The Dream Controversy
The subject of dreams and dream interpretation is one of great controversy within the Body of Christ. And some may fear that if we open ourselves to this method of guidance from God, it will put us into a position to be easily misled down some sidetrack away from the fundamental teachings of the Bible. However, it is our experience that the opposite is the truth. If the Church is going to embrace the Holy Spirit’s voice through dreams, it also has to be totally soaked in the Scriptures. It takes a balanced view of the whole of Scripture to interpret correctly, and therefore, the people who want to improve their interpretation skills have to be disciplined in Bible reading. They also have to believe and apply what they are reading. Rather than being led astray, embracing dreams as messages from God actually leads us deeper into the ways of God. This is because, through dreams, the Holy Spirit teaches the application of the principal of referencing (or linking truth with truth), as outlined within the Scriptures, “ . . . the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13b).
Therefore, without a solid grounding in the Word of God, you cannot possibly know that what you are receiving is from God, let alone understand what it means. The Holy Spirit will only endorse God’s Word further through His voice in the night. If you hear anything contrary to God’s written Word, then it is not God who is speaking!
The real basis of this controversy is the devil’s doing. The devil does not want the empowerment of God’s people through this channel of communication. He is always attempting to thwart the purposes of God. Listen to his voice through Peter as Jesus begins to reveal spiritual truth incomprehensible to the natural mind,
"From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not hap- pen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:21-23).
Just as the devil used Peter’s personal agenda and limited outlook to challenge Christ, he still is using those whose security is not truly in God in an attempt to stifle God’s plans. If we have our security in anything other than Christ alone—position, money, power, recognition, religion, intellect, or acceptance—then the old self will come out fighting as soon as a spiritual truth is declared that threatens that security, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit . . . and these are contrary to one another” (Gal. 5:17).
As in Peter’s case, often it is spiritual pride through which the devil is allowed to enter and attempt to coerce the Body of Christ away from God’s intended path. Moments before this rebuke, Peter had received the revelation that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16-19). And following that gem from the Father, he was commended by Jesus as being blessed, told that he would be pivotal to the coming Kingdom and that he would be endowed with authority. What a promise! However, it was all too much for the would-be apostle. The devil had an entry point—Peter’s pride—and in the next breath, Peter takes it upon himself to correct Jesus.If the devil can keep us blind to the fact that God is actually speaking through dreams, then he has effectively cut off one of the main channels of communication God has used for more than 4000 years to mobilize His troops. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that we would think that God, who has communicated for such a long time using dreams, would pull the plug on this means of communication, especially when He promised He would do it more?
