Prophecy, Visions, and Dreams from the Holy Spirit

davidwpalmer

February 9

David W Palmer

(Acts 2:17 NKJV) "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams."

This amazing and fascinating prophetic promise was first spoken by the Old Testament prophet Joel, and then repeated here on the day its fulfillment began. As we read it, we see that immediately after mentioning the Holy Spirit's outpouring, God's word states that prophecy, visions, and dreams will be the consequences.

We often talk of the gift of speaking and praying in tongues as the initial evidence of having been baptized (completely immersed) in the Holy Spirit. And this is true; so we should never forget it or fail to enact it. But, we hear very little about the main or ongoing evidences of being filled with or overwhelmed in the Holy Spirit and his power. What are they?

As God's Spirit is called the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Holiness, we should rightly expect that holiness is a primary and ongoing fruit of having him at work in and through us—controlling out tongues and lives. This accords with his manifestations in the gifts and fruit of the Spirit (See: 1 Cor. 12:7–11, Gal. 5:22–23). They, along with his other work in our lives—leading us into truth, comforting us, showing us things to come, bringing revelation, etc.—certainly are holy; they define holiness.

However, in our opening passage, which announces the outpouring, we see that as well as prophecy he also mentions visions and dreams. This shows not only that these are both holy, but they are the language of the Holy Spirit.

Both visions and dreams are revelations from the supernatural spirit realm—from God, via the Holy Spirit. They are prophetic in nature and may convey a range of revelations—from things God wants to reveal, communicate, have done, or have materialized in the natural realm through faith and obedience. But in essence, prophecies, visions, and dreams are revelations:

(1 Corinthians 2:9–10 NKJV) But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." {10} But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

From this, we see that revelation from God does not come from him to us through our five physical senses: taste, touch, hearing, seeing, or smelling. No, God speaks to us in our spirit via his Spirit or angels:

(Proverbs 20:27 NKJV) The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.

Today, God promises to pour out his Holy Spirit on you until you are filled, overflowing, and completely overwhelmed with his Holy power, glory, and manifested presence. This is his desire for you. No doubt, this will give you an opportunity to receive his priceless gift of speaking and praying in tongues; but it will also give him access to your life to convey his revelations to you: prophecies, visions, dreams, the fruit of the spirit, the gifts of the spirit, guidance into truth, and showing you things to come. Amazing.

This passage goes on to say that only God's Spirit knows the deep things of his heart:

(1 Corinthians 2:11 NKJV) For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

In giving us his Holy Spirit, God has given us direct access to his heart, his truth, his intentions, his love, and his insights, etc. For us to understand the full extent of this amazing opportunity will take all of eternity. For now, we would do well to accept his wonderful gift and simply thank and praise him for it.

To fully avail ourselves of the amazing opportunity God has set up by giving us his Holy Spirit, we need to draw near to him relationally. Plus, we need the discipline of praying regularly in tongues to allow the Holy Spirit to do what Father sent him to do. Then, we can attune our inner ears to what his Spirit is saying; and we are welcome to linger long enough to hear his heartbeat, commune with him deep in our spirits, and receive his comfort, love, and acceptance.

God is your true and perfect Father; he loves you; he wrote a book about your life, and he believes you can be all he created you to be—no matter how you feel about yourself or your track record to date:

(Psalm 139:16–17 NKJV) "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. {17} How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"

(Jeremiah 29:11 NET) "For I know what I have planned for you," says the LORD. "I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope."

Our wonderful Lord Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we shall receive power to be his witnesses:

(Acts 1:8 NKJV) "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

In court, a witness is a person whose sole responsibility is to recount accurately what they have seen and heard without any discoloration, distortion, personal opinion, or interference with the facts. They commit to telling: "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." This is the exact role that Jesus took while on earth; he was simply a witness for what he saw and heard with his Father, plus he was a faithful, humble, obedient servant:

(John 5:19 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner."

(John 8:38 KJV) "I speak that which I have seen with my Father …"

(John 12:49 NKJV) "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak."

(Philippians 2:7–8 NET) But emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, … He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross!

Jesus was a faithful and true witness (Rev. 3:14); he did only what he saw with his Father, and he said only what he heard from him. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do this too; he reveals Father's heart to us, he shows us what our Lord Jesus wants done, and he gives us words to speak in Jesus's name. Truly, the Holy Spirit's role in us is both supernatural and astounding. He is holy, and he speaks; he conveys God's messages and revelations to us. His language is prophecy, visions, and dreams—along with other gifts of the Spirit.

While visions can be a life plan or the preview of a completed project, and dreams can be the daydream of a desired future hope, they are both much broader in their application. God can give a vision to a seer, which is a prophetic word or other gift of the Spirit. He can give anyone visions to warn, encourage, direct, or explain. God can speak through dreams directly into our spirit for similar reasons. For example, he continually guided Joseph and thus Mary and Jesus into safety by dreams:

(Matthew 2:13 NKJV) Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." (See also: Mat 1:20, 2:19)

Today, I encourage you to grow in your relationship with the Holy Spirit and thus with Father and Jesus—minute by minute. Draw near to him; he will draw near to you. If you love him in intimate, sincere, and holy communion, he will reveal his heart to you. Then you can imitate him, say what you hear, and give witness to all that you see him doing.