Is seeing the future bad?

[Heart of Sword]

Well I kind of see the future through dreams. For instance, I have dreams about people or pets dying and then they do...or I know something bad will happen and it does. It's not always accurate but more often than not it all comes true. An example...I had a dream that my parakeet was telling me that he was dying or something like that and the next day he died (the weird thing was that he seemed perfectly healthy, then went rapidly downhill in thirty minutes or so).

People have been telling me that it's bad and of the devil and it must be a coincidence because only psychics see the future, and psychics are bad so...I'm getting really worried. Of course, people prophesied in the Bible, but these people who've been telling me this stuff are the same ones who believe that tongues (and "seeing") have ceased (I think they still exist)--and they think that anyone who does those things is possessed or something.

So...help...?

[Kiba-kun]

i dont think its bad i have those dreams where you see the future to but for some reason i dont rember it untill it happens its odd but it hasnt happend for a while it might go away i dont think ppl who have this are possed i dont think i am but i doubt its a sign that ur being controlled by demons

[Slater]

The Bible says many times that God uses dreams to tell of the future...

[Heart of Sword]

But a lot of my "fellow Baptists" think prophesying and tongues have ended. Whether they are or not I don't know and I don't care to have a discussion on that. If this turns into a theology debate, a mod is getting called...just warning you guys ahead of time...

[Yeshua-Knight]

well heart, i will tell you this, to say that God is no longer doing anything that He did in the past is to put Him in a box, God is going to do things the way that He wants to do them, our goal as believers is to follow Him and direct others around us to Him, to continue growing closer and deeper in your relationship with God, but to say that God only speaks through these methods is also putting a limit on Him, we must be mindful of all the ways that God communicates to us, especially through prayer and reading the scriptures 'cus that is where the truth is always found, i'm not going to tell you to completely discount your dreams, indeed God does talk to ppl through them, He did so for various ppl in the bible, He has done so with me, but to , in a manner of speaking, put faith in the dreams is foolish, dreams can be the result of God's inspiration, darker influences, or the bean burrito you had before bed, just be mindful of the dreams and when you have one that seems of some importance, see how it holds up against the bible, if there are things in the dream that go against what the bible teaches about the nature of God and principles that God wants us to learn, then it's not from God so just take 'em with a grain of salt, i shall pray for discernment and guidance for you

[shooraijin]

The thread is already being monitored; carry on.

Now, as my own opinion and not with the mod hat on, I think any special ability could be used for good or bad purposes, depending on whether God's glory is increased. Assuming such a power exists -- not getting into that -- the question is what you use it for, and how God's plan might be furthered by it. There may not be an answer to those questions immediately, or even for some time.

[kazekami]

Ok my mom has dreams that come true and some other things. She talked to the Fransican monks, and to Eastern Ortodox Priest. There is a gift from the Holy Spirit called Phrophosising(spelled wrong). It is a gift from God. The devil does try to pervert these gifts. There is a story that these guys had a phrophetic dream. And they wanted to know if visions all came from God. So they went to see this holy man in the desert. And half way there the donkey died. When they got there the man met them and asked when the donkey died. They asked how he knew and he said before they came a demon had come and told him about them and there coming. The gift is not from the devil. It is a gift from God. In the Roman Catholic church not all the priest believe in the mystical. My mom discovered this in our moving around. One priest wanted to help her develope her gift. the other wanted her to go to the mental hospital. I don't think your possesed or anything. Its a tough subject. You might want to talk to your pastor if you feel comfortable. Different churches have different stances.

[oro!]

God uses dreams to reach muslims today, so you have nothing to worry about, as long as what it is doesn't go against god.
I have had a couple of the same kinds of dreams, though not as drastic, like that my brother told me that HOS hurt her foot, and she did. Kinda creepy, all of it is

[Alice]

Yeah, I've heard and read about that too, oro-girl.

[Lyren]

I used to have the same worry sometimes. Occasionally I will see a glimpse of a future event. Since you are a Christian, I wouldn't worry about Satanic influence. It's not like it's something you chose to do or can control it. I don't think God would let it happen this way if it were against His will.

[Alice]

If one is worried about something like that, you could certainly pray about it and ask God to have the blood of Jesus be guarding your sleep, and that God wouldn't let Satan influence your dreams.

But there are places in the Bible where God spoke to people in dreams... well, Joseph for one... I don't think it has to be bad, but it's certainly something you can pray about if it worries you.

[Heart of Sword]

like that my brother told me that HOS hurt her foot, and she did. Kinda creepy, all of it is

Oh goodness, I remember that...that was frightening. o_O I told you, "Well guess what...I got hurt this time." (inside joke) You said, "It was your foot, wasn't it?" That was so freaky...

Before, I was afraid to fall asleep in fear that I'd see something horrible again. Oh, like in the Terri Schiavo case...I dreamed two days before her death that she told me she was going to be dead in two days. Well, it came true. Now, she liked skydiving in that dream...so if it turns out she went skydiving once or twice, I'm going to be totally freaked. Then again, that could've just been a metaphor...

[Pent]

Recently any dreams that I remember for th most part come true for me. I don't think it's demons or anything though.

[Debitt]

One of the gifts the Holy Spirit can bestow upon a believer is the gift of prophesy - while I may be skeptical to declare anything prophesy, it's good to remember that God can speak to us through our dreams and bestow upon us the ability to see things that we would otherwise be unable to see. So no, I don't think seeing the future is bad in itself - it only becomes bad when it's used for something other than God's glory.

[EireWolf]

Unless you've been consulting with demons or dabbling in the occult, I wouldn't be worried about your dreams being from the devil. I find it sadly comical when people think they know what God can't do.

On the other hand, I wouldn't take all your dreams too terribly seriously. Ask God to make it clear to you when something is prophetic, and if you need to do anything about it.

[Kkun]

Unless you've been consulting with demons or dabbling in the occult, I wouldn't be worried about your dreams being from the devil. I find it sadly comical when people think they know what God can't do.

On the other hand, I wouldn't take all your dreams too terribly seriously. Ask God to make it clear to you when something is prophetic, and if you need to do anything about it.

I couldn't agree more with all of your points, EireWolf.

The big thing is to pray about it and ask for a clear word from the Lord about if you think it's prophesy or not. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about it, unless, like EireWolf said, you've been dabbling in the occult. Then, you need to stop that. So...yeah. God bless and I hope you figure all this out.

[mitsuki lover]

Perhaps the reason some people are given prophetic dreams is that it's God's way of giving them a choice in the matter.

As far as these dreams go,remember that St.Joan of Arc had visions and
heard voices of the Saints guiding her to liberate France and set the
Dauphin on the throne.
Later these same visions and voices were used against her in her trial.
However the Catholic church eventually confirmed that they were
authentic when she was canonized.

So any such type of dream can be open to interpretation as to wheter or not it is Good or Evil.The key is to be prayerful.

[Kaligraphic]

Like Yeshua-Knight says, dreams can come from God, from devils, or from that bean burrito. I'd be inclined to think that a dream about a pet dying would not be from God, simply because of what he tends to talk about. Still, for now just take things cum grano salis (with a grain of salt) and seek the lord for your next step.

[kazekami]

Unless your consulting tarot cards, casting runes, scrying or so on to see the future i don't think you need to worry. =)

[Alice]

I thought of something. Maybe God is preparing you with smallish things so that He will be able to warn you in dreams if He ever needs to.

Maybe not even something you have to change, just would want to pray for people involved, or something like that.

I know it's not the same thing, but around the time of the tsunami, I felt AWFUL for no good reason that I could figure out. Like, crying a lot and feeling like I needed to pray. I didn't know what was wrong, but I needed to pray about *something.* And really, that was all I needed at the time. But maybe someday you'll need to know something specific to pray about or be careful of, and God is preparing you for that now?

Not to scare you or anything...

[Jeikobu]

Seeing the future all depends on how it's done. If you are trying to see it yourself and are using sorcery and such, of course it's bad. But if it comes naturally, then it's not like you were doing anything bad. It just means God's showing something to you. How do you think the book of Revelations was written? God showed John a vision of the future. Sometimes things like that happen.

[Hephzibah]

God does use dreams to warn people of future events; Just look at Daniel! He prophesied the rise of the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire and even the Future World Empire.

That being said, however, I think it would be a good idea not to tell lots of people what is in your dreams unless you feel God telling you to do so. I also suggest getting a personal notebook or something and jotting down your dreams and the date on which they occured. That way, if they come to pass you can go back and read exactly what the dream was about and if it happened like that.


EDIT:
If you or any of your friends have trouble thinking that God does use dreams now, just look at Joel 2:28-31

The Day of the LORD
28 "And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.

29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

30 I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.

31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

[Arnobius]

I recall the Bible taking both positions. God does use dreams, but we're not supposed to try to interpret any dream that pops into our head as a message. Also, the devil tries to deceive appearing as an "angel of light" so discernment is very important to determine what is from God, what is natural and what is diabolical.

[Bobtheduck]

I have had a number of dreams that have come true, both literally and symbolically... I once was able to quote what people said before they said it because I dreamt about it the night before... It was rather odd...

One day, in early 2001, I saw with my waking eyes two buildings that were very tall (I thought it must be New York or Chicago or something, I wasn't very familiar with the Twin Towers) with smoke billowing out of them, and I knew it was some sort of crash. Then I saw flashes of people's faces and a child's face that burned before my eyes... After that, I saw a panther visit my friend's bed and walk away (he actually visited ground zero as soon as the planes started again to help with the relief work there). I think God warned a LOT of people about 9/11, but I think a lot of those he told weren't really listening, like me. I didn't put it all together until after 9/11. I completely believe God tells us things, we just need to keep listeningso we can find out what he wants us to do with that knowledge.

[Heart of Sword]

Unless you've been consulting with demons or dabbling in the occult

NO. No way, not ever! o_O

[Scribs]

I think that another option, which seems to me to be most probable, is that it is all in your mind. We all have thousands of dreams each night that we do not remember at all. I dont mean to discreadit you or anything, but it is possible that because of your deep love for animals in general and your concerns for the wellfare of your parakeet, you had dreams about it dying on most nights, but never remembered any of the dreams untill it actually came true.

With the Terry Schivo dream, it was looking like she would die at the time she did, so it is no suprise that you had a dream about it. I think it is possible that you are digging for meaning and signifficance in an area where you have simply stumbled upon some coincidences.

as for the actual question, I dont think that your dreams are a result of evil, overanalysis possibly, but not evil.

[Myoti]

One day, in early 2001, I saw with my waking eyes two buildings that were very tall (I thought it must be New York or Chicago or something, I wasn't very familiar with the Twin Towers) with smoke billowing out of them, and I knew it was some sort of crash. Then I saw flashes of people's faces and a child's face that burned before my eyes... After that, I saw a panther visit my friend's bed and walk away (he actually visited ground zero as soon as the planes started again to help with the relief work there). I think God warned a LOT of people about 9/11, but I think a lot of those he told weren't really listening, like me. I didn't put it all together until after 9/11. I completely believe God tells us things, we just need to keep listeningso we can find out what he wants us to do with that knowledge.

One of my non-Christian friends had a dream like that, too.

As was said before, it's only a problem if you're trying to see the future through demonic means. Actually, I personally believe that everyone can sometimes see into the future, but many times it ends up being something random or trivial and they don't realize what it is until it actually happens.

[Steeltemplar]

I agree with some here that as long as you are a Christian and are not trying anything occult, then I doubt it is diabolic/demonic in origin.

[bakura_fan]

Ik now that I dream dreams of the future....but I never know till I actualy come to that event. So I have many many de je vous events. Like I dreamed I was in this weird house sitting on the floor watching tv, my two dogs Sugar and Muffie were in the corner behind the fence *since they're not inside dogs* and my mom was in the kitchen. Well, the thing is, I didn't remeber that dream until after I found out we were moving, and we moved to Washington, and got in a rental home, and got everything set up, and I sat down to watch tv. o_o I also have visions, but they usualy only come to me when I'm in a spiritual struggle. It's creepy at times, but I've found no evil in them whatsoever.

[Fireproof]

Historically, there have been some people who simply can see the future. This can be a gift from God, acquired through the occult, or simply a freak coincidence.