Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Esteem Your Dreams

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Esteem Your Dreams

Submitted by Merry Bruton on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 10:16am

10.  The supernatural becomes real—you can walk on water, give a speech with ease, walk around naked without anybody noticing, or successfully fight off Ninja warriors

 

9.  You receive insight into the lives of people you know—and yes, there will be a ‘test’

 

8.  You gain instant conversation starters with your spouse, co-workers and friends

 

7.  You can fly anywhere in the world, or even to outer space, without having to pay airfare or mess with airports

 

6. You might discover a book to write, a song to script, or a new invention to develop

 

5.  Mommas missing their grown children can hold on to the ‘little ones’ once again—cry, laugh, wonder, reminisce, heal

 

4. Your ‘issues’ are exposed so that you can deal with them and move forward.  Yahoo!

 

3.  Perplexing puzzles get solved, like where you might locate those missing keys

 

2. You can get your basic instructions before leaving the house for the day

 

1. Your spirit is encouraged, strengthened, and refreshed from interacting with God’s spirit every night while you are zonked out, welcoming those life-changing dreamzzzzzzzzz…

Counterfeit Dreams

Counterfeit Dreams

Submitted by Merry Bruton on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 5:52pm

A major part of the process of dream interpretation is determining the purpose of the dream—why was a particular dream given to the dreamer?  To discern the answer, we ask a couple of specific questions.  First, what type of dream is it? (roughly 20 types or purposes of dreams exist).

 

Second, where do our dreams come from?  My belief from being trained in the Ancient Hebraic dream interpretation approach says that there are three sources of our dreams:  God, Satan, and our own soul.  Sometimes it is difficult to tell! (more on dream sources).

 

A dream from Evil is what I call a ‘counterfeit dream’.  Satan is called the ‘father of lies,’ and in such dreams, the dreamer is directly being lied to. There is deception going on, truth is distorted. Usually the dreams have a dark, accusatory nature to them…they leave the dreamer feeling hopeless, angry, suspicious, etc.  Often, these dreams are in black in white (no color).

 

Last week I met with a lady who had experienced a counterfeit dream.  She is setting up a new ministry in real life, wanting to partner with some churches in her area.  She felt her dream addressed her situation.  In the dream, it was night-time, and she was constantly running away from people who wanted to kill her.  She was terrified, couldn’t find a place to hide, called the police, who wanted to kill her as well.  In the dream, specific names of pastors and church leaders were ‘revealed’ as ones she needed to ‘take out’ first--before they could kill her.  She awoke from her dream with great anxiety and a readiness to ‘expose’ the ‘evil hearts’ of the pastors—and the police--in her city!  Her speech against them all was toxic, disrespectful, and venomous. 

 

This dreamer seemed to have a bitter expectation of rejection, and I believe that evil forces were attempting to deceive her into publicly maligning the reputation of some good people—possibly to make herself look good.  But that would have backfired and hurt her as well. 

 

I’m not saying that every church leader is perfect, but this dream was revealing a tendency in the dreamer to believe the worst, and the strategy was to use that against her and to prompt her react unwisely and to possibly do some damage. 

 

She believed her dream was from God—unaware of other possible sources of dreams.  She did receive caution from us in how to respond to such a dream. 

 

It is crucial that we weigh any kind of revelation we receive—from dreams or otherwise—to pray and seek wisdom about how to interpret and respond. 

 

God is usually delighted to answer us when we ask.  After all, his purpose in giving us dreams is to invite us into a deeper relationship with him.  If we know him—and understand his truths—we can more easily recognize the counterfeit stuff. 

Positive Transformation Means Going Junk-Free

Positive Transformation Means Going Junk-Free

Submitted by Merry Bruton on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 12:19pm

Every year, we hear of costly studies that confirm the necessity of regular exercise and healthy diet in order to keep our bodies slim and fit.  Common sense tells us that we need to eat good food, and the proper amount, to maintain optimal health.  If we eat junk, the junk affects us, and we eventually just feel ‘junky’. 

 

Knowing this, why do most of us still make so many poor diet choices? 

 

We are tempted by fast foods, sweet foods, foods we crave, foods that appeal, foods laden with unknown and unrecognized ingredients that turn ‘evil’ within our bodies.  We develop bad habits of automatic eating, not thinking about what we are allowing to pass over our taste buds. 

 

Maybe we don’t pause often enough to consider long-term effects of some of our practices. 

 

We treat our minds and spirits the same way.  What we choose to accept and say ‘yes’ to ultimately alters how we think and who we become.  If we allow a negative barrage of ‘input’ to roost within, what we produce via words and actions will reveal the condition of our ‘inner workings’.

 

Garbage in, garbage out….

 

However, if we choose to drink in peace and positivity, the things from God and not the world, deliberately nourishing our bodies and our minds with ‘nutrients’ that make us thrive, we bloom wholesomely wherever we go. 

 

It is never too late to turn the ship around if we discover that a shift needs to be made.  One step at a time, one choice at a time.  We can purge the unnecessaries and embrace the best. The process transforms our perspective, our direction, and our habits-- ultimately our destiny.    

“You’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse…Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”  (from The Message,  Philippians 4:8-9) 

Guiding, Comforting Dreams During Painful Intersections of Life

Guiding, Comforting Dreams During Painful Intersections of Life

Submitted by Merry Bruton on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 11:49am

A few days ago I woke up from a couple of startling dreams.  As I journaled them and sought to interpret, Spirit said to me, “Time is running out; something precious is coming to an end.”  The dreams were fairly vague, but I also received a few more insights and was pondering how this would apply to my life.  Then we got the phone call.  

 

Our good friend Karen, a pastor, had just been brutally tortured and murdered by someone she had been ministering to.  The man killed her and then hung himself.  A horrific setup had cruelly trapped my friend and taken her life way too soon for our preference.  She was one of the most positive people I have ever known.  I loved her laugh and her tender, compassionate heart toward everyone, especially those who really struggled with life. She truly walked her talk.

 

That phone call set in motion a weary, whirlwind week brimming with shock, horror, grief, gatherings of friends, unfolding information, dealing with the media, stinging angry tears, and unanswered questions. 

 

It will take us a while to process our feelings about everything.  We may never understand WHY. 

 

As I reflect on it all, I keep coming back to the treasure of my dreams.  They put me on timely alert and prepared me to some degree to receive the bad news. While the dreams were not specific enough for me to know what was happening and prevent it, they showed me some ‘behind the scenes’ instructions and perceptions—from the One who sees all. 

 

I am most grateful, however, for the fact that those dreams also revealed that God was with my friend in her last hours, he knew what was happening.  And, he cared about me enough to clue me in.  The result is the comforting shield of unfathomable Peace—knowing that somehow, he is in control and will ultimately bring good things out of such a painful situation.   

 

Photo above:  Karen Johnson, far left, with Dream Journey dream interpretation class, Unity church, Fall 2008