Dreams

Dreams are something we all have mixed and varied opinions about. Some seek interpretation through conversation with elders, others brush them off as insignificant moments of subconscious fiction, yet spiritually we see many examples of how God used dreams to instruct, warn, commune and even reveal himself to us. The book of Joel 2:28 tells us that his spirit will be poured out, and gifts given will be visions and dreams. We saw in Genesis 28 Jacob’s ladder and his interaction with God. So in this Biblestudies we aim to answer some of your unanswered questions and provide clarity where it may be needed.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Okay, welcome to our Rima Bible Studies. This is I'm Bishop Williams, and it's a pleasure to be with you one more time and to share some thoughts on a very familiar subject, and that is how do you impact your dreams? How do you impact your dreams? I believe that everyone have dreams at some point or the other. But what's really crucial is that does people understand one, what it is, two, how it comes about, three, how do you impact your dream? Now, your dreams are very, very important. In fact, more important than most people give credit, um, good credit to. Now, what do we mean by that? Because uh dreams crosses from both natural, mental, and spiritual. In other words, that you we have our mental state and um dreams come about through, first and foremost, our mental state. And here we see so many people are experiencing dreams and don't understand how and why it is like that. There are those that use dreams as a source of direction, emotional connection as to what is happening in their lives. So, for example, some look to dreams as uh a means of guidance. If certain things come up in their dream, then they take it that this is what is happening, and therefore try to um to solve their problems or their issues, or even cause problems by what because they had a dream. Therefore, we must therefore we must understand um what dreams is all about. First and foremost, dreams is a natural part of our lives, it impact us mentally and spiritually, and this is really important to understand that. Biblically, God uses it from a from a spiritual perspective, the natural person uses it according to what is happening in their environment, and as a result, we can see the two um situations happening. Now, let's look into that a little bit deeper. Dreams, in by definition, would come by multitude of thoughts, that is how you dream. So, depending on what you are engaging with throughout your day, can greatly impact and stimulate dreams of varying kinds in your life. So, I'll give an example. If you are experiencing, say, for example, stress about certain issues in life, and it's really impacting you mentally, then you can find that it becomes a source of your dream. If you're worried about certain things, if you are contemplating certain things, or you feel that certain things are happening, whether there's truth to it or not, it can definitely uh reflect in your dreams. And oftentimes some can lead to truth, some can lead to misunderstanding and in fact untruth, because it is basically a state of one's mind or their uh conscious uh reaction to what they themselves believe is happening or not happening. So we must understand that this is something that is happening to everyone. So one must determine whether their dream is within the realms of the spiritual, uh whether it is in the realms of the natural. So again, let me reiterate your natural, your dream can come from your natural activities, the things you are doing during the day, the things you're thinking about are becoming um oppressed by, and that they can can trigger um dreams. And Ben basically is understanding the fact that as human beings, we are not only physical beings, but we are also spiritual beings. So as you go to sleep, for example, then it is the opportunity for dreams to become alive in your um in your mind or your consciousness, as it were. And here we must be clear, as I said, as to what is triggering that dream. Um, it's not too difficult to determine because if you have been engaging, let's say, for example, you are mistrusting someone um seriously, then it is not too difficult for you for your dream to become all about your mistress and to feed your consciousness with what you have been thinking about, but it's almost in an indirect way. And oftentimes people think, okay, it must be happening, or it is happening because I dreamt about it, but it also can be as a result of your own mental state by which you have that happening, and so it comes through what is known as multitude of thoughts. So your dream can be as a result of multitude of thoughts. So watch out, and your thought process, what you engage in, what you allow your mind to um to absorb, can greatly affect your dreams. Now, the other side to dreams is your spiritual consciousness, and this is really important. Now, even God Himself uses dreams as a means of communication to his children. So we see in the book of Joel, chapter 2, and verse 28, we see how he informed us, and that in the days when he will pour out of his spirit upon all flesh, he says, now your sons and daughters will prophesy, young men, old men will dream dreams, and they will also see visions. So here we are told how God can use dreams as a source of spiritual information, called what we look at as prophecy. And that is used extensively in the Bible through other people. And you know, if I was to sort of take a few examples of that, uh, we see in the book of Genesis, chapter 28, we notice there how um Jacob, as one, as you know, one of the patriarchs of the Old Testament, and he was on a journey, and of course, um he came to a point where night came down. And he decided he's going to stay right there and go to sleep. Man, he didn't have our fluffy feather pillars, so he used the next best thing that he could find, and that is stone. Now, I mean, that wouldn't do well for me because it's too hard. I like my head to be resting on something soft. Anyway, anyway, uh for Jacob, he was just happy to use what he had, and in this case, stone, he used as his pillars. And immediately he fell asleep. The Bible tells us that he had a dream. And this dream, it tells us in um Genesis, praise God, that he dreamt, he saw a ladder, amen, um, you know, stretching from the earth to heaven, and angels ascending and descending. And at the top of the ladder was there was God's, there was God um standing there, as it were. And God began to talk to him. He began to tell him things about his life and what he was going to do, what are going to be his accomplishments. So again, you can see how God could was now using dreams to foretell the future of this gentleman and how he's going to bless him, how he's going to expand his dominion from east, west, north, and south, and how his family will be blessed, and because of him, the whole families of the earth would come into blessings. So that that beautiful prophetic approach that God engaged in to bring this wisdom to Jacob. And Jacob clearly was most impressed and happy with what he dreamt. And when he wake up, he uses this pillar as an altar to offer sacrifice to God and name that place Bethel. So it's again demonstrates how God can use dreams as an important part of communication with you. Now, another scripture that we must consider is Numbers chapter 12 and verse 4 to 8. In Numbers chapter 12 and verse 4 to 8, we again see how God intervened in a dispute that Aaron and his sister Miriam was having over Moses marrying an Ethiopian woman. And so they were deciding they're going to tell him off and to uh um you know get him to know how unhappy they were with his decision. And God intercept, he came down and informed Moses. Look, get those three, those two out to the temple. The Bible says in verse 5, and the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood, man. There it was, and he stood, amen, in the door of the tabernacle and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words, if there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will speak, will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. So again, we see here God is uh you know conc concurring, concurring that he speak in visions and dreams, amen, accordingly. And then he went on further to say, but my servant Moses is not so. Who is faithful in all mine house? With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even a parent and not in dark species. And so we see clearly that God put these three stipulations as to how he speaks and can deal with his children. One, he will speak to some in dreams, in in dark with dark saying, You speak to some with in visions, and his servant Moses, he said it's not like that. When it comes to speaking to him, he will speak to him face to face, uh, praise God, and mouth to mouth. So there we have it. So let us understand how significant our dreams and vision is. Now, God is a spirit. Everyone understands that, yes? So if God is a spirit, then it is not unusual for him to turn up in your spiritual world. Yes, you have the natural world and you have your spiritual world. This is where many are not understanding. They do not appreciate the significance of the difference between day and night. Now, the 24 hours that we have, it's divided into two segments, 12 hours of light and 12 hours of night. Okay, so these are uh the two segments. When you are in your day, yeah, then of course your natural world take over. In other words, your senses um governs what you do, and your natural world is where you connect to via your five senses. And these senses, of course, um bring information to your spirit world. So what you see, what you hear, what you taste, what you smell, you mean, and all of that, it it not only utilizes it in the natural, but it also takes it to your spiritual world. That is why we remember things. Because, for example, if I buy some food this morning, why would I need to remember it? You know, I mean, I've seen it, I eat it, I enjoy it, then that should be it. But no, information like a database is confer is transferred to your mind, and your mind assimilated. And in this, God is saying to us that depending on what you engage yourself in each day, your mind is going to take it on board and it is going to assimilate it, whether for good or for bad. Yes, whether for good or for bad. So very, very, very important for you to appreciate and know that now that you go through your day, influenced by the activities of your days, whether your choice are other people's choices. In other words, you go to work, it's other people's choices. You're coming home on the bus, uh traveling, your choice. You go to the restaurant to have a drink, to have something to eat, your choice. And it goes on like that until your day comes to a close. Now, most people do not have balance in their lives. That is the simple truth to it. Because if you have 24 hours and you have 12 hours of daytime, then what should you be doing in crouching on the other 12 hours, which is supposed to be your rest time. Okay, now unfortunately, so many people encrouching it. And so rather than um 12 and 12, in most cases you have 12, say you have um 18 against six. So 18 hours of physical activities, six hours of what's supposed to be your rest period, your retiring uh period from your daily activities. Now, for a lot of people, when you talk about night or talk about sleep, they just trivialize it and make it seem as if, you know what, it's just about getting ready for bed and go and crash out. No, that is the end of one phase of the day, and you're now getting ready for the other phase of the day. And this is the phase that really has devastating impact on people across the board, because it's okay for everyone to do what they do during the day. And some go to the extent where they are exhausted, where they feel, you know, they're tired mentally, physically, in other areas as well. And as a result of that, they find themselves up against the challenges of what the night requires of them. So if you are staying up for 18 hours, now most people don't realize they're doing that. They just think, okay, well, uh I finished the day, the night is mine to do what I want. I may go clubbing, I may go pubbing, I may go whatever and do whatever until I am about to drop. Yes, and then I may retire, as it were, to my bed. Now, not taking into consideration that you have already forfeited six hours of what should have been your rest time. Yes, we wonder why the animals wake up so bright and breezy. Um the birds wake up singing, because they understand the value of time. They go, they shut out. You don't find them roaming and doing the things they do when it isn't time to do so. Here we have it, where um you then find many people uh are on balance in their life, too tired to really communicate with their spirit or with the spirit of God in them. They're exhausted, they see sleep as just a time to shut off. That is how they see it, not realizing that it is one of the most critical times of their life, because your physical being has now shut down, and you becoming spiritually alert, not influenced by what you're seeing, what you're hearing, but you are spiritually alert, which is where your spirit should be in communication with your father, the spirit of the father of spirit, our God. Unfortunately, so many don't do that. And um, they have themselves having nightmares, they have themselves having all kinds of stressful dreams, they have them find themselves experiencing um dreams and issues that leave them sometimes absolutely exhausted. So imagine you go to sleep, and when you wake up, you are. More tired than when you first went to sleep. What's that all about? What has happened during the night when you have to be absolutely resting? Now, ironically enough, there are those people who find themselves fighting in their sleep. You know what I mean? They are chasing men and women in their sleep. They find themselves in different bizarre places. You see, and all of that going on when they should be in communication with their father. But it is indicative of the spiritual state that most people find themselves in. So let's examine closely what should be happening. How can you impact your dreams? How can you change what goes on in your life? Because your dream is like the creative machine for your life. That is what your dream is. Now, most people think it is what they're doing during the daytime that is making them creatively successful. No. Your dream is that spiritual force that helps you to achieve success that so many find themselves with. If you were to ask many successful businessmen and women, how did you become so successful? You would be surprised that they don't even know themselves. Yes? They know they get up early and go to work like everybody else. They know that they are smart in the things that they do like everybody else. But what is it that makes you so successful? And majority of others are not. Because some people don't even know that they have found the secret to their success. And that secret is how they adapt themselves to their spirit world. That is where this the secret is. How do you adapt yourself? Now, have you ever heard somebody say to you, for example, I was I saw this person on his podcast, and he was saying, before you fall asleep, this is exercise you need to do. And he showed you you are to do this and you are to do that. And he said, do that for six minutes or seven minutes and then go to sleep. And you're gonna wake up and feel the benefit of those five minutes of exercise. Now you've got others who will tell you, if you want to have a certain health level, then drink this, eat that, don't eat that before you go to sleep. And if you do that, you're gonna wake up feeling so much healthier, so much better, and all of that. Now, the question that one has to ask themselves. Now, in the same way, these people can tell you that if you do certain things before you go to sleep, it's gonna have impact on you while you're sleeping in your natural and your physical, in your physical as well as your spiritual world. Okay, so wouldn't it been then be natural in the same way that if you do certain spiritual activities, it will it will impact your your life the same way. So we're gonna discuss a couple of those spiritual activities that you need to do so that you can influence your environment. You can influence how things are gonna be for you, you can influence how life will dealt you, whether it's gonna dealt you success or failure. But the truth is you are the one who will determine whether you're going to follow these basic rules and see transformation come about in your life. One is healed. Now, we're talking about healing your soul. Yes. Most people's soul are in trouble. Yes. It's in trouble from things like hatred, hating people around you. Amen. There are those who whose soul are in trouble because they are resentful. There are those which are finding themselves coveting other what belongs to others. And the list goes on that people are experiencing. Some people just find themselves angry for no good reason. Some people call it, well, it is just a mood swing, is what I'm just going through, and they would attribute it to just about anything that they think is acceptable. Yes. But you one need to take control of how you heal your soul. In other words, you need to look at are there anyone in your life that you need to pray for? And what I mean by that, to consciously forgive. Is there anyone? And remember, this is a private operation going on between you, your soul, and God. Yes, no, no, you know, it doesn't uh has to do with anybody else at this stage. So you can forgive in the comfort of your home. You can forgive someone. You can let that, you can speak into the spirit realm and command that that person be forgiven and that there is no negative connectivity between you and that individual. Okay, so that is one of the first things you're gonna do. Now, why do I say that? Um, let's take the book of Matthew as a typical example. I just want to read a portion of scripture from the book of Matthew, um, again, relating to what Jesus said concerning those people that are in your environment. Here it's telling us in Matthew chapter 5 and verse uh 43 to 44. Let's look at that together and we will see what he says. So verse 4, and he said, Amen. Um Matthew chapter 5, sorry, 43, um, 43 to 44. So that's what we're going to look at, 43 to 44. You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and say, and persecute you. Okay? Now that you may be the children of your father, which is in heaven, for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and send the rain on the just and the unjust. So you can see how how God feels about it. Yes, that the greatest way to heal you is to look at these categories of people in your life and begin to forgive them because when you forgive, you will love them. Praise God. And that's what he is asking you to do, right? So, whatever state, whatever the connection to you is, he says, even when they look like they're hating you, he said, you do not reciprocate the same thing. He said, Because love is stronger than hate. Yes, and when you have love and you can ask to for God and for yourself to forgive someone, I want you to know it has real spiritual significance. It really, it really does. And he's saying that that's what you ought to do. So everyone that wronged you, everyone that causes you pain, everyone that hasn't been a hindrance in your growth and your life, call them up. And before you go to sleep, forgive them. Don't take them to bed with you. Not a good idea at all. Yes? Get rid of them. Leave them outside the bedroom door, and in fact, outside completely. And so by forgiving them, by doing that, you are healing yourself consciously and putting yourself in a position where God can speak to you. Okay, so that is important. Whether it is in the past or in the present, you must not allow any of these to be living on the inside of your mind. Okay, so first thing, heal. Heal the mother, heal the father, heal the sisters, heal the brothers, heal all of those people has been negatively impacting your life. You're not doing them a favor, you're doing yourself a favor when you can forgive them, when you can heal amen your soul. You are going to look better, you're going to be more beautiful, your your attitude is going to be perfect. You're going to just be one wonderful person that everybody wants to be around. Because why? Any person looks at you, they see the purity of your soul. And that is what so many people are looking for. Find somebody who is not corrupt, their soul is not, you know, filled with all kinds of uh, you know, emotional nasties, but they are genuinely good, genuinely happy, and great individuals because why? They have emptied themselves of all the potential the potential uh stuff that can um intoxicate, as it were, their soul. That's one of the first things you gotta do. And the second thing is bless. So you heal and bless. Yes. Bless is not now is to do with you. You see, you need to see yourself being blessed. That is how you got to look. Now, a lot of people, uh, you know, whether one kid to accept it or not, cannot see themselves being blessed. They go through life and all they can hear is negative things being said by their mind about them. Yes? Where did that horrible thought come from? Yeah? Who was it that generates that horrible suggestion that you can't be your best? Who is it that says you're not gonna be the head and not the tail? Why do you believe that you wouldn't be blessed when you go out and when you come in, when you're in the field, when you're in the city, in the town? Who tell you that you will not be the success that God made you to be? You see, that is where you have to learn how to bless you. Yes? And to bless you is to see all the things you desire. See a seat within the spirit realm. Yes. Where do you live right now? You live, you know, in a in a shed somewhere. But that is maybe your starting point. But where do you see you're gonna end up? That's where your dreams, that's where your vision comes into play. Because when you begin to bless, you now tell God, who is he? He's the creator of everything. Yes, he's a creator of everything, and so you can now tap into his creative ability on your behalf to say, okay, now I expect to have my business the best. Yes, I expect to be at the top of my game. And you can begin to to to to this to this discuss and describe to God what is it you want, yes? Because it's not Him that determines whether you eat fish and chips all day, all week, or you eat steak and chips all week. You are the one who decides it. You are the one who speaks it into being. You got to understand the power of the spoken word. So as you, before you lay down, before you commit your consciousness to your spirit world, it's your ability to now, I mean, create in your coming world. Yes, I mean, when is when is your coming world? Your coming world is six o'clock the next morning. Amen. That's your world coming back into focus. Yes? So you go out of focus because you're physically, you're sleeping and you're resting, you've shut down physically and all of that, but mentally you are now in your spirit world. And it is in this world, so many people have no control. They have, they do not know what is happening, they don't have any answer for what they are seeing. Today is going to be a different day because now you will know, now you will see, and you will understand how to impact your world. So you have to see yourself successful. You got to see yourself. What is your dream? What is the thing that you you know you talk about all your life that you're going to be? Who is telling you that you you can't be it? Nobody. It's only you can do that. So you need to be blessed and to go forward to achieving, achieving your um your success, achieving the things that you need. Now remember that even God Himself said he causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. That if the you as an individual were to do this basic process, whether you are righteous or unrighteous, the Bible said that it will stimulate blessing. And you wonder why so many people, you know, who doesn't even call on God, seem to have so much success. Because they believe in their dreams, they believe in their vision, and they go out to make it happen. That's what God is saying to you, that when you pronounce these blessings on yourself and your family, on those things that matters to you, you will go out and achieve and achieve it. Yes? And I've got too many examples and testimony of people who speak the word, believe that it will happen, and they see it come to pass. Now, the third one is gratitude. Now, this is really, really important. Gratitude. If you really want to see the blessing of God flows, then you must extend gratitude. God hate in gratitude. Yes. One time he healed ten men. They were leprous. All of them had lepers. And he healed them because they came and begged him, and he grant them the favor of healing them. So they went away to show themselves to the priest, man as the law requires, and they suddenly find themselves all healed. What happened? Nine of them run off to families, friends, neighbors, back to their business, back to their farm, back to everything that they were about before their trouble came. Only one return to give thanks to God. He has family, but he returned. He has business, but he returned. And it's so much happening in our world where people are forgetting how to be grateful. God kept you through the week. God watch over you through the week. God protects you from accident through the week. God provides food for you throughout the week. He everything you want. And yet, what time do you have to come and say, thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Thank you for your mercy. So gratitude really reflects your attitude. Yes? It really, really does that. So I want you to be clear, amen. That to develop, encourage a right state of a mindset of gratitude is going to really have incredible impact on what happens to you. So first and foremost, learn you're giving God thanks. You see, but this is before you turn over to your spirit world. Yeah? You're giving God thanks. Why am I giving God thanks? I'm thanking God for keeping me throughout throughout the day. I'm thanking God for watching over my family. I'm thanking God for protecting us from diseases, sicknesses, and so many deadly things that can happen. You deserve to be thanked. Amen. For it. Right? You're thanking God for your children. Yeah? How many, you know, bless them, they run around, don't even knowing what day it is. But here they are being protected. God is watching over them. You're thanking God for opportunity to bring about changes in your life. Yes? You see, you might have done something down the road and it's too late now. But God has given you the chance, the opportunity to make changes. So we need to thank him for that. We need to thank him for the challenges that we face each day. Because challenges don't come to destroy you, it comes to make you stronger. Challenges come to really uh cause you to flex, as it were, your spiritual muscles. Yeah. So you need that, right? You want to give him thanks for making you partner with him in the creation of your life. I mean, that's what is looking for. So you're saying thank you, because you're helping me to create who I want to be, who I need to be, and so thank you. And as you begin to to thank him, amen, as he takes you through the creative process. Right? Your gratitude is the most powerful magnet. And what does that do? It pulls your miracle to you. Amen. It pulls your blessing from the east, the west, the north, the south. It pulls it to you. So you will wake up one day and you're thinking, yesterday I didn't have a job. Yesterday my business wasn't working. But because I've learned how to not walk merely by sight, but walk by the Spirit, I can give God thanks and be grateful long before I see the miracle of what I dream about. See, that shows you that you are master of your situation. Amen. That's what it tells you. You are master of your situation. So you can thank God not when you see it, but before you see it with the natural eyes. And so gratitude will shift your consciousness from luck to abundance. Yeah. That's what it will do. It will shift you, move you from that state of lack and put you into a state of abundance. Have you seen that most people go through this roller coaster life? Yes, and one day they wake up and things are really bad. And then somehow they got a little wind of what they need to do, and they start to do it, and suddenly their life begins to rise again. But no sooner it rises because they were not consciously aware of how it is done, they suddenly go back to what they were. And they begin to see their life, I mean, again, uh losing altitude. But today, you will know how to not only start your um your rise, but also to maintain your height, Jesus, and to understand that your spiritual world, amen, with God's help, will let you go to sleep and you will wake up bright, beautiful, and full of life. That is what will happen to you if you are willing to allow yourself to be fixed. Yes, and so it's very, very crucial that you make gratitude part of your life's activities, not only to God, but to your family, to your friends, to those around you, to your workmate, your business partner. There's nothing wrong with sending a card, sending a message of gratitude to those who has impacted and is impacting and potentially will impact your world. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I'm very happy to have you on board. I just want to say to you, stay blessed. This is Bishop Williams saying peace until we meet again. Thank you.