God communicates trough dreams and visions. He will talk to us things concerning to our destiny. Our society is conditioning people to ignore God and so we find that many times people are concerned about their dreams and they have no clue that since the beginning of time that God started to use the language of dreams to send us messages that we can understand. Sometimes the language of dreams can be mysterious and we need help to interpret these messages.
The Word "Dream" sometimes translated as "Vision" occurs over 200 times in the Old Testament.
Numbers 12:6 "And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream."
Here we can see two different purposes in dreams and visions.
1. Vision = I will make myself known
2. Dream = I speak with him
Visions are very often regarding other people, a nation, a family, a Church. Dreams are more personal and have to do with our personal walk with the Lord.
1. Vision - "A mental image" (Webster's Dictionary)
2. Dream - "A sequence of images, etc. passing through a sleeping person's mind" (Webster's Dictionary)
Godly Dreams can be terrifying
Job 34:14 For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, 16 then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings,
If God cannot get our attention during the day when we are awake He may choose to give us terrifying dreams to tell us what to do or what not to do.
Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
It is interesting to see that Pilate wife dared to disturb her husband when he was on the judge seat. No one should be disturbed with personal issues while performing the actions of judging important matters. This was no small matter to Pilate but the dream was so terrifying that she couldn't contain herself and had to tell her husband about the message she received in a dream.
Never ignore a dream even if it is similar to a nightmare God can be trying to tell you something.
Godly Dreams bring us serious warnings
Matthew 2:18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
The birth of Jesus was marked by Joseph's dream. He knew his wife was pregnant but didn't believe that it was the Holy Spirit that did this. Joseph received a message from God in a dream and he was warned not to leave Mary.
Joseph was a very special man because he believed in the language of dreams.
Matthew 3:13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
Joseph received again a warning in a dream. We really don't know what kind of dream he had but I am convinced that these where the kind of dreams that terrify someone. You don't move your family to another country just because you had a soft dream. Something had to shake and frighten Joseph to the point of fear so that he had no choice but to obey and so he did and fled to Egypt. Note that this was a long journey and there was no public transportation, buses or airplanes. They literally got a donkey and loaded some of their belongings. This must have been quite a serious warning dream.
This is the kind of dream that you have and you are suddenly awake and disturbed. You don't wake up gently from a warning in a dream.
Are you a Dream Receiver?
God can talk in dreams to both believers like Joseph or unbelievers like Pilate's wife.
Genesis 20:1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."
Why does God send dreams to unbelievers? Because he wants to waken up their hearts and also protect his own children from serious consequences. We see in this passage that Abraham did a serious mistake by lying about his wife Sarah. God was merciful and protected Sarah from this pagan King through a terrifying dream. Imagine God showing up in a dream and telling "you are as good as dead..." Abimelek took action and at the end this resulted in blessing both for Abraham and to Abimelek
We are all dream receivers and if we are sensitive enough we can all listen to God as he communicates with us during the night.
Godly Dreams can also be beautiful
I Kings 19:4-18 "As he (Elijah) lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat." (verse 5)
When he heard of Jezebel's threat, Elijah began running for his life. He knew that she, with vicious wickedness, had destroyed hundreds of the prophets of the Lord, and would not be satisfied until he was dead. Elijah felt that he wanted to be alone. He needed to seek God without any outside distractions.
Elijah dreamed he had died and was feasting on heavenly food, with God waiting on him. He smelled the most wonderful smell, the smell of fresh bread baking. He felt cool, refreshing water on his tongue. He never wanted to wake up and face the real world again. This was just too, too good to be true. He wanted the dream to last. But then he felt a touch on his shoulder. Rubbing his eyes, and floating slowly back to reality; he looked into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He shut his eyes again, knowing now that it was a dream. But again he felt the soft touch, and this time the glorious creature was bending over him, holding a cup to his lips. Elijah took a sip, slowly rising to a sitting position. There beside him, sitting on a rock that he hadn't noticed before his sleep, was the cake he had dreamed about. The angel spoke: "Arise and eat."
Elijah felt refreshed after his heavenly meal, but was still very tired. He dropped into a peaceful sleep. Again, when he awoke, the same angel was there with the same special meal. The angel spoke again: "Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee." (verse 7)
Not only did the meal of the angel of God bring life back to Elijah's physical body, but it refreshed his spirits too. Elijah was ready to go again. He started off, knowing that his destination was a long way away. He was headed for Mount Horeb. For forty days he travelled over rough terrain, under scorching heat, without food or water. He did not even think of food. All he wanted to do was get to the mountain where he knew no one would find him. God was preparing Elijah to a new chapter of his life and in Horeb he had an Encounter with the living God. Everything started with a Godly Dream.
Four Things You Can Do to Help Recall Your Dreams
1. Confess, "I believe dreams contain a valid message and I know that God can speak to me through dreams and visions."
2. Ask God to speak to you through dreams as you fall asleep.
3. Put your journal beside your bed and immediately record your dreams upon awakening.
4. Try to awaken naturally, without the use of an alarm clock, as alarms shatter dream recall.
If you will do the above four things, you will recall your dreams.
