Dreams to Help Others

[Sister]

Okay. Not sure where to put this, but wanted to see how this forum views dreams. So dreams I sometimes believe are a big distraction for me. And then I have quite a few that I believe have meaning from God. Some are disturbing and can't get them off my mind easily. I believe I went way overboard and distracted a friend interpreting for me from the meat of the Word and truly helping people for God's kingdom. I guess my question is how should dreams be used? Should they? When does it cross over into something not of God? I know it is hard to lay this down. I really want to encourage people and tell people about Christ on forums. I don't want to do something that will hurt my witness. I'm not sure anymore what all I believe concerning this, but it does bother me. I do believe God gives dreams. I just thought all of mine were for awhile and believe I went too far without enough wisdom/understanding.

 

[for_his_glory]

WIP if this needs to be moved, I really wasn't sure where the best place would be.

It's fine here or in Christian Talk and Advice.

 

[Sister]

It's fine here or in Christian Talk and Advice.

Thank you. I try to ignore it, but dreams always are there in the back of my mind. So it just came out a bit here. Accountability and prayer is appreciated.

Seeing I really haven't felt right since bringing this up, it is confirmation to me to just continue laying these down/praying about things. I've had warfare for a long time from exploring dreams. It is still hard to close that door.

 

[Luminous_Rose]

As far as dreams go, I tend to refer back to Joseph a lot as he interpreted many that had significant meanings that wouldn't only affect him, but many. Joseph translated the meanings, but it didn't mean the meaning would be awesome, but Joseph used the scary meanings like of famine for good when he had that control in a situation. They stored food, they were prepared - all because they listened to those dreams and their interpretation.

I do believe that many believers will receive prophetic dreams from time to time. I still ponder the meaning of some of the ones I have had and still do think about them. They can be distracting at times because you feel in your heart, "That must have some type of significance."

I had this weird dream tonight about my husband's friend when I was napping. He had been wondering how she has been doing for a long time, she has been through a lot, but they were friends long before I was ever married to my husband. I had a dream I came across her and she was referring to someone she knew by one letter and I said, "I'm sorry, if you have told me who that is before, but after all this time away, illness, and such - I have forgotten." and she looked around the room and sad like the person had passed away, but at the same time, she talked about them like they were alive and were talking with them the other day. Either way, there was something very wrong going on with the person she referred to by that one letter and she wouldn't tell me. My husband said there's a few people she has referred to by that same letter, but we can't be 100% sure. Bothersome >_<

Other dreams I've had seem to regard more apocalyptic type themes, which are quite frightening at times.

I don't see anything wrong with sharing dreams unless we're specifically told by God not to or something. We all have dreams, people are interested with dreams.

If you've acted out on it without knowing the full meaning in such a way, just ask yourself if it was the correct thing to do or not. It's okay if we say, "I don't know what that means," because sometimes we don't. Pharaoh didn't and that's why he needed Joseph, who had that gift to translate them. Perhaps before acting on anything, ask, "Is this what God would want me to do?" and pray about it to God.

 

[Who Me]

But out of curiosity, do you believe Joel 2:28-31 is still future, or do you believe it has passed into history now?

Peter in acts 2 claimed the fulfillment of this.
That said, God is at liberty to use what ever method he deems apropriate.

I maintain that God does not use obscure dreams or cryptic dreams to kick start someone.
His normal method of speaking to us is though the bible, sermons etc.

He has given us intelligence and expects us to use it.

 

[Hidden In Him]

As far as dreams go, I tend to refer back to Joseph a lot as he interpreted many that had significant meanings that wouldn't only affect him, but many. Joseph translated the meanings, but it didn't mean the meaning would be awesome, but Joseph used the scary meanings like of famine for good when he had that control in a situation. They stored food, they were prepared - all because they listened to those dreams and their interpretation.

I do believe that many believers will receive prophetic dreams from time to time. I still ponder the meaning of some of the ones I have had and still do think about them. They can be distracting at times because you feel in your heart, "That must have some type of significance."

I had this weird dream tonight about my husband's friend when I was napping. He had been wondering how she has been doing for a long time, she has been through a lot, but they were friends long before I was ever married to my husband. I had a dream I came across her and she was referring to someone she knew by one letter and I said, "I'm sorry, if you have told me who that is before, but after all this time away, illness, and such - I have forgotten." and she looked around the room and sad like the person had passed away, but at the same time, she talked about them like they were alive and were talking with them the other day. Either way, there was something very wrong going on with the person she referred to by that one letter and she wouldn't tell me. My husband said there's a few people she has referred to by that same letter, but we can't be 100% sure. Bothersome >_<

Other dreams I've had seem to regard more apocalyptic type themes, which are quite frightening at times.

I don't see anything wrong with sharing dreams unless we're specifically told by God not to or something. We all have dreams, people are interested with dreams.

If you've acted out on it without knowing the full meaning in such a way, just ask yourself if it was the correct thing to do or not. It's okay if we say, "I don't know what that means," because sometimes we don't. Pharaoh didn't and that's why he needed Joseph, who had that gift to translate them. Perhaps before acting on anything, ask, "Is this what God would want me to do?" and pray about it to God.

Nice post.

Dream interpretation is very real, and most certainly can and will be used of God in the end-times. But I think a prerequisite for anyone getting into it (even if only when interpreting their own dreams) is having a strong knowledge of the word of God. Otherwise, the mind can travel to all sorts of Biblically unsound thoughts and mindsets. And dreams can be effected by many things, including the enemy, so it pays to be firmly grounded in the word so as not to be led astray. I think ultimately a strong gift of discernment is also necessary, at least to be consistently proficient at it anyway, and I think very few have that at the current time, so it can be somewhat like opening a Pandora's box if you are not careful, like Sister alluded to in one of her posts. I used to interpret a ton, and for a lot of people, but I have returned to focusing more on the word and simply praying for more discernment and to be used by Him in it whenever I do engage in it again.

But yes, it pays to always be circumspect when dealing with the interpretation of dreams and visions. I originally started by getting into interpreting major visions the Lord has given to the church over the last few decades which have now been put into print, and that is generally the only place I still put my full trust in when it comes to this kind of stuff. Sometimes the source (and I am speaking of myself as well here) can be tampered with and corrupted by the enemy, and even when it isn't there's no guarantee that a source used by God today cannot be turned by the enemy the next.

In other words, it's "risky business" Lol, though there is a genuine gift of God, and it pays to seek Him earnestly in prayer for guidance on it, and to be used by Him and not the enemy.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Peter in acts 2 claimed the fulfillment of this.

This is the traditional answer I get (though I have heard a few others). My trouble with it is that Joel 2:31 has not been fulfilled yet, unless one spiritualizes verse 31 to mean something symbolic, and as a Futurist I don't take that view. I think the prophecies throughout scripture concerning the coming day of the Lord, when the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon turned red like blood, are to be taken at face value, and since this part of the prophecy was not fulfilled during New Testament times, I believe the ultimate fulfillment of the entire prophecy is still yet ahead of us, though we are beginning to see the early stages of v.28 being fulfilled over the last 40 years or so.

I maintain that God does not use obscure dreams or cryptic dreams to kick start someone.

Kick start someone... yeah, I would agree that is NOT what the proper purpose of visions and dreams should be. As Joel 2:28 clearly points out, dreams and visions are connected to the prophetic gift, and thus are more the type of thing to be used in ministry. Even when the Lord speaks to me through my own dreams, it's nearly always about ministry. There can be encouragement that comes from them sometimes, but there can also often be warnings - sometimes dire warnings - and thus, dreams are not the sort of thing a Christian should be leaning on to "kick start" them. If they are already in a position of weakness where they need to be kickstarted, they are already in a place of spiritual compromise, which again makes it a risky business to rely on dreams for one's spiritual strength.

 

[Sister]

As far as dreams go, I tend to refer back to Joseph a lot as he interpreted many that had significant meanings that wouldn't only affect him, but many. Joseph translated the meanings, but it didn't mean the meaning would be awesome, but Joseph used the scary meanings like of famine for good when he had that control in a situation. They stored food, they were prepared - all because they listened to those dreams and their interpretation.

I do believe that many believers will receive prophetic dreams from time to time. I still ponder the meaning of some of the ones I have had and still do think about them. They can be distracting at times because you feel in your heart, "That must have some type of significance."

I had this weird dream tonight about my husband's friend when I was napping. He had been wondering how she has been doing for a long time, she has been through a lot, but they were friends long before I was ever married to my husband. I had a dream I came across her and she was referring to someone she knew by one letter and I said, "I'm sorry, if you have told me who that is before, but after all this time away, illness, and such - I have forgotten." and she looked around the room and sad like the person had passed away, but at the same time, she talked about them like they were alive and were talking with them the other day. Either way, there was something very wrong going on with the person she referred to by that one letter and she wouldn't tell me. My husband said there's a few people she has referred to by that same letter, but we can't be 100% sure. Bothersome >_<

Other dreams I've had seem to regard more apocalyptic type themes, which are quite frightening at times.

I don't see anything wrong with sharing dreams unless we're specifically told by God not to or something. We all have dreams, people are interested with dreams.

If you've acted out on it without knowing the full meaning in such a way, just ask yourself if it was the correct thing to do or not. It's okay if we say, "I don't know what that means," because sometimes we don't. Pharaoh didn't and that's why he needed Joseph, who had that gift to translate them. Perhaps before acting on anything, ask, "Is this what God would want me to do?" and pray about it to God.

I shared hundreds of my dreams during the covid lockdown. Some were interpreted as a warning of Satanism in the Vatican and then turned into words of knowledge of someone who near the end turned out to be a witch that was influencing the subject matter of my dreams to be about her. Then I thought she had come online talking in this coded gnostic language to not be found out. Just writing it out sort of sounds insane... And yet as much as that scared me it has been hard to not think about them. I had a dream I understood was about her.

I was standing in the yard of my old childhood home. We had this dilapidated looking garage that was falling in. I was in front of that and the house was to my side. It was super dark. So dark I could feel the darkness on my skin. In the backyard there was putrid looking ice water that was a couple inches on the ground. Then in the way back on the road was the largest/darkest tornado I had ever seen in my life. It was destroying and sucking up everything in its path. Then what I understood to be this witch was standing behind the back of the garage and she stomped her feet and yelled very loud, "you GOT to be KIDDING me!" I was then standing inside the backdoor of my old house and was watching as the tornado sucked up all the ice water from the backyard.

Then I was standing in the spot I was again in the front yard and the entire garage as well as the girl was sucked up into the tornado.

Then the day cleared up again. It was sunny, like the clearest I have seen, and the tornado was there in the back, but my house was okay and it was moving away from me.

---

I think God revealed to me that Hidden's dream and the other tornado dream are related.

I am the risk piece, okay? I got into this stuff without any experience. I had questions about things and a lot of time in pregnancy during covid lockdown to do so. And I truly believe I came upon something extraordinary. Just not all of it was the right kind. So the storm is moving away now. I'm diving deeper into just being an encouragement to others, and truly understanding how to use my gifts in serving God. I am growing closer to God and learning more of Holy Spirit. I can see for_his_glory's interpretation as being true too, that I just need that encouragement and support of others in this "clean up". I've needed to debrief. LOL.

And maybe start over? I still have dreams. I just need a blank slate with them and put them aside for now. I am just trying to figure out what to do with them now since I will continue to have them. It is hard to not see them all from God now. I feel really bad about that.

I got to go this morning because I have work. I appreciate being able to talk about it with like-minded believers.

 

[Who Me]

s Joel 2:28 clearly points out, dreams and visions are connected to the prophetic gift, and thus are more the type of thing to be used in ministry.

Which effectivly rules out 99% of cases of people asking for advice on there over active imaginations/dreams.
They are not in Christian ministry.

God is our Commander in Chief and commanders in chief don't go around waking up raw recuits and untrained soldiers to give them there orders
They use lower ranking officers and ncos to instil basic standing orders, training etc.

Christians need to pay more attention to the bible, there churches sermons and actually living a Christian livestyle nd no atention to there dreams.

 

[for_his_glory]

Which effectivly rules out 99% of cases of people asking for advice on there over active imaginations/dreams.
They are not in Christian ministry.

God is our Commander in Chief and commanders in chief don't go around waking up raw recuits and untrained soldiers to give them there orders
They use lower ranking officers and ncos to instil basic standing orders, training etc.

Christians need to pay more attention to the bible, there churches sermons and actually living a Christian livestyle nd no atention to there dreams.

This of course is only your opinion. Many dreams are from God as well as many dreams just from our own subconscious. It's those dreams we have that repeat themselves that sometimes bother us the most. We can either blow them off, or we can take them to God and ask what they mean, if anything at all.

I wasn't going to bring this up, but many of my dreams have a prophetic sense to them. But, nothing so devastating that I can not understand them, but when I wake up I get a sense of urgency like something big is about to happen and I am told by the Holy Spirit to just watch and wait.

 

[Hidden In Him]

And maybe start over? I still have dreams. I just need a blank slate with them and put them aside for now. I am just trying to figure out what to do with them now since I will continue to have them. It is hard to not see them all from God now. I feel really bad about that.

I think you have to do something similar to what I do. If you believe some may not be of God, you need to make it a regular habit to pray asking God that you be protected from receiving them. And if you still keep receiving dreams after praying continually to Him, it very likely means they are from Him. Then what you will need to do is focus your prayers on Him giving you the ability to interpret their meaning accurately. Don't limit Him in any way there. Keep yourself open to Him enlightening you to interpret, and/or to help you do so through the assistance of others, without assuming that help will be there or through whom.

While some disagree with me, I still believe dreams and interpretation are companion gifts, much like tongues and interpretation or prophecy and receiving revelation concerning it (1 Corinthians 14:30). I think the reason is because if the person who receives the interpretation were to be the same person who received the dream, people could just make up both and then tell others they had received both from "God." But when God is using one to receive the dream yet another to receive the interpretation, there is a confirmation that the Spirit of God is using both independently to communicate His message. As an interpreter, I don't insist on who God will or will not use, or if He will use anyone at all. I know if absolutely necessary He would just give me the dreams and then give me the interpretations. But I know that is never His preferred method. It's not how the body of Christ is supposed to work. Each part of the body is supposed to be able to play a part, so I think working together with others in the body of Christ will eventually characterize much of what goes on when it comes to fulfilling the prophecy in Joel 2:28 when the time comes.

 

[Sister]

This of course is only your opinion. Many dreams are from God as well as many dreams just from our own subconscious. It's those dreams we have that repeat themselves that sometimes bother us the most. We can either blow them off, or we can take them to God and ask what they mean, if anything at all.

I wasn't going to bring this up, but many of my dreams have a prophetic sense to them. But, nothing so devastating that I can not understand them, but when I wake up I get a sense of urgency like something big is about to happen and I am told by the Holy Spirit to just watch and wait.

Mine are common themes. I have had a lot of storm dreams last couple months.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Which effectivly rules out 99% of cases of people asking for advice on there over active imaginations/dreams.
They are not in Christian ministry.

Mmmm... only if you believe that 99% of those who refer to themselves as "Christians" actually are not. Some people do believe that. I was talking to a friend just yesterday who does. That's how it came to mind.

God is our Commander in Chief and commanders in chief don't go around waking up raw recuits and untrained soldiers to give them there orders
They use lower ranking officers and ncos to instil basic standing orders, training etc.

Now that's not a position I could agree with. All of us have received the Spirit of God, by which we are led by the Spirit.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14-15)

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:25-27)

To teach that only the great generals of the faith hear from God directly and that we should therefore not listen for the voice of God ourselves is a very dangerous teaching, IMO, and opens the door for the church being controlled and subverted by wicked and self-serving men. It sets up a situation where all of Christianity could be turned into a cult. Can't go with you there on that one. I have seen too many abuses already from men who literally put on the back wall of their church, "Walking with God, walking with you," which translated into, "Don't worry about hearing from God yourself. I will hear from God, and I will tell you what He wants you to do; about your finances, about your life, about who you will marry, etc." It's a nightmare, but Christians who willfully submit to such things have only themselves to blame in the end. They willfully allowed themselves to be used and exploited, rather than developing the ability to hear from God themselves.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Which effectivly rules out 99% of cases of people asking for advice on there over active imaginations/dreams.
They are not in Christian ministry.

Btw, somewhat like my friend, I do actually believe that a very high percentage of those who call themselves Christians actually aren't, aside from being very superficially ones in name only. But for those who are, they all eventually find their ministries and callings, so I guess my take there is that true Christians generally do operate in some form of ministry as a rule, if not immediately, over time.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Then what I understood to be this witch was standing behind the back of the garage and she stomped her feet and yelled very loud, "you GOT to be KIDDING me!"

Out of curiosity, what did you sense she was saying, "You've got to be kidding me!" about; Kidding about what?

Was she was connected to the putrid water?

 

[Sister]

Out of curiosity, what did you sense she was saying, "You've got to be kidding me!" about; Kidding about what?

Was she was connected to the putrid water?

I think it was about the house being spared. That I wasn't destroyed.

I didn't sense any connection with her and the water in the dream.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I didn't sense any connection with her and the water in the dream.

There very likely was, since both go up in the tornado together.

Water = emotions, and the fact that they were both frozen and putrid means that she is likely very cold-hearted, and if it's who I think it is she is indeed cold-hearted to anyone who crosses her. That they were also putrid suggests there's an unclean spirit associated with the coldness of her heart that drives her to it.

Pray for her. The tornado in this instance represents a spirit of destruction, and if she is about to be swept up by it then destruction will increasingly begin to characterize her life. Pray she comes to the Light, and there comes a time in her life when the darkness parts and she has her time in the sunshine as well.

As for you, it sounds like those times are coming your way now, and praise God for it. Things seem to be going much better for me these days as well.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I was standing in the yard of my old childhood home. We had this dilapidated looking garage that was falling in. I was in front of that and the house was to my side. It was super dark. So dark I could feel the darkness on my skin. In the backyard there was putrid looking ice water that was a couple inches on the ground. Then in the way back on the road was the largest/darkest tornado I had ever seen in my life. It was destroying and sucking up everything in its path. Then what I understood to be this witch was standing behind the back of the garage and she stomped her feet and yelled very loud, "you GOT to be KIDDING me!" I was then standing inside the backdoor of my old house and was watching as the tornado sucked up all the ice water from the backyard.

One thing I forgot to mention before I leave this:

That you are in your childhood home in this dream may represent you still being in the childhood stage of your development in the gifts and your calling. For someone still in her thirties, you still have a long life to live, and you may outlive many of your piers to a time when the whole spiritual landscape is different, and your gifts are more natural to the environment.

 

[Sister]

One thing I forgot to mention before I leave this:

That you are in your childhood home in this dream may represent you still being in the childhood stage of your development in the gifts and your calling. For someone still in her thirties, you still have a long life to live, and you may outlive many of your piers to a time when the whole spiritual landscape is different, and your gifts are more natural to the environment.

I pray so. Hopefully by then I won't fear it as much and I'll have more discernment in this area.

 

[Who Me]

Mmmm... only if you believe that 99% of those who refer to themselves as "Christians" actually are not. Some people do believe that. I was talking to a friend just yesterday who does. That's how it came to mind.


Now that's not a position I could agree with. All of us have received the Spirit of God, by which we are led by the Spirit.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14-15)

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:25-27)

To teach that only the great generals of the faith hear from God directly and that we should therefore not listen for the voice of God ourselves is a very dangerous teaching, IMO, and opens the door for the church being controlled and subverted by wicked and self-serving men. It sets up a situation where all of Christianity could be turned into a cult. Can't go with you there on that one. I have seen too many abuses already from men who literally put on the back wall of their church, "Walking with God, walking with you," which translated into, "Don't worry about hearing from God yourself. I will hear from God, and I will tell you what He wants you to do; about your finances, about your life, about who you will marry, etc." It's a nightmare, but Christians who willfully submit to such things have only themselves to blame in the end. They willfully allowed themselves to be used and exploited, rather than developing the ability to hear from God themselves.

Yes I agree where people claim to have a hotline to God and that they will guide others is dangerous, just as dangerous as letting an untrain recuit loose with an automatic machine gun, or to be blunt, ignorant christians who believe every dream is from God.

The point of my illistration is what new/young christian need is not a book on dreams but to get into the bible, it is through there biblical knowledge and understanding that God will guide them.
In military language the bible is the standing orders that recuits need to know.

 

[Luminous_Rose]

Nice post.

Dream interpretation is very real, and most certainly can and will be used of God in the end-times. But I think a prerequisite for anyone getting into it (even if only when interpreting their own dreams) is having a strong knowledge of the word of God. Otherwise, the mind can travel to all sorts of Biblically unsound thoughts and mindsets. And dreams can be effected by many things, including the enemy, so it pays to be firmly grounded in the word so as not to be led astray. I think ultimately a strong gift of discernment is also necessary, at least to be consistently proficient at it anyway, and I think very few have that at the current time, so it can be somewhat like opening a Pandora's box if you are not careful, like Sister alluded to in one of her posts. I used to interpret a ton, and for a lot of people, but I have returned to focusing more on the word and simply praying for more discernment and to be used by Him in it whenever I do engage in it again.

But yes, it pays to always be circumspect when dealing with the interpretation of dreams and visions. I originally started by getting into interpreting major visions the Lord has given to the church over the last few decades which have now been put into print, and that is generally the only place I still put my full trust in when it comes to this kind of stuff. Sometimes the source (and I am speaking of myself as well here) can be tampered with and corrupted by the enemy, and even when it isn't there's no guarantee that a source used by God today cannot be turned by the enemy the next.

In other words, it's "risky business" Lol, though there is a genuine gift of God, and it pays to seek Him earnestly in prayer for guidance on it, and to be used by Him and not the enemy.

I agree with the "risky business" part...it really is. I try not to dive too deep and interpret my own dreams and to take it lightly, but I still do feel like there's a heavy spiritual significance, I just may not know what exactly. I'm not one for those guessing games, either. I'm sure a wrong interpretation or an interpretation taken the opposite way could do more harm than good.