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The results of a poll for USA Today article, ‘what Americans are most scared of’ revealed, 51% snakes, next is public-speaking, next heights, small spaces, then spiders, needles and injections, mice and finally flying. God is conspicuously missing; also the fear of people is missing. I believe that we are all most afraid of people - it’s the background in which we all live our lives.
Oftentimes, my inaction is due to fear. I fear how people will respond to this or that. I fail to act or speak because I’m more concerned about people’s opinions rather than God’s. Rejection will stop one receiving dreams from God because we are not sure that the Father loves and wants to include us in His plans; It will also stop us listening to God because we are not prepared to do things that might cause offence and expose us to rejection.
In Proverbs, we read,
‘Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.’ (Proverbs 29:25)
‘The Fear of man is a snare’ - it’s a trap that stops us from dreaming and making progress. Have we become deaf, stilled and silenced through fear?
In Proverbs, we also read,
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.’ (Proverbs 9:10)
The snare of rejection is broken through the fear of the Lord. Fearing God is often missing from a modern Christian’s vocabulary. God is not a divine teddy bear - He is, as the host of heaven declare,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8).
A Christian is justified by faith - completely righteous and loved; we are wearing the robe of Jesus, like Joseph was wearing the ornate robe given by Jacob. However, a right understanding of grace is that we are now in a relationship with the ‘Holy One’ who hates sin and who requires obedience. Joseph didn’t put on the robe and then proceed to ignore his father! No! He honoured and obeyed Jacob.
RESPONSE
Billy Graham knew God. He was freed to receive dreams from God and walk in His will because he had a great vision of God. Billy Graham said,
'One with God is a majority.'
The snare of the fear of rejection is broken through ‘knowledge of the Holy One’. The ‘Holy One’ loves us! The ‘Holy One’ has the power to do all that He wills in us! The ‘Holy One’ wants us to listen and obey. A true view of God frees us to dream and obey.
COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY – GOD IS STILL SPEAKING, ARE WE STILL DREAMING?
Opener/Ice-breaker
What has been the funniest/strangest dream that you've had?
Introduction - please read in your group
Please read Read Genesis 37:5-11.
God spoke to Joseph in two dreams. These dreams were not received well by his family who became hateful and defensive. Jacob, Joseph's father, and his family should have known better; they had a history of God speaking to them in dreams. However, even their poor response is used by God to actually fulfil His promises!
God has promised to speak to his people, but we can fail to listen. Jesus has said,
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (John 16:12-13)
We can stop hearing because we are too busy, discouraged or have not been teachable so have not learned to listen. Many struggle to think that God loves them and would want to speak to them.
During last week's devotionals, we looked at 3 basic practices that will help all of us to hear and do what God says. These were:
1. Read His word prayerfully
2. Keep a journal -write down what you think God is speaking to you about .
3. Share ‘dreams’ and pray with others
God is still speaking, are we still dreaming - are we giving quality making time to prayerfully listen to our Father's voice?
Discuss together
Do you have any examples from the last week of God speaking to you through His word?
Discuss/share in smaller groups from Sunday’s message:
What did you hear from the Holy Spirit?
What will you do because of it?
How can we pray for you?
Notices
Please share from this week’s Church News