Saturday, July 12, 2014

God Speaks to Us Through Dreams!


Dr. Barbie Breathitt
And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: Joel 2:28

Many Christians are leery of giving any credence to their dreams, but both the Old and New Testament are clear that God uses dreams to speak to His people. In fact, on the day of Pentecost when the church was born, Peter preached in the book of Acts that the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues was the fulfilling of this scripture in Joel which includes a pouring out of Holy Spirit-inspired prophecy, visions and dreams. Peter and Paul had angelic encounters, received prophecies, visions, spoke to the risen Jesus, and even Paul was translated to heaven. 

Therefore, we as believers should not be spooked by our weird dreams at night, particularly if they are recurring. I have dreamt strange things ALL my life, some of which I still remember to this day. I also had a recurring dream for over ten years which The Lord finally revealed the meaning of once I pressed in and asked Him for it with all sincerity of heart. It has helped me immensely to understand the message He was trying to relay. I wish I had pressed in years ago.

Several weekends ago, I attended a great retreat where I heard this wonderful woman, Barbie Breathitt, speak on listening to and interpreting our dreams. She suggests digging into scripture for clues regarding symbols that appear in our dreams and of course writing them down in a journal. I've done that for years but wasn't as diligent as I should be regarding the details and specifics. 

Obviously, some dreams can be discounted due to spicy food or a rotten TV show or movie, but the symbolic, strange dreams that linger after we awake are oftentimes messages from The Lord. In the western, North American culture, our intellect and reasoning scoff at such a notion, but in the middle eastern culture, dreams are highly revered. Perhaps that is why there are many testimonies of Muslims being saved through dreams where heavenly and angelic encounters are being used by The Lord to present the Gospel. Oh, how we denominational people have put our God in a little, itty, bitty box!!

So why would God need to use dreams to speak to us? Well, maybe we're stubborn and hard-headed and our spirit-man can't seem to get through to us because our minds are at a whir, thinking and reasoning for most of the day. Personally, I'm very thankful The Lord continues to instruct us in our sleep (Psalms 16:7) and endeavors to get truth and revelation to us, even if it takes ten years! I have to say, I'm somewhat embarrassed that He needed to give me a dream for over a decade in order to share some truth with me. Oh well, better late than never! 

Check out Barbie Breathitt on YouTube or www.myonar.com. It is amazing how God has used dream interpretation through her ministry to save, heal, and set people free from the lies of Satan.