Dream / Vision of Jesus
In 1990 I entered boot camp. At that time I began praying every night because I felt a need for God's protection and guidance. Then, one particular night I began praying for a dream of Jesus. I didn't really know where that request even came from. But I felt this desire for the request coming from my heart. It was different than anything I have ever experienced. That first night, nothing happened. The second night I began praying again to God for protection and guidance. And for the second night in a row, the prayer for the dream of Jesus again began being pulled from my heart. This time it was a more urgent request than the night before. And the second night, upon going to sleep, I received no dream. The third night, again, I began praying. This time it was even more urgent than the past two nights. This third night the request for the dream was again being pulled from the depths of my heart. That night, I fell asleep, and I started to dream.
The dream started with me opening a very large door, and I entered it. Inside I saw that I was in a very large room. I didn't see anything in it, except darkness. But in that same instant, I saw Jesus standing all the way in the back (or the front, depending how you want to look at it). Jesus was glowing white light, but I could make out the outline of His face and frame. He was standing facing to my left, so the left side of His profile was facing me. The first thing I noticed was that He was Jewish. I lived in what many would consider a Jewish neighborhood most of my life. I was friends with mostly irreligious Jewish people, but I used to see the religious Jews walking to Temple or Synagogue on the Sabbath. And He looked somewhat like those Jewish men. Or perhaps He simply opened up my understanding that He was Jewish and I then thought of the Hasidic Jews that lived in my area. The thing is, I never realized Jesus was Jewish until that moment. So in this "dream" (I believe it was a vision), my understanding was being opened up to new understanding (revelations) from the Lord.
Highlight
“I will boast about such a man, but I will not boast about myself, except in my weaknesses.” ~2 Corinthians 12:5
“In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.” — Daniel 7:1
As He stood there, He looked like he was holding something precious and delicate in both hands. He then slowly turned His head toward me and looked right at me. When He looked at me I instantly remembered a particular sin I had committed in my life. And I realized He knew about it. I was so overwhelmed with shame that I couldn't bear it. I thought, "He is all the way over there, I'm right by the door. I'm going to just turn around and leave." I remember also thinking that He was just a man and wouldn't be able to stop me. So I turned to leave after rationalizing all this, and when I turned, a very bright light flashed in my eyes and blinded me, in that same second I opened my eyes and saw His feet. I was completely prostrate, flat on my face at His feet. I had been translated across the room in a fraction of a second. My jaw dropped open in shock and I began slowly looked up. I then came face to face with Jesus and He had an incredibly intense and compassionate look on His face and He reached out His right hand to me and my dream ended.
This was in 1990. I am writing (editing) this message in 2017. Seven years after this dream I was powerfully born again (baptized in the Holy Spirit (1, 2, 3, 4). So over the past 20 years I have often thought of this dream/vision, and after studying God's Word over these 20 years I was able to get a little more understanding of it.
1st. Jesus had me positioned to His left. And at that time, I was indeed a goat.
"And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." ~Matthew 25:33
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:" ~Matthew 25:41
2nd. He was a shining white light. Many places tell us that Jesus is the light of the world.
3rd. I realized He was Jewish. I never remember ever learning that. In my dream it was a very surprising revelation. Many verses tell us clearly of Jesus' Jewishness.
4th. He knew my sin (because He knows everything). Many verses show us this fact throughout God's Word.
5th. Even though I tried to leave I wound up on my face at His feet. Another very biblical occurrence.
6th. It was my shame that made me want to depart from His presence. But He came to this world to remove that shame from us. We shouldn't hide from God because of sin, but go to Him for forgiveness. It's the whole purpose of Jesus coming to this world.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ~1 John 4:10
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." ~Luke 19:10
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." ~Matthew 1:21
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. ~1 Timothy 1:15
The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. ~1 John 3:8
So what does this dream mean to me? It adds to the fact that I am highly accountable before God, and that I better do what He says in His Word. What should this dream mean to you? I don't know. Perhaps that Jesus takes a personal interest in us? That He loves us and wants to remove the heavy weight of sin from off our soul and give us peace, joy and happiness. And when Jesus entered my heart in 1997 He did that for me. He instantly and permanently healed me of an acute anxiety condition, and so much more. And He can and will do the same thing for you, if you go to Him and pray to Him and seek Him with your whole heart and never stop seeking Him.
As I said, seven Years after this dream I became a born again Christian. I was gloriously saved by the Lord God who created all things through His Son Jesus (Yeshua) Christ (Messiah).
("For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6)
In 1997, He revealed Himself to me through His Word the Bible. What filled me with faith was the fulfillment of prophecies from the Old testament. I knew that the Jews believed in the Old Testament but not the New. So it made it all the more powerful. Because I saw in their own writings who the Messiah would be and what he would do and I saw the fulfillment of these things written in the New Testament.
I'm so thankful to the Lord because he fulfilled His promise through Abraham that through his seed (Abraham's descendants) that all the nations on earth would be blessed.
Gen 22:15-18
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, says the LORD, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice.
Gen 12: 1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show you:
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Also you can see the verses from the prophet Jeremiah stating that there will be a New Covenant (Testament).
Jeremiah 31:31- 34
31 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
34 and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.
Yours in Jesus, the Anointed Son of God, Tommy Richards
You can be saved!
God loves the people in the world so much that He came down to die for us. If God is opening your heart to His message and you feel convicted for your sins which have separated you from a holy God and you feel the need to be forgiven, then say this prayer. This is how I was powerfully converted to the Christ in 1997!
Say, "My Lord and my God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I believe Jesus the Christ died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. I believe Jesus raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and is now on the right-hand side of God listening to this prayer. I open up the door of my heart and I invite You in, Lord Jesus. Thank you, God, for saving my soul and I vow to serve you with all my heart which is the first and greatest commandment. Amen."