Of Dreams and Demons...

I was lying down on a cot in the living room of a great three story house. On my right was the owner of the house--a middle-aged man with glasses. One my left was his son--a shadowy figure who was there sort of like I imagine a ghost would be. The father was not completely aware of his son's presence--like he had died or something. The boy was scared and I held his hand as we lay there on our three separate cots. The purpose of my presence was to exercise a demon that had been tormenting the man. The demon was expected to manifest his presence at 9:00pm by slamming doors. This apparantly was his habit. The man had attempted to stop the disturbance in the past by shooting a shotgun at the doors. The 9:00 hour came and went with no activity. The three of us were leaving the house and had made our way about 2-3 blocks away when a loud and distinct voice came from the house addressing me. The voice was cursing me and was trying to shame me by openly declaring my sins in a ridiculing manner. We went back to the house and I began to quote Scripture over and over again--John 3:16. It was at this moment that my wife awakened me because I was talking in my sleep--speaking loudly, "For God so love the world that He gave his only begotten son..."

Dreams & Visions...

This from the International Mission Board....

"An indigenous man in the Amazon Basin heard the Gospel for the first time in his own language through tapes provided by missionaries. He asked a missionary named Terry if he believes God speaks to people in dreams. Terry said yes and pointed to examples in the Bible. The indigenous man then told Terry of a recurring dream he’d had after hearing God’s story. In his dream he was paddling down the river in a canoe, and he looked up to the sky and saw Jesus from the chest up in the clouds calling him to come to Him. The man paddled his boat to the bank of the river, and as he started walking a path that seemed to lead up to Jesus, he turned around and realized his wife was following, and then his children were following, and then his whole village was following. Terry explained to his friend it was clear God was calling him to follow Him, and if he did, he was also going to lead his people to follow God."

Dream Interpretation...

I shared with you yesterday a dream that I had. As you may know, pastors are often the recipients of criticism and complaint. For me, it's always painful! I'm encouraged that in my dream these painful words (arrows) were not able to cause any real harm to me. They just hurt for a bit. The large arrow represents the largest area of criticism ( I know all too well what it represents) but it does not have a point. It can no longer do any real harm to me. Though I cannot break it--I don't need to fear it! My call to 911 is my prayer to God for help and deliverance. The seven letters in my friend's name represent completion and closure. By walking away, I leave the arena where these specific attacks have occurred. They can no longer harm me.

With this dream fresh on my heart, I entered into a time of study in the Word. I began with Psalm 69 which happens to be a Psalm of deliverance. My Old Testament reading was in Isaiah 51 which begins with these words, "Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance--all who seek the Lord." Verse 7 says, "Do not be afraid of people's scorn or their slanderous talk". Verse 12 promises, "I, even I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?" I was overcome with emotion as I considered verse 16, "I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely within my hand". I can't describe to you how comforted and accepted I felt as I pondered the Word of God to me.

As many of you know, I make it a habit to pray using a series of colored beads, each of which is a call to a different focus of prayer. The first bead that I randomly (God chooses) chose was the blue bead--representing the prayer of deliverance. Years ago, I assigned the color blue to the prayer of deliverance in large part because of Psalm 69:1-2, "Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck. Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can't find a foothold to stand on. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me." Blue represents the deep waters from which we all need deliverance. My first prayer following the dream was a spiritual 911 call. Praise God for His leadership in my life!

A Dream...

I dreamed last night that I was being shot at with arrows from a good friend. I don't recall how it all began--just that I was being relentlessly assaulted by these arrows that were being shot one right after another. I was struck by some but most missed as I would dodge forward or back to avoid being hit. Though painful, the arrows that hit me would bounce off without any significant injury. At one point, a very large arrow was fired at me. it missed and I was able to pick it up. I quickly found myself in a struggle with my friend as we both took hold of the arrow and tried to wrestle it from each other. I even tried to break the arrow but I could not. As we wrestled I got a real good look at the arrow. It had a large silver head about three inches long and about 1/4 of an inch thick. The unique thing about this arrow is that it did not have a traditional point--it was flat. It was more like a block "A" might be. Though the arrow would hurt if it hit me, it could do no real harm. It had no point! At some point in the dream, I picked up a phone and dialed 911 in order to get my friend to quit shooting at me. I was asked by the operator to spell his name which is most likely the only reason that I can remember it. I'll not tell you the name except to let you know that it had seven letters. Following the call to 911, I was able to walk away from my friend's house without further incident.