Originally posted by idle_rocker
Nope, haven't heard. Got a link?
I_R
I_R, thank you friend!!!!
the thread has gone seriously DEEP....
pls see: btw, most will ignore....
Link: www.jesusvisions.org...
Smith Wigglesworth and the Devil
English Evangelist Smith Wigglesworth was fearless as he prayed for the sick and performed apostolic exploits for the Lord. Wigglesworth’s grandson, Leslie, personally related an incident to me. One night Smith Wigglesworth was sleeping in a draughty room during a thunderstorm. The windows rattled, the lights flickered, and suddenly Wigglesworth saw a vision of Satan himself standing at the foot of his bed! But Wigglesworth was not in the least bit disturbed. Because he possessed such a revelation of personal safety under the watch-care of the Good Shepherd, and because he understood the power of the Name of Jesus, Wigglesworth just dismissed the devil. He said, “Oh, it’s only you!” He turned over in his bed and fell into a deep slumber!
We must underline the Biblical principle that God seals our instructions often when we are fully surrendered in deep sleep. A dream is ordinarily not God’s primary way of speaking to us—He may first speak to us through His Word and through His still small voice. But often because we are dull of hearing, or simply because we are not listening, or because we perhaps do not have access to the Word of God, the Lord in His love and mercy, employs the means of speaking to our spirits, which are alive and never sleep, through dreams, night visions or “similitudes” (mental pictures, images).
“In a dream, and in slumberings upon the bed--” God has stated methods of opening the ears of men, and “sealing their instructions.” We learn this very salient point from Job 33:15-16. Thus through dreams and night visions, the Lord God admonishes men by their consciences, in secret whispers, which any man or woman of wisdom will hear and heed.
On the other hand, most of our dreams are merely colored by the events of our daily lives. According to Ecclesiastes 5: 7, it is important to note that some dreams are simply the result of various vanities: “For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.”
Job 33:14-23 is an important passage of Scripture to understand how and why God speaks to us in dreams:
“For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness. . . .”
In the above passage, we see that God graciously and mercifully speaks again and again to us in dreams, in visions of the night when deep sleep falls, during what the scientists call REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. God opens our ears in times like that and imparts to us wisdom and instruction, causing us to “wake up” and to change our minds, restraining us therefore from the dangerous sin of pride, and warning us of the penalties of sin, or preventing us from falling into a tragic trap.
God’s methods have not changed, for he says, “I am the LORD. I change not.” (Malachi 3: 6) In the above Job passage, we learn that all people dream and are thus susceptible to receiving letter pictures from God. Some people tell me that they never dream. They are simply not remembering their dreams, because scientists inform us that all people dream every night. However, dreams that originate from us or from a distraught day or from indigestion will not be long remembered. A supernatural dream, on the other hand, will be remembered. Some we will remember all of our lives because of the impact of God-sent dreams.
Furthermore, we learn from this passage of Scripture in the Book of Job that God allows sickness and pain, so that we may lose our appetites and even perhaps become so ill that we are reduced to mere skin and bones as we draw near to the gates of death. This in turn causes us to seek the Lord and to develop a prayer life. And if an interpreter of dreams, who is a rare commodity, can be found, to show us what is right, then our chastened bodies will become as healthy as a child's, firm and youthful again. Yes, God often does these things for man-- brings back his soul from the Pit, so that he may live.
So a dream comes once, twice, to deliver us from our own destructive ways.
Whenever God outpours his Spirit, dreams and visions become a part of the move of God, but these phenomena are especially a Last Days characteristic according to the prophecies in Joel 2: 28 and Acts 2: 17: "And afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions."
True Biblical dreams and visions are therefore often the result of the gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit and are part of every move of God. The enemy will always counterfeit the genuine moves of God, but that does not change the fact that God will deign to use and speak through visions and dreams. It is our duty not to resist the gracious Spirit of God when he deals with us privately through these means.
Today there is an insatiable interest in the supernatural, in angels, apparitions, demons, physic hotlines, the occult and the paranormal, prophecies, astrology, mediums, UFOs, “holy” men, fakirs, spiritual “channels,” etc.
