The Door

  I had a really interesting dream last night...I'm not sure I can properly articulate it through words, but I will give it a whirl.  Even as I think about it right now, it doesn't make for a good story.  I can only say that it really made sense when I woke up.

  In my dream, I was really concerned about the journey your soul takes when you die, and why it is important to believe in God, and more specifically, Jesus.  I wasn't dead, I was just along for the ride.  (well, you know how dreams are, I'm not sure if I was dead or not) Anyway, I was living life minding my own business, and then I knew I was on the track that takes you where you are supposed to go when you die. Ahead of me I saw a door, and off another direction was another door. The path to my door was like a glowing line.  There was no path to the other door, it was just out there, like if you weren't following the line, you would just end up there. The other door was plain, with no windows, and I knew that it went into a dark room and that was it.

  The door that was in front of me looked very plain, also, except it had windows.  I have seen doors like it before...lots of houses have doors like this...it looked like woodgrain with three rectangular windows near the top set at an angle and one right on top of the other.  I could see light behind that door because of the windows, and although I didn't get to open the door, I knew it wasn't a finite room.  I knew that if I opened that door and crossed the threshold I would be whooshed up into the atmosphere... there would be other people I knew there and that didn't cause me any fear whatsoever. I woke up at this point.

See, short dream, not much story.

  The take-away, I guess, is that believers pass from life through death into eternal life.  This can actually be found in the gospel of John... John 5:24
 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

 And non-believers pass from life to death...

So my contemplation begins...I know people who just absolutely do not believe in the Supernatural aspect of God or Jesus.  Yes, I talk to them, they are funny, nice, intelligent, generally have a good sense of humor, posess good character traits, and perhaps some bad character traits (nose-pickers ha!).  I am not ashamed of the Gospel, but I personally don't think jamming Jesus up in someone's face is the best form of evangelism. It tends to tick people off.
 Still, I continue to ponder, why exactly, do I think everyone needs Jesus?  Well, I only know why I need Him, and I only found that out through my own personal ups, downs, ins and outs...and I can't really explain it other than to say I had a supernatural encounter with the Almighty.  I do my best to live out these tenets of my faith: Love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and Love my neighbor as myself.  This is not as easy as it sounds, and sometimes I fall short, that is when I need Him the most.  During my personal encounter with God...I asked why I was experiencing such pain and heartache, since by most standards I was a "good person." He answered me in a similar way as in my dream... like he just put the understanding in my head, without having to hear it spoken or see it written. The invitation to commune with God is for all..."Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8