Prophecy
Anointed to Dream
by: Sheryl L. York
www.theyorksonline.com
Beloved; did you know that you are anointed for something truly wonderful? That you're Father in Heaven knew you even before He formed you in the belly of your mother and that He already had a plan for your life? Do you really comprehend the awesomeness of the fact that the God of Heaven and earth had a destiny and a dream in mind for your life, and that He has placed everything within you that you will ever need to fulfill it?
YOU ARE ANOINTED
That means that YOU are anointed to preach (Isaiah 61:1). YOU are anointed to prophesy (Joel 2:28) and yes dear ones, YOU are anointed to dream (Job 33:14-16), but you are also anointed to seek wisdom and get understanding of all of these things as well.
Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
Last night before I went off to bed I visited our IMentorU Forums and found a posting that literally brought me to tears. It was a posting sharing how very much a man named Samuel and his wife appreciated their connection with us and it also shared how their lives had been transformed since meeting us and connecting to us spiritually.
How many of you know that there is nothing more wonderful than to see those you are mentoring and love so dearly by the Spirit of God growing and flourishing in the Lord? There is no way to explain it in words other than to say it is like a parent who very much loves their child and wants so much to see them learn, grow and prosper in all that they do even to the point where their hearts desire is to see them go much further and do greater things than you were able to do in your own life or ministry.
This morning when I woke up I found this letter/post in our forums and it just sent a spark right through me. In fact I found myself in prayer, taking notes, writing down scriptures, and preparing to write something to all of you today that might come as a surprise to many. To some it won't be anything they haven't heard before, but to others some of what I have to share with you will truly open your eyes to why it is so very important to have the anointing in your life and why it is so important to be in relationship with and have spiritual connections with anointed men and women of God.
Let me share with you just a small portion of the post in our forums that was written by Samuel & Chrish Thevarajah. I believe that it really brings out the reason for writing this article today. Samuel says; "In my posting of dreams you will see that I even began to dream almost every day. This was an amazing phenomenal aspect to happen to me. In the past year I may have received a dream once a year. I attribute this to co-operated prayer power of the forums, reading and sharing material that impacts the heavenly spiritual realms and above all Sheryl's commitment to look over each and every one of us with that loving care. Only our Lord Jesus could make this happen through her." Original posting December 18, 2006 (Click here to read the post in its entirety ~ http//www.imentoru.com/cgi-bin/boards/ikonboard.cgi?s=19f7325e5bd6ea01887ea368741a72ef;act=ST;f=20;t=1340)
In the above excerpt Samuel specifically says that he rarely dreamed at all before he connected with us. In fact he says that he would have a dream maybe once a year, but now after connecting with our ministry he says; "I even began to dream almost every day."
The Lord revealed something to me many years ago that I believe will shed some light on why this happened to Samuel once he connected with me and others in our ministry. He didn't begin having dreams almost nightly because of me. He began having dreams more frequently because he was opened up to the anointing.
I don't believe that even one of us would say that King Saul was a prophet. In fact most of us realize that God used the Prophet Samuel to speak into the life of King Saul. But let's look at what happens when Saul and others step into the company of prophets.
1 Samuel 19:20-24
20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men and they also prophesied. 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"
"Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said.
23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" NIV
The Spirit of the Lord also came upon Saul and his men and they all began to prophesy. It was the anointing on Samuel and the other prophets that brought this out of Saul, and the anointing on Jerry, myself and others involved with this ministry is prophecy, dreams and interpretations.
Let me ask you a few questions.
Is it possible to be in an intimate relationship with someone you rarely hear from?
How close can one really feel to someone that doesn't even seem to take time to speak to them?
Beloved, the truth is God is speaking every day, every night and all around us, but somehow there is a block, or some kind of bondage that keeps us from hearing Him. It might be wrong teachings, or maybe even unbelief (which just might mean you never believed it before) , but something is keeping us from hearing Him when He speaks.
THE ANOINTING DESTROYS THE YOKE
Isaiah 10:27
And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Before I move on I want to clarify what the word yoke means. It literally means being in bondage. What does bondage mean? Well, we know that bondage means that we are somehow bound up or bound to something else. We are not free in Christ, but somehow have become a slave to other things. And I will say right now that the other things that I am speaking of might not even appear to be ungodly. They might just be wrong teachings which in turn cause us to believe wrongly or to be in unbelief about the truth of His Word.
Let me give a few examples of what happens when you are in the presence of an anointing. A few years ago I went to visit a friend in another State who was also a Minister. We stayed up late the first night I was there talking and I began sharing a few of my dreams with her. She was just amazed at how God was able to speak to me through dreams. Not only was that mind boggling to her, but I was also able to share with her how some of the dreams had already come to pass in my life. She admitted that she had never really been much of a dreamer. We both got very tired and she showed me to the room I would be staying in.
The very next morning I got up earlier than she did. I was used to getting up very early to pray and didn't want to change that just because I was away from home so I spent a good hour in prayer before she came rushing out her bedroom door. She looked at me and said; "You are anointed to dream." Well, I had never really heard it that way, but she proceeded to share that she dreamt all night long and this had never happened to her until I came into her home. She believed wholeheartedly that God had sent me to her home to bring that anointing to her and to destroy whatever yoke was binding her up from hearing from her Father in this manner. After all the Bible does say that God speaks through dreams and yet she had never experienced it before this time.
Job 33:14-16
14 For God does speak? now one way, now another--though man may not perceive it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, 16 he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, NIV
Also about a year and half ago my mother in law came to visit. One morning after she'd been with us for almost a week already she woke up and came into the kitchen and said; "I don't know if it is being in Texas or what (she is from California), but I feel like I am at the movies all night long now." She said; "I have never been a dreamer, but every night since I have been here I have been having some really strange dreams and the strangest thing is I am even remembering them and trying to figure them out."
I sat down with her that morning and shared with her about the anointing. She knew we were in ministry, but she had no idea that we mentored in dreams or even believed that God speaks through dreams. It was a tremendous experience for her and it opened up a whole new world that she never even knew existed.
IMPARTING SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Romans 1:11
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
Although it is God who is the gift giver how many of you know that spiritual gifts can also be imparted by those who walk in them? Paul was sharing that he really wanted to be with them. Not just writing a letter to them, but actually physically be there so that he could hug on their necks, and talk to them face to face, but also because spiritual gifts are so needful in the Kingdom of God that he wanted to lay hands on them and impart some spiritual gifts to them to help them in their daily walk with Christ as well as the ministry the Lord had called them to.
Once the Lord was able to get Romans 1:11 into my spirit I ran with it. Where before I was the quiet one in the back ground while my husband was always up front and bold as a lion I finally began to really step out, listen for His voice and His leading and when He would say; "lay hands on so and so" I was finally moving in obedience in doing it BY FAITH. Of myself I have nothing to give, but the Spirit of God in me wants to give so much more than my own natural mind would ever allow if I didn't allow Him to move through me.
A couple who had recently become part of our ministry were in our home for a meeting. The wife didn't really have a problem dreaming, in fact it seemed she dreamed almost nightly, but it was confusing her. She was taking things literally instead of symbolically and it was causing some grief in their home. That night I laid hands on her and prayed for her. I imparted the spiritual gift of dream interpretation to her and we went on with the meeting.
The very next morning she called me up screaming into the phone. "You have to come over; I have something to show you." She lived very close by so I quickly went to her home and she was in tears on the floor with a tablet of paper. She said; "I just can't believe what has happened to me since last night." She told me that she had been up and down all night long. She was writing out her dreams and while she was yet writing them the interpretation for the dreams was coming to her. She had something like 5 long pages back and front written out. I sat and listened and I could tell that the Lord had truly been speaking to her that night for certain.
She was completely blown away that God had been speaking to her for years and yet she had not really understood Him. It had been nothing more than confusion to her and now the Lord was bringing her in closer and drawing her up higher so that she could not only hear (by dreaming), but understand what He was trying to tell her as well (by interpreting).
STUDENTS BECOMING TEACHERS
Luke 6:40
A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
This scripture I personally believe has been used wrongfully by many Leaders. I have literally heard it taught that it means that you will never surpass those who teach you. It is used occasionally to keep a Leader above and to place one in mentoring below, but dear ones that is not what this scripture is saying at all. In fact the truth is this scripture warns us not to get into pride with those God has set in our lives to teach us. He was saying; "Don't exalt yourself, your own mind or your own gifting above that of those I have placed around you to train you up.
Luke 6:40 also reveals God's heart for us that we would all become teachers. He says; "If you remain in a place of humility and allow yourself to be fully trained you too will become like your teacher." How can you become like them other than to do for others what they did for you?
This reminds me of another dear lady involved in our ministry. I don't know exactly when Karla Hawthorne came to me, but she came very much the same way that Samuel and Chrish did. She somehow found an article or prophetic word of mine that was posted on another site and so she decided to write me. We began corresponding and she was very leery for a while. Her letters seemed few and far between, but since I have been ministering on line for many years now I completely understood this and just kept writing to her and sharing anyway. Through our corresponding one with another she found out that I interpreted dreams and so she submitted a dream to me that she had many years prior through e-mail. I took it to prayer and shared what I sensed the Lord was trying to tell her all that time ago and she was almost speechless.
However, instead of just giving her an interpretation one time or expecting her to keep coming to me, I sensed that God wanted her to learn how to interpret her own dreams. God is not about lifting us up individually. He doesn't want us to call people to ourselves or get them into further bondage feeling the only way they can hear is through another man or woman or through a prophet or ministry. The heart of our Father is opened up to us in Joel 2:28.
Joel 2:28
28 "And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
His heart is that we would ALL prophesy, dream dreams and see visions. Once I interpreted her dream I asked her if she might want to take a journey with me through God's signs, symbols, metaphor's and foreshadowing's so that she could learn to interpret what God was saying for herself, and today she is not only the Moderator of our Dream Forum, but I can honestly say that Karla far surpasses me in giftedness when it comes to interpreting dreams.
Am I jealous of this? Well, I can't say the enemy has never attempted to make me jealous, but the answer is 'No'. When we understand Luke 6:40 (above) and when Spiritual Leaders willingly walk with the heart of Jesus they will always want those that they are mentoring, equipping or training up to do more than they have done, go further than they ever could, and touch more lives than they might have touched themselves.
Today Karla is one of the very first people I submit my own dreams to. She is phenomenally gifted to see things that others might not see. Although she still at times has a difficult time understanding her own dreams (very similar to the prophet who can prophesy the roof off a Church, but can't always sense what the Lord is saying about his own life) she has a tremendous spiritual ability to look at a dream that would otherwise be quite disturbing or even terrifying and share the true heart of the Father in love, direction and encouragement never instilling fear. In fact if there was fear about a specific dream previously it will be gone once God gives the interpretation through Karla and of that I have no doubt.
John 14:12
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
I guess in some small way the Lord has helped me to understand that as a Leader in Christ it is okay to say 'Follow me'. That doesn't mean look like me, act like me, do everything that I do or anything of the sort. In fact I am not really asking them to follow me personally as much as to follow me as I learn and grow in Christ. By doing that a person is following Christ in me, they are following my faith and they are partaking of the anointing that God Himself has placed on my life.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I believe that today more than any other time in history it is imperative that we each have a firm foundation in hearing from the Lord. The Bible teaches us that in the last days there will be many who come to try to deceive the people before Christ's return. In fact it is happening in our Cities even today. There are countless cults and people who are literally following false Christ's.
Finally I just want to say to all those who still to this day refuse to believe that the God of Heaven speaks to them through their dreams or visions I encourage you to spend just a little time studying the Word on how God spoke to Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus). Joseph wasn't visited by Prophets with a few 'Thus sayeth the Lords', and he didn't have the Word of God sitting in front of him all neatly wrapped into a book as you or I do.
In fact what is still quite amazing to me is how obedient Joseph was when he heard God speaking to him. God spoke to him many times, but He always used one method, and that one method is still to this day one of the biggest things that many in the body of Christ still fight or refuse to believe in.
Matthew 1:20
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 2:13
[ The Escape to Egypt ] When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
Matthew 2:19-20
[ The Return to Nazareth ] After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
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