Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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I've had dreams of God, and I've had dreams from the natural, and I've had some from a negative source. My advice is usually to pray about them. No matter the source, God can reveal it to you and give you comfort concerning it. This probably doesn't surprise you, but God is way more willing to answer than what most churches will teach or even admit. So trust God over doctrines of man.
One of my favorite dream experiences was after reading Judges 7, especially verses 9-15 and pondering what happened.
Gideon was instructed by God to go to the enemy's camp and hear what they say. One Amelekite had a dream and told it to the other. The other Amelekite gave the interpretation which was that God had sent Gideon to destroy them. Upon hearing the dream and interpretation, Gideon grasped the courage to go do exactly that, according to God's command to him.
I thought "WOW God, that would be awesome.... You gave a dream, not to Gideon, but to Gideon's ENEMIES And a second ENEMY gave the interpretation." That 'blew my mind" so to speak, and I asked God if he would do something like that for me.
Not long after, I was wondering what to do about a situation at work. A coworker caught me as I walked toward my work station one morning. She said "I had the craziest dream last night and you were in it!". And she told me the dream, concluding with "Isn't that just the crazyiest thing you've ever heard?". I said "Well, it sure is interesting. Thanks for sharing." And she walked off.
What I didn't tell her was that God had given me the interpretation; and it was the answer to my dilemma at work. It was also the answer to my request about God giving answers through dreams of those who are not His people. I quite appreciated it. It kept me from doing something I would later have regretted.
I THINK i could share the dream plus its interpretation, if asked. But it would take a page or two so I wouldn't expeditiously post it without a request to do so (and probably some prayer).
Love in Jesus,
Kelby
But it doesn't say it is a fearful thing to be LIFTED by the hands of God.
He might have been showing you that your fear to let go of the things of this world is hindering you from higher purposes.
Keep praying until you know what it means, or where it came from. If not from God, you'll want to disregard it.
Love in Jesus,
Kelby
Acts gives a very good example: Acts 9: 10-16
10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
Personally, I don't see Ananias as being crazy.....
This dream was a long time ago. It was the beginning of God drawing me (and probably a lot of others) to Him.But it doesn't say it is a fearful thing to be LIFTED by the hands of God.
He might have been showing you that your fear to let go of the things of this world is hindering you from higher purposes.
Keep praying until you know what it means, or where it came from. If not from God, you'll want to disregard it.
Love in Jesus,
Kelby
God has spoken to me in words maybe 40 times in my life. It's hard to describe, but it is not audible. Yet it is obviously God. This may sound a lot, but it's not. I've discovered that God can get His message across in very few words. So in 50 years, it's a few minutes of God speaking directly.
The difference between the OT and NT saints is that we have the indwelling Holy Spirit. The vast majority of the time, God chooses not to use words. Why He does at some times and not others, I do not know. One time His words steered me away from a catastrophic decision. Another time left me laughing at myself and how well God knew me. I've been challenged at times and comforted at others. A few times the Lord has shown me something about a person or a church that I was attending.
amen
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 1:7 KJV
“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
Acts 2:41-47 KJV
wish the church today understood the fear of God I think it would look different
“Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”
Proverbs 2:5 KJV
“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
Ephesians 5:21 KJV
sadly we haven’t learned from the old covenant and mistakes they made
“They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ………There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3:12, 18 KJV
Excuse me for forgetting who said it in a previous post but I like the input of a brother who said, “You want to hear the voice of God ? Read the Bible out load.
In the Old Testament God had to direct the people He chose to do His will and it was a physical covenant so God talked to them with an audible voice and Abraham saw a visible manifestation of God and called Him LORD when He was with His 2 angels in a visible manifestation and Samson's parents saw God in an angelic form which they said they have seen the face of God and the angel said why do you ask for my name seeing it is secret which is probably a reference to Jesus coming in the future which was a hidden name in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament it is a spiritual covenant, and it is based on faith which faith is the substance of things to come the evidence of things not seen so we do not get the opportunity to have a witness of God by bodily or audible experience.
Thomas said he would not believe Jesus rose from the dead unless he seen the nail prints and the spear hole in His side which when he confirmed them he said my Lord and my God.
Which Jesus said Thomas believed because he has seen but blessed is those that have not seen but still believe because then it is faith which the Bible says we walk by faith not by sight.
But the Bible says faith is the evidence of things not seen so there is evidence but not by God showing us a visible manifestation of Himself.
It would seem if we heard an audible voice it would violate faith for then we would know it is true without faith.
Stephen was shown a vision of Jesus in a bodily manifestation but Stephen was ready to die so it did not violate his faith.
John was given a vision of Jesus but it did not violate his faith for the disciples did not need faith for they were witnesses to the resurrection of Christ which would give them unwavering faith to preach the Gospel.
I believe the disciples had an audible voice from God but it did not violate their faith because they did not need faith and knew that Jesus was Lord and Savior.
If we cannot see a visible manifestation of Jesus because it would violate faith then it would seem like we would not hear an audible voice either.
I've seen a visible manifestation of Jesus too...
The first one He was a Shepherd in a big green pasture and I was on the edge of the pasture in the forest. He was far away but He was coming towards me. There were black spirits surrounding me and confusing me as to which direction I should go. The black spirits were getting agitated as the Lord came closer until they couldn't take it anymore and escaped deeper into the forest.
The second one was close up. I was in a super dark swamp and I was trying really hard to stand up. I could only make it up onto one knee and I was just about to fall down again when the Lord held out His Hand to me. I looked Him directly in the eyes and He didn't look away but stared right at me. He had the look of absolute determination. I expected, I guess, a softer more compassionate gaze. But His was like a doctor who knew he had to cause pain in order to fix you. His look was like He was going to do whatever it took to save me, even if it meant knocking me out, like they sometimes do to flailing drowning people.... Its the best way I can describe it.
The third one was like a continuation of the second one. The Lord had just pulled me up onto my feet and He had His hand on my shoulder and was gesturing into the distance. I turned to look and we were on top of the clouds and in the extreme distance there was a golden kingdom with buildings and a big wall around the whole thing. There were people walking towards it but not millions. Only like 20 or 30.
These were dreams/visions.
I just realized that the Lord never said anything to me in these dreams/visions. Only when I was awake or in prayer have I heard the voice of the Lord. I wonder if there is any significance to that..?
The few people God spoke to in the Bible was very rare. We should not expect it to be different today.