Kathy Harris - United States

There are some dreams that you know instinctively are a word from God.  On December 24, 2008, I had such a dream, and it has repeatedly come to mind through the years.  There were two messages to me in this dream; one was in the form of a wake up call, the other was an encouragement.  I call it the “Seductive Man Dream…”  

It was dark, but I could see the room.  I was laying in a bed at a hotel.  The room was very wide like a suite - maybe bigger.  Across the front was a wall of windows with sliding glass doors in the middle.  A man entered the room and stood by the doors.  He was tall, dark haired, nice looking.  Frightened, I laid still for a bit, then sat straight up to tell him to get out.  I couldn’t make the word “get” come out of my mouth, it stuck.  Sluggishly, I tried to force the words to come out.  Then I repeated, and it came out, “Get out of here.”  I found myself by the sliding doors.  I opened the left door for him to leave through.  He smiled and stepped toward me as if to kiss me.  I stepped back.  He smiled a smug, arrogant smirk, and he pulled the glass window next to the sliders aside and went out.  Then I saw that all the windows beside the sliders (to the right) were hinged at the top in sections so they could swing at the bottom, somewhat like vertical blinds, but bigger sections.

This was a wake up call. The main message was very clear.  The seductive man was Satan, and he was letting me know that he wasn’t worried about being shooed out of my life.  In fact, he relished the opportunity to reveal the many openings (vertical spaces to the right meaning through my flesh) he had to reenter my life whenever he wanted.  The Lord had been dealing with me over time about areas in my life that might not be called “sin” as set out in the Bible, but could be called “impurities.” 

Deuteronomy 23: 9-14 When you are encamped against your enemies, keep away from everything impure. If one of your men is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he is to go outside the camp …wash himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.  Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. … dig a hole and cover up your excrement.  For the Lord your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

Sin is an entry point for the enemy, but these scriptures made me realize that beyond sin there are some things, that may be natural, but God calls impure (And, what is an impurity for me may not be for you).  I believe it’s a matter of not letting anything, but God, control me.  Let me give an example.  I love to eat, a natural thing, but my thoughts go to food too often. I find myself thinking about what I’m going to eat next even soon after finishing a meal.   I eat between meals and when I’m not hungry.  I have decided to regain control by disciplining myself not to eat at these times.  To help me do that, I am committed to take these random thoughts about food “captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10)” so that I can use that time more productively.

This is definitely a process.  I ask the Holy Spirit to alert me when my thoughts go to food.  As soon as I realize I am thinking about what to eat next, or what snack I have in the cupboards, I consciously switch my thoughts (take them captive) to Jesus.  The first step I take is to ask Him to protect me from the thoughts and yielding to them. I might then thank Him for His help in conquering my “impurity,” or praise Him just for who He is, my savior and friend.  Sometimes I make a mental picture of Him looking down on me.  His face is not clear, but I feel a peace and joy just focusing on Him and turning my thoughts to the many things He’s done for me.  It always makes me smile and redirects my thinking away from food.  Read Psalm 77.  It gives a good example of David taking his “thoughts captive” and making them obedient to God.

Another way to take control is to remove myself from temptation.  When I can I keep busy between meals with activities away from home, or working outside.  If I must stay inside my house, busying myself with cleaning or a hobby keeps my mind focused on something more productive. 

The second lesson I learned was in the form of an encouragement.  In the dream I demonstrated growth in my reaction to the enemy.  At first, fear had a strangle hold on me.  It hindered me from taking a stand against the intruder and ordering him out, but as I repeated what I wanted to say, I was able to speak it clearly.  

God has used previous dreams to show me how fear paralyzes me and prevents me from being and doing all that He created me for. Let me share another dream as an example.

I was sitting on a couch with my feet on a stool, my legs extended, when a black mouse came out of a hole in the baseboard at the floor and jumped around the room toward me.  I was instantly afraid.  It pranced up my right leg, and I wanted it off me, but I was so paralyzed by fear that I could not move to shake it off.  

Through a succession of similarly-themed dreams, I was presented with situations which caused fear.  In some I tried to speak, but nothing came out, others I tried to speak but it came out in strangled sounds and no matter how hard I tried, no words came.  Each dream was showing progression in my ability to speak out overcoming the fear.  Therefore, in the “Seductive Man Dream,” I was encouraged by the growth shown when I actually worked through the fear with perseverance, at least enough to speak out.  Then to stand face to face with the intruder, open a door, and show him the way out, (though I still felt some fear) was true progress.

My thought after waking from this dream was Am I coming into my destiny in Christ, getting more used to using the authority God gives me?  God has been teaching me to step out in faith and use His power and authority to defeat the enemy by claiming and standing on His word to me.  

Luke 10:19  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  

Matthew 17:20  …Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

God has told me to meditate on and repeat these promises until I KNOW them and OWN them.  That means that I say these verses out loud, and mull them over and over in my mind, until they are engrained in me.  Also, the more I speak God’s promises out loud in prayer, as commands rather than wishful pleas for God to move, the more natural it becomes.Then when an opportunity arises to pray for someone or to stand against Satan’s attacks, God gently prods me to actually speak into the atmosphere (out loud), with His authority, for or against situations using His Name.  It takes conscious effort on my part, but I find that the Holy Spirit is a great teacher, guide, and source of strength for standing firmly. 

In His Word and through His Holy Spirit, God graciously gives the direction needed to live a life worthy of His calling (Eph. 4:1) and to defeat the enemy (James 4:7).  I spend time in His Word, to know Him and how to please Him.  I meditate on what I learn to increase my faith that as His child I can speak His Word with authority knowing He will act, bringing His purposes to pass.  The more I step out in that faith, the more I reform my thinking habits and defeat the enemy in my life.