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Category Archives: Dreams

praying medic are you authorized
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article, Authority, Blog, Dreams

Are You Authorized?

I had a dream where Jesus came to the church to check the credentials of people who were teaching about God. Those who were teaching without being authorized by Him were in trouble. His primary concern was authorization.  A secondary issue was the content people were teaching. Many false ideas about God were being taught by people who weren’t authorized by Him.

In the dream, I understood that along with the Lord’s authorization to speak on a subject, came the content of a person’s message. The fact that they needed to be authorized to speak on certain subjects came as a surprise to most people, even though Jesus warned them about this.

Social networks have created a global platform where anyone can share their views about God. We’re bombarded with theological opinions. And apparently, Jesus is listening.

Due to our unique personalities, talents and life experiences, God authorizes each of us differently. Those who have been authorized to speak on a subject are given His heart on that subject, the right life experiences and the right message. He also provides the right audience.

Having God’s authorization creates a favorable environment. Those who speak on subjects He’s authorized tend to bear good fruit. Those who speak without His authorization tend to create discord and confusion. Since God is not the author of confusion, if there is confusion surrounding a message, there’s a good chance that someone who is not authorized is doing the talking.

What I’m authorized to speak on is pretty limited. I’m authorized to teach on healing, deliverance, dreams, and more recently, politics. I’m often asked questions about things which I’m not authorized to speak on, like generational sins and curses. While I know people who have personal experience and revelation from God on these subjects, I can’t think of a single thing God has revealed to me about them. So when people ask me I simply tell them, “I have no revelation on that,” and point them to people who have received revelation on it. I don’t want to step outside my realm of authority.

There’s no shame in admitting to your ignorance on a subject. If you give people counsel that isn’t from God, you’re going to lead them astray. It seems wiser to say nothing at all. One of the sticky points of being granted authority is that in addition to giving us freedom to speak on certain issues, it restrains us from speaking on others. Jesus modeled this restraint by only saying what the Father authorized Him to say and only doing what the Father authorized Him to do.

My suggestion (if you’re looking for one) is pretty simple: Check with Jesus and ask Him what you are and aren’t authorized to speak on and make a list. Once you have clear direction, ask Him to reveal His heart on those issues and confine your conversations to those which He has authorized you to speak on. Then watch how He moves powerfully through you.

Related:
Authority – How Does it Work?

orphan spirit praying medic
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article, Blog, Dreams, Kingdom of God

The Orphan Spirit—A Dream

orphan spirit, praying medicOne afternoon my wife and I watched a Bethel video featuring Bill Johnson, who spoke on subject of the orphan spirit. It was a good message, but apparently the Holy Spirit wasn’t done speaking when I turned the video off. The message continued into my dreams. That night I had a dream in which Bill Johnson and his wife Beni were present, along with one of their sons. (I don’t know which one.) Their presence in the dream was mysterious. I didn’t see their physical bodies.  They seemed to be there in the spirit. They had discerned that the orphan spirit was the greatest problem for the body of Christ at the present time. In the dream, I knew their son was in an area that was “locked down.” When I heard this term in the dream, I wasn’t sure what it meant, exactly.

My EMT partner was with me in the dream. We went to the area that was “locked down.” We were met by a young man who looked  like a friend from work named Chris Maehren. He had a young woman with him. They were both very pleasant and dressed very nicely—but they were both wearing black clothing, which struck me as strange.

They accompanied me and my EMT partner as we went through a very large cavern. It seemed to be about 1/2 mile in length and it was very well-lit, for a cave. At the far end of the cave, we climbed up a sloping rock wall that led to a door. We went through the door and into a hallway which led to what looked like a mental hospital. Once we were inside, I saw patients walking the hallways.

The man who led us there was going to let us into a room to see a patient. There was no conversation between us during the dream. He simply led us to a room and opened the door.

At this point, I became aware that there were other people with me, besides my EMT partner. Again, it was an awareness I had that other people were with us, more than actually seeing or talking to them. I had a sense that I was leading a group on a mission.

As I thought about going through the open door, I became aware that what we were doing was against the rules of the facility. I felt we were going to get in trouble when we got caught, which seemed certain because the process took longer than it should have taken. It seemed as though we should have been able to get the person (or people) out of their room and leave quickly, but everything took longer than it should have. I decided not to go into the room. I felt like I didn’t need to. So when the door was opened, I just sat on a table in the hallway and waited.

Everyone in the room came out into the hallway. One person in particular seemed very happy that we came there. We talked for a few minutes until an employee showed up and began scolding us for being there. It came as no surprise to me that the employee seemed mentally ill himself, just like the patients. And his sour demeanor let me know that the party was now over.

I don’t recall how I got to the cave, but I had to drive my car home. As I drove, I became concerned that my wife would be mad because I was going to be home late. I looked at a map and determined it would take two to three hours to drive home. As I drove, I suddenly took a mysterious short cut, which I saw as my car driving quickly across a map. I arrived at home sooner than I expected, and found my wife curled up on the couch, watching TV with a group of children that were not my biological children. That was the end of the dream.

There is too much revelation in this dream to adequately cover in a blog post, but I’d like to share a couple of observations:

One of the main messages of the dream is that many of us have taken on a wrong sense of identity. The orphan spirit speaks of a mindset that does not truly believe God is our Father—at least not in the way He wants us to understand this reality. I know many people who say that God is their father, but they live as if He is not. I lived this way for many years, but I’m finally beginning to accept the full implications of what it means to be His son.

A second message is that we’re on a rescue mission to find those who have been held captive by this lie and set them free. When we arrived at the holding room, it wasn’t necessary for me to go into the room they were in. It wasn’t necessary for me to join them in their reality. They had to exercise their free will and leave their place of captivity—they had to believe in a different reality. For those who are being held captive by the orphan spirit, their freedom will come as they begin to understand who they truly are and what it means to be a son of God. They will join us and we will lead them out of darkness.

In the last scene, I was concerned that my wife would be left waiting for me, but God altered time so that I arrived home sooner than I should have. I spend an enormous amount of time writing about healing, the identity of the believer and getting free from religion. I also spend a lot of time praying with and encouraging people through social networks. I sometimes worry that I’m short-changing my wife by spending so much time doing these things. It seems God may be working behind the scenes to provide enough time for us to stay connected as husband and wife. And the fruit of our ministry is a small tribe of people who are learning with us as we take them along on our adventures.