Another Dream from God. Books of Daniel and Revelation.

 Continued from previous post:

This timeline of world history was so important that God repeated it three times and in each of them God added a little more detail.  In Daniel Chapter 7, while Daniel was still living under the Babylonian Empire, God gave him a dream. 

…the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.  And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another.  The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle.  I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it.  And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear.  And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’…and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it…and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth.  It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns…behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.   Daniel 7:2-8

Daniel saw the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea (for an explanation of prophetic symbols see Appendix 2).  Out of this great sea there came four beasts corresponding to the four metals making up the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. 

 The first was a lion that had wings like an eagle (signifying the speed with which the beast could move).  It had its wings plucked and it was given a human mind.  Babylon stopped conquering other nations and felt secure in its power, becoming decadent and complacent, losing the attributes of a preying lion and instead becoming the prey.

The lion was replaced by a lop-sided bear (signifying that one side was stronger than the other) with three ribs in its mouth (signifying the three geographical areas it ‘devoured’: its own lands of Media and Persia, lands the Babylonian Empire once ruled, and new lands such as Anatolia).

The bear was replaced by a leopard with four wings (signifying even greater speed of movement) and four heads (Alexander’s empire divided among his four generals).

 And finally a fourth beast, Rome, which was terrifying and extremely strong, had iron teeth and crushed the other beasts. 

Following all these beasts and horns Daniel saw Jesus returning to the earth and setting up his kingdom. 

I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man was coming…His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away…  Daniel 7:13, 14 

Daniel’s dream reinforces what we have already studied: Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, mixture of nations, and finally God’s kingdom.

But there is something new in this vision.  As we have seen, the fourth beast, Rome, had ten horns on its head.  As Daniel was looking at the horns a little horn popped up, pushing three of the original horns out by the roots.  This new horn had eyes and a mouth and was yapping and boasting about itself.  As Daniel was seeing this, someone standing next to him said that the horn was also speaking out against God and persecuting the saints (Dan. 7:25).  

We know that Rome destroyed Jerusalem and persecuted Christians, even throwing them into the arena to be torn apart by wild beasts.  But what is this horn, which three horns did it rip out by the roots, and why are its persecutions and boasts so huge that it is worth mentioning in prophecy?  We will uncover this mystery in later chapters, so for now just keep this mouthy, blasphemous horn in the back of your mind.

 

Visions and Dreams from God.

 

I give permission for any one to copy and distribute my blog posts.

Members of my family have had visions and dreams from God over the last two years. I am going to share all this with you because I now feel God wants me to do that.

My sister, who lives in the United States, heard God tell her that something big and terrible was going to happen soon. He told her to buy camping and survival gear.

She didn’t have much money, but every month she bought those items from Amazon. She had finished buying everything by last January. Because of her, my husband and I also bought camping stuff. We just finished buying our last item.

My sister got impatient waiting for God to tell her to leave her home and go. The Lord told her, “There is more for me to do. Your family is ready and in place.” She is content now to wait.

Meanwhile, I had a dream Jesus was returning, he was on his way here. There was a large sphere coming through the stars. I could see smoke, fire and lightening in the sphere.

My husband has had dreams of our family fleeing to the mountains. In one of the dreams there was a mob chasing us and as they almost reached us a wall of fire separated them from us and we ran. He has had three or four of these dreams this year.

We don’t know what is coming. But we believe God’s warnings and have prepared. I hope you will pray about this and ask God if it is true and what to do. May God bless you all.

 

God Woke My Up to Pray.

Last week, I had a dream. I didn’t know at first if it was from God until I spoke with my husband when he came home from work. It then became evident the dream was from our Savior.

I dreamed I was in bed and woke up to get a drink of water. I walked in the living room and saw a glass floating in the air. I thought, “This is the work of Satan.”

I wasn’t afraid. I walked over to the glass and felt it and saw there was nothing holding it up. I then felt a cloud of evil around me. I said aloud, “In the name of Jesus Christ, go away Satan!” I felt half the cloud leave. I was surprised there was any evil left, so I said it again, “In the name of Jesus Christ, go away, Satan!” Then all the evil left the room. This was when I woke up.

My first thought was, “Something terrible is going to happen to someone in the family.” So, I prayed for God to be with us. I also wondered if the dream was from God, because I wasn’t really sure. It was a clear, strong dream, which is the way he has given me dreams in the past; but still, I didn’t understand the dream completely so I wasn’t sure.

When my husband came home, I told him the dream. He didn’t know what it meant either except maybe Satan was going to try to harm someone.

Then he said, “You won’t believe what happened to me today! We were driving to work, (he is in a carpool) and all of a sudden, a herd of deer ran out across the highway. I barely stopped in time. Then I flashed my lights so the people coming from the other direction would slow down, and they did. And then as we were nearing the city, I was going 60 miles an hour; we turned a corner and there was a dead dear laying across the lane I was in. I quickly shoulder-checked and there was no one next to me so I darted over and missed hitting the deer!” They were both very close-calls, and I was driving the sports car, not the SUV.”

Then he finished talking saying, “Two times in one morning!” I looked at him and immediately understood the dream. The Lord had me pray two times, not once, for Satan to be driven away from the family. My husband looked at me, and I could see he understood too.

We are so thankful to God for saving my husband and co-workers from two potentially terrible accidents. Who knows what may have happened to them. Only God. But he made a way of escape for them and I can’t thank him enough.

This morning, I was reading Psalm 30, which reminded me of what happened.

I will exalt you, Lord,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
 Lord my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit. Verses 1-3

You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever. Verses 11, 12

We are all in a spiritual battle for our spirit, soul and body. Paul describes this in Ephesians.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. “  Ephesians 6:12

Jesus prayed to his Father about his followers, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15

I pray this quite often, and this time there was an urgent need for that kind of prayer, and God woke me to do it. Believe me when I say, I am the least of the followers of Jesus; and as my husband always says, “Don’t forget the Lord used an ass.” Lol. But I wanted to tell people, tell the world, what God did for us that day. I praise his holy name.

A Dream of Jesus Beside Us.

It feels wonderful to walk beside someone you love.

I had a dream last night. Two men walked up to me and said, “There is someone standing beside you.”  I looked, and said, “Yes, it is Jesus. He is always beside me. You should give your lives to him.” Then I woke up.

Usually, in my dreams, if I am around men, I am afraid and they look at me like they want to have sex. Not this time. I wasn’t afraid and there was no suggestion of sex in the dream. The dream made me happy because I think God is showing me I am learning to trust him. It felt so good to see him standing beside me.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 41:13,

“For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

I heard a sermon from the pastor of Creekside Church podcast and he quoted C.S. Lewis from one of the Narnia books called, Prince Caspian. In this scene Lucy hasn’t seen Aslan (Jesus) for awhile.

“Aslan" said Lucy "you're bigger".
"That is because you are older, little one" answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

 The preacher said as we spend more and more time with God, he will seem bigger to us. I have found that to be true. God seems amazingly powerful to me now. I see him as King of the Universe, a mighty and awesome God who stoops down to walk beside me. Me, a weak and sinful person. I feel so thankful for who he is.

 I found some other verses that tell us he is beside us. Here they are:

“My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:8

“You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.”  Psalm 18:35

“With the LORD beside me as my helper, I will triumph over those who hate me”.  Psalm 118:7

For David says of Him: “I saw the Lord ever before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”  Acts 2:25/Psalm 16:8

Paul wrote, “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.”  2 Timothy 4:17

“For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.”  Psalm 109:31

Miracles and Dreams.

Photo by Joe Mabel

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmabel 

Announcement:

I have cataracts on both eyes. They are growing. It is hard to read on my laptop and tablet. My eyes feel strained and tired. Therefore, I’ve had to cut down or even eliminate reading your blogs, my friends and followers. Terribly sorry, but that is the way it is for now. I’ll be getting surgery sometime this spring or summer. I’m hoping to return and start reading again.

I love to read your blogs. They usually inspire me. I love hearing how God is working in people’s lives. So, I will come back when my eyesight is normal. I will also still be posting once a week if I feel God wants me to.  So on to my post for today.

Dreams and Miracles

I wanted to share with you some of the miracles that have taken place for a group called GLOW – Giving Light to Our World. It is part of the ministry for my church, Seventh-Day-Adventist. I don’t go to church any longer because of many reasons, one being I am not mentally well and find it hard to be around people. I rarely leave my apartment, but I’m very happy here with my family.

Anyway, my mom gets a magazine from the church and they had an article about what has happened with GLOW this year. I want to share this exciting news with two stories:

“In the U.S. Liz was working at home when she heard a knock on the door. When she opened it, David, who was handing out GLOW pamphlets, was already walking away. Liz called out to let him know she was home. Back on her porch, David handed Liz a GLOW paper.

“I have chills right now!” Liz said. “Not too long ago I had a dream. In the dream I saw two ministers of the gospel coming to my house sharing literature.” David was thrilled to hear about her dream, but he was the only person there.

Just then, Taylor, his ministry partner, arrived. He had run out of tracts and had come looking for David to get more. Now there were two ministers of the gospel at her door.

Liz looked at David and Taylor, “I believe this is from God. In my dream I saw two ministers at my door bringing me hope. I heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is your last chance. I am coming back soon!” Please pray for me. I need Jesus in my life.

This story came from the Philippines:

A church member was walking through several neighborhoods handing out GLOW tracts. In his city, it was customary for trash to be swept into small piles near the street and burned. Someone lit a pile of trash near where the missionary was handing out pamphlets. 

A man walked by and noticed one piece of paper that would not burn. He picked it up and tried to light it, but it wouldn’t catch fire. He called some people over to see this strange happening. Speechless, the crowd watched his failed attempts to burn this pamphlet.

Across the street, the church member noticed the crowd and went to see what was happening. Stunned, he told them he was the person handing out the leaflets. He invited them all to an evangelistic meeting at his church that evening. Some came just for the one meeting, others continued to come until the series ended. Several of the eyewitnesses of the tract that wouldn’t burn were baptized.

From Adventist World, October 2017.

My Life with God in My 40's.

My grandsons and granddaughters. Taken around 9 years ago.

I must warn those who keep reading that this story is about sexual child abuse.

My forties were half wonderful, half crazy painful. When my daughters got married and left home, I fell into a depression. I had lived for my children and my life and  home felt empty. I went to a psychologist and he suggested I go to university and work towards a career. I liked that idea, so I did go and enjoyed it immensely. However, something happened that made it impossible to keep going and get a degree.

When I was 46, I went to stay with my father when my mother went to Florida to visit my sister. My father had been dizzy and falling, so I went over to make sure he would be okay. That night, alone with him in the house, he knocked on the bathroom door while I was in there getting ready for bed. All of a sudden, I became terrified. I thought he was going to rape me. I ran out and went in the bedroom I was to sleep in and tried to lock the door, but I couldn't. I went to bed very frightened of him. The next morning I went home as soon as I woke up.

I shook all this off and decided I was just imagining things. Then I started having dreams. Dreams of him chasing me, harming me, abusing me. I told my sisters what had happened. They told me secrets they had kept all their lives. My older sister said our father's brother had touched her sexually. My youngest sister said the same uncle had also molested her. I was shocked and horrified. I decided to go to my psychologist and talk with him about it.

He was skeptical at first, but after a few visits trying to sort things out, if it was my father or someone else, he concluded I had been molested by him. He wanted to use a therapy where they tap your hand while talking; it was supposed to bring the memories back clearly. I didn't want that. I felt if God had made me forget the details, then I didn't want to go around God and find out more than my mind could take.

Well, from then on I have had mental problems, breakdowns and dissociation, which is when you kind of stop being an adult and  you become the child again. It is kind of spooky. I don't realize it is happening when it happens, I just start crying like a little child or run around in a panic.

I would have to write a book to describe what all that is like, and I have no plans to do that. I went to a few more psychologists and was an outpatient one time when I was hearing things. I am much better now, my biggest problem is social phobia and not wanting to drive or leave the house. But since I'm 67, I've decided not to fight that and just stay home for the most part. I really enjoy my life at home.

God was with me through all of this. He gave me a few beautiful dreams where he was right beside me. In the first dream, he looked at me with sorrow for what I was going through. 

The second dream was amazing. I was in church and saw my father there. I said to him, "You can't hurt me anymore. God's angels are with me."  Then I turned and left the church. I was surrounded by many angels. We walked outside to a field and sat on the grass and sang a beautiful song to God. I looked up and saw a hill with three crosses on top. Suddenly, roses began growing and climbing up the middle cross until it was covered in pink roses. I stood up, and as I did I saw Jesus himself coming into view over the hill. I ran to him crying and flung myself into his arms. He was smiling and held me close.

The third dream was of Jesus and I riding beautiful, black horses. We were riding fast through a field. Jesus and I were laughing and enjoying the experience. All of a sudden, the horses grew beautiful, large, black wings and we rose into the sky and up to the stars. I knew we were going to heaven.

The wonderful part of my 40's was when my grandchildren came into the world. I feel the best gift God has given me personally is my children and grandchildren.

God has shown me through the years to quote Scripture when I get depressed or have nightmares. No matter how bad I feel in the morning, or how bad I feel about my mother's illness, I quote Scripture. I ask God for strength of mind and spirit. I thank him for being here with me and walking with me through life. My mind is transformed; I actually feel great peace and happiness. He is an amazing God. He is the strength of my life and my portion forever.

Dreams of Silence.

I'm having more dreams about my mother. I keep dreaming she is hiding the fact my father was sexually abusing me. Last night in my dream she asked my sister and I to hide the evidence. I don't feel horrible about these dreams. Not like the dreams I had about my father; but I wonder why I have them. I figured I have forgiven her and moved on.

I asked God what I should do about these dreams. He said to just talk to him about my mother's part in it all. I did, and I will continue to do this until the dreams go away.

The reason I have felt no ill will towards my mother is that I grew up in the 1950s. There were no Women's Shelters, no welfare, no help at all for women. My mother was a secretary and I think she was paid minimum wage - no benefits at all, of course. She would never have been able to take care of us three kids. I know that.

On top of it all, my brother had severe asthma. He was always sick. He was in the hospital at least once a year; his medications were expensive; doctor visits had to be paid. If my mother left my father, my brother would have had to go to the county hospital and I don't know how she would have paid for anything else. It was just impossible.

The big memory I have of my mom and me was when I had a growth on my upper thigh. It was so strange looking that I'll never forget what it looked like. It looked like a cauliflower. When I looked it up, when I was an adult, I found out it was a genital wart. They had to burn it off of me and I remember that well.

At the doctor's visit, I remember him examining me in a way I'd never been through before. I remember him speaking to my mother and her answering him. I remember driving in the car on the way home; but I don't remember what was said by anyone. I do remember we got a new doctor after that.

I wish our brains could leave us alone. But I trust God that he made our brains this way for a good reason. I have read we will dream about something until it is resolved. I believe that is true, and I guess that's why I have no feelings anymore about my father and what he did. It took a long time to reach that resolution - but it happened and I'm happy about that. This is just another thing to resolve and I know God will help me.

Nightmares.

Every night, for the past year or so, I wake up startled as soon as I fall asleep. I wake up fully alert and hungry. I'm trying not to eat late at night, but tonight I cooked myself eggs and cheese in the hope protein won't pack on the pounds.

I think I know why this happens. All my life I have had nightmares; now, I guess my brain is telling me, "Don't go to sleep. You will have horrible dreams." Thank you, brain. Thanks a lot; you are only making me feel worse. I long for sleep.

The dreams used to be about my father. Dreams like a horror story. Waking up screaming, shaking and terrified. Dreams of a sexual nature. Dreams of him driving me in a bus and looking like a maniac. After therapy, I finally dreamed I was driving the bus and not him. That made me feel good.

The latest dreams are about a woman who is choking a baby or child to keep it quiet. Very upsetting. Sometimes the woman is me, as it was last night. I told my husband there was something around the baby's neck while I was trying to give it a bottle. I couldn't see what it was that was choking her. Sometimes the woman is someone else. I know the dreams mean for me to keep quiet. Don't tell anyone.

The little girl inside me says, "No one loves you." The teenager inside me says, "No one loves you." But the adult now says, "God loves me, my husband loves me, my children love me, my grandchildren love me and my mother, who is still alive at 89, loves me. But the adult has a hard time controlling the young ones. They don't listen to me. They don't believe me.

Why am I writing about this? I don't know. I probably want pity. Maybe though, I think it might be that I can't tell many people about this; it would just upset them. My family doesn't read my blog, so I can say anything here and get it off my chest. Yes, I tell my husband my dreams, but it doesn't seem enough. I want someone to understand what I go through every single day of my life. How I have to fight to want to even live in this world.

God has given me the will to fight. I quote scripture when I feel bad and I am immediately helped. I can then go through the day with some joy. Sometimes lots of joy, praise God. If I didn't have God, I'd have nothing. He, "gives me songs in the night." He gives me hope. He is, "the God of all hope." He gives me strength, "God is the strength of my life."