Perhaps this is an age-old question, "Does God speak to us through our dreams?"
First of all, God has chosen to speak to people through their dreams in the bible. We find this in Genesis 37:5-10 with Joseph (Jacob's son), in 1 Kings 3:5-15 with Solomon, and with many others ( Daniel 2:1, Daniel 7:1, Matthew 27:19 ) as well. Maybe the most notable person we think of when it comes to God speaking through a dream to a person would be Joseph (Mary's husband) when he was warned in a dream, being told to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt before Herod set out on his massacre of the infant children. Prior to this Joseph was told to not fear taking Mary as his wife, for what was conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit. With all of these examples it is evident that it is scriptural that God speaks to people through dreams.
The prophet Joel spoke of this in Joel 2:28, where it says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I (God) will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. This has already taken begun, as we read in Acts 2:17 when Peter quotes the prophet Joel when he addresses the crowd after the Holy Spirit filled the believers in the upper room. Here Peter says, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;"
I think where we get into trouble today though is that too many times people will have a dream and it will have complete authority in their life - Sometimes even over scripture. God's word should always be regarded as being the higher authority over our dreams. Today we see books being written and movies being made that are based on people's dreams about spirituality. If we are not careful, we can become mislead away from the word of God in our theology by giving attention to these things.
There is one particular book, and now a movie about a little child that died, supposedly went to heaven, and returned. He described all he saw, and some of it is not found in the bible. This is not to say he didn't have an experience that was real to him, but perhaps it was just a dream? Sadly, there are many who will allow this child's story to become etched into their hearts as if it were as true as the bible. Some will even put it in a higher place of authority than the bible. This should never be!
Some people go off the deep end too. If I only had a quarter for every time some spooky, spiritual, person in the church came up to me telling me about a dream that God gave them I would probably be a rich man. I'm not trying to dismiss dreams altogether, but we need to be careful. If we feel like God has given us a dream, we should prayerfully examine the bible to make sure this dream is in line with scripture.
First of all, God has chosen to speak to people through their dreams in the bible. We find this in Genesis 37:5-10 with Joseph (Jacob's son), in 1 Kings 3:5-15 with Solomon, and with many others ( Daniel 2:1, Daniel 7:1, Matthew 27:19 ) as well. Maybe the most notable person we think of when it comes to God speaking through a dream to a person would be Joseph (Mary's husband) when he was warned in a dream, being told to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt before Herod set out on his massacre of the infant children. Prior to this Joseph was told to not fear taking Mary as his wife, for what was conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit. With all of these examples it is evident that it is scriptural that God speaks to people through dreams.
The prophet Joel spoke of this in Joel 2:28, where it says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I (God) will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. This has already taken begun, as we read in Acts 2:17 when Peter quotes the prophet Joel when he addresses the crowd after the Holy Spirit filled the believers in the upper room. Here Peter says, "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;"
As we know, this was the birthing of the Church on the day of Pentecost, and it was prophesied that in the last days these things would happen. If they were in the last days then, then it is safe to say that we definitely are now. This obvious answer to the question in light of all of this is that YES, God speaks to people in their dreams. To say that God cannot do this or anything is in reality foolish, for He is God, and God can do whatever He pleases.
I think where we get into trouble today though is that too many times people will have a dream and it will have complete authority in their life - Sometimes even over scripture. God's word should always be regarded as being the higher authority over our dreams. Today we see books being written and movies being made that are based on people's dreams about spirituality. If we are not careful, we can become mislead away from the word of God in our theology by giving attention to these things.
There is one particular book, and now a movie about a little child that died, supposedly went to heaven, and returned. He described all he saw, and some of it is not found in the bible. This is not to say he didn't have an experience that was real to him, but perhaps it was just a dream? Sadly, there are many who will allow this child's story to become etched into their hearts as if it were as true as the bible. Some will even put it in a higher place of authority than the bible. This should never be!
Some people go off the deep end too. If I only had a quarter for every time some spooky, spiritual, person in the church came up to me telling me about a dream that God gave them I would probably be a rich man. I'm not trying to dismiss dreams altogether, but we need to be careful. If we feel like God has given us a dream, we should prayerfully examine the bible to make sure this dream is in line with scripture.
James 1:5 tells us, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." God will make it clear to you what your dream means if you seek Him for the understanding of it. Also, it could be that God is giving only you this dream, and it is not meant for you to go announce it to everyone else.
In summary, I believe that God speaks to people in dreams today just as He did in the days of old. I believe it is our responsibility as believers in His word as final authority to hold any dream we are given up to the light of scripture, and to never count it as being equal to the bible. Our testimony, a vision, a dream, or any christian book, film, song, or anything else should also not be held in higher authority than the bible.
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