April 2015 : Dreams…God’s Night Parables

I’m going to be sharing some things that may be outside of your Christian experience comfort zone. God has used them in my life to build intimacy in our relationship and to confirm to me “again” we can be as close to Him as we want to be. I believe the church in general is dismissing a biblical and very vital way God wants to speak to us. I’m going to be talking about dreams and visions. I will stay mostly on the subject of dreams initially and will give a little scriptural backup beforehand. I considered posting a link from someone I know who is much better teaching on this subject than me but I’m going to take my own crack at it. So hold on…when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost in Acts 2, accompanied by various signs and wonders, Peter stood up to preach and partly explain to the bewildered crowd what had just happened. He quoted from the book of Joel, saying, “and it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all Flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17 NKJV). Peter was in Jerusalem just before Pentecost, waiting on the Holy Spirit to come as directed by Jesus. I’m assuming he was pondering this verse in Joel while waiting and wondering what to expect when the Holy Spirit did come. But I personally believe this was not the actual “complete” fulfillment of this verse…How could it be? The Holy Spirit was only given to 120 Hebrews waiting in the upper room on Pentecost. That was about 2,000 years ago. Eventually in Acts Gentiles did begin receiving the Holy Spirit but “last days”? “All Flesh”? That’s us folks…
So, why dreams and visions? I have never been sure about the why – but He does speak this way, among others. True, He primarily speaks through His written Word, the Logos. But He still speaks in other ways….just never contrary to the Logos which makes it wise to know your bible well. For instance, in Matthew 4:4 AND in Luke 4:4 Jesus says, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Some will say, “we don’t need all that stuff…We have our bibles!” Okay, that’s fine, but the words “last days” and “all flesh” and “dreams and visions” Come from His mouth not mine. I simply can’t ignore them, especially since I’ve been personally inundated with, and found great sustenance from, them for years. Proverbs 25:2 says,”It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” I have found that in the case of dreams the “searching out a matter” is one way you get to know Him better. Picture your kid learning to swim…he is starting to swim to you and you start backing up while he is still reaching for you…searching. Trying to gain understanding of a dream from God can be like that kid swimming toward his father who is backing up. The Dad is not being mean. He’s teaching his kid to swim well. Are you seeking Him? Is He backing up on you? Keep seeking! Or, picture a room full of people waiting to interview for a well paying job, and the owner of the company sends a message over the loud speaker in Morse code saying, “come to the back of the building by the dumpster. I will meet you there for your interview”…and only one person in the room shows up…the one who understood Morse code… The one who kept swimming or seeking…until he/she gained understanding.
How many dreams have you had where you woke up thinking, “must have been the beer and pizza” and just blown it off? Weren’t you just asking God to please speak to you last week? How were you expecting Him to speak to you? Of course, the scriptures are always the most reliable way to hear from God but are you reading them? God spoke to Joseph in his dreams. Read about it in Genesis. God spoke to Daniel in his dreams. God spoke to Joseph the father of Jesus in his dreams. And He probably has spoken to you as well. My dad always said God never spoke to him but He did on several occasions. My dad was in WW II and he said he had a recurring dream of this beautiful stone church up on a hill…I said, “you mean a Win-stone Church-hill?” He accepted that because Churchill was his favorite person in history to that point. He was suddenly aware that maybe God had indeed spoken to him as requested. I was then able to point out other times God had spoken to him but he had not perceived it, like the time he was traveling through the mid-west and had a stroke in “Truth or Consequences” New Mexico. Right? Or that the land he bought that I’m typing from at this moment is actually called “Theo” according to all the court house records. You look up the meaning of Theo for yourself…And check out Job 33:14-16 “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, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.” My dad would eventually return to his faith in Jesus Christ. Soon I’m going to post the last article he wrote for the local paper as “proof”. And I’m certain his dreams played a part. Could yours?
So, try to remember your dream. Write it down…You may understand what He was saying one day. But please keep in mind the interpretation of a dream from God is a function of the Holy Spirit. New-age can, and WILL give you an interpretation but they are incapable of unlocking God’s mysteries so it will be inaccurate and a waste of time and direction. Sure that sounds harsh but it’s the way I feel about it. Being “born again” and receiving the Holy Spirit is paramount. And it is God’s good pleasure to give these things to you if you simply ask Him. Of course, you may be asking, “are all my crazy dreams from God?” Well, here’s a good comparison…is all your mail necessary? Don’t you get junk mail? But you know the difference between junk mail and the things you really need. Did you know when you were 5? With practice you will easily discern God’s night parables from the junk mail.
What I have written here is obviously not a comprehensive study on this Subject. It’s basically just some observations I’ve made over the years as God has given me dreams. I will be posting a pretty good “dream dictionary” soon so you can start playing a little if you have interest? I have learned to pay attention to my dreams. I typically know when one is junk mail and when one is from Him. I try to record and date them. Right now, I have dreams coming to pass that I had some 15 years ago…some with the exact details I blindly wrote about seeing back then. It’s always pretty incredible to me to see God connect the dots, so to speak. Like learning to swim, or learning a new language, it takes practice. The more you practice, the better you get. You will be surprised at just how much God is speaking to you. It could trigger a spiritual awakening in you…I have seen it happen repeatedly. Once the Holy Spirit unlocks one of these night parables for you it will be clear and dreams even from your childhood will begin to make sense. Then a whole new horizon could be opened to you. Enjoy… W.O. Hopper Jr.