I glanced down and saw that one was gold; the other was heart-shaped and silver, with filigreed gold edging. Both were intricately designed.

At that moment, I woke up. I felt I had been in a prophetic dream, and that in the dream my husband represented Jesus. There was something about the pendants that stirred up a spiritual hunger in me.

It was then that I realised it was the second spiritual dream I had received in the space of a month—both ending in a similar way.

A Gold Necklace

In an earlier dream, I was visiting a retirement home, along with other staff members from my church. Whilst we were there, I suddenly realised that a woman called Ruth Young was living in the home.

[The Hunk and I hosted Ruth and her husband over 20 years ago in New Zealand, early in our missions ministry. We saw something close to revival in the churches they ministered in. Their testimony about sacrificial love and service for Jesus caused many Christians to hunger, repent and recommit their lives to Jesus].

In the dream, I went looking for Ruth, and found her in one of the rooms. We sat at a table together and talked. As we conversed, she was showing me jewellery that she was crafting. She left and went into another room. I desperately wanted to see her again, but she had gone, leaving the gold necklace she had been showing me on the table in front of me.

At this point, I woke up. Along with a heightened sense of God’s presence, I felt deeply the unfinished business of my dream’s meeting with ‘Ruth.’

Discovering Meaning in the Dreams

Meditating upon the meaning of this earlier dream, I felt that Ruth represented the message she had carried: passion for Jesus. It seemed that the Lord was saying He wanted us to take that ‘first love’ we had known for Jesus out of retirement.

But I hadn’t considered the jewellery until the second dream yesterday. When it finally smacked me on the head last night, I went looking for a book on dream interpretation. I wanted to find out the significance of jewellery—particularly necklaces.

As I searched for an entry on the meaning of the jewellery, the following words stood out to me: ‘treasure,’ ‘desire,’ ‘precious,’ ‘God’s gifts’.

Spiritual Gifts

Could the pendants and necklace in the dream have something to do with spiritual gifts? My dawning awareness of the message the Holy Spirit was bringing through the two dreams was bringing with it a growing sense of conviction.

God in His love has lavished spiritual gifts upon us, His church (see Romans 12:6, 1 Cor 12-14, Eph 4:8, Heb 2:4).

It honours Him when we ‘wear ‘our spiritual gifts, when we treasure them and display them, when we use them to bless others. In using our spiritual gifts, people see something in our lives that can only be explained by Jesus. Spiritual gifts display the craftsmanship of the Holy Spirit.

Do we have spiritual gifts that need to be taken off the shelf?

I have a small collection of jewellery, including some special pieces given to me by those I love. However, I wear very little of it, and much of my jewellery stays in the drawer. I have a pendant given to me by a dear friend that is gathering dust on a table.

My attitude towards the spiritual gifts God has given me has been similar to the attitude that I have about jewellery.

Most of the time, I keep the gifts God has given me of prophecy, discernment, intercession and others, hidden away. I have even started to take them for granted, no longer prizing them or valuing them as I did in the early days.

I do bring spiritual gifts out at times when I believe they are useful—usually in church meetings. But I do not walk in them. Perhaps I have felt that a good Christian should not ‘show off’ spiritual gifts, especially those that are supernatural in manifestation. But it is likely that my so-called ‘humility’ has masked apathy, fear, unbelief and pride.

Here is another thought that is challenging me today:

An attitude of apathy towards our spiritual gifts also betrays a lack in our appreciation of the Giver.

In Jer 2:32, God says, ‘Does a maiden forget her jewellery, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.’

The dreams have come at a time when I am working through a process of spiritual renewal. I am challenged to review my attitude towards the gifts God has given me. Perhaps this is an area the Holy Spirit is challenging you in, too.

Jesus said,

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.(Matt 5:15-16)

**You may have some more ideas about the topic of spiritual gifts or the interpretation of these dreams. If you do, I would love to hear from you! Please leave your comments in the boxes below—if the comments area is not visible, click on the blog post title and scroll down.

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Related posts:

What To Do When You Have a Prophetic Dream

How Do I Know A Personal Prophecy or Dream Interpretation is From God?

© Helen Calder   Enliven Publishing

As well as a physical body, the Bible tells us that we have a soul and a spirit; we are triune beings made in the image of God (1 Thess 5:23). Dreaming is a natural process that our bodies carry out, as we are physically refreshed during sleep. But dreaming does not only have a physical function. We are aware that during our sleep our souls (mind, will and emotions) are processing our responses to our past and present, along with our perception of the future.

We are also spiritual beings, created to commune with God. The Bible tells us that one of the many ways God speaks to people is through dreams (Job 33:14-15). These dreams are spiritual, or ‘God dreams.’ A prophetic dream, when tested over time, will prove to be significant.

If you believe you have had a prophetic dream, what should you do with it? Here are some ideas to start you off:

1. PRAY ABOUT IT

If you think your dream may have a spiritual meaning, pray about it. As the Bible says, symbolic dreams are mysteries; only God is able to reveal what they mean (Dan 2:26-28).

2. RECORD IT

Write your dream down as soon as possible, or at least jot down some of the key points to help you remember it (Hab 2:2). Your memory of the details in your dream will naturally fade. If you dream regularly (or get great ideas in the night hours) then you might like to keep a notebook by your bed.

3. REMEMBER IT

Some other things you can do to help remember your dream are:

• Replaying the dream in your mind will help you memorise the content of your dream
• Share it. Find someone to tell your dream to who will be interested and draw the details out of you.

4. REFLECT ON ITS MEANING

What was it about the dream that made you think it was spiritual in nature? Some questions you can ask to get you started are:

• What was the atmosphere in the dream?
• Who appeared in the dream? A person who appears in the dream might be themselves, but may also be symbolic of an attribute in you, a role that you play, a ministry you are called to, or symbolic of something else.
• What objects, places or symbols showed up in the dream? This is where developing knowledge of the Bible and Biblical and prophetic symbols can be helpful. You can also find further helpful information about dream symbols in books from reputable Christian authors (for examples, review http://www.koorong.com.au/)
• How did you feel during the dream?
• What did you sense and what came to your mind when you immediately awoke from the dream?

Remember that a dream in its entirety can be a mixture of both natural and spiritual elements. There may be one factor in a dream that is a revelation from God, but the rest could be from your own inner world.

Don’t discount the value of a dream that is from your soul, not from God. It can still be valuable to show you how you are responding in your inner world to past and present circumstances in your life and it may well be worth taking the time to meditate on it.

5. SEEK HELP IN INTERPRETING YOUR DREAM

You may like to share your dream with one or more people who can help you understand its meaning. Remember that the principles for checking a prophecy also apply to dream interpretation.

Whilst some people do have specific gifts in interpreting dreams, realise that just as in all prophecy, no one person has all the answers. Never become dependent on a single person with a prophetic gift. Be wary of becoming reliant at ALL on others with prophetic gifts or upon the gifts themselves. God has given you the Holy Spirit to guide you into truth (1 John 2:26) and good leaders in the church for protection (Heb 13:17).

6. RELEASE WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND (1 Thess 5:21-22)

It is OK to RELEASE what you don’t understand, or anything that is not encouraging. If you are disturbed by a dream, find a caring Christian friend or leader who can pray with you about it.

In the New Testament, the recipient of a dream usually knew what God was telling them. Don’t try and force meaning out of a dream that is a mystery. If you have recorded a dream that you believe is significant, it may take time for the meaning to become clear.

Finally, the Bible illustrates that God uses dreams to foretell His future plans (prophetic dreams, Gen 37:5-11), give guidance (Acts 16:9-10), impart spiritual gifts (1 Kings 3:5-16), warn (Matt 2:12) and even give successful business strategies (Gen 31:10-13) to His people.

Let’s be open to receiving a prophetic dream, for our dream world can be an opportunity to encounter Jesus and receive God’s instruction and blessing for our lives.

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Would you like to develop your prophetic gift?

Enter your email address in the subscribe box at the right hand side of this page to receive:

• regular blogs and teaching to help you grow in your gift of prophecy
• notifications about online prophetic training opportunities
• news of resources to help develop your prophetic gift

Check here for online prophetic training opportunities in 2010

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See also How Do I Know a Personal Prophecy Or Dream Interpretation Is From God?

©  Helen Calder    Enliven Publishing