord Jesus Christ richly bless us with His grace, guidance and peace every single day. 🙏
When asked, ‘What is more important: Prayer or Reading the Bible?’ I ask, ‘What is more important: Breathing in or Breathing out?’ – CHARLES SPURGEON
Journal of Faith 