Day 74.

Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes bizarre. They are an enduring source of mystery for scientists and psychological doctors. Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they mean? We may not remember dreaming, but everyone is thought to dream between 3 and 6 times per night. It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes. Around 95 percent of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed. Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.

If you are like me, you never remember your dreams, or when you awake, they quickly fade. I have never had ‘biblical’ dreams like Joseph or Daniel, where God spoke specifically to them. However, there are three memorable dreams over the last 50+ years that I have recorded in my journal. One of which is significant to the story I will relate over the next few days.

The first dream was when I was a teenager. Just days before my father’s death I dreamt in vivid colour that his hairdressing salon and souvenir shop, while fully stocked and furnished was totally void of life. That now may seem inconsequential. The second dream was a few years into my newfound faith. Obviously influenced by my understanding of last day events I was dreaming of the time of trouble that will come upon the earth. The last deception included a satanic ‘messiah’ who will impersonate the second coming. Scripture declares that Jesus will not even touch the ground at this time and the redeemed, both living and those resurrected, will be caught up into the clouds “to meet the Lord in the air.”
Understanding this truth, I was trying to convince people that this ‘messiah’ was not Jesus but an impostor – if not the devil himself! The arguments went back and forth, with me being accused of being just like the Jews at Jesus first advent. Miracles were being wrought and the sick were being healed, but still I persisted. The Bible declares that when Jesus comes back the resurrection will be occurring, and the seven last plagues will have run their course. In my dream I was frustrated that people would not believe me and that they were being deceived. Finally, in a one-on-one face-off with this false ‘messiah’ I said, “If you are Jesus, let me see you raise someone from the dead,” because I believed (and still do) that the devil does not have the power to give life and therefore he is incapable of raising someone from the dead. However, in my dream, he took me to my father’s grave site and there he resurrected my dad! I knew this was not my father but an evil impersonating angel. While the crowd was taunting me, I knew what the truth was – this was not my father! I awoke to one of the very few dreams I have remembered. Remembering was probably enhanced by the fact that I told others of the dream.

This dream, while not prophetic in any way, taught me that in the last days the devil will even counterfeit the resurrection, and the giving of life to the dead. This very truth is the foundation of spiritualism where “departed love ones” are contacted through seances and spirit mediums. The Bible clearly tells us “The dead know nothing” and that what people are contacting are evil impersonating angels.
The Bible contains many warnings about satan’s miraculous activities in the end of time. Perhaps you would like to join a ZOOM Bible study on this subject next Wednesday at 7:30pm. I will supply the ZOOM link via this SMS portal. This study will, potentially, go for 2 or 3 weeks. You are welcome to invite your friends.

There was a third dream, one that changed the course of my life.