Dreams and visions can be exciting and wonderful as a means of receiving insight and revelation, as long as they come from the right source. Remember that dreams and visions can arise from three places: the demonic realm, the soulish realm (our own human mind and spirit), and the Holy Spirit. In order to be effective in either giving or receiving visionary revelation, we must be able to distinguish the source. This is where the gift and discipline of discernment is so
important.
Another important factor is giving careful attention to our environment. There may be occasions, for example, when we will have to remove from our homes some things that should not be there, such as certain cultic, occultic, or even soulish-tie objects, before our sleep will be sweet and clean, and our environment ready to receive pure revelation. We must be careful to identify and close off all potential demonic entrances to our home in Jesus’ name.
I travel out of the country quite frequently and like to collect flags and dolls in each nation that I visit. Over the years, I have built up quite a beautiful collection. At times I have to be very careful, however, especially when I travel to countries that have a lot of demonic activity. In those places, certain objects, particularly dolls, may be used for purposes other than providing souvenirs—
witchcraft, for instance. These are the kinds of things we need to look closely at through our eyes of discernment and, through prayer, determine whether something is safe or needs to be disposed of.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 contains a precautionary warning to all who would either receive or share visionary revelation:
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,” you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord
your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
Here is the main point: Dreams and visions are wonderful, but our lives are more than just dreams and visions. Our lives are in our Master, Jesus Christ. Someone may reveal true and accurate information and still be a deceptive tool of the enemy to seduce us and draw us in by fascination, and lead us away from Christ.
Don’t simply get caught up in the glitter and glamour of revelatory seers. Examine their message. Look at their lifestyle. What is their conduct? What actions are they calling for? If they call for something that is contrary to the principles found in the written Word of God, then they are deceived, immature at best, or even false prophets, no matter how genuine their visions seem to be or how powerful the messages.
We must always be on guard not to be deceived. After all, we are not following gifts alone; we are following Jesus. Dreams and visions are wonderful, but they must direct us to Jesus. It is Jesus we really want. Let Him be our goal. In all our getting, let’s be sure to get Jesus.
In all our “seeing,” let’s see Jesus! If we get Jesus, we will get God, His Father, and if we get God, we get the Author of all authentic dreams and visions. Let us be like John the Beloved on the Isle of
Patmos: in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and seeing Jesus!
How do visions “happen”?
For me, they began as what I would call mental pictures. After I was filled with the Holy Spirit in 1972, I began receiving “flashes” of light—mental images or pictures that lasted a second or less. At the time I did not know that they were legitimate “visions.” I did not know what to call them. In those days, there were no seminars or conferences and very little writing or teaching on the subject of visions, let alone The Seer! Through a slow process of growth, I gradually learned that these mental “snapshots” were visual insights from the Holy Spirit. The more I grew and matured in the visionary arena, the more sustained the images became.
A mental “snapshot” is a good way to describe how visions can happen. Think of how an instant camera works. The shutter opens, allowing light to enter through the lens, imprinting on the film the image that is in front of the lens. The film develops “instantly” so the image can be viewed and analyzed. In a vision, “light” from the Lord enters the “lens” of our spiritual eyes and imprints an image on the
“film” of our hearts and our minds. As the image “develops,” we gain a better understanding of what it means. Most visions are internal in nature. An image is ingrained in our memory, and we can take it out, look at it, and study it any time we need to.
Another way to explain in simple language how visions happen is to think of each believer in Christ as a house or temple. First Corinthians 6:19 says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we have Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit living in us; He dwells inside our “houses.” Houses generally have windows that let in light. Our eyes are the windows of our soul. Sometimes Jesus, who lives in our houses, likes to look out of His windows and share with us what He sees. That is when a vision occurs—we see what Jesus sees when He looks out the windows of His house.
Whether we see it internally or externally, as if on a large projection screen, is not of primary importance. Our first priority is to be sensitive to the Spirit’s desire to let us see what He sees. Just look through the eyes of Jesus—He wants to share with you what He is seeing!
Supernatural visions are recorded throughout the Bible. Within the pages of the Scriptures we can identify at least 12 different types or levels of visionary supernatural experience. Let us examine each one
briefly, moving progressively from the simplest to the most profound.