I was with a bunch of women in a crowded place. There was a hostess at the entrance of the room and two women were giving a sort of sales pitch to the captive audience. Their product at first seemed appealing and benign - something that everyone wanted and could use. When I decided that it I wasn't going to buy in and instead move along with my day, they came up and pressed me against the wall agressively saying to not show my resistence and began threatening me in a smooth-talking sort of way in order to get me to comply.
In that moment, I was shocked and I looked up at the other women and the host as if to say, "can you believe this? Are you going to sit back and let these women treat me this way? I can't get them off by myself! Aren't they just some salesladies that we aren't obligated to at all?" When no one did anything, I finally yelled out for people to help me. The hostess waved me off as if to say, "oh, you'll be fine, don't worry." Some other women intervened, but only to tell these saleswomen to continue with their pitch. Then there was a distraction with another woman becoming ill in the room. The saleswomen dug around in their bag and pulled out some crack cocaine, but it was as though I was the only one in the room that knew this was a very addictive and harmful drug. All the women looked at my opposition to this "cure" like I was crazy and hateful to not want to give this medication to the sick lady from these "intelligent, prepared, and generous" saleswomen.
In disgust, I got up to leave. I had decided there was nothing I could do to change the situation since I had tried and no one listened. This action started a string of other attacks coming my way to keep me trapped in the room and unable to walk outside in freedom. I called out for the women to help me and it was useless. It seemed like these salesladies were really not about their products at all, they were about control.
All they wanted was for the women not to think for themselves, but to comply with whatever they placed in front of them. Opposition or even questioning made them lash out in violent anger and fury. This rage was now being channeled towards me as I tried to escape and fight my way to freedom. It seemed like at every turn, they were there - haunting me, mocking me, insulting me with lies, tormenting my mind, trying to injure me, but for some reason they couldn't touch me.... but they knew that they could try to affect my thoughts, my emotions, and my perseverance, so that I would give up and give in. The more they pressed though, the more it made me want to fight because I despised their hate for me and the other women. All I knew was that I had to break free.
Somehow I made it outside the building but I decided to hide just in case they came looking for me. Of course, they did but now that I was outside, I realized that they were demons. It was as though I was watching this dream, and for a moment it paused, and my spirit realized that this "Cristina" in the dream did not know God or the power in the name of Jesus. So, in that pause, somehow that "Cristina" acknowledged her need for a Saviour and that Jesus Christ is that One person who could deliver her from the enemy, but even beyond deliverance from evil, Jesus was the one who was offering her freedom to exist in God's kingdom (which was outside the building where there was light and exposure).
When the dream played on, the new "Cristina" commanded the demons to flee in Jesus' name and they fled. I woke up.
So, maybe this hits you in one of several different ways.
Maybe you feel like the pusued Cristina that is tormented, shot at with tons of lies, you are weary, tired, feeling like no one is truly helping you get out of the dark, stuffy place your heart feels like it is in right now. There's no peace or rest. Maybe you feel a little suffocated - even by your own thoughts or emotions - or like you can't get to real, true safety (and not just physical safety, but emotional, spiritual, mental or even social safety). You may or may not know Jesus Christ personally, but I want to encourage you to call out to him in honesty from your heart with how you feel. Acknowledge that he is the Son of God and the Saviour that is the only one who can set you free. Ask him to deliver you and truly trust that Jesus will. Ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you as you take each step.
The Bible says in Romans 10:9-11 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
If you just took this step, you can also check out these websites:
www.biblegateway.com
www.desiringgod.org
www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/becoming_a_christian.aspx
Or maybe you already know Jesus yet you feel like you are getting bullied around by the enemy and not living "abundantly" like John 10:10 talks about. Maybe you feel like that peace, rest, hope, & joy you once felt somehow evaporated for awhile. I don't know your situation, but may I throw out a few questions & suggestions? They may or may not apply to your life, but here they are anyway:
- Are you rebelling against God in any area in your life (which means that you might want or do something regardless of what you know God would want for you)?
- Take a moment to get real with God. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart (Psalm 51) and truly invite him to bring up any "offensive way" in you. If He were to ask you to make a change would you be willing. If not, that's probably the stronghold area that needs to be submitted again to God.
- Are you deliberately spending time with God? I'm talking about more than 10 minutes in between things.
- If you truly want to experience God, His presence, His love, and true freedom, we need to open ourselves up to Him, go to His Word with a listening heart, and simply acknowledge who He is. Let's not make this more complicated than it needs to be. Just show up and truly desire to meet with Him. You'll be amazed by how much He wants to be with you. (Psalm 16:11, Matthew 11:28, Philippians 4:4-7)
- What are you feeding yourself? What do you surround yourself with on a daily basis: music, media choices, friends' influences, radio talk, books, magazines, etc. You know what I'm talking about.
- Many times we fill ourselves up with all the junk of this world and we wonder why we are livng in a "pig sty." Distance yourself from the things that are hindering you! Really, be ruthless here - it's for your own sanity and freedom. Do a detox in your life and ask God to help you identify and cut out all the garbage that's dragging you down. Once you know what it is, don't delay - take whatever steps you need to take to stop or get away from those things. (Phil. 4:8-9, Col. 2:6-10)
- Do you have like-hearted/minded friends or support that can help and encourage you?
- Are you giving of yourself in any way?
- Ok, I could go on and on, but only you & God really know your situation, so if you really want things to change, go to God with an honest heart and take the necessary steps.
Lastly, maybe this dream hit you in a way that made you think about all the deceived women left in the dark, dreary building. You may or may not be actively sharing Jesus' love and truth with those around you, but maybe this is a reminder to be bold and share in the joy of being "ministers of reconciliation":
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:17-21).
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