Acts 2:17 (see also Joel 2:28)
When I was much younger I had visions of the future, specifically my own future. Many of those visions came to pass. As they were happening, I recognized them. They had to do with life choices such as education, work or career, marriage, family, and even where I would live. Some have yet to be fulfilled. Now I am an old man. The dreams are becoming more frequent and much more symbolic.
In my dreams, I see things related to news events of the day that symbolize the fight between good and evil, the contrast between right and wrong and the difficulty people have in discerning truth. It amazes me to observe how confident some folks are in declaring they have the only “true” vision of the way things are, how things came about, and what this all means to you and me going forward.
Difference Between Visions and Dreams
Visions can be full of glory, especially when they portray happy events and occasions of rejoicing. A marriage, the birth of a child, graduation, that first job, a well-deserved promotion, a happy, peaceful and contented life. A dream can bring to the heart all these things and more, because dreams are usually accompanied by feelings that go with such events, including both the joyful and the sad.
In my experience, visions portray the future, how things can turn out or how they can be. However, I am aware that visions can also be given to show something past, either full of glory or destruction. Dreams are often used to teach, to encourage, or to chastise. Yes, I have had dreams in which it was clear I was meant to understand my behavior or course of action had negatively affected someone.
Feelings Can Accompany Dreams
In one of my dreams, shortly after their passing, both my parents came to me. Both were symbolically dressed and both came from locations of the home that clearly represented function. The look from my father was filled with love and kindness, but plainly communicated that I needed to be busy and get about my work. My mother, on the other hand, came close to me and took me by both my hands.
She turned them over, looked at them with seeming amazement and then said directly, “You have prepared well. It is time.” While not expressed verbally, the idea of hands filled with light came to my mind. My mother was alone. My father was accompanied by two experienced “guides.” That’s the best word I can think to describe them, but there was a familiarity to them as if they were family members.
Visits From the Spirit World
As my father approached death, he shared with me several occasions in which he was visited by others from the spirit world, mainly by my mother, but also one time by an angel who he described as my brother who had died a few hours after he was born. I have also been visited by individuals from the spirit world, but not all of them have been family members. Some were evidently yet earth-bound.
In one such episode, a dream that was clearly symbolic, at least to me, I and a number of former missionary companions visited a temple in Central America, that was once at the center of a thriving metropolis. The décor was more 1950’s and the city and the temple had fallen into great disrepair and disuse. I thought the timing of the dream (2016) was interesting (Vision of the Abandoned Temple).
Earth-Bound Spirits are Real
Doug Mendenhall helped me a lot in dealing with these mostly-unwanted visits from the spirit world. There are many others who understand how trapped spirits can influence us. Everyone has different kinds of gifts. Some are great speakers or writers, some sing, compose or play musical instruments, and then there are those who ae mostly misunderstood – they can see into the world of the spirits.
I know several individuals, like me, who have had conversations with those living on the other side of the veil. The more experience one obtains in these dialogs, the more obvious it becomes that most of those who are desirous of communicating with us do not have our best interests in mind. They either want to use us or are stuck, coming to realize we can sense their presence and “hear” their thoughts.
The Great and Spacious Building
In my dreams recently, the unfairness of life has become more evident. I have awoken with a sense of anger several times from the events of my dreams, usually based on real-world events and almost always based on the story someone is telling in such a way as to persuade others to believe a lie. It seems wrong that such liars can get away with their deceit and are upheld by so many around them.
I have seen the great and spacious building in my dreams. It is real. The people are real. I have met them and spoken with them. They truly believe the lies they have been told and fully believe what they are doing in mocking those who hold to the iron rod is the “right” thing to do because it is what “everyone” is doing and of course, everyone can’t be deceived like those who cling to the iron rod.
Events of the Last Days
I believe we are living in the generation that will see the “winding-up” events of the last days come to pass. It seems to me we are in the few years where the wicked are setting the stage for the destruction of the days to come. There are many foolish people who are pretending and playing a role but have no clue about what is really important and what is just about to happen in the very near future.
Long-time readers know how I feel about the physical changes our world is about to experience. This is not some gradual process through which we will pass, but will come upon us as a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly. It will be as if a door is opened and a conduit to heaven brings angels and beings from the past back into our presence. Their very presence will burn the wicked who oppose God.
Return of the City of Zion
This is not a fairy tale, or a myth. There truly was a people who lived in such a way that the Lord took their city – literally took a piece of this earth – up into the heavens, where it lingered for some time. With the passage of time, that piece of this earth – Zion – moved beyond the sight and out of the memory of the inhabitants of this earth. Yet, the day is fast approaching when Zion will return.
The Lord comes with the hosts of heaven. We can no more stop it than we can stop the earth from it’s appointed course. The signs that have been foretold will appear in the heavenly bodies – our sun, the moon and the stars that will fall from the sky. What will happen when that heavenly body – the piece of earth that was taken up – comes close to this earth again? I recommend a visit to Vaughn Hughes.
