Thought I’d finally get to my back-logs here, and get back to The Making Of A Prince, by Dr. Jonathan David. We doubled down on the true meaning of a relationship with Christ, and reminded ourselves that we truly are new creations, which entails that we are in a perfect partnership with a perfect God; all, of course, through the finished work of Christ.
We’re now getting into the second half of the second ‘Chapter’ of the book, and, well, it is just as jam-packed with a lot of insights for all of us to take in.
Something I just noticed now, though, before I go any further: ‘Ben-Onni’ did not refer to Joseph, but to Benjamin. Rachel gave birth to Benjamin before she died.
Anyway.
(i)You must develop your spirit for dream reception.
I believe this first item is in line with Paul’s call for us to work out our salvation. Take note, we’re not saying work FOR, but work ‘out’, as in workout or exercise our salvation.
And Dr. David does make sense here. Folks who exercise and who keep exercising consistently do so, not merely for a short-term goal like weight loss, but for just an elevated fitness level, to be ready for when our bodies really matter.
I also remember a friend of mine who quit smoking because she wanted to be healthy for her (then) boyfriend.
In the same way, we’re to do more good (exercise), and to avoid the bad (smoking) – developing our spirit, so we’re ready for when dreams (and realizations, revelations, etc) come.
Build your spirit. If you want to decipher the dreams then build and develop your spirit, and make your spirit strong.
How do we build and develop our spirits? Well, in the sense of exercising or having it do good… we keep going back to one of my favoritest verses, 2 Thessalonians 5:17.
That is, we are able to build your spirit by rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all things.
We would bring ourselves to rejoicing in a mindset of worship, focused on the Lord – always keeping His greatness in mind during our success, and His goodness in mind during our struggles.
We’re to pray without ceasing – that is, to stay aware of the fact and Truth of our absolute, constant, uncut and active line of communication with the Father; He listens and talks to us, and we listen and talk to Him, consistently.
Finally, we’re to have our own spirit be led by the Holy Spirit, and give thanks in – and not FOR, but IN – all things.
I’m no fitness expert but I could say that one ideal form of working out, especially for those of us who work towards definition and sculpting, is whatever prioritizes what we call time-in-tension; Or, simply put, exercises that keep our muscles tense for longer. Planking is an example, but not the best example – pull-ups are better, because basically all the time you spend just hanging is time with your muscles tensed, whether you’re up or just ‘resting’.
When we rejoice, pray, and give thanks, our spirits are in constant time-in-tension… ready for dreams and realizations as they come.
We want to develop the spirit. Why? Because everything of God comes into our spirit.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.John 16:13-15
(ii) Surround Yourself With Those Who Have Perception.
Joseph’s father and brothers did not understand his dreams. He only shared his dream, he never interpreted his dream but his father said, “Hey, you mean to say your mother, and me and all your brothers are going to bow down to you?” That’s not what Joseph said. He said, “This is my dream.” As a father he should have understood the dream and interpreted the dream accurately because he use to have dreams before.
This makes sense. Joseph merely presented the dream, but those who heard it are accountable for their own reactions, which are more or less their own interpretations as well. And it’s clear, that even if Joseph presented a more pleasant sounding dream… well, the brothers, in their hatred, would have found a way to tear it down.
Dr. David tells us to surround ourselves with perceptive people, and I agree – but one other thing I learned here is that we shouldn’t be sharing our dreams to just anyone. We respect the dreams and the One who gave them by (1) consulting Him, and, more to the point, (2) sharing them with like-minded believers.
Surround yourself with people who can interpret your dream — those who can connect with your spirit and can decipher what you have.
…and maybe, not even like-minded believers, but those with that gift of interpretation. We ought to pray for friends and brethren who could be Daniels for us when we have Nebuchadnezzar type dreams… Let’s ask the Lord for discernment for our fellow brothers and sisters, and help each other out.
Surround yourself with people who have the prophetic spirit, who have dreams in their heart, and who have this kind of sharpness and accuracy.
Wise counsel have dreams. We ought to dream to be considered as wise counsel, ourselves.
Makes me think, what are dreams that to this day have stuck with me?
(iii) Bad Relationships Can Destroy God’s Dream in You.
…when you are trusting in God and people know you rely on God, you are safe to be with because you always show a sense of dependency.
Something I picked up from this: In your daily dealings, it’s easy to ‘play safe’, and prioritize comfort… No, on the other hand, we (men, especially) should be at work so others feel safe around us…
…and a way for us to work to be a beacon of safety is for us to find our safety and rest in Christ. We depend on Him for us to be dependable and trustworthy for others.
34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.
Matthew 12:34-35
Thankfully, when Christ died, so we died, and our evil, sinner selves died. Therefore, when He rose again, so we rose, new creations, temples of the Holy Spirit – dependent on Christ.
Can you imagine that with Joseph, if his heart was bitter and he was frustrated with his brothers before God put him in and made him the prince of Egypt?
You need a good relationship with yourself before you discern bad relationships.
Speak for yourself, yeah? Conquer others by conquering yourself. Mastering yourself.
(iv) Help Others With Their Dreams, Not Just Your Dreams.
Help yourself by helping others… help others by helping yourself.
(v) You Need Patience and Faith To Inherit The Promise.
As said in point number 1, develop the Spirit while waiting.
I sort of breezed through the final points because they all led up to one central point: Develop your spirit to be ready for dreams.
You strengthen your Spirit, as you develop your diet, your body, and your mind: You rejoice, pray, and give thanks.
You seek counsel from believers with wisdom and discernment, while at the same time avoiding other folks who would only serve as liabilities to the dream.
And while you patiently wait on the Lord for said dreams, and their fruition… well, you help others as much as you can, praying with them at the very least.
Good stuff. Let’s keep going!
Until the next post, may the Lord continue to bless us all.
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