The following is a list of the dreams and visions that I experienced this New Year’s Eve 2009, heading in to 2010…
Warfare close to Home
In the first vision I had a picture of a man who was equipped with a bat in his gear on his back. I instinctively knew that the man was not aware of the bat or of the fact that it was a needed and important weapon at his disposal.
I feel that in some ways this picture symbolizes a need for awareness about personal, close contact warfare. I believe what I was seeing from the vision was that there is a temptation to believe that the enemy is not capable of hitting close to home and that somehow any conflict we experience at a very personal level must be the will of God. However, I feel strongly that God desires to tell us that he is for us and not against us and that he desires us to stand and fight these personal attacks. We are equipped as more than conquerors through Christ Jesus to deal with personal attacks.
God will fulfill his Promise
In the first dream, my wife and I were in a large house hosting a New Year’s Eve Party and one of our guests was a very wealthy, successful business man. In the dream I was excited about talking to this man about what he thought about my values and goals and if he thought they would help me accomplish the great things I believe God had in store for me. When I began asking him questions though, the wealthy business man just looked at me uncomfortably not knowing what to say. When a coworker walked up and began chatting with him about daily life they walked off together enjoying their conversation.
The dream then shut down and restarted all over from the beginning; except this time my house was smaller and much more luxurious, my wife and I were still hosting the New Year’s Eve Party and the wealthy business man was still there. This time instead of asking him what he thought of my values and goals I asked him how he was doing and about a ranch that I knew he had recently bought. Instantly he and several others began laughing and talking about how they had just come from that ranch and how much they loved it. Folks were laughing and having such a good time and an even wealthier newcomer I had never met showed up and began making toasts about all of the good things that were happening and that God had in store for us. I mentioned I had Champaign and everyone cheered and so with laughter I hurried to grab the bottles.
In the first dream, I was consumed with my values, my goals, my ways of doing things, all that I might accomplish some great promise that I felt God had given me. In the second dream, I simply loved those that were in front of me for who they were and there was a correspondingly explosive release of joy and laughter. I feel God is saying so strongly to trust him to bring us into his promises; he will fulfill it!
I believe the first dream’s large house and the second dream’s smaller, more luxurious house is a clarion call to simplicity. I feel God desires to tell us that our lives should be less about quantity than they are about quality. Another way of saying it is that for this season, less is more.
I also felt that the Champaign itself was a spiritual picture of not allowing a religious mindset hold us back from all of the joy and celebration that God desires to give us. Toasts of good things are good, but toasts with Champaign are even better!
The Anointed ToolA short time later I had a vision of waders, such as you would see used in duck hunting and they were covered and filled with the manifest presence of God.
I feel from this vision that God is saying that we are entering into a season in which he has anointed a particular tool with the power and presence of God. Just as duck season only lasts for a short season, I feel it is God’s desire to let us know that this tool will be anointed only for a season. Practically this means that when it becomes obvious what this tool is, we use it as often and as effectively as we can, but when the season is over, we must lay it down in order to move on to the next thing that God will have in store for us.
The Law is Love
Lastly I had an experience in which I was walking out of our church and found an injured deer laying on our steps. It was as though I heard the words, “The simplicity of the gospel is love, not rules or ways of doing things.” I knew instantly that this injured deer had not received help because of restrictions relating to rules and the teaching of ways of doing things.
I feel God desires to renew within us his heart of love for those who have been injured in so many different ways in this life. The simplicity of the gospel is that we have good news for the hurting; God is love, our provider, our healer, our protector. We are each called to play a role in loving those that are on our doorsteps, those that we see every day. We are each individually the church and God can and will use us. In Summary
• We are more than conquerors and have been equipped to deal with close contact, personal warfare.
• Trust God to bring us into his promises and the destiny we are believing for, he will fulfill it!
• For this season, less is more. It’s about quality, not quantity.
• Don’t let a religious mindset hold us back from the joy and celebration God desires to give us.
• When it becomes obvious what the tool is that God has anointed in this season, use it to the max. However be willing to lay it down when this particular season is over so that we can move on to the next thing God has in store for us.
• Expect God to use you in the lives of the people that are on your doorstep, they need the good news of the gospel.
Warfare close to Home
In the first vision I had a picture of a man who was equipped with a bat in his gear on his back. I instinctively knew that the man was not aware of the bat or of the fact that it was a needed and important weapon at his disposal.
I feel that in some ways this picture symbolizes a need for awareness about personal, close contact warfare. I believe what I was seeing from the vision was that there is a temptation to believe that the enemy is not capable of hitting close to home and that somehow any conflict we experience at a very personal level must be the will of God. However, I feel strongly that God desires to tell us that he is for us and not against us and that he desires us to stand and fight these personal attacks. We are equipped as more than conquerors through Christ Jesus to deal with personal attacks.
God will fulfill his Promise
In the first dream, my wife and I were in a large house hosting a New Year’s Eve Party and one of our guests was a very wealthy, successful business man. In the dream I was excited about talking to this man about what he thought about my values and goals and if he thought they would help me accomplish the great things I believe God had in store for me. When I began asking him questions though, the wealthy business man just looked at me uncomfortably not knowing what to say. When a coworker walked up and began chatting with him about daily life they walked off together enjoying their conversation.
The dream then shut down and restarted all over from the beginning; except this time my house was smaller and much more luxurious, my wife and I were still hosting the New Year’s Eve Party and the wealthy business man was still there. This time instead of asking him what he thought of my values and goals I asked him how he was doing and about a ranch that I knew he had recently bought. Instantly he and several others began laughing and talking about how they had just come from that ranch and how much they loved it. Folks were laughing and having such a good time and an even wealthier newcomer I had never met showed up and began making toasts about all of the good things that were happening and that God had in store for us. I mentioned I had Champaign and everyone cheered and so with laughter I hurried to grab the bottles.
In the first dream, I was consumed with my values, my goals, my ways of doing things, all that I might accomplish some great promise that I felt God had given me. In the second dream, I simply loved those that were in front of me for who they were and there was a correspondingly explosive release of joy and laughter. I feel God is saying so strongly to trust him to bring us into his promises; he will fulfill it!
I believe the first dream’s large house and the second dream’s smaller, more luxurious house is a clarion call to simplicity. I feel God desires to tell us that our lives should be less about quantity than they are about quality. Another way of saying it is that for this season, less is more.
I also felt that the Champaign itself was a spiritual picture of not allowing a religious mindset hold us back from all of the joy and celebration that God desires to give us. Toasts of good things are good, but toasts with Champaign are even better!
The Anointed ToolA short time later I had a vision of waders, such as you would see used in duck hunting and they were covered and filled with the manifest presence of God.
I feel from this vision that God is saying that we are entering into a season in which he has anointed a particular tool with the power and presence of God. Just as duck season only lasts for a short season, I feel it is God’s desire to let us know that this tool will be anointed only for a season. Practically this means that when it becomes obvious what this tool is, we use it as often and as effectively as we can, but when the season is over, we must lay it down in order to move on to the next thing that God will have in store for us.
The Law is Love
Lastly I had an experience in which I was walking out of our church and found an injured deer laying on our steps. It was as though I heard the words, “The simplicity of the gospel is love, not rules or ways of doing things.” I knew instantly that this injured deer had not received help because of restrictions relating to rules and the teaching of ways of doing things.
I feel God desires to renew within us his heart of love for those who have been injured in so many different ways in this life. The simplicity of the gospel is that we have good news for the hurting; God is love, our provider, our healer, our protector. We are each called to play a role in loving those that are on our doorsteps, those that we see every day. We are each individually the church and God can and will use us. In Summary
• We are more than conquerors and have been equipped to deal with close contact, personal warfare.
• Trust God to bring us into his promises and the destiny we are believing for, he will fulfill it!
• For this season, less is more. It’s about quality, not quantity.
• Don’t let a religious mindset hold us back from the joy and celebration God desires to give us.
• When it becomes obvious what the tool is that God has anointed in this season, use it to the max. However be willing to lay it down when this particular season is over so that we can move on to the next thing God has in store for us.
• Expect God to use you in the lives of the people that are on your doorstep, they need the good news of the gospel.
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