Keep The Dream Alive

“’And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.”

Acts 2:17  


As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr today we reflect on this influential American clergyman, civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient who was an advocate of change through nonviolent civil actions based on his Christian values. Dr. King is best known for his campaigns to end racial segregation on public transport and for racial equality in the United States. Most people are familiar with the speech he gave titled “I Have A Dream.” In his speech he draws attention to our nations constitution as well as the Word of God much in the same way our founding Fathers did. If you haven’t read his famous speech in full I encourage you to do so today. I’ll include part of it here below in hopes it stirs your heart like it does mine that we, as American citizens would continue to do our part in reminding people the dream is still alive. One day soon Jesus Christ is going to return to this earth and like Dr. King our job remains. Our responsibility is proclaim the message of the Gospel just like John the Baptist there on the banks of the Jordan River, calling people to repentance from their selfishness and sin and to turn to the God of heaven who forgives and pardons. The God who created all men in His own image, male and female from every tribe and every tongue, both gentile and Jew, like the song sings, red, yellow, black and white, they are all precious in His sight!

Here is a good portion of Dr. Kings “I Have A Dream” speech.


“I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brother­ hood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream ... I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boy's and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today ... I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning. "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountain side, let freedom ring.'' And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rookies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that. Let freedom ring from Stone Moun­tain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Moun­tain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountain side. Let freedom ring . . . When we allow freedom to ring-when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, Free at last, Great God almighty, “We are free at last." (End of speech)


There is a day coming, loved one when this dream will come true. In small circles it is sung today by those who share the same heart. But, when Jesus Christ returns to earth the whole earth will be united unlike any time in human history as when Jesus Christ returns He will establish His throne in Jerusalem and for a thousand years the world will know peace like its never known before. What a day that will be! Until then, like Dr. King we proclaim the dream, and do our part to live in peace and harmony with our fellow man, regardless of the color of their skin, where they live or their social status.

We recall to our mind today the words of the apostle Paul who wrote in Ephesians 2:11-14, “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands--that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.”
 

 
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

John 8:36

I LOVE YOU!  





Michael Osthimer

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