Dreams And Visions

• What are Dreams?

Dreams as defined by Webster’s Dictionary: 

  “A Dream is a series of thoughts, images or emotions occurring during sleep.” (Webster’s International Dictionary page 688)

  “There are very normal people who NIGHTLY have images or ideas in the mind while asleep” (Otto Fenichel).

Dreams, to dream, dreaming, to have a dream is as normal as breathing.  Sleep specialists tell us today that every person dreams every night.  Yet not every person will remember or recall the dreams that they receive.  To dream every night is quite normal and quite regular.

In fact to dream is very healthy for every individual.  Tests have been conducted to see what happens when people are prevented from dreaming. 

THE EXPERIMENTS WERE ALONG THESE LINES:

As individuals drifted off to sleep and enter RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (REM), they were woken up and stopped from dreaming.  This only needed to happen a few times, and, in addition to sleep deprivation, the individuals began to suffer short-term memory loss and other emotional instabilities due to the fact that they were not allowed to dream.  Dreaming was soon discovered to be a method employed in the human make up that kept a person from going insane.  We are truly fearfully and wonderfully made.

•   WHAT ARE VISIONS?

“A vision is something seen otherwise than by natural sight - prophetic sight.” 

(Webster’s International Dictionary page 2557)

Visions are basically the same as dreams, except that dreams happen whilst a person is in a state of sleep and visions will happen whilst the person is fully awake.

The reason that Dreams and Visions are prophetic is because they are to do with the visual and seeing aspects of what God is saying.

We “see” our dreams, we “see” visions.

DREAMS FROM GOD:

Dreams are also called God’s secret weapon or the sleep language of God.

As created beings, we are created in the image of God.  God had a dream of what He wanted the heavens and the earth to look like.  He then proceeded to create them according to that dream.

Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, had a dream and from that dream created the sewing machine.

Niels Bohr, Nobel Prize winner, claimed that he had seen the structure of the atom in a dream.

Today God is still dreaming and speaking to His creation through dreams.  It is fair to say that every Christian can probably recall at least one time when they believed that God spoke to them in a dream.

The Greek philosopher Plato was the first person outside of the Bible to indicate that valid ways of obtaining knowledge was through the five senses, through reasoning of the mind and from the spirit realm.  However some fifty years later Aristotle came along correcting this notion, stating that the only way to acquire knowledge was through the five senses.  He ruled out that we might obtain knowledge through spiritual or supernatural means.  This teaching has been carried down through the centuries, especially into the western cultures and now sadly into many churches which disregard dreams as insignificant and unimportant too readily.  I believe they do so at their peril.

The Holy Spirit is always looking for ears that will listen to what He is saying, eyes that will look at what He is showing and a heart that will enquire after His mind.

In many of the ways that God speaks to His people today He uses dreams and visions as the acceptable media.

Dreams allow us to see things as they really are, not as they appear to be.

“Dream” in the Hebrew – means to “bind strongly or firmly” (Strongs 2492).  A dream from God will become bound up in the heart of the person receiving the dream.  Dreams from God are usually very spiritual experiences that are not easily forgotten.  They almost become a part of the heart and mind of the person receiving the dream.

There are over 125 references to dreams and dreamers in the Bible.  If dreams were not so important God would not spend so much of His Word telling us who dreamed, why they had dreams, what He was saying to them in the dreams, and what He did as a result of those dreams.

DREAMS ARE EVIDENCE OF THE MOVEMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:

Dreams are evidence of the movement and operation of the Holy Spirit.  Why is this so?

As we read Scripture and read where there are dreams, we also read that God the Holy Spirit was speaking and doing something.  We read that God was communicating something to the people in the environment of where the dreams were taking place.

	Dreamer	Scripture	What God was saying / doing.
	Abimelech	Genesis 20:3	“Indeed you are a dead man, the woman you have taken is another man’s wife.”  God was letting Abimelech know that Sara was not available when Abraham lied to him about her being his sister.  God sought to protect Abimelech.
	Jacob	Genesis 28:10-13	“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac.” God was seeking to encourage Jacob about the future.
	Laban	Genesis 31:24	“Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”  God was warning Laban that he was to treat Jacob with respect.
	Joseph	Genesis 37:5	Scripture does not specify that Joseph’s dreams were from God, but the evidence of what happened clearly vindicates God as the source of the dreams.
	Pharaoh	Genesis 41:1-13	God spoke to Pharaoh in dreams to tell of the 7 years of plenty and the 7 years of famine that were to come.
	Solomon	1 Kings 3:5	God was asking Solomon what it was that he wanted.  God was testing Solomon’s heart.
	Joseph	Matthew 1:20	“Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel.”  God was protecting Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

As we see from the above Scriptures, it is not unusual for God to communicate with His people (and even those who are not His people) in and through dreams.  Dreams are the chosen way in which God uses to bring to people His plans, will and His purposes.

Clearly God does not need to speak to us in dreams, and can use many forms of media to do so.  The most obvious form that being His Word.

However, God has chosen to reveal His will and His character to us through speaking to people in dreams, that certain people were either prophets or had prophetic anointings upon their lives.

As the people of God we are not to be afraid of the fact that God may wish to speak to us on a regular basis through dreams and visions.  We can safely embrace dreams and visions, believing by faith that God is desirous to reveal exciting things of the Spirit to us.

We obviously need to discern whether the dream is from God, or the result of our minds having a nightly sort out.  If we keep in step and on the same frequency as the Holy Spirit we can discern the interpretation of our dreams quite readily.

THE PURPOSE OF DREAMS:

If we can accept that God chooses to speak in dreams and visions, we can then see the reasons why.

When we are awake we filter all revelation through our human experiences.  Dreams will bypass our experiences of what we think we know and what we have learnt.  God chooses to use this media of revelation to cut through agendas of the heart that can cause us to miss out on the valuable things that the Holy Spirit wants to communicate to us.

The book of Job tells us in Job 33:14-18:

  “For God may speak in one way or in another.  Yet man does not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, whileslumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.”

These verses clearly tell us that God speaks to keep a man from being destroyed by his own pride and sin.  The mercy of God will be upon a man’s life because of dreams.

Sometimes God will use dreams to show us the content of our own hearts.  Jeremiah 17:9 “. . . The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it.” 

God may choose to use a dream, or a series of dreams, to reveal weakness in our lives that He wants us to address.  He may choose to use them to cause us to assess honestly the content of our own heart.  If we choose to listen to God through our dreams, I do believe that many of us may be spared many a heartache.

Isaiah 55:8. Here God tells us that His ways and thoughts differ immensely from our ways and thoughts.  Through dreams God can cause us to bring our thinking and behaviour into line with His own.

REVEALING OF HIS PROPHETS:

Numbers 12:6 – “if there is a prophet among you, I, The Lord make Myself known to him in a vision.”

God uses dreams to reveal who His prophets are.  So that when the man or woman of God says that they have received a dream or vision, then they will know they are a prophet of the Lord – and those around will know also.

Does that mean that if we have a dream from God then we are a prophet?  No. What it does mean is that a Prophet will be recognized amongst us because he/they hear from God in dreams and visions.

PROPHETS SEE AND HEAR: 

As we read all the major and minor prophets, we see that they open the book they have authored with an introduction about themselves, or an introduction is written about them that relates to the prophets either seeing a vision or hearing the Word of the Lord.

Clear and Biblical evidence that God speaks to His prophets in Dreams and Visions:

	Isaiah 1:1	The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz which he saw concerning . . .		He saw
	Jeremiah 1; 4	The Word of the Lord came to me saying  .		He heard
	Ezekiel 1:1	In the thirteenth year and the fourth month and the fifth day, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God . . .		He saw
	Daniel 2:19	The secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision . .		He saw
	Hosea 1:2	The Lord began to speak to Hosea . .		He heard
	Joel 1:1	The Word of The Lord came to Joel . . .		He heard
	Amos 1:1	The Word of Amos, which he saw . . .		He saw & heard
	Obadiah 1:1	The vision of Obadiah . . .		He saw
	Jonah 1:1	Now the Word of the Lord came to Jonah . . .saying .		He heard
	Micah 1:1	The Word of the Lord came to Micah . .		He heard
	Nahum 1:1	The burden against Nineveh the book of the vision of Nahum		He heard
	Habakkuk 1:1	The burden, which the prophet Habakkuk saw . . .		He saw
	Zephaniah 1:1	The Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah . .		He saw
	Hosea 1:2	The Lord began to speak by Hosea . . .		He heard
	Haggai 1:1	In the second year of King Darius . . . the Word of the Lord came by Haggai . .		He heard
	Zechariah 1:1	In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah . . .		He heard
	Malachi 1	The burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi		He heard

ANOINTED DREAMS AND VISIONS REVEAL THE ANOINTED ONE:

If we are still in any doubt as to the nature of dreams and that God has chosen to use this media to speak to us, one need only read the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was clearly an anointed prophet of God. He received anointed visions and heard the Words of the Lord.  His visions speak of the Anointed One to come and His ministry.  His visions spoke of the coming of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

	Prophetic Scripture	Vision / Word	Fulfilment
	Isaiah 7:14	. . . A virgin shall conceive	Matthew 1:23
	Isaiah 9:1-2	His Galilean ministry	Matthew 4:13-16
	Isaiah 9:6	. . . A Son is given . . .	Luke 2:7-14
	Isaiah 9:7	. . . An heir to the throne of David.	Luke 1:32-33
	Isaiah 40: 3-5	His way prepared	Luke 3:3-6
	Isaiah 50:6	Was spat on and struck	Matthew 27:30
	Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12	Jesus’ crucifixion	Matthew 8:17
	Isaiah 53:1	He was not believed	John 12:37
	Isaiah 53:3	Rejected by His own people	John 1:11 + Luke 23:8
	Isaiah 53:4-5	His substitution and sacrifice	Romans 5:6
	Isaiah 53:5	Jesus’ healing	1 Peter 2:24
	Isaiah 53:7	Silent to His accusers	Mark 15:4-5
	Isaiah 53:8	His illegal trial and death.	Luke 23:1-25
	Isaiah 53:9	Buried with the rich	Matthew 27:57-60
	Isaiah 53:12	His suffering will be rewarded	1 John 2:1-2
	Isaiah 53:12	He died with guilty men	Mark 15:27
	Isaiah 60:1-3	Salvation for Gentiles	Revelation 21:24
	Isaiah 61:1-2	His ministry to the needy	Luke 4:18
	Isaiah 63:1-5	2nd Coming of Jesus	Luke 4:18
	Isaiah 66:22	New heaven and earth	Revelation 19:11-21 +   21:1

No other prophet clearly and graphically prophesies of the incarnation, birth, life, ministry and return of Jesus Christ as Isaiah.  Here we see that an anointed Godly vision will come to pass. 

  Dreams and Visions are what are seen in the spirit realm – where the invisible is made visible and the impossible becomes possible. 

God also uses dreams to:–

To restrain evil	Genesis 20:3
To reveal God’s will	Genesis 28:11-22
To encourage	Judges 7:13-15
To reveal the future	Genesis 37:5-10
To instruct	Matthew 1:20
To warn	Matthew 2:12   Daniel 4

God will use dreams to reveal to the dreamer things of the Spirit that will not be seen by the natural eye.

DREAMS TO UNBELIEVERS:

God can and does speak to unbelievers in dreams.

• Genesis 20:3-7 Warning Abimelech that Sara was not a woman that he was free to sleep with.

• Genesis 41:1-7 Warning Pharaoh that 7 years of plenty were coming followed by 7 years of famine.

• Daniel 2:1 Warning Nebuchadnezzar that he was to fall and lose his kingdom.

• Matthew 27:19  Warning Pilate’s wife that Jesus was not to be falsely accused.

DISCERNING ORIGINS OF DREAMS:

If we dream every night, then how can we tell which dreams are from God, and which dreams are the result of having a greasy meal before we go to bed, from just the mind sorting out the day’s activities?

Firstly, if we are keeping in step with the Holy Spirit and keeping the Word of God in our hearts and mind, then discerning the origins of our dreams will not be a hard thing to do.

As I wake in the morning I know almost instantly if the dream I had in the night is from God, or the makings of my own mind.  I know this because of my walk and relationship with God.  I also know by what is happening in my life and ministry, and what I am communing with God about each day, and what He is, in turn, saying to me.

If there is an area of unrepented sin in my life, then God will speak to me in a dream about it.  I make sure that I am quick to repent. 

If I am praying about an aspect of ministry, and God has given me a dream, then I ask Him for the interpretation.  I usually get an interpretation within 24 hours of receiving a dream.  For me, the interpretation comes when I speak the dream out.  I find that it has to leave me and be spoken out in faith.  As I do this the interpretation usually comes instantaneously.

TIP:  If you are not sure whether your dream is the substance of your own mind or                from God, upon waking ask the Lord for His help.

Ask Him to take it away if it is not from Him, and keep it in you and give you the interpretation if it is.  God will not fail you and you will know straight away the origin.

INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS:

Listening to the Holy Spirit is the most important aspect of finding the honest interpretation of any dream that we have.

Seeking the interpretation of dreams is only natural and right.  This is not divination and not to be confused with such.  We are not to seek dreams and interpretations as our ways of getting through life.  We are to seek God and His Word.

Dream Interpretation is not listed as a spiritual gift, but clearly a dream given by the Holy Spirit will be interpreted by the Holy Spirit (Genesis 40:8, Daniel 1:17).

The dreams that Pharaoh received in Genesis Chapter 40, were given by God, and God gave Joseph the interpretation.  The dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had in the Book of Daniel was given by God, and we see that God gave Daniel the interpretation.

We are to rely on the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to confirm and interpret dreams and visions given to us by God.

God will not give us dreams to amuse us or to stop us relying upon Him and His Word.

• Expect that God can and wants to speak to you in dreams and visions.

• Seek the Interpretation (Daniel 2:1-3).  Ask God the Interpreter of all dreams to reveal the meaning of the dream, its relevance and importance, and what we are to do about what is revealed to us.

• Write down the dream in as much detail as you possibly can, and as you seek the interpretation, write that down too.

• Weigh the dream and what is believed to be the interpretation.  Measure what is revealed with the Word of God.  Scripture and verse may not be matching, but if the principle of God’s Word and God’s character is in the interpretation, then this is a fair signal that it can be trusted.

For example, is God revealing that He wants to be merciful to you or to another person?  Is God revealing that He wants to use you to extend kindness to those who have offended you?

• Review the context that the dream comes to you in.  By that I mean, what is happening in your life at the time of the dream?  What are you seeking God for at the time of the dream?

• Review the key characters: Is God speaking literally, or is He speaking symbolically?

Apply what is revealed to you in the interpretation.  You can trust God that He is always right.

It is best not to call yourself an “interpreter” of dreams until you have been proved and tested in this area, and then, still be learning from the Holy Spirit. 

We can only safely interpret others' dreams when we have safely interpreted our own.

Daniel and Joseph were clearly gifted to interpret dreams. 

As we walk with God we can learn what He is saying to us by His Spirit.

Personal Testimony:

Many years ago I had a dream that a person that I knew was looking for me and wanted to kill me.  When they found me they told me that they hated me and wanted to destroy me. Needless to say I was disturbed by this dream.

I could have written it off as a nightmare, but for the fact that I know that God speaks to me in dreams.

As I sought the Lord in prayer and asked Him for the interpretation, God revealed to me this particular person had been offended by my actions and was still deeply wounded.  He also revealed that my actions were not the real reason for the offence, but the offence was a matter in the heart of the person concerned.

The Lord instructed me to go to this person and to apologize to them.  I was to apologize for acting in a way that had caused them to be offended.  In doing so the Lord revealed to me that my apology would lead the way to freeing this person in their heart to receive healing. That was His intention for their life.  I was to apologize and leave the matter in His hands.

I went to the person and I told them that I was sorry for actions that I had done that caused them to be offended. 

Before I had gone to this person I had determined that whether or not this person accepted my apology I would not argue or have strife with them.

As I apologized the person “let rip” and “gave me a piece of their mind”.  I was taken aback.  I so dearly wanted to retaliate.

I just kept graciously saying, “I apologize for my actions that offended you”.  They still did not receive my apology and kept yelling and shouting at me.  I then heard the Lord whisper in my ear, “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men”.

I then said to the individual concerned, “I now have to leave this matter with you and the Lord.”

I walked away with them still shouting and yelling at me, but I had done what the Lord required of me (Micah 6:8).

In being honest with you, I found that experience very difficult and painful, but I found greater joy in simply obeying the Lord.  I also learnt that what was visible from this person, a facade of niceness to my face, had actually belied the truth about what was really in their heart towards me.  That is why they found my apology near impossible to receive.  I was not really the problem; the condition of their heart was the real problem.  In the dream God showed me the real problem, but nontheless had required me to seek peace with them.

Interpretations belong to God and are revealed by God (Genesis 40:8)

SYMBOLS IN DREAMS:

I believe that God paints pictures with colours that we know.  What do I mean by this?  I mean that God may use symbols in a dream that clearly speak to you in a direct way that leaves you in no doubt as to what God was saying to you.

Over the years as I have dreamt, cars in my dreams do not symbolize modes of transport, rather they symbolize my ministry or another person’s ministry.

I sometimes have dreams that I am flying with my arms and it is incredibly easy to do so.  This has come to mean that I am being, or will become victorious in an area of prayer and ministry that I am encountering.

If I dream that a person wishes to give me food, I have learnt that there is a situation that I am about to encounter where another person wishes to exercise control over my life. 

As I dream of being pregnant this symbolizes a new area of ministry that God wants me to step out into.

Each one of us is different and will need to learn what our own dream language is from God.

Cars, flying and food may mean something completely different to you than it does to me.

Having said this, this is not a formula.  This is symbolism from God and He may choose to use a symbol in a different way in another dream.  That is why we cannot and must not rely on dreams in themselves.  We must always go to God in faith and ask for His interpretation and revelation concerning the dream that we have received. 

LITERALLY OR NOT?:

Can all be dreams be taken literally?

Again we need to ask God for His interpretation.  Is God using this dream to speak of another hidden matter?

Another example:  Many years ago I had a dream that a Senior Minister was committing adultery.  In fact in the dream he was committing adultery on the street in broad daylight. Obviously I was shocked when I awoke to have such a dream and first sought my own life as to what immoral thinking had been happening in my own heart.

God quickly revealed that I did not need to do that.  He then went on to reveal that the minister concerned was not the man either who was committing adultery.  In fact God showed him to me as a symbol of certain ministers who were, and the fact that this adultery was happening on the street in public view of passers-by was the Lord saying that He was not going to allow this adultery to be covered up any longer, but that He was going to expose those concerned.

God never actually revealed to me who the real ministers were.  He only ever used this man as a symbol.

He also revealed to me that He was giving these ministers a period to repent and that if by a certain date they had not repented then He would expose them.  NOTE: The grace and mercy of God calling these men to repentance.

After much prayer I went to personally visit the minister that I had seen in my dream.  I shared the contents of the dream and the interpretation of the dream, and especially that fact that he was not the adulterous man, which he not only confirmed, but was also relieved to confirm.  I shared with him the symbolism that God had shown me and the other details.  I then left the matter with him.  To say a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders is a slight understatement.

In the time that God had revealed to me, the guilty ministers had not repented, and were duly exposed.

The minister I had originally seen in my dream was the minister who had oversight of these other ministers, and God had used him as a symbol.

We need to ask God for the interpretation as to whether this is a literal event or a symbol that He is revealing.

WHAT IF I HAVE A DREAM ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON?

Firstly it is essential that we do not gossip dreams about people to others.  If God has shared this dream with you, it is for a reason and not for gossiping purposes.

Ask the Lord why He has given you this dream.

It could be that He wants you to pray for them.  This will generally be the case unless He gives you specifically another reason.

You need to hear from God if you are to share the contents of the dream with that person. Sometimes just walking up to a person and telling them, “Oh, I had a dream about you last night and that you were so and so and so and so”, might just be the thing that is needed to switch them off from hearing what God really wants to say to them. Again we need to exercise sensitivity, and also faith in God.

If the dream is of a moral nature, such as a sexual sin or some other serious matter, then after prayer you can share this with a Christian leader whose authority you respect (and wisdom you trust) to get further wisdom on the situation.

As we walk with God with our dreams and visions, they will always bring release to people.

WHAT IF I HAVE A DREAM THAT CONTAINS A WARNING?

Just because a dream has a serious warning does not mean that what is warned is planned to come to pass.  It is usually that God wants to spare us, or the party concerned, from the matter warned about.

As we pray for guidance and clarity it could be that God will reveal steps that need to be taken to avert the impending disaster.

Many years ago I was going to enter a business partnership with what I thought to be a friend.  In a dream God showed me that the person had a hidden agenda and that their heart was not really with me, or for me.  God instructed me not to go through with this arrangement.  In the end I told the person concerned that it was not right for me to enter this partnership with them.  Hindsight reveals that the dream was from God and that I was spared much pain and hardship.

“I have dreamt about a Church leader, what do I do?”

If you have a dream about a Church Leader, then again prayer is the first thing that is to be carried out.  If you go to that person in humility and meekness of heart, then not only will they listen to you, but they are more likely to hear what God is saying through you in the dream.

Never go with presumption and haughtiness.  What this will seek to do is cause them to be defensive and miss what God is saying to them.  God’s message for them needs to be carried with love and sensitivity.

God spoke to me in a dream about a certain Church Leader in our town.  He revealed to me in the dream that it was His will that this Church leader step down and hand over the running of the church to another person.  I prayed over this matter for about 4 weeks before I finally got the courage to go and tell him this news.  To say I was pretty scared is a slight understatement.  I rang him and made an appointment to see him with his wife.  As I approached his house I was literally shaking in my shoes.

As I shared with him and his wife the contents of the dream in all its detail, the Church Leader began to shed tears.  He then went on to tell me that he had felt God speak to him about handing over the church and wasn’t sure if that was what God really wanted him to do.  He then laid out a fleece and asked God to speak to a completely separate party if that was really what God wanted.

My dream and subsequent visit confirmed to him what God had been telling him for a number of months.

THE TEST OF ANOINTED DREAMS AND VISIONS:

• Does the Dream or Vision reinforce God’s Word?

• Does the Dream or Vision strengthen my faith in God?

• Does the Dream or Vision promote purity in my life?

• Does the Dream or Vision encourage the Body of Christ?

• Does the Dream or Vision reveal more of Jesus Christ to others and me?

• Does the Dream or Vision increase and build my faith in God?

• Are the symbols and principle in the Dream or Vision revealing more about the character and nature of God?

If the answer is yes, then it is safe to receive the dream as from the Lord and seek the interpretation.

BIBLICAL REFERENCES TO DREAMS AND VISIONS:

Genesis	20:3	26:24	30:24	40:5	41:11	46:2
1 Kings	3:5
2 Chronicles	7:12
Job	4:13	20:8	30:17	33:15
Psalms	16:7	17:3	19:2	22:2	91:5
Songs	3:8
Isaiah	29:7
Jeremiah	33:20
Daniel	2:19	7:2	7:7	7:13
Hosea	4:5
Zechariah	1:8
Acts	16:9	18:9	27:23

DREAM IN FAITH:

Dreams can be stimulated by faith.  Remember Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that God would not only give to him (Daniel) the interpretation, but the contents of the dream also.  This was an act of faith on Daniel’s part.  Daniel 2:19.  We can trust God, we really can!

As we learn to discern the voice of God in dreams and visions we will see even greater manifestations of God’s power in our midst.

Unbelievers are crying out for supernatural experiences.  The problem is they are going to the wrong source, and that is why they are getting “messed up”.

GOD IS SUPERNATURAL:

He is the monopoly on the supernatural.  All that He is is supernatural, and all that He has to give is supernatural.

He wants to display His supernatural knowledge, ability and power through His Church, so that the world will see that Jesus Christ is alive.

That is why dreams and visions cut through the agendas of a man’s heart and touch the spirit of a man.

HOW GOD USES DREAMS:

Each one of us needs a Dream from God.  Our Dreams will keep us going through the storms of life.  Our Dreams will keep us able to ‘endure as seeing

Him Who is invisible’ (Hebrews 11: 27). Our dreams will keep us from sin. 

The Dreams that Joseph had, kept him while he was thrown into the pit because he believed the Dreams were from God; the Dreams kept him from sinning and from sleeping with Potiphar’s wife.  The Dream of others, namely the baker and butler, were the media that God used to restore Joseph to the place of honour that God had intended for him (Genesis 41:9-15, 38, 41-44).  The Dreams that Joseph had were fulfilled.

God will give Dreams to teach, warn and instruct, not to create suspicion or juicy gossip.

SEVEN THINGS DREAMS DO:

1. Provide God’s answer (Ezekiel 1:1).

2. Instruct us in the things of God (Daniel 2:24-45).

3. Warn us about hidden danger (Matthew 2:12,13,22).

4. Prevent us from making mistakes (Genesis 20:3-8).

5. Keep us humble (Daniel 4:14-37; Job 33:14).

6. Save lives (Matthew 2:3).

7. Glorify God (Daniel 2:47).

Question: Why did God appear to Solomon in a Dream and not while he was awake?

Answer: Dreams bypass the mind and our own agendas – our spirits never sleep – God’s Word is well able to minister to our hearts even when we sleep.

Our destinies are tied up in our Dreams.  As we look at the Biblical figures who Dreamed, they were all destined for something.  Their Dreams revealed their destinies and, as they kept true to God and their Dreams, their Dreams and destinies were realised or fulfilled in their own lives.

Interpretations – if we ask, seek, knock, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7).  We are to search (Proverbs 25:2).

The New Testament opens with a burst of Dreams and Visions in Matthew and closes with John the revelator’s incredible and dramatic Vision of Jesus.

If you are given to Dreams and Visions, share them with humility.

Sweet Dreams . . . They are made in Heaven .

"The Gospel Faith Messenger" Ministry. New Zealand.  Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.