Things are not as they may seem...

During my homework for one of my mission courses, I learned that God tends to speak to Muslims through dreams and visions, which then usually leads them to conversion to Christianity. I was pondering that, trying to think about why God would choose to speak to them specifically in that way. I was talking about it with my prof, and perhaps it's just that they are more open to that than some people. I know that there are many of us who have dreams, and sometimes they are weird, but other times they seem to have meaning and significance of some sort. I think it is so neat that God can use dreams to draw people closer to him, so that they will want to seek after him.

I was also thinking about persecution, and about how it can make people stronger. It isn't that we have to go looking for it to actually have more faith. I guess it just depends on what situation we are in and how God calls us to react. For instance, if I was in a country where they told me not to speak about God, I could obey them, but only do it in hiding; or I could disobey them, and continue speaking about God freely, trusting that it will bring glory to His name, especially through my own persecution. There is a verse, Psalm 116:15, which says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Perhaps I am taking it out of context, but I looked at the verses before and after and it did not seem to make sense with either ones. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that whatever we do, whether we live or die for Christ, we are bringing glory to God. That is the heart of the matter.

Another thing I was thinking about is this:
what is our commitment to God as compared to other religions?
This is something I have to remind myself of often, especially when I am learning about Islam, where they pray five times a day. I know this is legalistic in a sense, and God does not have said "rules" for us to follow, per se, however, he does say pray without ceasing(1 Thess. 5:17). Are we commited to prayer, to fasting, to meditation of us word, and other spiritual disciplines, such as tithing, and solitude? He says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10). When do we stop and think about all that He has done, contemplate just who God is? People from other religions can put us to shame sometimes, with their dedication. This isn't about comparison, though. This is about you and God. Your relationship. And it's about you and God and the body of Christ. How do we relate to other Christians? Do we let them encourage us, and pray for us, do we encourage and support them? Do we rebuke them when they are doing wrong things like we are supposed to? How committed are we?

Love,
Ashleigh