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8. Dreams of Cleansing

Some people call these “flushing” dreams, and with good reason. One of the most common images associated with the cleansing dream is that of being in the bathroom, on the toilet or taking a shower. These dreams deal with cleansing issues. To use scriptural terminology, we could call these dreams of sanctification. They are concerned with our purification process.

Cleansing dreams are used to wash us from the dust and dirt that we pick up by walking in the world. Christ is preparing a Bride in whom will be no spot or wrinkle, not even on our garments. Sometimes our hearts and minds become tainted by our contact with the sin and evil in the world. Vile corruption attempts to put its grim on us. Sanctifying dreams can help with that process. Essentially, these dreams are all about apply- ing the cleansing blood of Jesus to our lives.

9. Dreams Revealing the Heart

These are also known as dreams of self-disclosure or dreams of self- condition. Scripture says,“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desper-

ately sick; who can understand it?”106_{And Jesus said,“For out of the abundance}

of the heart the mouth speaks.”107 _{Self-disclosure dreams show us where we}

presently stand with God. For example, let’s say that you dream that you are in your car and stuck in a cul-de-sac.The car may represent your life or your ministry, and the cul-de-sac reveals that you are going around in cir- cles or have almost reached a dead end. God doesn’t want you to be at a dead end; He wants you back out on the highway of life.

When Abimelech took Abraham’s wife, Sarah, into his harem, think- ing she was Abraham’s sister (which is what Abraham had told him), God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and warned him not to go any farther because Sarah was Abraham’s wife. God told Abimelech to restore Sarah to Abraham or else he would die. The king did as he was instructed in the dream.108

God gives us dreams of self-condition to show us where we are, tell us what we need to do, and reveal where He wants us to go.

10. Dreams of Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual warfare dreams are calls to prayer. They are intercessory- type dreams that reveal hindrances that are in the way and may include

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calls to worship and fasting. Their purpose is to inspire us to press through to victory to the cross of Christ, tearing down strongholds and overcoming every obstacle or barrier that stands in the way.

Sometimes dreams come in pairs and carry the same meaning to give additional insight. Recently, when I was diagnosed with a recurrence of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer, the Lord gave me two dreams that encouraged me to fight on to victory. In the first dream, the Holy Spirit said to me, “You must call forth a courtroom hearing and bring before the judge three generational spirits: generational infirmity, generational witchcraft, and a generational thievery.”

In the second dream I was handed a revolver with a chamber for holding five rounds. Then I was handed five bullets of “effective grace” for loading the revolver. Each bullet had a Scripture reference on it:

1. Jeremiah 30:17: “‘For I will restore you to health and I will heal

you of your wounds,’ declares the Lord….”

2. Proverbs 6:30-31:“Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy

himself when he is hungry; but when he is found,he must repay sev- enfold; he must give all the substance of his house.”

3. Leviticus 17:11:“For the life of the flesh is in the blood….” 4. Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;

and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn….”

5. Matthew 8:16-17: “When evening came, they brought to Him

many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.This was to fulfill what was spo- ken through Isaiah the prophet:‘He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.’”

I believe the Lord gave me these Scriptures through a spiritual war- fare dream to arm me to be effective in the battle. I sent this dream out to our prayer shield and asked them to proclaim these five Scriptures over my life.

11. Dreams of Creativity

Creative dreams involve such things as designs, inventions, and new ways of doing things. They can charge our spirit man and help us

the diversity of dreams

become change makers, changing the culture of our homes, cities, and the lives of others and even the strongholds of our minds. God often uses creative dreams with artistic people to give them songs to sing, pic- tures to paint, or words to write. I have had dreams revealing the title of a new book along with a brilliant artistic cover. I call these “Holy Ghost cheat sheets” and I can use all of them He wants to give!

Some years ago I was preparing to go to Ohio for a week of min- istry. It was the height of the early prophetic movement, and the unusual amount of prophetic activity that was going on had raised expectations enormously high. Frankly, I had been moving in a level of revelation that was new to me at that time, and I was afraid that people were going to expect me to move at that level all the time. Pressure. Performance. Fear. As the day for my departure drew nearer, I was struggling with anxiety. I cried to the Lord for help, and He heard me!

The night before I left, I received two dreams or, rather, the same dream twice. An orchestra was playing, and a choir was singing. A ban- ner unfurled in front of my eyes. Written on the banner were the words to a song. I realized that the orchestra was playing the melody and the choir was singing those words. That is when I woke up. Twice this occurred.

I flew to Cleveland, Ohio, and all that week, in every church sanctu- ary I ministered in, I searched for that banner. I really wanted to find that banner. I just knew it would be somewhere! I kept looking in the natural everywhere I went! The reason: I forgot the words that were printed on it! I kept looking for this sign from God, but place after place, it evaded me.

On the last night of the meetings I had a vision of a pair of shoes that I would be given to symbolically wear. On several occasions I have had visions of the shoes of an apostolic or prophetic leader as a clue to me of what particular anointing I was about to move in. This night I saw the shoes of my dear friend Mahesh Chavda. Having traveled with Mahesh and witnessed his meetings, I knew that in my last meeting the Holy Spirit would move in power and people would be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit all over the auditorium.

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By the time of the last night’s meeting, however, I was so physically depleted that I felt like I had nothing left to give to the people. When the time came for me to speak, I was introduced, but I still seemed to have nothing. Desperately I prayed,“Help me, Jesus!”

God is so faithful! As I stood up to speak, I received an open vision of—you guessed it—the unfurled banner from my dream. There it was, right in front of my spiritual eyes. I could see clearly the words written on it and immediately began to sing them a cappella: “How far will My love extend? How far will My arm reach? Will My blood cleanse when man sins, yet knowing? How far will the blood of My Son reach?”

As it turned out, this was a song of great comfort to this church, as they recently had removed a senior leader who had fallen into immoral- ity and were currently without a permanent leader. They were dealing with a lot of disappointment, and the song of the Lord greatly encour- aged them. God knew just what they needed and imparted it to me through a creative dream and vision. That night the anointing was so strong that no one could come closer than six feet from me without falling out in the Spirit. People were dropping by the power of God all over the sanctuary.

Was this a dream of comfort, dream of cleansing, or dream of cre- ativity? Well, remember the illustration I shared previously about the colors of the rainbow? Where one color ends the other begins? Well, the answer is: it was all the above. It was a creative dream that brought cleansing and healing comfort! Dreams can do more than one thing at a time!

God is a Creator by nature, and He loves to give creative dreams to His children.

12. Dreams With Impartation

Impartational dreams are used to activate any of the various dimen- sions of the gifts of the Spirit. Many times it will be the gift of healing, both emotional healing and physical healing. In some cases an angel of the Lord may actually appear in your room and touch you, releasing one of Heaven’s many power encounters.

My wife, Michal Ann, had a dream like this two weeks before she was scheduled to go to Mozambique. A number of people had been

the diversity of dreams

telling her that she was not well enough to go on this trip. In her dream, Aimee Semple McPherson, the apostle, evangelist, and founder of the Four Square Gospel church who moved mightily in signs and wonders, approached Michal Ann with a key card in her hand. She stuck it into her and pulled it back out. Upon awakening, Michal Ann felt the riveting presence of the energy of God all over her. It was a dream of impartation. There was an impartation of faith not only for her own life but for the entire apostolic mission she was about to embark upon leading a team to Mozambique. Yes, God knows exactly what you need and when you need it!