Will You Dance with Me?
Reading Time: 8 Minutes
Reflections of The Beautiful Dream
Choose Jesus – Choose Life!
In The Beautiful Dream, Jesus asked me to dance! What does that mean? It is a picture of God offering to rescue us from Satan’s domain and bring us into His Kingdom of love. Jesus gives us a choice to follow His plan for our lives. To choose to dance with Jesus is to choose life!
So, why does Jesus have to ask to rescue us? Well, think about it. It would not have been a very loving dance if He had forced me to dance with Him, right? Salvation is an extravagant gift of the purest Love that must be received by choice. Only by saying yes to Jesus, God’s Son, can we enter into a life-giving relationship with God who Loves us beyond comprehension.
Life in the Beginning
From the beginning, God wanted mankind to choose His heart of Love. The first two humans, Adam and Eve, enjoyed a pure relationship with God every day in the beautiful Garden of Eden. There was no evil to disrupt their lives!
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25 NKJV
God was their Father and authority, but He gave Adam and Eve the joy and responsibility of ruling or managing the earth. He gave them every plant as food, except one. He told them that if they ate from the forbidden tree they would die. They never considered disobeying God until Satan came to tempt them with lies. Then they began to question God’s character. Adam and Eve were deceived and chose to disobey God. They chose to dance with death. (Romans 6:23) The moment they ate the forbidden fruit, something terrible happened. They died spiritually.
Spiritual Death
Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7 WEB
For the first time, they felt fear and shame. God didn’t stop Loving them though! He came “looking” for them and “found” them hiding.
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:9-10 ESV
Full of compassion, God killed an animal and made leather clothing from the skins to cover their shame. The animal that died that day represented the sacrifice that Jesus would make many years later for the sin of the whole world. Adam and Eve chose God’s Love and forgiveness when they accepted His covering for their guilt.
Jesus Came to Bring Us Back to Life
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. John 14:6 WEB
Adam and Eve chose to let God cover their fear and shame. They didn’t understand that thousands of years later, Jesus would come to earth and die a brutal death on a cross as punishment for their sin. But because they accepted God’s offer of mercy, the blood of Jesus covered their sin in advance. Humanity inherited a sinful nature, but God has always offered every person mercy and grace. (Romans 1:19-20) Satan is still deceiving people today, lying to them and blinding their minds so that they don’t choose Jesus.
Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who are dying, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 WEB
Jesus Removes Our Guilt, Shame and Fear of Eternal Punishment
In The Beautiful Dream, I chose to dance with Jesus but I was afraid He would not like me if He noticed my faults. I was ashamed of myself. But instead of rejecting me, Jesus took away all my fear and shame, filling me with Himself. That is exactly what He did for me at 12 years old, the night I met Jesus. I accepted His gift and He made me a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) I felt like a different person. I had been spiritually dead but came alive in Jesus Christ. All my sin was erased!
In scene three of The Beautiful Dream, Jesus showed me that I had been distracted for some time. Fear and shame caught me off guard. I had allowed lies from the devil to intimidate me and bring fear and shame back into my heart. But the Holy Spirit gave me another opportunity to learn to listen to God and be seated in His loving, merciful presence. It was important that I find out who I was in Jesus Christ and who He is as King so I could live in God’s truth that sets us free. (John 8:31-32) I would need to choose to pay attention to the Holy Spirit in prayer and reading God’s Word. Living in victory against the enemy of our hearts is not automatic. It’s like a life-long dance with Jesus.
Pay Attention – Spiritually
The Bible teaches us to take our old way of thinking captive and renew our minds in the truth. (2 Corinthians 10:5) (Romans 12:2) (Philippians 4:8) When we said yes to Jesus, He saved us spiritually and brought us into His Spirit and His Kingdom. But our old way of thinking and living will fight against the new person we are in Christ. Now that we have the power of the Holy Spirit, we must rule over our mind and body by choosing God’s truth over the enemies lies. Rehearsing God’s Word in our thoughts and hearts is like dancing with Jesus! God is so patient and understanding. He knows we aren’t always paying attention, but it’s time to wake up. When we choose Jesus, we choose life!
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. Deuteronomy 30:19-20a NLT
Choose Life by Following the Spirit
In the dream, I had a choice and I chose life! I chose Jesus! From what I experienced in The Beautiful Dream, eternity with Jesus in Heaven is going to be amazing! But Jesus is telling us something extra-ordinary through this dream. Freedom from sin, sickness and demonic oppression is our spiritual reality the moment we choose Jesus. For that heavenly reality to become a reality on earth, we have to choose to be seated with God at His Table in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:1-10) We live in a different kingdom now and we must walk by the Spirit of God. (Galatians 5:25)
Most of us have been taught that complete spiritual freedom is not attainable in this life. This dream is telling us that our freedom has already been purchased for us on the cross and given to us by Jesus the moment we say yes to Him!
Jesus Sets Us Free
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NLT
The more you come to know Jesus and allow Him reveal His Word to you, the more you will be set free! Jesus never sinned but He was beaten and falsely accused. He understands pain and He cares. That’s why He died and rose again for us—so we can be free from Satan’s power. We will experience persecution from the outside, but our hearts can remain free from hatred and the desire to retaliate. Jesus gives us the ability to stay in step with Holy Spirit.
Ever-Increasing Transformation
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV
We are being transformed into God’s image as we pray and listen to God, worship Him, seek His Word and obey Him. We also touch God in a big way when we spend time with other believers in worship and social settings choosing to love them by God’s Spirit. The Lord is always with us.
When I said yes in the dream, I worried about not knowing how to dance. Jesus is not looking for someone prideful who thinks they can be strong and victorious on their own power. God is looking for humble people who know they need His gift of grace. When we choose humility, we are submitting to His authority as Father and King. But He surprises us with unimaginable Agape Love (God’s Extravagant Love) and power!
Jesus’ dance is not difficult. It’s slow and full of God’s romance—free of fear and shame. Saying yes to the dance means committing to a beautiful life-long relationship with the Son of God—the King who adores you and will never abandon you. I pray you will discard your old life of fear and shame and choose to follow Jesus with all of your heart! God Loves you and He wants the best for you! Choose Jesus and you will choose life!
Thank you for reading. I am praying for you!
