GOD SPOKE TO JOSEPH IN A DREAM

As I was writing in my journal this morning, and in prayer, I was reflecting on how God has spoken to me in my life.  How did I know it was HIM?  I was thanking HIM for all the things HE has done, is doing, what HE has taught me and where HE had moved in my life over the years.  So when I went into the bible for reading, HE took me to Matthew...where Joseph was told in a dream by God that the child Mary was carrying was a son and he was to be called Jesus: for HE would save his people from their sins.

Many people today don't seem to "hear" from God.  I used to be one of them before HE opened my eyes and my ears.  One of the things I heard this morning, was when I was praying for the healing and deliverance and conversion of people on my list--"They don't believe unless they see the miracles and signs"...and I replied to HIM..."Lord I know the miracles, signs, and workings of YOU in my life" and then began to recant them to HIM.  I told HIM that my prayers were not because I wanted "more to help me believe in HIM" but the prayers were BECAUSE  of my faith in HIM!  The desire for their healing and conversions and deliverance comes from HIM; because I have His Spirit within me, and it is HIS desire as well.  (if one could see God smile, I am almost certain HE did).  Going over all the times that HE spoke and I know I heard it was HIM, and all the times that HE worked out details for me and answered prayer that only HE could have known...brought forth an attitude of thanksgiving and praises this morning.  I am certain this is why Israel repeated over and over all the things God had done for them in the Old Testament, not just for preservation of their history and genealogy--but for them to "renew their minds" about HIM!

When I read about Joseph ready to put Mary away privately, and how God spoke to him in a dream...don't we all have dreams that we think mean something?  God called him "son of David", who calls us by our lineage?  HE explained where the baby came from...validating Mary's testimony...and also said why this child was to be born....oh that we could know so much about our own children!  He quoted Scripture in which Joseph would have known from the prophet Isaiah, about a virgin giving birth to Emmanuel, whose name means 'God with us'.  How wildly ecstatic Joseph must have been to know this!!  Would you want to run and tell everyone?  Whenever God spoke to me, I did; but soon learned...people are not exactly open to that kind of declaration. 

What does this mean--God with us?  Well we all know God is everywhere at all times and we also know God is in us...what does that mean though?  My husband and I came together and made a baby.  He has our traits and genes that he has inherited from us, and has even developed certain personality characteristics...but he has his own spirit.  I could not give him mine, nor his father able to share his.  The child has his own spirit.  So when Jesus came to die for us and to break the Sin Curse, HE did more than just save us...HE put some of Himself inside of us!  The FATHER, we seek, that we must go through JESUS to HIM, has already given us more than we truly know!  HE is the Creator...and the Creator is in us--the ONE who made the stars, the moon, the trees, the animals, the birds, and every human being....is in me?  The Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father and they are ONE...and Jesus is in me, so the Father is in me too...the ONE I pray to and hope to meet...is already here ...with us!

How can I hear HIM and know HIM?  I need to stop listening to my own thoughts, and renew my mind with HIS WORD, and believe and practice HIS PRESENCE...think of HIM as right here...in my very body and soul!  Talk to HIM as with anyone I love and listen.  This is not easy to do in our busy, noisy, demanding, and technological world...too many things beckon us so that we don't have time or peace to spend time with HIM who is already here with us.  Living in a natural world where our emotions, hurts, failings, and bad things happen...keep us focused on those "physical" things--but this is all temporary.  I know I cry out for my friends who are fighting cancer, and some who died anyway...I want them to see their daughter get married and to enjoy their grandchildren and not to become an empty place at their dinner table...or tears at Christmastime.  I know when my mother died, though I knew where she was going...it was the natural side of me that cries out that because I miss her so much!    The supernatural side of me smiles....as I read the Scriptures, consider the Passover meal in the Holy Mass (where the Angel of Death has passed over me ) and the fact that my God of the bible, is here with me.  I know it because I believe what I read, and also the constant "telling my history of Him working in my life (Israel)" and how HE speaks to me.  Joseph knew when the Voice called him son of David, and that the child's name would be Emmanuel...He knew God's Voice and He knew the Scriptures and the Promises to come... it wasn't just a dream that told him what to do and to believe.  Of all the dreams I have....I am pretty sure I am glad I did not do what was told me in some of them!  Dreams can be used by the devil as well...we must discern whether they are of God or not.