Tag: Dreams

The Dreamer

June 15, 2019

And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
(Genesis 37:19)

Dreams: dfn. – a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep; a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. (Source – Merriam Webster)

Dreams are powerful things. By nature, we have incredible imaginations and sometimes willingly or unwillingly dream incredible things. To shed some insight on this phenomenon of dreaming all of the following discoveries or inventions were the result of a dream:

Niels Boh – discovery of the atomic structure.
Elias Howe – inventor of the sewing machine.
Albert Einstein – the theory of relativity.
Otto Loewi – the chemical mechanisms behind neurotransmissions.
Frederick Banting – the treatment of diabeites with insulin.
August Kekulé – the atomic structure of the benzene ring.
Dmitri Mendeleev – the periodic table of elements.
James Watson – a spiral staircase as the molecular building block for the DNA double helix.

and lest we forget …. Larry Page – the brainchild of GOOGLE, the storage and assimilation of Internet content (1996).

Life – A Graveyard of Dead Dreams

It is said that life is a graveyard of dead dreams – dreamers who somehow failed to keep their hope alive in pursuing spiritual or physical achievements, aspirations of a higher calling, fulfilling challenging goals set for themselves or bringing to fruition something above and beyond the mundane and mediocre.

There are many reasons behind this. But, maybe the primary root cause is that our dreams will cost us something. The fulfillment of dreams do not come easy and the distractions intended to destroy them are many. Let’s look at someone who refused to allow his to die.

Dreams From God Are Costly

The impact of dreaming is not an infrequent bedchamber guest in the pages of God’s word. God uses dreams to get His point across when nothing else will suffice to communicate His messages.

No doubt the most “famous” or well-known dreamer and dream in the Bible is our man Joseph, the first son Rachel, the wife of Jacob. It was his dreams of the sun, moon, stars and wheat sheaves that sparked the eventual perseveration of Israel and civilization as a whole in this region of the world. All because of dreams.

When Joseph articulated and spoke his God-given dreams to his father and brothers (Genesis 37:5-11) he at that point released into the spiritual realm prophetic utterings that would ultimately “cost him” dearly.

He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. Psalms 105:17-19

“His word” in the above verse was the dream spoken by Joseph to his family. He articulated words into the spiritual realm the perfect will of God for his life. However, the dream’s fulfillment was not instantaneous. Joseph’s dreams, future, blessings, promises and promotion were all tried by God. This is the place where most dreams and dreamers fail. They cannot see or lack the faith to see the dream materialize.

But, we must understand (like Joseph) the Lord will never allow the enemy to send you to a hard place that He will not also supply the escape plan to deliver you from that hard place (Jer 29:11, Job 42:10)! Interestingly, it was a dream that ‘first’ sent Joseph to the prison house and a dream responsible for his last and ‘final’ release from the prison house (Gen. 41:15-45). God is sovereign in all things all the time.

Think a moment here about how Joseph’s life might have turned out while nursing a defeated mindset?  What if he had defused his dreams when he was betrayed and sold to the rogue band of Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:27-28)?  What if he had become disenchanted with this whole ‘God thing’ after being falsely accused and thrown into prison (Gen. 39:19-20) and deemed his dreams not worth it? Thank God he didn’t. Joseph refused to allow his dreams to die and go to the dream graveyard.

Jesus, Resurrect the Dreamer & His/Her Dead Dreams!

How many young men and women are living far below their God calling? How many middle-aged men and women are living short of divine promises, gifting’s and callings? No doubt by the millions. There are children and grandchildren of missionaries, pastors and pastor’s wife’s, music directors, Sunday school teachers, or just plain faithful people of God who have been deceived and tricked into thinking the enemy’s leaky, hole-filled bag of worldly goods and false hopes are viable substitutes for the riches and sure promises of God.

The Lord can change that. The Lord is able to send a dream to change the whole situation. He has done it before and He is able to do it again. God is able to heal dead dreams and bring back to life the dead dreamer. Just speak it, pray about it and believe it.

It has been said that the Apostle Paul would never have endured the many hardships and impossible situations he encountered had he not first experienced divine dreams, visions and revelations from the Lord (Acts 22:6-12, 27:21-25; II Cor 12:2).

Maybe the Lord is about to send you or a loved one a dream that will change your world. When He does be like Joseph and by faith speak it into the spiritual dimension. And as Joseph, don’t fear the test that will follow to prove that dream. God is faithful. Speak it. Shout it. Claim it. And proclaim it in Jesus’ Name! And it will come to pass.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (Matthew 7:7)

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matthew 21:22)

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (1 John 5:14)

All of hell trembles when Jesus walks through the graveyard of the dead dreams of broken dreamers. The One who came to give life to resurrect dead things is able to send life back into the dead dreams of a dead situation.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25)

The question is: what dreams of yours are you prophetically speaking into your world? Joseph did. God is waiting to hear yours.

Jesus is able to once again resurrect earth’s dreamer with heaven’s God-given dream.

Be Blessed in Jesus’ Name!

Answers From Strange Places: A Vignette of Gideon

December 13, 2017

Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. Judges 7:13 

What significance can of a lump of barley bread have? Not much by itself. But, for Gideon and the armies of Israel, it won the victory. Sometimes answers to life’s dilemmas are found in the most unusual places. Let’s see.

Just Give Me A Sign Lord!

Gideon was a humble, unsuspecting fellow. Just the kind of person God looks to perform great exploits through.  But, Gideon had some problems. Gideon had an optics problem which translated into a warped faith life. Gideon doubted God’s power and ability to work in his life. How do we know this? Because he asked God to give him signs, (not once, but three times) to prove to him that the Lord was indeed going to use him to destroy the enemies of Israel.

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall ……

And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece….. Judges 6:17, 36-37, 39

Gideon was a sign-seeker. Why? Consider the man’s past for a moment. Gideon was carrying baggage, in fact a lot of baggage. And people who carry a lot of baggage have problems seeing things afar because to avoid stumbling they need to continually focus on what is beneath their feet.

Gideon’s Heavy Baggage

What baggage was Gideon carrying? Let’s start with his present state of oppression, and no doubt some depression in the mix. The Midianites had so weighted Israel down that Gideon was threshing wheat in fear that they would discover his protein stash and take away his family’s only food supply.

And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. Judges 6:6, 11

Strike one.

Secondly, the man had low self-esteem and was living in poverty.

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. Judges 6:15

Strike two.

Lastly, Gideon was not from “good Israeli stock”. Gideon suffered generational curses inherited from his father. His father was a heathen, an idol worshipper:

And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: Judges 6:25

It’s not looking good Gideon. Strike three.

Eye Candy Syndrome

Gideon suffered from a malady known as ECS – Eye Candy Syndrome. He was attempting to serve with the “eye” a God who asks to be served with the “heart”. Thus the reason behind Gideon’s sign-seeking, a malady affecting hearts not valiant in faith.

“Show me God and I will believe”. How many of us have prayed that prayer? Or, “Lord, if you do thus-and-thus, I will live for you”. Or, “Lord, just let me off the hook this one time and I will get my act together and give my life to you”. This is basically asking God for a sign, something we can tangibly grasp onto to bring God into our life situation. God wants more. The Lord wants to bring us into His situation. And that is the only way Gideon could accomplish the calling God spoke into his life. It takes a God-walk to birth a God-work.

God knows and understands the uniqueness within each and every one of us. And only God knows all about the life lived in the pair of shoes named “Mine Own”.

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psalms 73:26

And if we’ll be honest, we all bring baggage to the table (some more than others) and it really comes to the light when the Light of the World calls you out on the carpet. You cannot hide it then. So, you have two options. Allow God to help you unload it, or keep it and suffer, and suffer a lot.

Let’s face the facts folks, we will accomplish little in the Kingdom of God while carrying a load on our backs, the load of guilt from past mistakes and failures, or beating ourselves up because of the burden of carrying generational sins of our forefathers (oh yes, they do affect us) or the ravages experienced from childhood abuses.

Thankfully for Gideon, and reflecting back on his life, thankfully for us, the proverbial light bulb lit up his brain. How? From a dream about a barley roll.

Pillow Power

Dreams and their interpretations from God are mind altering and heart transforming. Dreams can change one’s life:

And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you. Genesis 40:8

But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets ….. KJV
But there is a God in heaven who solves mysteries … The Message Bible Daniel 2:27

How many people in the Bible were given dreams from God that changed their lives, and even the course of history? Let’s name a few: Abraham, Jacob, Laban, Job, a butler and a baker in an Egyptian prison house, Pharaoh himself, Solomon, Joseph, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar, Habakkuk, Jesus’ step-father Joseph, and Pilate’s wife. And Gideon:

And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. Judges 7:15

Gideon got a lot of mileage from his fleece test, yet he still doubted in the mission God called him to. Signs did not help Gideon’s faith, he was still unconvinced. How do we know that? There was one more turning point he needed to move him into God’s will. Then there would be no turning back. What was the turning point? Of all things, a dream about a piece of barley bread.

And it goes deeper than just the dream. The one thing Gideon feared (loosing his family’s food supply), God now turned around and used it against the Midianites. When God takes away your fear and uses it to defeat your enemy, you must know you cannot fail.

It can be said that signs whether from earth or from heaven do not always change our thinking, especially when faced with major transitions or juncture points in life (like the one Gideon faced). Jesus gave warning about this:

A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Matthew 16:4

In Conclusion

What about some other unlikely places that ushered in the miraculous of God: a mother’s packed lunch of merger fare for her little boy, empty water pots, a lady of questionable reputation standing alone at the town’s waterhole, lastly a talked about illegitimate son of a carpenter and his gruesome hanging in shame on a cruel wooden cross? Unusual places.

God will take what man’s disregards, turn it around, and use it for His glory:

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:25

There comes a time when the miracle you desperately need can only be hand-delivered by a man walking on the water. A most unusual place and in a most unusual way.

A.W. Tozer penned the words, “God is looking for those through who He can do the impossible. What a pity that we settle for only those things we can do ourselves.”

Gideon could not do by himself the feat he was called to accomplish for God. But, the Lord is merciful and longsuffering. And the Lord knew exactly how to posture him for the promotion awaiting him. Have you had or heard of any strange dreams lately?  Maybe God is about to do something miraculous in your life.