NIGHTMARES ILLICIT POWERFUL LESSONS

Last night I had a very strange experience. Through the night I had various scripture readings playing that I had made during our morning devotionals. These continue on an infinite loop, until they are shut off in the morning. So, you can imagine, it was quite strange that I had a nightmare that lasted nearly 5 hours, during which I was not sleeping, but drifting in a sort of daze until 4:45am. The nightmare centered around an antagonist which was like Jason Voorhees of the "Friday the 13th" movies which I have not seen since my early teen years. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this villain, he wore a hockey mask and slaughtered often drunken fornicating teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake. (That was the premise of the first one, the sequel and subsequent movies varied dramatically in the setting). The following link will take you to "Dreams of a Zombey" my dream diary, where you can read a detailed account of the dream...BE ADVISED, it is graphic and contains illicit imagery. 5 HOUR NIGHTMARE

First and foremost, the lesson that I learned is this: WE CAN CONTROL OUR DREAMS. Our dreams are not some frivolous ensemble of random memories from the day that we are mere observers of. Granted there are often symbols in the dream of things that our mind might be working through, events of the day, current concerns or even memories...but the mind is like a muscle, and the more that muscle is trained, the more our minds can form cohesive themes.

Second, and probably most important, the adversary can infiltrate our dreams by placing images, thoughts and suggestions, as well as scenes in our dreams to solicit us into situations to cause us question or doubt our walk with Christ. I have experienced this personally, on a number of occasions, and while I used to succumb to these before, because I have learned to control my dreams when they appear, I have been victorious over them by claiming Jesus Christ as Lord and the following scripture, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, has been invaluable in these situations:

⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
⁶ And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Third, God can utilize our dreams to instruct us and test our resolve in certain matters. As with the above second mentioned point, what the adversary intends for evil, God can use for good. Now, I do not claim to be a dream interpreter, by any means, that ability belongs to God alone. However, if we are students of our dreams, that is looking for lessons and understanding the symbols of our dreams, we can learn a lot about ourselves. Often times I find the setting of a dream, the characters in a dream, or the theme of the dream itself to be familiar to me. Much like the elements of a story, these lend to the over all understanding of the dream.

In the dream last night, I woke with the following understanding: The adversary is always hunting me, I am courageous and willing to help others, I still have concerns about the way others view my walk with Jesus Christ, and when the way seems barred, always look for another way out. I also learned an important lesson about the enemy... often times he will distract you with an illusion of an attack while the whole time his intention is to keep your attention there so that you are not aware that he is attacking you in another way. My devotions this morning lend themselves to this understanding, and God's Holy Spirit confirms that He is always with me and that I am never tested above that which I can endure.

DEVOTIONS TODAY

DARE TO BELIEVE
  ROMANS 4:17

As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

  GENESIS 15:3-6, 18:9-15

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sara thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

RECALL WHAT GOD REMEMBERS
  JEREMIAH 2:2

Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

PURGE OUT THE OLD
  1 CORINTHIANS 5

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. for even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But not I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a borther be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do notyet judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

PSALM 4

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? SELAH  But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. SELAH  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.

PRAISE GOD... I DIDN'T GET INTO THE CAR

Last night was a night of battle, a night of dreams that showed me more about myself and the enemy of my soul. And Praise God, I didn't get into the car... I chose better. Oh I wanted to, God Forgive Me, I wanted to give in, the desire was so real it was tangible, and invaded me in my waking life. But I chose Him, and I chose to protect my own heart, the place where He dwells, Praise God Almighty, I protected Him. I am in tears as I write this because I believe differently this morning. God woke me up, I KNOW that I am in a battle, a war, with an enemy that I cannot see, but thanks be to God that I can see his hand, I can see where he wants to drowned me in his lies and his abominable corruption of my heart. I have much to learn yet, but I feel as though I have been put on notice. God has a plan for me and my story is about to be written in full force and glory. God's glory will shine through me and as the author and finisher of my Faith, it will be Him alone who delivers me from the hand of my enemy.

Allow me to back track a little...

Momma and I are reading a book I came across in the library called "Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive" by John Eldredge. This book is amazing. I mean really. Talk about a back hand to the face. Every single day that we breathe, there is an enemy who is mercilessly hunting us with one thought... I WILL DESTROY YOU. Every one of his minions are set against us and utilizing every thing that they can to get us into a place where we will submit to him. Be it by suggestion, 'self-thought' manipulation or blatant lies. Suggestions play to our desires, hopes and dreams. Self-thought manipulation is something I never understood before, but now that my eyes have been opened to it I am constantly aware of how often the enemy shapes our thought life. This is so deadly. Nearly every thought that we have that we do not take account of is left for this little playground of our adversary. Many people have been taken out of the war with this one tactic: The Middle Pillar. The middle pillar, much like the Trojan Horse, is an enemy operative on the inside.What negative thoughts have you been dwelling on? What negative thoughts have you accepted about yourself? Your family? Your God? What admissions have you made about yourself? Is your language detrimental to your spiritual well being? I don't know that I can say that I have taken a tally of my thoughts, and 'thinking about what I was thinking about' seemed like a foreign concept to me. I mean, who does that? Who sits around thinking about what they are thinking about? Sounds like some sort of psycho-babble or highfalutin' run around. Usually when I'm doing something, I'm thinking about what I'm doing. Seems natural, right? But what about the times that you aren't doing something?

Let me give you an example. I am a man of portly stature... that is to say that I am a card carrying member of the FAT-GUY club. Now that is a fact. I'm 5'10" and 250lbs, verifiable by any bathroom scale. I go to put on a shirt or a pair of pants. I can barely get the shirt buttoned or the pants to make the arduous journey over my rear end. (Standard fare for anyone who is abundant in size...). Here's the key though. "Ugh. I need to lose weight." Normal thought, statement of fact, acknowledgement of my current situation. But wait... there's more... there's always more. "You're such a fat-ass." "You might as well throw away all your clothes, they'll never fit." "Omar the tent maker called..." and on and on. What thoughts are present when I look in the mirror? "You need a bra. This outfit makes you look fat." That is NOT fact. Men don't wear bras, and it's not the outfit that makes me look fat... it's the excessive weight that I have. But what have I accepted about myself? That my mortal enemy is a mirror? A bathroom scale? Nay. I've accepted that I will always be fat and that I need to buy bigger clothes, and that no matter what I wear, I won't like the way it looks.

Now I know what you are saying..."Yeah, but that's just normal 'low-self-esteem' issues." and "Well, that doesn't sound like a vindictive adversary who is trying to destroy you." Low self esteem is the creation of the adversary and a major weapon that he utilizes. And if he can train you to think that way all the time, what will it lead to? I can tell you. It leads to not going out in public, and most certainly not unleashing my man-boobs on an unsuspecting public at a local beach or pool. Now he's successfully circumvented my lifestyle. What's next? Depression? Binge eating? Suicide? Well, I can tell you for a certainty, not in this man's life. I'm taking it all back. I am who God says I am, and I am what God says I am. As for the rest of it...if my weight bothers me, I will do something about it. But I will live this life as God intended me to...to HIS GLORY.

UNDER ATTACK

Today I find myself under desperate attack. After our morning devotionals, I found that I was feeling at odds with everything. As it is Wednesday, my regular church attendance day, I expected a fight from the enemy, but this seems different. My mind seems foggy, my heart broken and my countenance is fallen. I recognize that I cannot base my life on the feelings of my emotions, which are a flurry from happiness to utter despair, however I cannot discount that somewhere in all this God is trying to speak to me. I find myself frustrated with all the different directions that we as Christians are given with regard to walking the Word out in our lives. I can't say that I understand exactly what God wants from me in this life and while I find that frustrating, I have decided to allow God to have His perfect Will in my life. Since I cannot ascertain the core of this spiritual battle, I have decided to return to the devotions that Momma and I reviewed this morning to see if there isn't something there that God wants me to review further, or to find a solution to this spiritual confusion.

Our first devotional was from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional:
FAITH BASED ON KNOWLEDGE
Luke 9:1-11

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where. Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead; And of some, that Elias had appeared; and of others, that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

The second devotional is from Our Daily Bread:
A PERFECT FIT
Ephesians 2:1-10

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The third devotional is from Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"
WHAT MY OBEDIENCE TO GOD COSTS OTHER PEOPLE
Luke 23:26

And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

The fourth devotional is Joseph M. Stowell's "Strength for the Journey"
A TEMPLE FIT FOR A KING
1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.