Dreams, Visions, and Prophesies

Sometimes we have the strangest dreams that leave us so confused in our waking life. Whether you’re a believer or not, some dreams can be warnings. Some can be a good message. Dreams come with messages from the spiritual realm for the most part. There are a handful that stem from memories, and our environment before we fall into deep sleep. It can be hard to figure out if something is good or bad. For example, a dream involving blood in it could be very off putting if you don’t understand the meaning.

To decipher dreams, there must come a deep understanding of how God speaks to us and gives us messages in his divine love for us. His spirit (holy spirit) gives us revelations through Dreams, visions, and prophecies.

Acts 2:17

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams).

Joel 2:28

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

The difference between these is that dreams as we know, happen when you’re sleeping. This happens because when we sleep our conscience is in a spiritual state. This is a great way for angels or holy spirit to tell us things God wants us to know. It all depends on where we are in our spiritual strength. If you aren’t a believer, He could be calling you to him to come to him. If you are new to the faith, he could be giving you instructions. Telling you are on the right path or if you are needing direction.

Dreams are also easier for the enemy to spiritually attack you. He likes to torment people as most of us know. He does certain things in your dreams to arrest you and cage you. This can set you back in your spiritual strength. If you don’t know or understand the things he can do, you are at great risk for lots of things. If it affects you in the spirit realm, it will affect you in your waking life. Things can become attached to you and manifest as illnesses, marital problems, financial losses, oppression, and for the non-believer sometimes possession.

Visions are usually given when the person is awake. It’s almost like a trance or dream state, but you are conscience. You are seeing with spiritual or (hidden) eyes. It appears as if you are seeing something play out in front of you like watching tv or similar. For example, when Moses saw the burning bush that God spoke to him through, He could see the fire, he could see the bush, but it was not burning. Even as the fire stopped, the bush was not even singed. God uses visions numerous times in the Bible. Abraham, Samuel, Daniel Ananias, Cornelius, and Peter, also the apostle Paul had several significant visions in his time.

Now the next one is more of a spiritual gift and doesn’t just happen. Prophesy is intentional. It is a way that God directly speaks to a chosen one and send a clear concise message. It may be a warning, a blessing, or telling you to give someone else directions that they need to follow. Back in ancient times before God poured out his spirit, he only spoke through certain spiritually strong chosen people. These were his prophets. Every king that was a believer in God had a prophet within his counsel. These men (mostly) were anointed by God himself and had a strong connection with him to be able to call on the Lord and receive answers within a decent time frame. They were consulted before making any big changes or decisions.

Going into or planning a war was especially crucial for a king to be certain about before doing. God usually had plans for these kings to follow and it was always in their best interest. When they went against Gods messages or didn’t heed his warnings, they were usually defeated and suffered big losses.

To be a prophet, you must be a Godly person. This means living a holy life, staying in prayer meditation, and scripture. Otherwise, he won’t choose you. Also, people are good at different skills, this also comes into account on which spiritual gift the holy spirit bestows on us. It will be something that we are naturally good at. The spirit searches our hearts and sees our true nature of our souls. He then decides what would be a good fit for us. It will be something that we have that comes naturally to us.

These are some of the differences between the three. I am going to make another post on how I decipher dreams or at least the way that I have been doing it. It takes some studying and making sure you are researching through spiritual understanding. I pray for guidance, wisdom, understanding and clarity before doing anything important, especially finding answers when they don’t come immediately.