She Had A Dream About Him

How does God speak to you?  He spoke to Joseph and to Valentina in dreams. He sent a message to Mary through an angel. He sent Sergio a message through his cousin Vaselita's dream. Here's what happened.

Vaselita with her family

One night Vaselita dreamt that Jesus told her to phone her cousin Sergio who was working in Russia. Jesus told her Sergio was deathly ill and needed to repent. When Vaselita woke up, she thought, "That was one weird dream," and went on about her daily work. 

The next night, Jesus appeared to Vaselita again in a dream. "Why didn't you phone Sergio, like I told you last night? He's deathly ill and needs to repent!" When Vaselita woke up, she phoned her cousin!

Sergio was indeed deathly ill. Some believers from Vaselita and Sergio's village were also working in Russia, near him. They came to visit, had long discussions with Sergio, prayed with him, and Sergio gave his life into Jesus' hands.

His soul was healed. His body also healed. He went back to his village in Moldova and spent the evenings, when people gather around fires in corners of the unpaved streets, telling everyone how God had spoken to him and changed his life. Many hearts were touched through Vasalita's dream.

Sergio with some of the Christian brothers

He Had A Dream

A day after we posted the "She had a dream" blog, we received this reflection from Dr. Dale Meredith. It seemed too "coincidental" to not share in this follow-up blog. 

Joseph was engaged to marry Mary.  He heard that she was pregnant.  He thought about privately breaking the engagement.  “While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife.  For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived (Matthew 1:20).’”  Joseph married Mary.  Jesus was born and after the wise men had left, “an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, ‘… get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave (Matthew 2:13).’”  Joseph, Mary, and the child left during the night for Egypt.  “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel (Matthew 1:19-20).’”  So Joseph took Mary and Jesus back to Israel.  When Joseph was afraid to go to Judah, he received more instructions in a dream, so he made his home in a town named Nazareth (Matthew 2:22-23).

An angel is a messenger from God.  Mary learned about and accepted her selection to be the mother of Jesus in a conversation with an angel (Luke 1:26-38).  Joseph heard God speak to him by an angel at critical times in dreams.  Mary had one conversation with an angel.  Joseph received instructions from an angel in multiple dreams.  God speaks to different people in different ways.  Each person hears, learns, and reacts differently.  God communicates to you in ways you can understand.  When God speaks to you it will be consistent with His plans and purposes as shown in the Bible.  That is why it is important to study and memorize scriptures.  It is from the study that you learn what God’s plans and purposes are.  Then when he speaks you will better understand what he wants you to do.  God does not speak to everyone in the same way.  You must be alert, recognize, and listen to God for instructions.

Let us know God’s love for us and love him.  Let us be his witnesses.  Let us listen to the Scriptures and let them guide us in what we do.  Let us listen when God speaks through prophets, family members, friends, nature, angels, or dreams to call us to follow God.  Let us hear God whisper to us and then do what God whispers.  Let us ask for help to understand what some teachings in the Bible mean.  Let us memorize Bible verses so we will follow Jesus and not sin against God.  Let us see what needs to be done and do it with God’s help.  Let us obey God even when it is difficult.  God helps, comforts, and guides us even if it appears dark and we cannot see the future.  I pray that we all: Be smart, be careful, be helpful, be safe, and not be afraid.  God is with us now and forever.​

Dale D. Meredith

Pastor, University Baptist Church, Amherst, New York and

Professor Emeritus, State University of New York at Buffalo

She Had A Dream

God comes to us in ways we will understand. That's the whole message of the Gospel. And that's why Jesus appeared to Valentina in a dream. 

We'd met Valentina's family in Moldova. We got to know them a bit better while they spent some time in the Netherlands. Now they are back home where, last month, Valentina's husband decided to be baptized. Valentina thought long and hard when her husband made that commitment. She hesitated. She decided she was not ready to bury your old life in those baptismal waters and rise up to live a new life in Christ. It's an important step. 

This was all fresh in her mind when Jesus appeared to her in a dream. He called her to him and told her she needed to repent, turn away from her old life, and be baptized. He told her he was calling all people to come to her. We can all become children of God. 

When another baptismal service was organized, Valentina did not hesitate. She and four others were baptized last Sunday. 

Valentina, 2nd from right

God came to her in a way He knew she would understand, in a dream. She shared that dream with all the neighbors and family members who came to the service who came in a way she knew they would understand, in their own Ursari Romani language. 

How does God come to you?

"A Tale of Two Gardens" or "The Choice I Elected"

This is the time of year when migrating flocks of birds swoop into the tree in our backyard, feast on the purple berries there, and swoop on. They glide and turn as one, so many flecks of pepper against the grey clouds. We watch and listen through the big kitchen window, the swoosh of their many wings audible even through the glass that separates us.    

We watch, amazed at the sight and at the Creator who orchestrates it all, from flight plan to berry-bearing shrub. The new neighbors behind us, the ones who transformed their yard from a nature sanctuary (fashioned more by the previous owner’s neglect than intent) into a flat plane of grey tile with an island of artificial turf, were not so entranced. The berries knocked loose by the birds stained that new tile. Could we trim the tree so it didn’t hang over their yard anymore?

We do not share the new neighbors’ vision of an ideal yard. In fact, when they first started hacking off every green thing in sight, I had a lot of difficulty with it. But then God showed me something. These neighbors have roots in Morocco or Turkey or some such dry, dusty place where paved inner courtyards are the desired norm. They even put a high, solid wall all around their yard to create more of a courtyard-as-extension-of-the-dwelling. I, on the other hand, try to cover the fences and walls around our yard with vines so that not being inside feels even more like going outdoors.

But would we trim our tree? Of course, and not just grudgingly because they had the right to ask it. I do not agree with their choice of a yard, but I respect their right to make that choice. I have a choice, too. I can label those new neighbors as all kinds of things because they do not share my view of an ideal yard. Or I can see these new neighbors as neighbors. We can choose to focus on what we share: the desire to live together in a cordial neighborhood.

As summer fades and more and more birds fly south, you and I will have many opportunities to make similar choices. Will you and I focus on our differences? Will we let those differences harden into name-calling and defensive dislike? Or will we choose to focus on our common goals and listen for ways we can work together to achieve them? I elect to do the later. What do you choose?