OUR DREAMS HAVE GREAT VALUE

       Any time we hear from God, it is so valuable. I think our dreams are more powerful than we have ever realized. They are of great value, for they are one of God’s ways of speaking to us.
      How are they valuable? In our dreams, we often receive strategies. We receive a heads-up from God concerning a situation. It might be a situation where the enemy is involved. God is all knowing but the enemy is not. So we have a great advantage over the enemy—specifically, our God is able to show us things ahead of time in our dreams, so that those things can change. We change the outcome through prayer. This is calling ‘flipping’ a dream.
There are many kinds of dreams. God reveals strategies to war against the enemy in our dreams by giving us spiritual warfare dreams. There are cleansing dreams, calling dreams, healing dreams, soulish dreams; the list is long.
            The ones we should value and pay close attention to in our personal lives are what I call self-condition, correction or warning dreams. These dreams reveal our spiritual condition; the condition of our heart, and show us where a change is needed. They are so valuable because they reveal our blind spots; the things we don’t want to know about ourselves.
 
Job 33:14-18 For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it.15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, 16 then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. 17 In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man,18 He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
 
          I love the Message translation: God always answers, one way or another, even when people don’t recognize his presence.15-18 “In a dream, for instance, a vision at night, when men and women are deep in sleep   fast asleep in their beds—God opens their ears and impresses them with warnings to turn them back from something bad they’re planning, from some reckless choice, and keep them from an early grave, from the river of no return.
 
          In the night while we are sleeping God shows us true pictures of what is happening in our lives and in our hearts.  He shows us how to keep us from making wrong choices, He reveals pride in our hearts, and He keeps us from death! That’s valuable, right? It’s like having a close friend, who gives you hidden secrets.
        We can’t argue with God when we are sleeping, so it is a good opportunity for Him to show us what we might not want to see. When we wake up, if we value His words, we will repent.  We will seek Him for His Help.
          What are some things He can show us about ourselves? So glad you asked! He wants to show us hidden things in our hearts that might be blocking us from being fruitful, or from hearing Him. Some of these things could be pride, selfishness, rebellion, jealousy, rejection,  unforgiveness, deception, etc.
           These dreams cause us to come closer to the Lord. They invite us to engage in intimacy with God. They can bring the fear of God in some cases. They also cause us to repent.  They are there to aid us. They should be something we value and cherish. It’s like having our own personal life coach. The Holy Spirit does four things in the life of the believer, according to John 14 and John 16.
 
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 
 
John 16;13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 
 
           He teaches us, leads or guides us, reveals things He already told us and shows us things to come. This is so wonderful; it covers the past, present and future. Didn’t Jesus say that He is always with us? He is with us on a daily basis through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But it doesn’t stop when we go to sleep! We have access to His help 24/7!

         A good example of this from Scripture is the dream interpreted by Daniel of King Nebuchadnezzar.  This dream is found in Daniel 4:9-16. I highlighted a few verses in bold.
 
 “Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you, and no secret troubles you, explain to me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation.10 “These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, A tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.11 The tree grew and became strong; its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth. 12 Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it,the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. 13 “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, and the birds from its branches. 15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field. Let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth. 16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him.
             Basically, the dream is about the King; it is exposing the sin of pride. The King had a huge empire, which was represented by a huge tree. But he did not help the poor, nor did he try to acknowledge the Lord God; he did not acknowledge that God was his source.  In the dream, he is even warned of the consequence of his sin—that he would be chopped down, and his kingdom would be taken away. And that he would be changed into a beast for seven years— until he comes to know:
 
Daniel 4:25 “that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
 
God gave him this dream to expose the pride in his life.  Daniel even exhorts the king to repent:

 27 “O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and 
your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity.”
 
One year after the dream the King said: 

 30  “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
 
            Whoa, Bessy! It looks like he didn’t repent for his pride—yet. Sometimes people can be stubborn! They can’t seem to soften their heart.  It would take a bit more for the king to see the folly of his ways. Read on:
 
31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”

33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
 
              Did you see what happened?  This is no science fiction story!  Because the king did not repent, he was transformed into some kind of animal for seven years! I can imagine that during that time he probably thought about the folly of his ways. But never fear, this story has a good ending.
 
34 And at the end of the [k]time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:
 
 The King came back to his senses. He also had a change of heart:
 
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
 
                 Notice the last words: . And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
 
              Wow. He humbled himself; he repented of his ways. He learned that "the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He choses".  He has "been there, done that  and got the T-shirt"! What if the King had not been warned in a dream? What if Daniel hadn’t been there, to interpret the dream and to encourage the King?  Because of the dream, the King did repent of his sin of pride. And his kingdom was restored. And he learned the fear of the Lord; he learned not to mess with the God of the universe!
                   Of course, we are not in a position of being a King. However, the Lord is able to show us our sin of pride in a dream. Hopefully, we won’t wait a year to change our ways. Hopefully, we will be quick to repent. And hopefully, we won’t have to be changed into an animal for seven years!
                 We can see how valuable that dream was to King Nebchadnezzar; he was shown his sin of pride and he repented for it. But, we are so blessed in that we already know the Lord. We have that 24/7 relationship with Him. So now, when He gives us a dream, it is so wonderful, because we can just repent and move on. We would certainly want the Lord to show us ahead of time—just between Him and us—so that we don’t have to have our sin exposed, like the King did.
                That is only one example of many where God invades our sleep to show us what is really in us. I for one have experienced this and I am sure you have, too. I welcome those dreams. Indeed, they are so very valuable. Showing us our blind spots. Very kind of you, Lord, to put us in a sleep mode to show us the things we probably would deny if we were awake! But as we know, we can’t argue with God in our sleep!
                  So, let’s pray: “God, I give you permission to reveal to me the things I can’t see that are hidden in my heart. Thank you for giving me dreams that reveal my blind spots. I value them and I value you in my life. In Jesus Name, Amen”.    Sweet dreams!