Dreams and God's Word
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
The hidden truth the Bible reveals is that dreams have the power to divide between soul and spirit because they are a deposit of God’s living Word to us today! Therefore, dreams have the power to divide between soul and spirit and act as a discloser of the thoughts and intents of the heart. To some, that will be a pretty radical thought, and I hear many asking, “Are you suggesting we should endorse extra-biblical revelation?” No! What I am saying is that God is still speaking and that He didn’t cease speaking at the completion of the canonical books of the Bible. The Book of Acts is an open-ended book, and it is still being written today. However, let me reiterate that what He says today has to be in line with what He has said in the past (see Heb. 13:8).
We cannot afford to be like the Pharisees and teachers of the law who sat insensitively in the presence of Jesus, inwardly criticizing His every word and consequently failing to receive what God had for them even though “ . . . the power of the Lord was present to heal them” (Luke 5:17). If that is our attitude, then it will be someone else who will break through the roof we have placed ourselves under and by faith grab a hold of what God had originally planned for us (see Luke 5:19-20).
Dreams divide between soul and spirit, not just in the individual, but also at the family, church, business, national, and Kingdom levels. I have people approach me with dreams to interpret on a regular basis. However, often what people think a dream means and what it turns out to say can be radically different. Acting like Nathan’s parable to David (see 2 Sam. 12:1-13), dreams and their correct interpretations bypass the heart’s natural defense mechanisms and allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and correction.
Here’s a great example of a dream’s ability to discern and disclose hearts: one morning I was sharing with a group of people a couple of directive dreams God had given me. During our discussion, a young man asked what would it mean in a dream if he had his hand on his ex-partner’s throat? I asked him about the context of the dream and whether he had ever threatened her. He said, to his recollection of things, he had not openly threatened her, though she may feel threatened by him. He also explained that the night before he had gone to hear someone preaching. The sermon touched on forgiveness. He explained that before he went to bed he had verbally forgiven his ex-partner.
Hmm . . .hand on someone’s throat? I said, “You don’t really have to be a rocket scientist to say it doesn’t really sound good.” But I wasn’t sure yet on the exact interpretation. That afternoon as I sat meditating on the dream, I did a quick search of the Bible. I typed in the words hand and throat, and immediately two options came up. One reference was in the Old Testament and one in the New. In the Old Testament reference, the words hand and throat were not connected so I ignored that reference. As I brought up the New Testament verse, Wham! The New Testament verse read,
But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe!” (Matthew 18:28).
As the context of this verse is talking about forgiveness, I knew instantly what God was saying. As I shared the essence of what God was saying, the Holy Spirit powerfully witnessed and brought conviction. The young man was blown away that God, through a dream, was able to pinpoint the true state of his heart. Through the dream, God was showing him that he had not really forgiven his ex-partner from his heart, that he still held her responsible and was expecting an apology from her. This is not only a great example of God’s ability to divide hearts through dreams, but it also emphasizes the importance of using the Bible to find the interpretation.