In Your Dreams

Restorer of dreams….

I have given you the power to restore dreams.

The dream of restoration, the restoration of dreams.

The restored years.

The restored soul, the restored self…

Psalms 23:1-3 A Psalm of David. THE LORD is my Shepherd to feed, guide, and shield me, I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in fresh, tender green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but for His name’s sake.

He makes me…

You made me, you forced me into it, you led me into it. Before I knew it, everything changed, everything has changed. In an instant, driving forward, embracing that which I cannot grasp. And then taken back, in a time warp, meeting my old self. There I was, celebrating with my old self. My old self was more joyful about it, enthusiastically recording every minute. I encouraged him to have the full experience of it. “Give it a good rev” I said… The roar of the engine echoed throughout the land. A celebration, like the roar of a Lion. I was taken aback, as this was unexpected. For a moment I was embarrassed, as here we were in the church grounds, making somewhat of a spectacle! And then the joy erupted from his face and mine. I encouraged his mum to take a picture of the kid, to share in the experience. There he was with his arm out the window, trying his best to look cool, whilst his mum apologised saying “he had never touched the accelerator before” I just laughed and could not help but ignore her comment. He then asked “I bet you could get the chicks with this aye?” I just laughed and told him “Mate you have got it backwards, ask God for the dream, then he gives you the dream girl, then she encourages you to get the dream car!” I was his age when I first imagined it, February 1981, in my last year of school. It was my second year in Australia. I had gone from the high place in New Zealand, top of the class to the bottom. From an innovative co-ed school to a high performance all boys school. From the place of joy, to the place of darkness, to the place of exclusion, to the place of performance. I always felt the love of my family, but felt the loss of myself. Cars became my vehicle of escape, my instrument of joy, my safe place. I loved to immerse myself in the experience. I loved the expressive stories, the ones that placed you in the drivers seat, full of feeling, full of the emotion I could not express otherwise. I found a mate at school, who became my best mate for a time, who loved the experience of driving fast and the wonder of the road trip. I remember his old Mazda 323, with oversized tyres, and the fun we had on two wheels as we reached the limit of ourselves and the car. Since then it has been rare for me to know someone who shares the joy of driving, of cars, as an expression of yourself. Some 40 years later I find myself, I find myself, yes I find myself, living the dream, driving the best expression of myself. It’s like God wanted me to see myself as he does, to encourage this boy in his dream, as he encouraged me to receive mine. I love the sound, the roar, the rumble, the shaking, the impact on the senses, the power, the purpose, the design, the history, the craftsmanship, the sense of occasion…

This is my vehicle of transformation, the catalyst for restoration, the symbol of my love and affection.

For the word has gone out, the sound shakes with my expression, your senses tingle in response.

My joy bursts forth, I am celebrating myself, the expression of my glory, won’t you join me?

What was broken, what was shattered, what was trodden underfoot, what was sublimated, what was repressed now bursts forth. Yet my oil of joy rests upon it, overflows upon it, has power over it, shall bring restoration….

For I came for you…

This is personal.

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away— and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there. Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face to face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.