Blog In Audio:
Greetings;
On Thursday night of last week, I had a very disturbing dream. It was disturbing to my spirit, but it didn’t lack a peace in its inspiration. I wasn’t sure about the dream at first, as to what the source of the dream might be, but as Friday progressed God stirred my spirit to understand some significant things in the dream. Sometimes God gives us dreams that are outstandingly God dreams, while at other times He inspires dreams that get our attention and inspire us to seek an understanding that has a better outcome than the literal dream itself. Let me begin by saying that the graphic experiences in the dream are not meant to be taken literally, nor are they a condemnation to us in our journey. As I describe them, please consider that prophetic dreams reveal things expressly in order to inspire present decisions that lead to increasing life. In my dream I was traveling to Madeira Island by boat and plane. I believe it began with boat, a transfer of my luggage to airplane, and then a final flight to Madeira island. Madeira Island is a Portuguese island to the west coast of Northern Africa. It represents my last new connection in Portugal of 2020. I believe it is significant of new things that are about to take place in my ministry life. I don’t believe that dream was merely about me, but what it represents for us all as we move forward into new things that were added in 2020 but seem to be on hold. They have been on hold, but in 2021 there will be a moving forward into the things that God has already set in motion to come to pass.
In my dream I was traveling to Madeira Island and I was transporting the body of my dad who passed away many years ago in order to bury him on the island when I arrived. In the dream I thought this was strange, since my father was never there while he was alive. My thought was that he would not even want to be buried there, since it was not a place that he ever knew, loved, or valued. In the dream I felt it was wrong for me to take his body there and there were extreme challenges to accomplish the task. I wasn’t allowed to transport a casket, so I had to figure how to transport his body in my luggage. The first stop was a transfer from a dock setting to an airport setting. Somehow my father’s body had gotten there without difficulty, but now putting him into my airplane luggage required a creative way of putting his body into my luggage. Someone was helping me. There were a couple of options. The thought of cutting his body in half to make it fit into my luggage came to me, but I felt it best to keep his body whole. It actually repulsed me to consider the thought of cutting his body in two. I also knew that his body would have to be kept cold or it would begin to decay and smell in travel. The person preparing my luggage for the plane took my clothes out of my bag and stretched them out on the ground. It seemed to be upper garments first and then pants last. They were laid upon the ground stretched out in a neat and orderly fashion. Once the clothes were spread out he laid my father’s body in them and rolled the garments around him. Everything was then placed into my bag. It seemed that he was concealed enough that no one on the airlines would know there was a dead body in the cargo. Before the luggage was ready to load in the airplane I was troubled that my clothes would be ruined because of the smell so I began to consider how my father’s body could be kept cold so it wouldn’t give a decaying smell to my clothes. Dry ice was considered. Even a large cooler was considered, but for some reason he had to be placed into my luggage and a cooler wasn’t allowed. There were several options considered for both the outside and the inside of his body in order to keep him cold for the transport. There seemed to be a conversation with others as to what was needed. The feeling was that a lot of ‘reasoning’ was taking place as to how this might work. The thought of draining the blood from his body came, but then there seemed to be a realization that the mortician had already removed his blood and replaced it with embalming fluid. Even though this was the case, I knew even the slightest smell would affect my clothes when I arrived at my final destination. I don’t believe the dream was about me or my dad. I believe it was about bringing the past into the present in bodily form. This dream reminded me of the prophetic word I received in October of last year in regard to the ‘backyard fence’ ( https://ted4leaders.com/the-backyard-church/ and https://ted4leaders.com/the-backyard-of-today/).
My word to us as we move into the new things of this season is: Don’t bring the dead past into the present. Don’t try to pack what is dead in the past, even what you loved, it will affect what you wear when you arrive at your present destination. If you put what you loved, or who you loved, in your luggage you will find that the contents of your bags will carry an aroma of death. There is no way around it. You can’t find enough ice to keep things from thawing. We have a heritage from our past, but the past is not alive in our present circumstances. We can’t return to the circumstances of the past and we can’t deny the circumstances of our present. Our past is not meant to be buried in our present, but to be valued in our hearts from the past. What was alive yesterday is dead today. What died yesterday doesn’t need to be buried as dead today. It needs to be remembered for the value of life, but we must move from the backyard boundaries of the past and find our purpose in the relational connections of today. Only what we inherit in our hearts and minds is the reality of who we are today. What we loved yesterday can’t be buried in what God wants us to love today. What was life yesterday, will affect today with an aroma of death. The aroma of life can only be found in what is life today.
Matthew 13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
A scribe in the kingdom of God allows God to put new things in their hearts and minds that open doors to things that have never been seen, heard, or thought before. A scribe in the kingdom of God allows God to redeem antique and lost things in their family line for the family purpose of today. The past is not lost, and the present cannot be despised because of a longing for tomorrow. Embracing our true today will open the legitimate doors of the kingdom of God in our lives in the path of our true destiny in Christ.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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