As I work on changes with this blog one thing I realized I had to change related to the very first series I created on my blog. Dream Experience.
Issues With Sharing Dreams On My Blog
A few things came out of this…
1). Even though I was not asking people to interpret the dreams it became something people wanted to do. To be honest, it bothered me. However, looking back, it’s kinda hard when I ask people for their thoughts for them not to share. We like helping each other out in the blogging community, if we can. I admit, anything shared publicly is open for discussion. So, this was a “me” issue.
2). I had people tell me God gave me this gift and praised me for sharing the dreams. I had people make assumptions and ask about personal things in my life that weren’t true. Nothing was malicious, people had good intentions, but can you see the problems with this? It became about me, the dream… and not God. Interpretations were very subjective. See: Should We Use Our Emotions As Truth? | What Is Emotionalism?
The third problem… I’ll get to later.
The Scripture That Changed It All
As someone who really did put a lot of thought into dreams for the last 30 years of my life.
I tried to show, in the dream interpretation series, how God could speak to us through dreams because that’s what He did in the Old Testament. I tried to help people know when they should or shouldn’t interpret dreams.
There was a HUGE scripture I missed, however, when it came to dreams… and this one scripture, honestly, would have ripped my series to shreds.
(NKJ) Hebrews 1:01, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.”
Where does God speak now?
Not in dreams, because He isn’t speaking through other human intercessors like before, but through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. How do we hear what Christ says? SCRIPTURE!
OUR EYES MUST BE ON SCRIPTURE
DISCLAIMER: I say this later in the post, but I want to say it here as well. In our private time, dreams might be something that encourages us to look up scripture. Maybe dreams have helped us learn new things. I’m not against this. I firmly believe Romans 8:28 that God can use all things for our benefit. The bottom of the post touches on the spiritual gift of prophecy, and how I plan to address it. Today’s post is focused on our experiences, what are we seeking in dreams? Do we choose to proclaim these experiences to the public and should we? As a Christian, we need to be VERY careful.
The issue is we often tape scripture to the framework of our dream, in that, we look at scripture and try to make it fit. We wonder if the Lord is “speaking” to us through the dream or sending us a sign. I know I did, and that’s why I shared the dream. Please see: The Still Small Voice | Problems With People Speaking As “Jesus”
Jesus is how God speaks today. Jesus is the sign we received.
That’s why we turn to the Bible and seek Him in prayer. We have no reason to seek Him in dreams because we do not have solid truth to prove it’s Him. Just because something sounds like scripture and sounds like Christ doesn’t mean it is Him. Satan appears like an angel of light and his messengers do likewise. Don’t trust something just because it sounds like scripture and looks Christian. Please see: Contemplative Prayer/Spirituality | What You Need To Know About That “Still, Small Voice”
(NIV) 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
NO WONDER false prophets of today are so vague with their wording and say the same thing over and over. It’s a cover and itching just enough to our ears. We desire more of it, it’s never filling. I always desired MORE dreams with scriptural themes, it was never enough. This is common in the Seeker-Driven movement – which is what I came out of, they push listening to God outside of scripture- but give vague instructions on just “how” to do that and “how” to know it’s really God.
(NIV) John 6:35, “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.”
Jesus tells us to go to Him. He fills us. We need to read God’s word that’s how we hear Him! (If you really want to hear God out loud, read scripture out loud ~ Justin Peters)
This culture is so focused on individual purposes and signs and wonders. Our eyes easily stray from the truth and go to something they should not because we seek it so desperately! We put credit and merit in something that holds no such authority. I am learning the dangers of being too symbolic and seeking symbols in so many things. Trying to interpret things that I don’t need to!
I recant (cancel, withdraw) my dream posts. I am sorry for using a method to point to scripture that was unclear, confusing, vague, encouraged curiosity away from Jesus, and overly symbolic. Jesus is all we need. His word is truth. He needs to be the focus.
What I have learned about dreams:
- Symbols are hard to figure out, and what one symbol means to someone could mean something completely different to someone else. People FIGHT over dream interpretations and symbols, it’s a major waste of time. I’ve wasted my time and others getting upset because people didn’t see what a dream “meant” to me.
- In the Bible, there are no scriptures that tell Christians of today to interpret our dreams to point to Jesus. The scriptures of the New Testament are multiple accounts of witnesses of Jesus Christ. Scripture is enough to point someone to Jesus.
- Using Biblical symbols out of the context of scripture and applying it to our dreams to warn others is not instructed for Christians in the New Testament. All we need to do is look at what scripture says to warn others, we do not need other sources like our dreams. (This is eisegesis, reading into a text.)
- There is no promise or guarantee something we EXPERIENCE is of God outside of scripture and we MUST not rely on our emotions and experiences over the truth of scripture.
- Dreams are not needed to point to Jesus Christ or discuss the end times. Scripture is enough. Dreams do not add anything and because they do not add anything, we do not need them as main sources of information. *Again, SOOOOO guilty! I thought because my dreams had similar themes it was okay, but again, it profits no one nothing. I can say the same thing with scripture and the dream isn’t needed.
- It’s still okay to discuss dreams with people for regular discussion. It’s okay for dreams to inspire. It’s definitely okay to go to scripture to look up things we dreamed and see what scripture says (not to interpret). But we need to be careful about what we are putting the spotlight on.
3). Remember I said I’d get back to problem 3… We are to be discerning and wise with a public platform, no matter how large or small the following. If we want people to be drawn to scripture, we do not need our dreams to distract them. Dreams often can be itching to the ears, even if it’s about repenting, the end times, etc. It’s like the accounts of Heaven and Hell. It’s an extra source of a supernatural curiousness we do not need to focus on that adds to scriptures.
Symbols and descriptions are things that people eat up more than scripture.
I thought I was helping, but instead, I turned eyes away from the point of scripture to something else because that was more “interesting.” For many years, I tried to defend dreams related to spiritual topics, but again, we only need the word of God. Dreams add nothing, and if they add to scripture (and we claim it to others), then we are in danger of hellfire. (Revelation 22:18-19)
I think God can use all things Romans 8:28, including dreams (see point 6) for us to learn, and He gave me a sister in Christ out of a discussion dealing with dreams. But it was not the dreams that edified or encouraged. It was the truth of scripture that edified and encouraged us both.
Issues People Might Have With What I’m Saying
I’m not unaware that one of the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament is prophecy, or that many people today claim they have dreams, visions, words from the Lord, etc.
To clarify in case it gets brought up- In Acts chapter 2 Peter quoting Joel 2:28-32 related to what was happening at Pentecost. He stated that that day those things were fulfilled. We know this for sure. But regarding what may happen later… there’s a lot of debate. We need to be careful about trying to claim what is fulfilled of scripture and what isn’t when it relates to the end times. If we truly KNEW, then so many people would not be arguing with each other on different views on what has and hasn’t happened.
I am so guilty of focusing on those scriptures and taking them out of context and applying them in ways I shouldn’t. Again, I recant and seek your forgiveness!
I know others will still have a different view on these scriptures and dreams. I expect it. The Lord has shown me so much in the past few months in His word, and I don’t expect this one post to fully persuade most if not all of my readers.
The purpose of this post, aside from my recanting, is to warn everyone to be very careful with their words and what they claim is from God. Do not treat dreams as a direct phone line to God, that’s as bad as Christian mysticism. There are severe consequences for putting words in the mouth of God. It’s best to stick to the scriptures themselves.
Since the gift of prophecy often connects to leaders (apostles of today), I am working on a post about being wary of false teachers and those claiming to be “apostles” with the same authority as the 12 apostles and/or as God’s “anointed.” But that post will take some time, I have a lot written already, but now focusing on gathering scriptures and working on making sure I cover it thoroughly. It will be a follow up to this post.
Thank you for your patience as I continue to work on covering topics and changes in my blog. Thank you for hearing what I had to say on this topic. I hope you understand where I am coming from. I tried to speak this in love best as I could.
Comment Below:
How has the Lord ministered to you through scripture?
Community Prayer for June 2020
Monthly Scripture – (NKJ) Psalm 85:07, “Show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation.”
Get To Know Me & My Blog
Believer Handbook
Second Blog: Peeking Beneath
Inside Cup 
Thanks for sharing, I appreciate where you are coming from. It can get really messy talking about dreams and I have also got frustrated with people at times, but personally I think that’s because we’re pretty new to it in the modern church and we’ve a lot to learn still. We’re pioneering! For me it’s definitely been worth persisting. My take is that it is Jesus (the Son, the Living Word as in John 1:1), who lives in us by His Spirit, who also speaks to us in dreams. In actual fact, I’ve found that knowing the bible well can help me understand my dreams better and not be misled. God speaks to me through both ways. Blessings x
LikeLike
Thank you for reading over the post and listening to my perceptive. Until this year, I shared a lot of what you were saying. I thought scripture helped interpret my dreams because elements of the dream were reflected in scripture. I used to always say I’m not equating my dreams to scripture. My dreams just point to scripture. God ministers to me through dreams.
I want to take the time (so I ask for your patience in this response, sorry it’s long!!) to share what the Lord has shown me in His word, and no pressure, this is to add to the discussion. I certainly didn’t change my mindset on dreams for years and years. I defended it and got upset when people couldn’t understand or what I “thought” they were misunderstanding about God using dreams. I just wanted to help further explain my mindset and give you a proper answer for this discussion. So I hope this at least helps.
Where I have been led these past several months challenges what I thought for decades. In our time period we are often confused about “hearing” God and seeking out His will. We tend to seek out God’s will, His purpose for us, and “affirming” these things through experiences, and our feelings, versus simply trusting and studying His word., which makes His will and HIs purpose for us very clear, it’s not hidden or cryptic.I didn’t always realize that and became extremely symbolic, always looking for “signs” from the Lord.
I used to put so much stock into my dreams. I thought my dreams were beneficial. I thought, honestly, I was “special” for having these kinds of dreams, and that secretly made me prideful. I became excited about these experiences, and I truthfully put more stock into “understanding dreams” versus my thirst for understanding scripture and righteousness. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. I thought my “God dreams” made my relationship with HIm special and unique, but this idea puffed me up in my heart without realizing it. Even when I studied scripture, it wasn’t anything like having a dream because the dream “made it more real.” It made it more “personal,” and this did nothing for my walk with Jesus, honestly, now looking back.
Sure, many of these dreams l had led me to study scripture and pray over what I dreamt. However, we should be doing this without an emotional experience that prompts us to. I’m very sad about the hype I used to feel about my dreams. I admit, I tried hard to fit my dream meaning within the context of scripture, I became extremely symbolic and, unfortunately, was taking scripture out of context because I was looking at scripture through the lens of my dream. I didn’t need my dreams to point to scripture, I just needed to be in God’s word daily seeking His truth and studying His word.
When we say our dreams are not to be equal to scripture (which I certainly used to say), what then is the purpose of the dream, regarding sharing them with others to point to the truth? If dreams are not equal to scripture, then we do not really need dreams to point to scripture at all. This was hard for me to swallow because of the pride I put in my dreams. It hurt to see the truth in that. Jesus is the way to the Father and only HIm. Not experiences we have, lest we encourage others to seek Jesus through those experiences versus a relationship of repentance and righteousness. I certainly encouraged people to interpret and focus on their dreams and “hidden messages” that God “might” be giving them. I was encouraging a waste of time. I can’t imagine if all the time I had devoted to dreams and dream symbols had just been focused on scripture, prayer, and worship alone. That grieves me.
In the Bible, dreams were equal to scripture. They were as valid as scripture and were used for God speaking to His people. Dreams were God-given and God-inspired and that is what people tend to claim today, I used to claim and think the same. But scripture is God-given and God-inspired. We want to lessen one, but the truth is we really can’t.
Jesus is the word, you are SO right! And I was listening to a pastor explain this yesterday, which is amazing. Jesus didn’t speak to us through anything except through the Father. John 17:14 in Jesus’ prayer for the disciples in the garden, before His arrest, He says, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” Jesus gave us the word of the Father every time He taught.. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Scripture is where Jesus speaks to us. Scripture is how we are equipped.. We do not need dreams to do what scripture alone can do for us. That surprised me. I thought God was going to use my dreams to help me and others… but He doesn’t need my dreams to do this. His word alone does this.
John 17:17, part of HIs prayer continued we see Christ say, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” Scripture is the truth and it sanctifies us. John 17:20 we see the disciples are then to preach the same truth to others. The same truth that Jesus spoke when He was with them which was the word of the Father. “”My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,” the message of the disciples is the message Jesus gave them, which was the word of the Father.
Can you show me scripture in the New Testament in which Jesus preaches He speaks to us in dreams? There are a few instances where we do see people have dreams or visions in the New Testament, however nowhere do the apostles tell the church members to seek God in dreams. Rather, seek His truth in His word. I know Hebrews 1:01-02 says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Jesus spoke to us through the word of the Father and we are given that word in scripture through the testament of the disciples, who were witnesses to Jesus, and their words were God-given.
Now, I believe in Romans 8:28. I think God could use dreams.whether given by HIm or not. I think God using dreams and God giving us dreams are 2 different things. I also believe that demons appear as messengers of light as Satan appears as an angel of light. Dreams can often appear divinely given, and they can carry truth, for sure. Our enemy doesn’t care about that, rather, that our eyes are focused on our experiences that point to truth, than just being focused on the truth.
I used to be so confused about what is the Lord “saying” to me? What is His will? What is His purpose for me? How is He speaking to me in this dream? The truth is God is always straight forward in HIs truth. His will is that we follow His commandments.. His will is to do good, and we can only do that by being righteous which is only through the blood of the Savior and walking in the Spirit. Recognizing we are sinners, we need Christ, and we can learn the truth through the word of God which Christ gave to us in scripture.
In a way, realizing all of these things and how simplistic they were compared to me trying to seek understanding from experiences, my own feelings, and symbols… it was relieving. I don’t have to figure out what God is “trying” to say to me. It’s clear in scripture alone. That’s where I need to be. At the feet of Jesus, in His word. Nothing else needs to be in between that as Jesus is the Mediator between us and the Father. Jesus gave us His word that is life. All we need to do is seek Him and listen to what He has shared in the word of God.
If you have read everything I wrote, I deeply thank you. I have been working on a post covering these things more in depth as I’ve grown since writing the original post above, and I wanted to share some of these insights.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed reading this post, T.R., and I feel that I learned some things also. I’ve never been able to “get into” dream interpretation, but I guess I don’t need to feel inferior for that after reading this post, ha! But speaking seriously, I agree that the Word is so refreshing and ALIVE that we don’t need to look further to have our thirst satisfied, though I do like to read books written by Christians on faith and biblical topics. The Holy Spirit really and truly works on me through reading scripture.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We absolutely should learn from teachers and we can use scripture to hold these books in light of. Do these books reflect scriptural truth and take us deeper in scripture?
But you are right, we don’t need these books to frame us, it is the Holy Spirit who does and the word of God increases faith and helps sanctify.
No, nothing to feel inferior about. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Even though I personally feel that God has used dreams to bring me closer to Him I understand where you are coming from. I haven’t shared too many of my dreams because they are so personal. Other times dreams are just dreams. Good for you to admit when you are wrong.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for understanding my perspective 😊😊😊
LikeLike
T. R. How very brave of you to admit your new convictions and recant your past views. You remind me of the importance to stay open to the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit – we can always learn more from him!
LikeLiked by 1 person
💗 Thank you so much, Meredith! Yes, all glory to Him!!!! He must be the focus, and I want Him to my focus. He continues to show me so much and where He leads me I would love for that to testify of what He is doing in my life and have it speak to others so they desire His truth all the more. 😊 It’s not easy recanting. I spent a lot of time on this post because some readers came to my blog because of the dream posts and I hope this was said in love. But what matters the most is the truth and pointing to Jesus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said. Amen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I couldn’t agree more with your new perspective! You might lose some followers because of it, but you definitely gained one! Anything that moves our focus from God’s Word to ‘Naval gazing’ is suspect. While I don’t want ‘shoot down’ anyone’s personal experience, ‘hearing’ God outside the Scripture can never become authoritative in someone else’s life for sure! Keep writing, and I will keep reading. Thanks for the post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely! God can minister to us through many means in life if He so chooses, but our main focus must be on His word. He can use experiences and people, but it is the word of God that increases faith, helps sanctify us, gives knowledge, helps understanding and gives us both the shield of faith and the Sword of the Spirit for battle. 😊 Yes, dreams should never have such authority or priority.
LikeLike
Dreams can just be dreams. You are right to keep and turn the focus completely to Jesus. The word of God is spoken through Jesus!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely! Even if we want to use dreams to point others to Jesus, which is what I wanted to do, whatever I take out of the dream that I might see in scripture, I don’t have to share the dream to share the scripture that speaks His truth. It’s all about Him!!! We just need Him.
LikeLiked by 1 person