Written by Mark Driskill:
Tuesday April 12,2011
Read Acts 12:6-11
“He didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.” (Acts 12:9)
I hear the movie “Inception” is pretty good. I haven’t seen it, but recently a friend explained it to me. Apparently it’s about dreams and reality. Due to the advances of technology people are able to manipulate their dreams and even join the dreams of others in this movie. The problem is after awhile it becomes difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality.
I think Peter had something like that going on when the angel came to deliver him from prison. One minute he is under heavy guard by Herod’s version of homeland security. The next minute he finds himself awakened by an angel. While he sleeps between two guards, which is an act of faith in itself, he feels the point of a sword waking him and an angelic voice calling him to freedom. As the chains slip off and the doors swing open he tells himself, “This can’t be real. Things like this just don’t happen. I must be having a vision.” But moments later he finds himself standing in downtown Jerusalem, at the corner of halleluiah avenue and glory street.
A cool blast of the predawn air and the feeling of sand between his toes is all it takes to convince Peter this experience was real. I wonder how long he stood there in disbelief before he finally let it sink in that he was truly living his dream of freedom. How long will you stand there in your own situation before you realize your freedom in Christ is not a fantasy or a vision? How long before you figure out that what God has done for you is real?
For a good number of us today the idea of walking in freedom from our own bondages feels like a dream yet to come true. We know in theory that God is able to set the prisoner free but when it comes down to walking in our own freedom we often tell ourselves it just can’t happen. Freedom from an addiction or a resentment or a regret of the past seems so unthinkable that we just can’t bring ourselves to accept it as a real possibility. We have a love hate relationship with the testimonies of others who claim to have been set free. We’re happy for them but secretly gnash our teeth at them for reminding us that we are still in chains.
We hear messages about the freedom Christ offers and for a moment we try to awaken to it, but often just tell ourselves to go back to sleep, “It’s just a pipe dream. Things like that only happen in la la land, not in the real world.” But what if its real? What if we take a step of faith and risk the possibility that God may actually be able to deliver us? What if we take hold of his promise of power and begin to walk by faith? What if we put aside all our rationalizing and just listen to the voice that beckons us out of our cell and into the street? What if we take God seriously for a change and start living the dream? What if we wake up from our bondage and find that it was just a dark fantasy and freedom in Christ is, in fact, reality. What if we discover that living by faith is more realistic than living in bondage? What if we start living the dream? What if…?
Pastor Mark Driskill
Web Minister of Begotten by the word web ministry
See our website at http://ourchurch.com/member/b/bbtw
and www.facebook.com (to group “begotten by the word”)
Begotten by the word is a ministry of Helping Hands Christian resources-Evangelism Outreach www.hhcr05.org
(Feel free to copy in any way that will bring glory to God and further his kingdom.)
Contact information:
Email: driskill@hilbillymail.com
Facebook: Mark Driskill
Address: PO Box 1159 Jackson KY.
