Through a set of dreams I came face to face with the reality of God exists.  As Job 33:14-18 states, God may warn a person through dreams.  In two separate nights what was happening in my dreams was happening in a friend's life.  I know, because I got up in the middle of the night to find out.

In a shore town that was facing decay, I found the source of life.  I had no idea that I could have peace with God by simply placing my faith in Christ.  On July 3rd by the light of a simple window I prayed to receive Christ as my Saviour, and I went to sleep.

The next morning I awoke, and sensed an absolute freshness in life.  It was, in a sense, as if it was the first day I Was alive.  I realized what Jesus had meant about being born again.  I walked into the bright summer air past the boardwalk carousel knowing God, and having peace in my life. 

I learned through this verse that it was not about trying to be good, it was about God accepting me simply because I believed.  This was powerful news to a kid who wasn't going to church at the time; a kid that didn't know much about the bible. 

90% of Americans today cannot articulate the path to peace with God.  If you know Christ as your Saviour, you have this peace.  Life may be tough right now. But what you have is greater than all the money in the world.  You know where you are going, and it is with God forever.  This verse swept through my soul in those first weeks of new life.  I worked about one block from this building, the historic Asbury Park Casino.

2. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 1:4,5)  

What a ride!  One of great surprises of my life was finding out after salvation that Jesus would give me the power to live a powerful, intimate life with Him!  I didn't expect this.  I thought I had to grunt it out myself. 

I read in the Word that Jesus wanted to fill me with His power.  I remember reading this verse and asking God to do it in my life.  He was right there, and just as He said, rivers of living water seemed alive inside me.  In the quietness of a kitchen table I asked for His filling, and He gave it.  I was so overwhelmed with the fresh presence of God that I just kind of thought He was just taking me to heaven.  Maybe this is the plan!  Get saved, get filled, and some go home!  As the sense of His presence subsided, I realized I had a few things on earth to accomplish first!  I could hear the faint screams of people on a roller coaster as I settled in from this experience, and I thought...and they think they had the ride of a lifetime!  Meet God's Spirit!

Being filled with the Spirit gave me a direction and focus in the first weeks of my relationship that summer.  This promise of Jesus rocked my world.  You can also pray to be filled with the Spirit of God.  The promise is for all of us.  Just ask, and believe.  Remember, it isn't about feelings, it is about Him.  God is a God of variety, and the evidence of His filling varies from person to person.  But I still cannot find a person in the book of Acts who was filled with the Spirit, and didn't know it!

3.  And in Him you are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.  (Ephesians 2:22)  God had a church for me during that first summer of finding Him.  It met in a school.  I was kind of goofed up, because it wasn't like the church I attended in my youth.  It did not matter what one was wearing.  Actually, a lot of bikers found Christ and went to the church.  God was there.  Church wasn't just a place, it was a people.  God said He would dwell there in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

I met people who really loved Jesus.  Some were older, and some younger. I didn't know who the pastor was at first, cause he wore clothes like I did.  This church born out of the Jesus movement gave me a life picture of what the church can be.  Don't give up on your church.  Make it better.  Make it real.  Show the real Jesus to someone this week.

Often, in the evening air I would crawl out onto the fire escape which faced this arcade.  I would think of the difference between a dwelling that is sure to fall apart, and His church... a dwelling that will stand for eternity.  By the way, this painted facade is famous at the shore, it is called Nelly. 

4. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.   (Ephesians 2:10)  One more thing that I soon began to understand was the fact that God had an actual plan for my life!  I read this verse from Ephesians which told me God could now unfold His destiny for my life.  In fact, God prepares us for this big plan way in advance. Again, I was shocked to find out it wasn't up to me to try and do great things for God.  It is God empowering me to realize His vision for my life.  Pretty cool.  

God tells us His relationship with us is much like that of a potter and clay.  He prepares and shapes us over time.  This is why God is forever checking our lives.  In the process of throwing a pot, one must make sure all bits of dried clay or air holes are gone.  Only when the potter is sure none exist will the pot be raised on the wheel.  Maybe all you see right now is dried clay and the examination process.   Let Him rid the old clay out of your life.  He has a big and unique plan for your life.

5.  If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.   (Matt. 5:41)  The Sermon on the Mount had a huge impact in those first months of my new faith.  It makes sense, as this was the first recorded teaching of Jesus to His disciples.  It represents a radical view of life.

This verse set direction for my life.  People don't listen to people these days.  They don't have time for people.  They certainly do not want to walk very far.  I just decided to take this verse seriously, and watch for the blessing in it.  I made a decision that if people needed me, I would walk those extra miles for Jesus.  I haven't regretted that choice.  One learns a lot when one walks with people. One sees things one would have missed otherwise.  I remember sharing my faith on this boardwalk, after someone asked me to go for awhile.

6.  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have such a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God... (Hebrews 10:19-21) Woow!  Coming into the presence of God, what a privilege!  In those first summer days in Asbury Park, after the crowds died down on the boardwalk, I would walk out on the jetty to the end boulders.  I would sit in the evening air and just talk with God.  I would hear the surf, and feel the wind on my face. His presence was real, and these moments were some of the most uplifting of my life.  I was building the discipline of having a daily quiet time with God.  I still look for quiet places in nature to pass beyond the veil into His presence.

7.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.   (Proverbs 3:5)

I soon discovered the book of Proverbs.  It was written to young people.  Since I didn't feel like messing up my life I started to pour through the pages.  This particular verse gave me tracks for life.  I soon found out that God places us in situations to test our faith.  Will we believe His word, or the circumstances?  This verse is really a promise.  In each situation I am confronted with a choice to trust Him, or myself.  It may involve changing the way I look at something.  If I acknowledge Him, He will make the path straight.  This is a good promise.

8.  Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way walk in it."   (Isaiah 30:21) 

                                                 Can God actually guide my life?  Can He be so close as to whisper in my ear?  Can He direct me through a still small voice?  Life seems so full of decisions.  Many of the biggest decisions we will ever make in our lives happen when we are young. 

Jesus said His sheep hear His voice.  Life throws choices at us from all directions.  Some of those decisions God just lets us make, separating the best from the rest.  At other times He leads us specifically, as He desires a particular end.  I began to learn that God speaks through His Word, circumstances, the Holy Spirit, as well as godly people in life.  God wants me to wait on Him for direction.  His Word says that if we cry out for wisdom, He will grant it to us.

9.  I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, "Go, throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done.  If you believe , you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."  (Matthew 21:21-22)   I soon realized Jesus wasn't talking about actual trees and mountains, but about things in the spiritual realm.  As we walk through life, we are confronted by situations that challenge us to rise in faith, or be swept away in fear.  Jesus wants us to be bold, and to speak the word of faith.  The power of prayer in Jesus is just waiting for me to believe.  That kind of changes how I approach life.  I continually want to expand my prayer life.  I want to expand my faith in His Word.  I remember the words of scripture that remind me that often I have not, because I ask not!

10.  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  (2 Timothy 2:2) 

I wanted to grow spiritually.  I felt like I got to a late start, as it wasn't till my college years that I gave my life to Christ.  I soon found that God sets us in relationships, and this was the path to growth.  I started to look for people who were deeper in the things of God than I was.  I wanted to learn from them.  I still do this.  But I also noticed that God began to ask me to help younger believers at the same time.  It is kind of like we have someone to give to us, and then we pass it on to someone else.  It is called discipleship.  It makes a huge difference to be discipled, and to disciple others.  Try asking God for these relationships.  Since it is in His will, it will be granted in His perfect timing.

11. So He said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel; "Not my might nor by power, but by my Spirit", says the Lord Almighty."  (Zechariah 4:6)  As I sensed a call into ministry, I wanted to learn all I could about spiritual things.  Jesus often said the Kingdom of God was at hand.  I wanted to know how His kingdom operated.  This verse represented a defining moment in my life.  It was not by human might or personal resources, but it was by the Holy Spirit.  I would have to learn what it meant to yield to the Spirit, rather than gut ministry out myself.  Someone has said that the greatest heresy of our current age is the belief that we humans can minister Christ just out of our own goodness.  I need to be being filled with His Spirit each day.

12.  I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering, becoming like Him in His death.   (Colossians 3:10)                      I discovered this verse one day, and it forever gave me goals for my life.  In this verse Paul gave his life goals.  First, I want to know Christ.  Not know about Christ, but to know Christ.  Secondly, I want to know His power.  Not about His power, but to know His power.  Thirdly, I will have to get involved in His sufferings if I am to learn the first two.  It all kind of goes together.  Many people who know His power tell me there is a cost.  There is a level of suffering or persecution that often comes with it.  It's Ok.  It is worth it.

13.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father  and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.   (Matthew 28:19) 

                                                     We call it the Great Commission.  We also call it the Great Commandment.  It was Jesus' final orders to the disciples.  It has never been recalled.  Jesus cares about lost people, and He wants them found.  This is our life's mission.

It is sad to think that most believers will never lead anyone to Christ before they are taken home to be with Jesus.  It doesn't have to be this way.  Jesus wants us to share our faith with others.  When you share your faith, you are sharing the only path to salvation.

14.   Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.   (Romans 12:1)  What really is the nature of worship?  I can remember reading this verse on a bus traveling down a highway in New Jersey.  The sun was setting off to the west.  I realized that my whole life could be a worship to God.  It wasn't just church time, it was all kinds of time.  My friendships, my employment, my relaxation, my service, and the rest.  There was not a secular basket and a sacred basket in which to throw the things of my life.  This revolution ed my view of life.

15.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:2)  It is hard to pull out one or two verses from such a great book like Romans.  Maybe these two bring together the previous chapters.  One year after I found Christ, my pastor, Ray Ciervo gave me an assignment.  He wanted me to read the book of Romans daily for two months, then write a paper.  I cannot express what this did for my young life.  This verse became my reality, as the pattern of the world was being cast away, and my mind was being renewed by His word.  I Came out of this realizing that the battlefield of the Christian life is waged between the ears.  It is worth getting the Word into your life.

16.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow

weary, they will walk and 

not be faint. (Isa.40:30,31)

While living in Malaysia by the ocean I frequently saw sea eagles in the sky.  They would fly where no other bird would go.  They would effortlessly circle on unseen currents of air.  With just a tilt of their wings they would change course.  Pretty powerful birds these eagles!  God's Word tells me that I am called to the heights.  I am called to ride unseen currents of air, the wind of the Spirit.  When I sense the wind of the Spirit, I lift wings and glide on what God is doing.  People around me stumble and fall.  Marriages seem to stumble and fall.  The key to going the distance is waiting on the Lord.  Remember, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father.  They wanted to launch out with the news of the resurrection.  Basically, Jesus wouldn't let them do anything till the power was from on high.  So, waiting on God for His power is the key to distance and height.

17.  If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from him.  By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39)

Life can get dry!  It is such a precious gift, yet few things really satisfy.  I guess it is pretty human of us to keep expecting that the next big thing in our life will fill the void.  Maybe it is a new relationship or a new job.  The world of advertising tells us our lives are somehow empty, and that a certain product will fulfill us.  Notice that commercials generally sell experiences rather than the product.  When I have the product in my life I experience things I never had prior to bringing it into my life.

The six-pack I purchase helps me experience a party, so my life is somehow more rewarding. 

Jesus said there is really only one person in the world that can satisfy our lives.  It is a relationship with Christ.  When we know God everything else in life begins to make sense. 

18.  I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (John 15:1)

It seems pretty simple.  It is all explained here.  Jesus is the vine and I am attached to Him.  The Holy Spirit is the life that flows through the vine to me.  The Father is a gardener, who takes time to cultivate my life.  I like this.  Life isn't a random set of events with no goal before us.  The events that happen to us are not haphazard things.  If I abide in Him and He is abiding in me I will bear fruit.

I like fruit in life.  It is His doing, not mine.  All I have to do to produce fruit in life is to abide in Him.

In the meantime the Father will cultivate, or prune, my life.  Sometimes He brings events into my life that are hard, and not fun  These prune my life, so that in the next season I will be even more fruitful. Sometimes I seem more interested in leaves, but the Father is interested in fruit.

19. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

It is easy to look around and wonder what God is doing!  Sometimes we pray for people and they get worse.  Sometimes circumstances appear as if God is not in control, or at least He has taken a vacation.  He hasn't.  His Word tells me that His eye is always on my life.  He never sleeps on the job.  Some people tend to blame God for everything.  When something doesn't go well, they blame God.  God is not the author of evil or bad.  We live in a fallen world, and the devil still prowls around to cause trouble.  God, on the other hand, knows how to turn situations for our deeper blessing and benefit.  This verse does not say God causes all things, but that He causes all things to work together for good!  That is a big difference in understanding!  Hard things have happened to me through the years, but I have never seen God remove this promise from my life.  Live by it, it is His truth.

20.  If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13)

What we do in life really does count.  God's Word tells us we get about seventy years, and the question revolves around what we are going to do with it.  It is the little things that count.  The little people and the little situations around us that the world tells us aren't important.  Jesus said that whatever we do for the people around us, we do it to Him.  It is amazing what people can do in one life.  Some people devote all their energies to becoming rich, or building huge collections.  So quickly their lives are over, and everything they have built goes off in different directions.  Other people live their lives in the spiritual prosperity of God, and at the same time minister to people.  When they minister to people, they are building for eternity.  What I do, even the smallest thing, really does count.

21. And now these three remain: Faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

I used to run a 71 MG.  It was pretty simple, and in typical fashion, usually had something wrong with it.  It had just a few instruments on the dashboard, but were they important!  I always kept my eye on the gas, the oil pressure, and the electrical dial.  Any crisis in these systems would keep me on the side of the road!  I think of these three words in 1 Corinthians as three critical instruments in my spiritual life.  There is faith.  Faith reaches out to believe God and His Word in the midst of a confusing world.  There is hope.  If Faith tells me God can, hope tells me God will!  It takes God's Word and applies it directly to my situation.  Then there is love.  Love is what it is all about.  One of the ways in which we are made in the image of God is the ability to give and receive love.

Have you ever noticed that like my old MG, a problem in one area can bleed into another area?

When faith goes out the window, so does hope.  I don't even feel like loving people.  If hope that God will minister to my situation ebbs, I find myself not reading the Bible or hanging out loving people at church.  And, if my heart is hurt and I am not loving, it isn't long before faith and hope settle into stagnation.  Keep your eye on the dial.

22. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 3:7-9)

Someone said God desires that we minister out of a wounded heart.  We experience pain, and thus can help others in their pain.  It isn't hard to look in the mirror and understand our own weaknesses.

The devil likes to point these out to us, and to ask how we can continue speaking up for the Lord.  But God's Word tells us that God purposely put His powerful treasure of the Holy Spirit in frail, human containers.  They are called jars of clay.  I guess in this world it would seem that a Styrofoam cup would be about the same thing.  We have this treasure from God in Styrofoam cups.  We are hard pressed with daily living, but not crushed.  We do get perplexed as to what He is doing in our lives, but we aren't in despair.  We are clearly persecuted for our faith, but God has never abandoned us.  Some times people strike us down emotionally, but we are not destroyed. 

So when you view your human weakness, remember this is the idea. 

23.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  (Galatians 5:22-23)

Many of us believe we cannot change.  We look at our past and see little hope for the future.  Possibly we see ourselves as walking through the same old problems time after time.  We see traits in our lives we do not like, and we wonder if it will ever be different.  I sometimes meet people who tell me that they are just like their dad or mom, and there is no hope.

But God tells us our lives have been inhabited by His Spirit.  When we come to know Jesus as our personal Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes into our life and gives us a new nature.  So we have an old nature and we have a new nature.  The old nature is flesh, and it consists of the way we used to do things.  The new nature has been given by God, and it stays with us.  We get to choose what nature we are going to operate on any given day.  The Holy Spirit is there to change us, if we let Him,

The fruit of the Spirit is described as a spectrum of positive, and powerful character changes.  It reminds me of a glass prism.  A hunk of glass melted and shaped lets invisible light pass through it, and out comes a spectrum.  This is what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. We will begin to see changes in our lives as we grow in Him.  Remember, you are not the same person you used to be.

You are changing.  Yield to His Spirit and watch the changes.

24.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transforms all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Fear.  Fear is such a human experience.  It can paralyze us.  The Lord knows our human tendency to fear.  The Word tells us to cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us.  Paul tells us we can overcome fear and anxiety in a constructive way.  When we are anxious or fearful, we are to stop and present our need to the Lord.  In reality,  we fear because we have forgotten that the Lord is in control.  Isn't fear able to grip us when we think the Lord has forgotten us or our need?  His Word tells us that a peace can replace the anxiety.  It will guard the two areas that are at risk when anxiety hits, our heart and our mind.

25.  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will be qualified to teach others.  (2 Timothy 2:2)

There really is not other method; it was the method of the Master.  Jesus didn't just teach from mountainsides and walk away.  He gathered a group of individuals around His life and poured into them over a period of three years.  The group was small, but it exploded in tremendous ways after Pentecost.

It has been said that everyone needs a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy.  Having a spiritual father, or mentor, in our lives is important for us as we continue to grow in the Lord.  They are hard to find.

Seek them out.  Having a Barnabas in our lives speaks of having friends who are on the same spiritual level of maturity.  They encourage us to keep going.  Having a Timothy in our lives speaks of the need to pass what we know to the next generation.

There is just no substitute for meeting with people.  Meeting with people over coffee can change lives.  I know you are busy.  Effective people in God are busy people, it is just the way it is.  Waiting for your life to settle down may prove to be elusive, it probably won't settle down till you go home to be with Jesus.  Ask the Lord to help you connect with a younger believer.  An interesting thing happens when we set out to do this.  We wind up getting blessed more than they do.  It is just the way God operates.  As Proverbs says, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed!

26.  Come near to God and He will come near to you. (James 4:8)

I met with a person the other day who told me God seems far away.  I told him that there are seasons in God.  We look at the world we live in and remember that God has given seasons.  There are times of rapid growth, and times of rest.  There are times in which fruit is widespread, and times the land seems quiet. 

27.  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  (2 Peter 1:3)

Power failures are not fun.  I remember my Dad telling me he walked down about thirty flights of stairs when one hit in New York City.  When faced with temptation, I need to remember that God has not left me in a powerless position.  The Lord has given me everything I need to have power today.

I am not is a position of waiting for a future day.  I can claim His power today.  I access that power through my knowledge of Him, which is found in His Word.

28.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride.  (Job 32:15-17)

Sometimes we wonder if God will ever be able to reach our friends and relatives.  Maybe that person at work has resisted our attempts at helping them to understand God. Many families have grown children that seem to have strayed from closeness with the Lord.  Our attempts to encourage them have been rebuffed.  Is there any hope?

Absolutely.  In Job we learn that God speaks in many ways to people's lives.  One of the most important is through dreams.  His Word tells us that He can visit a person at night and speak in their ears.  He can give them warnings and actually turn them from wrongdoing in their lives.  This chapter tells us that God speaks to each human being, and in ways that can lead them to turn the direction of their lives.

It is kind of a secret weapon, so to speak.  Today, in love, ask God to speak to your friends or relatives in a dream.  You may not hear the results right away, but you can count on the fact God answers this prayer.  I have prayed this way for people, and have actually had them initiate a conversation with me concerning the dreams in their lives.  Go for it!

29.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross .  (Colossi ans 3:15)  In my younger years I rarely saw the need to understand what is commonly called spiritual warfare.  The verses of spiritual warfare were tucked deep in my theology, but infrequently did it seem they were needed.  This all changed as people started coming to my office seeking relief from demonic oppression and attack.  God seemed to open this door, as it is something I would never seek.  The reality of the spiritual world is without question.  This verse is close to my heart, and it is the one I take into battle.  And I have learned, the battle belongs to the Lord.

30.   I am the Lord who heals you.   (Exodus 15:26)  It is just in the last seven years that God has taken me deeper in understanding physical healing.  I remember believing, but only randomly seeing Him touch lives.  But this has changed.  I never quite understood how important healing was to Jesus' ministry.  I now know and understand that the Lord heals today, as He did when He walked the shores of Galilee. This came as a wonderful surprise in the middle of my ministry years.  It changed my life.