7 Questions About The Prophetic Power Of Dreams & Visions Book

 

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BOOK EXCERPT

I am fascinated by the mysterious world of dreams and visions. In the past, I’d have the privilege of remembering a dream, then I would share with a friend about this weird dream I’d had the previous night. We’d laugh about it and think nothing of it. Little did I know that there is a message in our dreams!

How many times have you dismissed a dream because it was kooky, silly or just downright crazy? In 2004, I had an unusual dream that left me in awe regarding what I had experienced. The dream was extremely intense. After some time of pondering, I realized that I had a divine encounter.

 

My Dream - Floating on Air

“I was in an auditorium serving as an usher in a conference being hosted by Prophetess Juanita Bynum. I was standing in front of the podium along with another usher. Juanita Bynum is swiftly moving up and down the aisles preaching the word of God with passion and authority. I sensed a strong invisible presence surrounding her. As she charged down the aisle toward the podium, I felt the strong presence moving toward me and I was frightened. I quickly turned to run away but the presence overtook me and I fell facedown onto the ground. I was not able to talk nor could I move. I slowly began to rise to the top of the auditorium and float in the air. Other people were floating as well and we were gently bumping into each other. I no longer felt afraid as I was experiencing peace and love.

I floated to the right side of the auditorium and landed gently with my back to the floor. In a strong, boisterous voice that came from the pit of my stomach, I began violently screaming out praise and worship to God - HALLELUJAH!! GLORY TO GOD!! I WORSHIP YOU, LORD!! I felt possessed by the Spirit of God. Juanita Bynum cautiously moved to where I was and stood over me. When she witnessed me screaming violently - it seemed to frighten her and she quickly walked away.”   

I abruptly sat up in bed upon waking and sobbed profusely. I wept for the next two days because I could still feel the presence of God upon me.

 

Excerpted from 7 Questions About the Prophetic  Power of Dreams & Visions by Tytenisha L. Osgood. Copyright © 2020 by Tytenisha Osgood. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author.

 

False Prophets

“Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain" Jeremiah 23:28

You can’t just wake up one morning and decide, “I’m going to be a Prophet!" It doesn’t work like that. Prophets are personally called by God. John Paul Jackson who is a Prophet to the nations said it best. “If you give a word from the Lord, it has to come true in order to be received as a prophetic voice”. His statement can be backed up by this scripture “All of Israel knew that Samuel was a prophet, because the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19, 20). Very interesting right? It makes you think about the many prophetic words we’ve received from “prophets” that did not come true or did not agree with what the Lord has said to us personally. The role of a prophet is serious business and not to be played around with.

A Prophet is one who speaks GOD’S words, not his or her own words. A prophet knows and speaks the heart of God. I once heard someone say, “It takes 25 years to become a seasoned Prophet.” I believe it!  In order for a prophet to know the heart of God they need to spend time in his presence. It takes time to learn the voice of God and speak his words with accuracy.

“Have any of these Prophets been in the LORD’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen” (Jeremiah 23:19). This was the Lord speaking through Jeremiah the prophet regarding false prophets. True prophets spend quality time in God’s presence. A true prophet must develop a lifestyle of worship, prayer and fasting. The spirit of humility is extremely important for a prophet to possess. They must go through seasons of humbling and crushing to develop this spirit. Prophets must learn to keep their mouth shut and stop blabbering everything the Lord has shown or spoken to them before it’s time. Without a spirit of humility, prophets become reckless with their gift, therefore bringing hurt to the body of Christ. 

Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people Matt. 24:11 

A false prophet is a minister who deliberately teaches false doctrine. They teach very little about the word of God and they misinterpret it. They take the word of God and distort it for their own benefit to gain money, power and fame. They tell you all of the things that you want to hear not what you need to hear. Jesus warns us that false prophets will perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect (God's children). Look at what the Lord said regarding false prophets, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, “This prophecy is from the Lord!” (Jeremiah 23:30-31). Wow!!

Here are some false prophet red flags to look out for:

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  Be careful when ministers urge you to make a sacrifice in your giving by stretching your faith so that God will bless you. You don’t have to empty out your account to prove you have faith. You don’t have to pay God for a blessing. Sometimes the Lord will place a dollar amount on your heart but if he doesn’t, give with a cheerful heart whatever you can afford to give.


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  Be leary of prophets who have a word for everybody. It's possible, but the prophetic does not work like that. I watched a prophet tell a young woman that I knew, she had low self-esteem and tried to give encouraging words because she was heavy set. Far from true. She told another young lady that she needed a beating. I zoned out after that. Like really?? This prophet had a word for everyone that came down the line. Then the church whipped out a credit card machine for those that wanted to give an offering. Red Flag! Red Flag!


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  Be extremely cautious of prophets who call out your first and last name perfectly, especially if it’s done in the church you attend. I know the Lord can reveal things to people but that should raise questions in your head. You have to think to yourself, hmmm could there have been a conversation about me? Possibly!! False Prophets want you to believe they move in signs and wonders. Don’t be deceived.        

 

In My Opinion

 

As children of God we have to be wise and discerning when it comes to “prophets”. Do you know a false word or prophesy will take you off course? Know the word of God for yourself and don’t be so eager to receive a prophesy from man. If a prophet gives you a personal prophesy it should confirm what the Lord has already spoken to you in your private time with him. Be leary of prophets who say, “In seven days this is going to happen” or “if you sow a seed of $37.16 in faith you will receive your breakthrough." You don’t have to pay God for a breakthrough.

 

Jesus said you will know them by their fruit. True servants of God (what ever the call is) should put God first, follow his commands, and point people to Christ. They demonstrate good (not perfect) behavior and Godly character. True servants should help hurting people find joy and fulfillment in Christ; not deceive them, take from them, and leave them broken. It’s time to question spiritual practices taking place in the church that are not biblical. If it's not correct, don't support it. There's no power in the church because of evil motives running rampant and not enough holiness. Holiness is following the commands of Christ.Are you called to prophetic ministry? If so, you need to understand your gift by studying the word of God. Read books, take some classes. John Paul Jackson has a wealth of information on the prophetic. The Holy Spirit by far is thee best teacher.

Let me stress this one last time, study the word of God for yourself so you'll know truth from fiction. Learn the voice of God. God says, "My sheep know my voice". If you know Gods word you can't be deceived or lead astray.

Blessings,
Tytenisha

 

 

 

A Prophetic Dream

What is God Prophetically Speaking to You?

“For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.  He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride.  He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death” Job 33:14-18.

One of the ways God communicates with us is through dreams. As you can see from this scripture, most times our dreams are about us and what God wants to reveal about our lives, good and bad.  There are times when we receive Prophetic Dreams. These dreams are usually about the future or God revealing something to you that is presently going on that you are not aware of. It could concern you or it could be about someone else. I will share a prophetic dream I had but first I must preface the story.

In 2009 I was unemployed and collecting unemployment. Most of the temp assignments that were coming my way did not pay enough money for me to compromise my weekly benefit from unemployment.  In order for me to accept a temp assignment or a permanent position, I required a certain amount of pay. No one could fulfill my request so I continued to collect unemployment benefits. During my free time I read several books, one of them being, “A Divine Revelation of Hell.” by Mary K. Baxter.

Over a period of thirty days, God gave Mary Baxter visions of hell and commissioned her to tell the world to choose life. For some reason, one particular experience she had stayed with me. While in hell Mary noticed a small framed woman who was about eighty years old. The woman had no flesh, just bones and she was being burned by a continuous fire. The woman had one leg and there seemed to be holes drilled in her hip bone. Mary asked Jesus what happened to this woman. Jesus explained that while the woman was on earth she had cancer and surgery was done to save her life. Many people came to tell her about salvation and how Jesus could heal her, but she rejected God over and over. She said God gave her cancer and therefore she hated him. Eventually she died and the same way she existed in earth is the same way she will exist in hell for eternity. I thought to myself wow; I don’t want anyone I know to end up there!  Shortly after reading the book I have this dream about old ladies:

"I'm sitting in the pew of a church and its kind of empty and dimly lit. One by one old Caucasian women with canes are going to the altar to pray or be prayed for. An old lady is standing at the front waving for me to come on. I see Mother J (a prayer warrior in my old church) sitting in a pew to my right. I felt aggravated and annoyed being there. I keep saying to myself, why am I here? I get up to make my way to the old lady waving for me but I'm very hesitant. She rushes me along and hit me hard on my left arm. I fall down to the ground and roll into a fetal position crying profusely. Mother J came over to comfort and encourage me."

Temporary Assignment:

I always keep a dream journal next to my bed. As soon as I awoke, I jotted the dream down. I had no idea what this dream meant. I knew that it involved prayer because of Mother J and the old women going to receive prayer. I asked God for revelation on the dream but did not get it. The following month I accepted a seasonal temp position at UPS working in the HR dept. The pay was right for me. After four weeks in HR my supervisor explained the assignment would be ending in a couple of days. She asked if I was interested in temping for the Dispatch department in the basement because two ladies were going out for surgery. Without hesitation I said yes. The agency called to offer me the position but explained the pay would be $3 less. Now I'm annoyed and hesitant to accept.  I wrestled for a day with making my decision. I didn't want to burn my bridge with the agency, so I said yes.
 
Dispatch was tucked away in the basement where the UPS drivers worked. I assisted them with their route schedules and made sure packages were delivered on time. Immediately I felt annoyed and aggravated. I kept thinking to myself, why am I here? The pay sucks! Complain, complain, complain. The room I worked in consisted of five women.  All of the women were nice and openly shared their personal health issues with me. They talked about how mostly everyone that worked in dispatch including the drivers had health problems or was going to have some kind of surgery. One of the women I was covering for was having surgery for cervical cancer. After a couple of weeks I became friendly with everyone including some of the drivers.

One day an older woman in her late sixties named Linda was leaving for the day and dropped her rosary beads on the floor next to me. She picked them up and proceeded to tell me that she was an Atheist but her children were Christian. She said awhile back she had cancer and so did a friend of hers. Her friend was healed or beat the cancer because of the rosary beads. Her friend suggested she take the rosary beads so that she could be healed or beat cancer as well. Linda said she could have cared less whether she lived or died, it just didn't matter. Fortunately she beat the cancer but her outlook on life made me extremely sad. When she walked away I began to cry. I wished she believed in God.

My Dream Manifested:

Linda reminded me of the old woman in hell who had cancer. All of a sudden, I remembered my dream. I scanned the dimly lit room I was currently working in and noticed all the women were old enough to be my mother or grandmother. The same thoughts and feelings I had in the dream I was experiencing in reality. I became extremely overwhelmed because there was a purpose in me being at UPS. I felt so much compassion for these people. I felt responsible for their souls. God set me up! Lol!!  He lured me into the first temp position because of the pay and he knew I wouldn't refuse the second position because I didn’t want to burn a bridge with the agency. I needed to understand what my assignment was at this job, so I reached out to Mother J.

One evening after bible study I explained my dream to Mother J.  I asked her if was to talk to these people about Jesus? This made me nervous because I didn't want to turn these people off with all this Jesus talk. Mother J. reminded me, "One person plants the seeds, another person waters it and God gives the increase" - 1 Corinthians 3:6-7. She said all need to do is listen to the needs of these people and pray for them. Pray for Salvation and healing in their lives. I felt encouraged and comforted by her words. For the next month and a half, I became a listening ear, an encourager and a prayer intercessor for my co-workers at UPS. 

Interpretation:
The dream God gave me was prophetic. It was about the future and an assignment he had for me. The old women in the dream represented older women I was going to work with. The annoying feelings I had and the hesitations were true feelings that I was going to experience at UPS. The woman waving for me to come meant that I had an assignment from God. Me falling down in a fetal position and crying represented my intercession / prayer for these people. Mother J. represented herself as an encourager and advice giver. I had no clue what this dream meant until I experienced it. God cares about everyone!!  He wanted to bring healing and Salvation to a small group of people that I didn't know existed. He used me to plant the seeds and hopefully someone else will water them. It's been three years this month! I often wonder about that group. 

God is so incredible! He speaks to us in my many different ways. We absolutely cannot keep him in a box. Don’t toss your dreams because they don’t make sense. Pray and ask God for revelation. Write it down! Keep a journal that you can refer to when your dreams begin to manifest.  God may have an assignment for you!

Blessings,
Tytenisha