Of Dreams and Nightmares (AYFH wk 40)

There is a big difference between knowing and believing. One only has to look up to KNOW that planes can fly, but that does not mean that everyone BELIEVES the plane would fly with them in it! That’s exactly how I feel about bungie jumping or skydiving – I have knowledge of and am in agreement with the science behind it, and I am aware that millions have successfully done it following those rules of science … but you are never gonna catch me purposefully jumping out of a plane or leaping off a bridge. Nope!! Not gonna happen!

Sadly, I think that’s how many of us approach FAITH. We have knowledge of and are in agreement with what the Bible says, but when it comes to putting our trust (either emotionally, spiritually, or physically) in what we say we know and believe … well, if we were to be brutally honest with ourselves, maybe we don’t actually believe all that we say we believe. The Bible calls this “unbelief”, and if you are breathing today, you wrestle with unbelief just like I do.

It’s the knife-in-the-gut feeling when the doctor and says
“I need you to schedule an appointment to see me”.
(The Bible says I’m healed by His stripes but the doc says otherwise)

It’s the sweat on the brow when you’ve got more bills
at the end of the month than money to pay them.
(The Bible says He has provided for your every need
but your checkbook tells another story)

It’s the anxiety that sweeps over you at night, keeps you tossing and turning,
perhaps even manifests in your dreams.
(The Bible says He gives sweet sleep to those He loves
but yours is troubled or nonexistent)

“Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts God between us and our circumstances.”
F.B. Meyer

 

UNBELIEF often lives in the space between FACT and TRUTH.

The Fact:
I have $7.02 dollars in my checking account

The Truth:
My God has supplied all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus! Because I’m a faithful tither, God has opened the windows of heaven for me and has poured out so much blessing upon me that I can’t contain it. He has also rebuked the devourer so that every seed I’ve sown through the work of my hands, or by charitable giving and good works is protected and guaranteed to produce bountifully. My work is blessed and my finances are growing. I have no fear for what tomorrow may bring, for my God has made a covenant promise to provide for me. I thank Him now for all that He is doing behind the scenes that I can’t see from my limited perspective. He is faithful, my hope is in Him, and (Bible) Hope does not disappoint.

It’s been probably 12-15 years since Pastor Deryck gave me the battle plan to “pray, worship, and speak the Name of Jesus” before going to bed at night to confront the enemy who was attacking me in my sleep. But that was just the beginning and over time, the Lord added more tools (greater wisdom with understanding) to my arsenal and I became a more skilled warrior against the adversary of my soul. Not only for deliverance from dreams and nightmares, but in gaining victory over a life-long battle with fear.

The 5 steps described in my last post (Week 39) can really be applied to any challenge, any situation, any confrontation between Fact-and-Truth. Here’s a few additional insights gained from the battle field experience:

1) It requires diligence and effort on your part to weed out Unbelief and let FAITH (confident trust and expectation in the Word/Promises of God) over-write your human tendencies to doubt the integrity of God’s Word … which is what gives place to fear.

2) Fear and FAITH can not abide in the same place (spirit) – one is going to over-rule the other, and you get to choose which one stays and which one goes.

“Faith comes by hearing (and hearing and hearing and hearing) the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

3) The process for increasing FAITH is immersion in the Word of God. Read it (often and preferably out loud, so that you can take it into your spirit via both the eye-gate and ear-gate), memorize Scripture applicable to your situation, and consume so much Word that it begins to take over your thought life and speech.

“First, read the Word of God. Second, consume the Word of God until it consumes you. Third, believe the Word of God. Fourth, act on the Word of God.” ~Smith Wigglesworth

4) Sooner or later, God’s Word is going to challenge what you believe to be true (or perhaps what you want to believe is truth). That’s when you are going to have to make a decision. Just like there is a big difference between knowing-vs-believing, there is a big difference between Fact-and-Truth. God is not changing His mind, nor is He changing His Word. So … are you going to continue to hold to what you think or want to be true, or will you surrender your will and make the decision to believe (trust in, rely on) what God says about it?

So now let me tell you a little about the artwork. Kenneth E Hagin once recounted a story told to him by Smith Wigglesworth, which I have since found memorialized online.

Wigglesworth knew the devil and treated him for what he was…defeated. Smith shares a story of an encounter with the advisory:

“We were sleeping one night, when the manifestation of evil filled the room and the spirit of fear gripped both of us. Polly was so frightened she could not open her eyes. I suddenly sat up, in the bed, and saw the devil. I rubbed my eyes to be sure, it was him. I said, ‘Oh! It’s only you.’ I then turned to Polly and told her to go back to sleep, it was nothing of consequence, and I laid my head back down. Suddenly an overwhelming sense of peace and love filled the room and we had the most blessed sleep ever.”

That really made an impression on me, and I told the Lord “I would like to get to that point, where I can wake up and tell the devil, ‘Oh, It’s just you.’ and roll back over and go to sleep.”

Friend, lest you have a misconception – victory didn’t come overnight.

When I first began implementing Pastor Deryck’s instructions, and once I finally managed to wake and shake free from my nightmare – I would fly out of bed, flip on the lights, and walk around my bedroom (sometimes the entire house) praying in tongues and casting out every devil and demon spirit I could think of or imagine. Sometimes I carried on for 5 minutes … sometimes 25 minutes before I felt secure enough (in mind and spirit) to return to bed. I bet our cats thought I was quite a sight to see.

Over time, the dream came less frequently, but it still came.

It was a thrill for me when I didn’t feel the need to jolt out of bed to take authority over my home. Under cover of warm blankets, I commanded the enemy to get lost and called on Daddy-God to dispatch His biggest and fiercest warriors to stand guard around (above and beneath) me and my girls the rest of the night. Or more truthfully, I requisitioned the “Big-Ass Angels”.   Ain’t nobody gonna wanna mess with them!!

The dream came less frequently, but it still came from time to time.

“One day a pet dog followed a lady out of her house and ran all around her feet. She said to the dog…’I cannot have you with me today.’ The dog wagged its tail and made a big fuss. She said, ‘ go home, my dear.’ But the dog did not go. At last she shouted roughly, ‘ go home,’ and off it went. Some people deal with the devil like that. The devil can stand all the comfort you like to give him. Get firm, cast him out! You are not dealing with a person; you are dealing with the devil…(he) must be dislodged in the name of the Lord.” ~Smith Wigglesworth

The real victory came when I noticed the feeling of being in a drug-induced fog was losing its grip on me and that I was waking up easier and sooner in the dream. After reminding myself that my Jesus was with me, and I’d imagine Him sitting on the end of my bed – watching over me – and back to sleep I’d go.

This is what I wanted to capture in the artwork, and I’m really pleased with the piece. The devil lost the battle when I’d grown strong enough in my faith (trust in God) that while still half-asleep I’d lift one arm up in the air and mumble out the Name “Jeee-sus”… then roll right over and be back asleep in no time flat!!

Smith Wigglesworth: “Oh, It’s only you.”

Friend, wherever you are on your journey of faith, know this. “You are more than a conquerer through Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:31-39). May these words encourage your heart and embolden your spirit so that you may take of the victory that has been assigned to you!

Source: https://www.canecreekchurch.org/what-s-your-legacy/44-smith-wigglesworth

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All sketches and watercolors posted on this website are the sole property of the author and are for exclusive display on the website PuttingHopeToWork.com.