Clarification
After I posted my last entry, I had this nagging thought I should clarified some part. Indeed I should, because I told Darren on my experience about not able to sleep well and not reading the bible before I sleep, he straight jumped into a conclusion that I had a misconception in reading bible.
Okay, let's get this straight.
First, I must say that I may have mislead some of you into the idea that reading the bible before you sleep will prevent nightmare. In the bible, God has never written or said anything about this. However, Jesus encourages us to dwell in God's words.
In another word, I simply takes the opportunity of doing Quiet Time (QT) before bedtime for these reasons. Firstly, it gives me the space to slow down my pace. Secondly, it is a good time to reflect on my action in the day. Thirdly, whatever unhappiness that occured during the day or whatever blessings I get, I can say a prayer of Thanksgiving. Fourth, I can pray for the next day's challenges. Fifth, it makes sense to dwell in God's words, because man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Sixth, doing QT correlates a journey with God. Christianity focus on a personal relationship with God rather than a religion.
I am self-conscious of every word I used in reference to my faith. To my best ability, I hope my account will be a truthful reflection on God's words.
Lastly, let me share a revelation from my conversation with my Pastor. I think this happened 2 years ago, when I came back from a short trip. The very first night I reached home, I had this terrible nightmare which was so livid that I thought I was seeing myself struggling as a 3rd party. It happened another few more times. So I did a small experiment.
Night 1 - slept with bible opened. no nightmare
Night 2 - slept without bible opened. nightmare
I told Pastor about my experience. He shared this with me. Bible, although holds God's words, it is afterall a symbol. The Bible is a printed book that contains God's words. What is more important is the faith in your heart. What belongs to God, the Satan cannot touch it. However, the devil plays trick on human's mind. He seizes the opportunity to exploit human's weakness, which is fear. Hence, my Pastor advised, should I get a terrible nightmare again, just pray. Pray for protection. Pray for strength. Acknowledge Jesus is in your presence.
After this conversation, this terrible nightmare just stopped. And I learnt an important lesson, which Darren reminded me again just now.
The faith is in your heart!
Okay, let's get this straight.
First, I must say that I may have mislead some of you into the idea that reading the bible before you sleep will prevent nightmare. In the bible, God has never written or said anything about this. However, Jesus encourages us to dwell in God's words.
In another word, I simply takes the opportunity of doing Quiet Time (QT) before bedtime for these reasons. Firstly, it gives me the space to slow down my pace. Secondly, it is a good time to reflect on my action in the day. Thirdly, whatever unhappiness that occured during the day or whatever blessings I get, I can say a prayer of Thanksgiving. Fourth, I can pray for the next day's challenges. Fifth, it makes sense to dwell in God's words, because man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Sixth, doing QT correlates a journey with God. Christianity focus on a personal relationship with God rather than a religion.
I am self-conscious of every word I used in reference to my faith. To my best ability, I hope my account will be a truthful reflection on God's words.
Lastly, let me share a revelation from my conversation with my Pastor. I think this happened 2 years ago, when I came back from a short trip. The very first night I reached home, I had this terrible nightmare which was so livid that I thought I was seeing myself struggling as a 3rd party. It happened another few more times. So I did a small experiment.
Night 1 - slept with bible opened. no nightmare
Night 2 - slept without bible opened. nightmare
I told Pastor about my experience. He shared this with me. Bible, although holds God's words, it is afterall a symbol. The Bible is a printed book that contains God's words. What is more important is the faith in your heart. What belongs to God, the Satan cannot touch it. However, the devil plays trick on human's mind. He seizes the opportunity to exploit human's weakness, which is fear. Hence, my Pastor advised, should I get a terrible nightmare again, just pray. Pray for protection. Pray for strength. Acknowledge Jesus is in your presence.
After this conversation, this terrible nightmare just stopped. And I learnt an important lesson, which Darren reminded me again just now.
The faith is in your heart!
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