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Christian Dream Interpretation

Understanding Sleep and Dreams in relation to Christianity

Christianity, Sleep and Dreams

This post continues our discussion of the range of topics contained within the deep, complex, and profound relationships that exist between sleep and dreams, the teachings of the Christ, and the Christian religion. As portrayed in the Holy Scriptures, these facets of human consciousness and areas of human life are deeply intertwined, a fact that is no less true today than when the gospels were written two thousand years ago.

To begin to grasp the intimate and sweeping way that our chosen areas of study interrelate in the mysterious realms of human consciousness it will be necessary for many in the modern world to open their hearts, broaden the horizons of their imagination, and prepare for a deeper level of inner experience. It is impossible to begin to comprehend the grandeur of the divine spiritual realms with a heart and a mind that is closed and confined within material reality. However, with imagination and inspiration you will begin to move into the fullness of the spiritual heritage that is unique to Christianity.

As the world’s community of Christians prepare for the return of the Lord a new and deeper understanding of His teaching will carry mankind into the next phase of our spiritual development. For some Christians among us today, this process has already begun. Already there are a growing number of individuals who are receiving the direct illuminations found in His word. These individuals represent the future of our religion, they are pointing the way forward for a humanity that will be less consumed with material reality and increasingly aware of our spiritual heritage.

Right now, in our time, the numbers of those individuals who are more spiritually aware are beginning to grow in a most extraordinary way. Unlike many contemporary Christians, these individuals will not look to the past, to public opinion, or to the organized church for sanction or guidance, but rather to the living Christ who provides unique instruction from within.

At Christian Dream Interpretation we believe that the first place in which we become aware of His immanent presence is in our sleeping dreams. These nightly revelations can serve as a point of departure that will allow any sincere and devoted Christian to explore the fuller dimensions of their unique spiritual nature under the loving guidance of the Son of Man.

So what must be done so that the contemporary Christian can move forward on this path? What must we do to avail ourselves more deeply of the Lord’s nighttime presence? What are the initial steps that are necessary so that we can open to this vast untapped inner resource?

First, we must adopt a frame of mind and a basis for understanding that creates a fertile field on which the actions and the words of the Lord might take hold within us and grow. We must position our forces of thought and feeling to be receptive to His word so that His promise can become a reality in our lives. It will be necessary for us to gradually, yet persistently, transform our thinking; we must be willing to move toward a new and deeper understanding in regard to our religion. An understanding that is more spiritual and less material. We must bring much greater clarity to our relationship to the forces that reside on the divine spiritual planes.

If we insist, as many do, on rigorously adhering to traditional approaches to and understanding of Christianity we will remain stuck in the past, we will be unable to move forward and prepare our consciousness so that we can “see him as he is” and “be like him”. (1 John 3:2)

The Spiritual Nature of Dreams

The Spiritual Nature of Dreams

Everyone has had occasion when they have been profoundly affected by their dreams. We have all had dreams that are frightening, forecast the future, convey specific instruction, or fill us with wonder and awe. Dreams are almost always difficult to decipher, and often they convey a degree of mystery that few other forms of human experience can match.

Why do dreams so transfix, confuse, and inspire mankind? It is because dreams are, at their very essence, spiritual experiences. They are expressions of the soul and the spirit, and as such they form a link between our experiences in material reality and our inherent spiritual nature. Dreams sometimes reflect circumstances and events of the physical world, but they are not of the physical world.

In the Judaeo-Christian tradition it is acknowledged that dreams are a gift from God. Not all dreams are from God, although some are and those that are reveal a deep insight into the spiritual nature of man, into the dynamics of individual human consciousness, and into the continuous spiritual transformation of all of humanity.

Dreams are an integral part of the Christian experience, and we all know from our studies that there are many examples of divinely inspired dreams recorded in the Holy Scriptures. These dream experiences guided the development of human consciousness, gave instruction to specific individuals, and offered warning, protection, guidance, and insight to the patriarchs, prophets, disciples and apostles.

Today, these experiences are available for every sincere and devoted Christian. Indeed, many Christians are having these experiences on a nightly basis although often they are not recognize for what they are.

There is a tendency among some modern Christians, and among many non-Christians, to view the Biblical examples of divine revelation as quaint stories or child-like mythologies from the distant past. But they are much more than that. These mythologies come down to us as clear examples of divinely inspired instruction for specific individuals, for communities, and for whole nations. There is often an immediate utility to these experiences, a warning to flee, for example, and there is a longer term purpose that is intended to remind humanity that we are not alone in the world, that we have not been abandoned to the dark forces of the universe.

The dream visions of the Holy Scriptures are there to remind us of the manifold ways in which the Lord guides, defends, and protects the development of human consciousness. Anyone in the modern world can avail themselves of this divine guidance merely by paying more attention to their sleeping dreams.

Dreams and the Judaeo-Christian Tradition

Dreams and the Judaeo-Christian Tradition

It is a continuous theme throughout the Holy Scriptures that the Lord reveals to humanity, often, although not exclusively, in sleeping dreams. In the Judaeo-Christian tradition it is commonly accepted that God has frequently used dreams and visions to guide humanity, instruct the prophets, and to prepare the way of the Christ.

Modern Christians accept this as part of the story of our religion, but these phenomena are not acknowledged as a continuing reality in our day-to-day lives. Within the parameters of the abstract and thinking mind (that is to say, intellectually), modern Christians understand that this premise is true in a historic sense. However, there seems to be little inclination to apply this commonly accepted historic truth of our religion to the reality of our lives in the modern world. We therefore find ourselves in a situation where it is little recognized by the vast majority of contemporary Christians that these inner experiences of the Lord are as available to us today as they were to the ancients. We dream just as they did, and God speaks to us today just as He did to the prophets, disciples and apostles in Biblical times.

As Christians, we know from the teachings contained in the Holy Scriptures that theoretically the Lord can appear to us at anytime. As a practical matter however, it is important to understand that divine spiritual beings can and do appear before individual human consciousness on a daily basis. In fact, the Lord and His helpers are with us always! (cf. Matthew 28:20) However, for some mysterious reason we do not apprehend them and only occasionally do we acknowledge their immanent presence.

Yet, unbeknownst to most, we do experience them when we sleep. For it is in the nighttime hours when we fall asleep to our earthly lives and awaken to the spiritual planes that we are most receptive to the presence of the Lord and His helpers. This is when the entirety of the spiritual realms unfold before us, as in a vision.  This is the time when the Lord and His helpers appear before us and reveal their instruction.

With this in mind and in the context of the teachings of Jesus Christ, the writings of the Holy Scriptures, and over two thousand years of human experience, our fundamental premises are these:

  1. Your sleeping dreams are authentic spiritual experiences which are inherently Christian in nature.
  2. Dreams reveal divine wisdom, this is the ‘living water’ that flows from the Christ and His Heavenly Hosts to you. (cf. John 4:14; John 7:38)
  3. Within this divine wisdom you will find guidance and instruction that is addressed specifically to you.
  4. As an individual Christian living in the modern world your ability to access this divine wisdom is, with proper training and modest discipline, exactly the same as that experienced in Biblical times by the prophets, the disciples, and the apostles. 

This is what we believe and practice. Please visit our website to learn more about sleep and dreams, and the ways that they are related to the teachings of the Christ and the Christian religion. There you will be able to explore these profound, rewarding, and little known dimensions of human spirituality in more detail. You are invited to submit a dream for interpretation and thus begin your exploration the deeper levels of your consciousness, the inner presence of the Lord, and His nighttime revelations.

 

In our next several posts we will elaborate on these topics as we seek to articulate a coherent and comprehensible description of this vast and mysterious area of study for the contemporary Christian.