How do you tell if your dream is from God or Satan ?

[Lou Newton]

How do you tell if your dream is from God or Satan ? - We have dreams that persist to stay with us sometimes. Even if we try to rid ourselves of them, they persist. We may even pray and ask God to take this dream away from us, but the dream still persists.

How do we tell if this dream is persisting because it is from The Lord Jesus; or it is a temptation from Satan ?

Please reply and give your opinion to this question on this site or on Facebook.

[redsoxmaloney]

How do you tell if your dream is from God or Satan ? - We have dreams that persist to stay with us sometimes. Even if we try to rid ourselves of them, they persist. We may even pray and ask God to take this dream away from us, but the dream still persists.

How do we tell if this dream is persisting because it is from The Lord Jesus; or it is a temptation from Satan ?

Please reply and give your opinion to this question on this site or on Facebook.

God is consistent; the devil twists and turns in his ways to tempt us. He's always looking for a way to come in. Something from God always stays the same message until we listen.

[Lou Newton]

Glen sent me this reply:

Glen B Smith
To:Lou Newton

Aug 9 at 3:10 PM
How do you tell if your dream is from God or Satan ?
Also, how do you tell if your thought and beliefs are from God or because of self interests and Satan?

Knowing YHWH through His revelation recorded in the Bible is primary to discovering what is of God and what is of this world. Second, is the personal relationship to God through the Lord Jesus. Last, is the witness of fellow believers in your congregation and the Church at large. This criterion applies not just to dreams but to our thoughts, beliefs, actions, politics, and biblical interpretations.

The problem with such criterion is that there is never agreement among Christians within any of the three fields. This fact should alarm all believers so as to not be so certain of their own opinions. It is known as humility. The only honest solution is for there to be unrestricted discussions between Christians. By such exchanges believers learn, grow, and develop spiritually. Therefore, disagreement among Christians not only ought to be accepted but encouraged and enjoyed. Apologetics against cults help define orthodoxy.

An example of how disagreement develops spiritual understanding:
My disagreement with the presupposition of reformed theology helps define what I believe and why I believe it.

There is a human process for the development of spiritual knowledge.

1. We start with the ideas inherited from our culture and experience.
Everyone believes what they know is the some total of spiritual knowledge.

2. Through reading the Bible and hearing the proclamation the cultural influences begin to be weeded out. Some Christian denominations provide this through catechisms for every convert or at a predetermined age for children of the congregation.
Again, everyone believes what they know is the some total of spiritual knowledge.

3. We develop our own theology and doctrines which evolve with the increase of knowledge and is self designed to fit our experiences.
Again, everyone believes what they know is the some total of spiritual knowledge.

This is where many life-long Christians stall in their doctrinal and theological development and where the majority of the heated disagreements occur. This stage of development is termed as being dogmatic. John Calvin, claiming not to change a single belief since he was 19 years of age is the best ever example of being self righteous to the point of participating in the murder of Christians who disagreed. John Calvin believed what he understood was the sum total of essential spiritual knowledge.

4. The Humble or Arrogant stage
This final stage is one of either growth or change. Seeing the flaws in their own ideas there are at least two opposing paths which are followed.

4a. The Humble
There are a few who see the flaws in their own ideas and seek a wide range of ideas from other Christians both for piety and spiritual growth and theological and doctrinal understanding. Their understanding continues to develop following their particular interests.

Ph. D. Michael Heizer is an example who should be familiar to those on the forum.

4b. The Arrogant
For many Christian scholars this becomes their final destination. They either become super dogmatic, agnostic, or atheist.

Atheist Ph. D. Bart Denton Ehrman in the Department of Religious Studies at North Carolina University at Chapel Hill is not just an example of spiritual arrogance but of this human process of numbers 1 thru 4b. After high school in Lawrence, Kansas he attended the very conservative/evangelical Chicago Moody Bible Institute (1973-1976) followed by the evangelical Wheaton College where he earned his BA in 1978. He then earned his Masters of Divinity in 1981 and the Ph.D. in 1985 from Princeton Theological Seminary. Apparently, he found himself so invested in time and money in the study of Christianity that by the time he ceased to believe he felt he had no other choice but to remain in biblical studies so as to use his education.

It may be that Bart Ehrman believes what he thinks is the some total of essential spiritual knowledge or truth.

Mohammad thought he was being tormented by demons with dreams and visions until his wife told him the dreams and visions were from Allah.

Mohammad believed what he wrote was the some total of essential spiritual knowledge.

Redsoxmaloney, your point that God is consistent is essential to knowledge of YHWH.

To answer Lou’s question let us choose to ask either Michael Heizer or Bart Ehrman to interpret our dream.

I do not think most Christians in the stages 1-3 are qualified to interpret another’s dream. However, in some cases any believer ought to know if a dream is not from YHWH or from Satan, but we don’t. Why?

Our problem:
For the most part Christians are unaware that their political views are separate and distinct from divine will and knowledge of YHWH. The same may be said of our cultural and social preferences. Because of the elevation of our own thoughts to be equated with the divine purpose we are as blind as were most Jews when the Lord Jesus appeared. First century Jews had elevated their own religious and political beliefs to be the divine purpose.

May I suggest a first step? Consider that your every thought might be contrary to the will of God. Every thought ought to be examined from all other opposing views while assuming your own thought is opposed to God. In other words, learn to choose against yourself and your own wishes and desires. Why do this? Generally, the thoughts of natural man are opposed to God because they serve a self interest. This is so blatantly apparent in the political positions of both the right and left, Christian and secular. Alas, most sheep of the world do not follow the Shepherd but the wolf. Most of the time, what we want, and the path we take, and what we think are directly opposite to the purposes of God.

If you are as fallen as I, it is easy to know the purpose of God.
Just choose against yourself.
My self interest is always opposed to the divine purpose.
This truth is revealed in the Bible as picking up your cross to follow Jesus.
Where did Jesus go with His cross?
Golgotha’s Hill to be crucified.
“Unless you take up your cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”
Bonheoffer in The Cost of Discipleship wrote of such things.
“When Christ bids a man, He bids him come and die.”

Dreams from Satan? Never! He doesn’t want me to think he is real.
He also knows my own desires are evil enough to corrupt me.
Therefore, Satan avoids me while Christ carries me.

9 August 2018 old scribe