How to understand dreams and visions according to the Spirit of Jesus Christ
Before I say anything, let me say that you can find all my resources on dreams and visions on this page (click here). Let me also say that it is a GOOD thing to want more of the Spirit (Joel 2:28, Luke 11:13) and prophecy (1 Cor 14:1). But allow me to ask you; what exactly are your motives in wanting more?
If you want this out of a desire to fellowship with your Heavenly Father in the sweet secret places of the Most High, to listen to Him better and in deeper ways, to know His love more which is better than life itself, then I commend you and also recommend that you follow through and read this post. But if you desire these things for others reasons - hey, no condemnation here, and please be honest with yourself here - I strongly suggest that you simply realign your mind to the things of Christ rather than the world asking the Lord to cleanse you (in this case, your desires are not altogether wrong, there are just some impurities, so don't be discouraged and don't throw it all way!)
Now ultimately, those who are grounded in the Grace and Truth and understand Jesus Christ to be the full, complete and utmost, perfect, maximum and infinite Revelation of the Father - and He (singular) is One - then by all means, be brave, be bold, and experiment with the help of the Holy Spirit.
An important note, I provide you with links to an example of how I do all this and also welcome your questions (see more on this at the very end of this post).
Let us begin!
This is an important distinction. People can justify many horrors using Bible verses (in fact, they not only can but have done this for millennia!) That some do this does not mean their ideas are Biblical, Scriptural or True, nor does it mean it is something God approves of. Again, the fullest Revelation of God Almighty is Jesus Christ - so look to Him fore-mostly.
Here is a hypothetical example: say you have a dream where you shot an arrow into the heart of a monster. Say the Lord was there and told you to do so. You wake up and you decide, somehow, that this means God wants you to bring harm to your enemies (if you have them). Alarm bells should be ringing at max volume here.
You will tell me, but look how King David slayed his enemies and how Elijah slaughtered Baal's prophets! Yes, they did, and I don't have time here to go into that but instead just simply look to Jesus - even a child who knows the most basic teachings of the Messiah understand that this interpretation (not the dream) is entirely unscriptural and hellish, not from God in an way. Jesus taught very explicitly that we need to forgive, bless, love and pray for our enemies. These teachings are so well known that I won't bother to search for references, just open the New Testament and start reading!
Here's another important caveat. What feelings did the dream create in you? This is extremely important. Were you happy, perplexed, curious, somewhat scared but assured nonetheless... good, those are positive feelings. Were you horrified, in extreme anguish or scared to death literally... that's called a nightmare😯. It may be your brain, what you've been feeding your mind (or belly), or it could be a demonic attack, pure and simple. In this post I do not deal with this issue. Rather I deal with dreams that you know are of God - those dreams do not cause you to panic or be agitated, but there is always peace. Even if there are some difficult feelings, these are not negative at all, but indicate that the subject is weighty and important and requires your attention. Here is a good verse to squeeze any dream or vision through:
So number one - it must agree to the Teachings, Essence, Words and Spirit of Jesus Christ. Period.
There are actually two points here. Firstly, when you have a dream or a vision, it seems that we automatically understand the beginning of what some things mean. You may hear a word and understand somehow that it means something else in the spiritual realm than what the actual word means at face value. In a dream, an angel told me something about "175 funds", but I understood in that dream, that funds meant nations.
I don't know how this happens, but I just go with it. You can have this I-just-know-feeling for one or more things that you observe in the dream and vision. Keeping them in mind will always lead to very strong results beyond your imaginations, results that you could not have possibly known, as you take time to prayerfully meditate on it.
Basically, you always know where to start with dreams and visions, God doesn't leave you completely clueless, but He loves to reveal Himself in these parables, mysteries and secrets (Mk 4:11) and it's our glory actually to search them out (Prov 25:2)! I will expand on how to get started with these 'seeds of understanding' in just a moment.
Now, the second point I want to make is that these 'seeds' are given to you alone, the one who saw the dream and vision. You can go to people filled with the Spirit and counsel and wisdom of Jesus Christ and they can very often help you go further and deeper, but first work it out yourself by noting these seeds.
Now, if you do not identify yourself as a believer in Jesus but have somehow seen a dream and vision and you believe God is speaking to you - then Congratulations! You are experiencing an ancient and precious Biblical prophecy - Joel 2:28. If this is you, by all means go to people who are filled with the Spirit of the Almighty, who understand His will, His grace and His love, these are the people of Jesus who are also open to these things. But please understand that many who say they are Christian have no idea what I'm talking about it here, it's a completely foreign world to them, even though the Bible speaks a lot about this. Feel VERY free to leave a comment below if you find yourself in this situation!
So now that we have laid ground rules, how do you start interpreting some of these ways that God speaks to us? We write it down!
David always wanted to build God a temple, but the Lord said it would not be him, but Solomon, his son who would do this. But nonetheless, inspired by the Spirit, David wrote down these plans... look carefully:
I love the biblical language of Hebrew. I just love it. I study it a lot, I'm completely self-taught in it. For me it is a beautiful world. Now God uses my love of Hebrew. He also uses even movies and stories that I love. He uses images and numbers and colors; He does all this knowing full-well how I will go about to understand and interpret them! God speaks to each of us in a unique, one-of-a-kind way because there is only one of you!
This is key to undrestand - what you see in a dream and vision, don't ask others about what it means to them at first - instead, the first thing you should do after writing them down, etc, is to see what it means to you! What's the first thing that comes to mind regarding this clue? Do that!
I'll give you an example. If I hear a name that sounds Hebrew, I immediately check its meaning in the Strong's Concordance. I have done this with a Riddle I received with astounding results. If I see a number, again, think my love of Hebrew, I immediately go to Hebrew Gematria (the numerology system where each word signifies a number). That's how I would go about.
We all have our own story that God uses and weaves through in our dreams and visions. Use them!
Is there a universal system? Yes, that is the system of the Bible itself. Let's go to that here.
This is not in reference to point number 1 although it totally operates in agreement with that rule. This is what I mean by saying you need to use the Bible to understand your dream/vision... It has to do with uncovering hidden, deeper and spiritual meanings of things you observe and note in your dreams and visions. Let the Bible teach you what it means, but as YOU ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT.
Many times, the Lord Himself, as I meditate on a dream, a word or a vision, He will give me an idea to search something in the Bible - it could be a verse or a word that simply comes in mind. These are so important!
Another important trick, that is secondary to the above however, look to the first mention of that word in the Bible. There might be important clues with that exercise that you uncover.
I spoke about this in points 3 and 5. But let me elaborate. In ALL of these steps you need to involve the leading of the Spirit! The Bible says so much about this, here are just a few of those verses to consider:
Does the idea to Google a term come up? Just do it! And then pay attention to the first things that catch your eye or come across. And as you do, prayerfully investigate. Which brings me to the next point.
Your dreams and vision should not be difficult to uncover. Rest in the Lord and He will teach you all things. If you find yourself spending hours online, searching here and there and reading endless links, etc... just stop and forget about the whole thing. Come back to it in a few days. The Lord is speaking to you ultimately to fellowship with you more, so just fellowship with the Lord. That's the bottom line.
I'm not saying it should not take time. It may take even a few days. It could be that years later God will still draw out things from these dreams and visions! In fact, usually, God given dreams and visions will be powerful and full of inspiration and spiritual food for many to feed on for ages - afterall, that's what the Bible - the Book inspired by the Holy Spirit of God - is like!
But an initial layer or two of understanding (and there could be many more) should come to you as you are at rest, praying, meditating and searching all with guidance of the Spirit. It could be within hours of the dream, or instantly but I would also not be surprised if it took you a couple or a few days, especially for dreams and visions that are very rich, deep and complex.
The Lord bless you abundantly and may you seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness above all things! The Lord grant you to see prophetically and become very great in His calling and gifts to you! Amen.
Like this post? Don't miss out by subscribing!
WANT AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO GO THROUGH THIS?
The process I went through in one of the first prophetic dreams I had can be found in this link, click here. This dream was what some called a second heaven dream and it's lessons, are still very deep for me. I expound on those lessons in this link (click here for that).
DO YOU STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SUBJECT OR A SPECIFIC DREAM/VISION?
Feel free to contact me or ask your questions in the comments section!
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| Photo by Ken Cheung on Unsplash - modified by DR |
Now ultimately, those who are grounded in the Grace and Truth and understand Jesus Christ to be the full, complete and utmost, perfect, maximum and infinite Revelation of the Father - and He (singular) is One - then by all means, be brave, be bold, and experiment with the help of the Holy Spirit.
An important note, I provide you with links to an example of how I do all this and also welcome your questions (see more on this at the very end of this post).
Let us begin!
1) Every interpretation must, must, must be in agreement - not just with Scripture (the Bible) - but with the Teachings, Essence and Spirit of Jesus Christ.
This is an important distinction. People can justify many horrors using Bible verses (in fact, they not only can but have done this for millennia!) That some do this does not mean their ideas are Biblical, Scriptural or True, nor does it mean it is something God approves of. Again, the fullest Revelation of God Almighty is Jesus Christ - so look to Him fore-mostly.
Here is a hypothetical example: say you have a dream where you shot an arrow into the heart of a monster. Say the Lord was there and told you to do so. You wake up and you decide, somehow, that this means God wants you to bring harm to your enemies (if you have them). Alarm bells should be ringing at max volume here.
You will tell me, but look how King David slayed his enemies and how Elijah slaughtered Baal's prophets! Yes, they did, and I don't have time here to go into that but instead just simply look to Jesus - even a child who knows the most basic teachings of the Messiah understand that this interpretation (not the dream) is entirely unscriptural and hellish, not from God in an way. Jesus taught very explicitly that we need to forgive, bless, love and pray for our enemies. These teachings are so well known that I won't bother to search for references, just open the New Testament and start reading!
Here's another important caveat. What feelings did the dream create in you? This is extremely important. Were you happy, perplexed, curious, somewhat scared but assured nonetheless... good, those are positive feelings. Were you horrified, in extreme anguish or scared to death literally... that's called a nightmare😯. It may be your brain, what you've been feeding your mind (or belly), or it could be a demonic attack, pure and simple. In this post I do not deal with this issue. Rather I deal with dreams that you know are of God - those dreams do not cause you to panic or be agitated, but there is always peace. Even if there are some difficult feelings, these are not negative at all, but indicate that the subject is weighty and important and requires your attention. Here is a good verse to squeeze any dream or vision through:
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. Jam 3:17
So number one - it must agree to the Teachings, Essence, Words and Spirit of Jesus Christ. Period.
2) Every dream and vision starts with a seed of understanding given to you alone.
There are actually two points here. Firstly, when you have a dream or a vision, it seems that we automatically understand the beginning of what some things mean. You may hear a word and understand somehow that it means something else in the spiritual realm than what the actual word means at face value. In a dream, an angel told me something about "175 funds", but I understood in that dream, that funds meant nations.
I don't know how this happens, but I just go with it. You can have this I-just-know-feeling for one or more things that you observe in the dream and vision. Keeping them in mind will always lead to very strong results beyond your imaginations, results that you could not have possibly known, as you take time to prayerfully meditate on it.
Basically, you always know where to start with dreams and visions, God doesn't leave you completely clueless, but He loves to reveal Himself in these parables, mysteries and secrets (Mk 4:11) and it's our glory actually to search them out (Prov 25:2)! I will expand on how to get started with these 'seeds of understanding' in just a moment.
Now, the second point I want to make is that these 'seeds' are given to you alone, the one who saw the dream and vision. You can go to people filled with the Spirit and counsel and wisdom of Jesus Christ and they can very often help you go further and deeper, but first work it out yourself by noting these seeds.
Now, if you do not identify yourself as a believer in Jesus but have somehow seen a dream and vision and you believe God is speaking to you - then Congratulations! You are experiencing an ancient and precious Biblical prophecy - Joel 2:28. If this is you, by all means go to people who are filled with the Spirit of the Almighty, who understand His will, His grace and His love, these are the people of Jesus who are also open to these things. But please understand that many who say they are Christian have no idea what I'm talking about it here, it's a completely foreign world to them, even though the Bible speaks a lot about this. Feel VERY free to leave a comment below if you find yourself in this situation!
3) The first step in understanding dreams and visions is to write them down
So now that we have laid ground rules, how do you start interpreting some of these ways that God speaks to us? We write it down!
David always wanted to build God a temple, but the Lord said it would not be him, but Solomon, his son who would do this. But nonetheless, inspired by the Spirit, David wrote down these plans... look carefully:
He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD...“All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the LORD’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.” 1 Chron 28:12,19As you write, be sensitive to the Spirit and His hand on you. Just write in communion with the Lord. As you write He will teach and enable you to understand! This is truly the first step and it's remarkable, it really is to me, supernaturally beautiful and ever so natural and gentle. You'll be getting lots of WOW moments!
4) To understand any observation, symbol, number, color, etc... ask yourself this question: what does it mean to me?
I love the biblical language of Hebrew. I just love it. I study it a lot, I'm completely self-taught in it. For me it is a beautiful world. Now God uses my love of Hebrew. He also uses even movies and stories that I love. He uses images and numbers and colors; He does all this knowing full-well how I will go about to understand and interpret them! God speaks to each of us in a unique, one-of-a-kind way because there is only one of you!
This is key to undrestand - what you see in a dream and vision, don't ask others about what it means to them at first - instead, the first thing you should do after writing them down, etc, is to see what it means to you! What's the first thing that comes to mind regarding this clue? Do that!
I'll give you an example. If I hear a name that sounds Hebrew, I immediately check its meaning in the Strong's Concordance. I have done this with a Riddle I received with astounding results. If I see a number, again, think my love of Hebrew, I immediately go to Hebrew Gematria (the numerology system where each word signifies a number). That's how I would go about.
We all have our own story that God uses and weaves through in our dreams and visions. Use them!
Is there a universal system? Yes, that is the system of the Bible itself. Let's go to that here.
5) Use the Bible to interpret your dream and vision
Many times, the Lord Himself, as I meditate on a dream, a word or a vision, He will give me an idea to search something in the Bible - it could be a verse or a word that simply comes in mind. These are so important!
Another important trick, that is secondary to the above however, look to the first mention of that word in the Bible. There might be important clues with that exercise that you uncover.
6) Meditate on these prophetic revelations (dreams, visions, etc) allowing the Spirit to guide you
I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. Prov 4:11
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Ps 32:8
And the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things that I said to you. John 14:26The Lord can prompt (to use a churchian word) to do something to find a meaning. He can and does speak profusely and directly, to your spirit, but with words as well. Basically, I do not separate my own mental process from the Spirit's work. You are intelligent - by all means use your intelligence AND listen to the Spirit at the same time. Do not bother with trying to separate these activities, just go with the flow of His Spirit and your thoughts setting your mind on the things above (Col 3:2)!
Does the idea to Google a term come up? Just do it! And then pay attention to the first things that catch your eye or come across. And as you do, prayerfully investigate. Which brings me to the next point.
7) Don't over investigate. If you have to dig to the center of the earth you've over done it!
I'm not saying it should not take time. It may take even a few days. It could be that years later God will still draw out things from these dreams and visions! In fact, usually, God given dreams and visions will be powerful and full of inspiration and spiritual food for many to feed on for ages - afterall, that's what the Bible - the Book inspired by the Holy Spirit of God - is like!
But an initial layer or two of understanding (and there could be many more) should come to you as you are at rest, praying, meditating and searching all with guidance of the Spirit. It could be within hours of the dream, or instantly but I would also not be surprised if it took you a couple or a few days, especially for dreams and visions that are very rich, deep and complex.
The Lord bless you abundantly and may you seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness above all things! The Lord grant you to see prophetically and become very great in His calling and gifts to you! Amen.
Like this post? Don't miss out by subscribing!
WANT AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO GO THROUGH THIS?
The process I went through in one of the first prophetic dreams I had can be found in this link, click here. This dream was what some called a second heaven dream and it's lessons, are still very deep for me. I expound on those lessons in this link (click here for that).
DO YOU STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SUBJECT OR A SPECIFIC DREAM/VISION?
Feel free to contact me or ask your questions in the comments section!
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