Sid Roth - Entertaining Angels and Heaven in Your Dreams
My guest says it's normal for all believers to have heavenly encounters. Do you want to be normal?
Sid Roth: Justin, you were a real rebellious maverick before you knew the Messiah. But then after knowing the Messiah, you actually got kicked out of a new age festival?
Justin Perry: That's right. Yeah, some friends and I went into a number of new age fairs, actually, under the moniker, "Mystics of Yeshua". So, we were calling ourselves Mystics of Yeshua, in order to really read people's mail prophetically, interpret dreams, pray for healing, cast out devils.
Sid Roth: That's normal, isn't it?
Justin Perry: It's supposed to be, yes. And so, during these psychic fairs, we became a really hot topic. We had organizers of the psychic fair telling people, they would say, you know, I've only got time for one. Which one? Because we would be in the reading room with 20 other psychics, and we were believers, and they would say, "I've only got time for one". And the organizers would say, "You've got to go the Mystics of Yeshua".
Sid Roth: They weren't believers.
Justin Perry: No. Definitely not. They would say, "They've got the hottest energy in here". There were times that we would have a line of people for 30, 45 minutes, waiting to get prophetic ministry from us. You know, we're surrounded by the counterfeit. We had the goods, and so people were hungry. We saw many people get saved. We saw two witches that got saved, that came out of witchcraft. One of them we didn't know about until years later, but because of our ministry there, she got radically saved and delivered. But what ended up happening, the reason we got kicked out is, somebody found out who we really were, that we were casting demons out of people, that we were leading people to the Lord. And they sent a letter to the entire psychic organization, blacklisting all of the Mystics of Yeshua.
Sid Roth: Now, you before you were saved, who would have thought, seven years drug addiction, dealer of drugs, arrests. So, you just come back from having a good old time. And you're partying on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. And you come home, and you get visited by a glory cloud.
Justin Perry: Yes.
Sid Roth: Why does God do that to a guy that's a drug addict? I've never seen a glory cloud. What happened?
Justin Perry: Well, I got really desperate, especially for a couple of years leading up to that. So many things were going wrong in my life. It was no longer fun to party. I was just stuck, and I was just crying out to the Lord. And He heard my prayers. He also heard my dad's prayers, who happened to be on a prayer retreat during the same days that I was partying on Bourbon Street. So, when I got home, 3:00 in the morning that night,
Sid Roth: Was his prayer retreat mostly for you?
Justin Perry: That was his main prayer point, for sure. Yeah, I just, I went into the bedroom and shut the door behind me and went face first on the ground. And for probably the first time in my life, I began to encounter the presence of God. In my spirit, I could see that there was an actual cloud of the glowing glory of God that just moved into my room and hovered over me for three hours. I mean, the heart surgery that God did on me was remarkable. The addiction was broken off. Years of emotional and mental turmoil, and all of that was just like I became a new creation, like I was born again, and transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.
Sid Roth: I read that somewhere.
Justin Perry: Yes. Me too! So, it changed everything, quite literally.
Sid Roth: Then you began operating under an open Heaven, and the seer gift started being activated. Tell me about that.
Justin Perry: That's right, yeah. So almost immediately, I began having dreams. I was trying to read through the Bible as quickly as possible. And I went to bed one night and asked God, "Why don't you speak to people in dreams anymore"? Because I had just read about Joseph and, being raised in a denomination, actually both of my grandfathers were pastors in a denomination. But I was taught that God didn't do that anymore. Well, this sincere question in my heart to God, before I went to sleep, He heard it. And He answered. And I received a prophetic dream that night that led to someone that I had known for years to get born again and delivered, and restored to their family, all because I had a prophetic dream that God used to really bring this person into the kingdom. And from that point forward, dreams, and shortly thereafter visions, became very commonplace.
Sid Roth: However, you got really embroiled into ministry. And you went through what the world calls "burnout". And for seven years, it was like the open Heaven closed. The gifting stopped. But then you got a hold of two major revelations that not only changed his life, but I promise you, if you will do what he did with these revelations, it'll change your life. The first person, who is someone, a prophet, who's now in Heaven permanently, his name is Bob Jones. And he provoked me to so much jealousy, because every time I'm talking to him, he says, "Well, about an hour ago I was up in Heaven, and I did this, I did that". And I'm thinking, what's the matter with me? I've never been up in Heaven, you know, and you're doing it all the time. But what did he; major thing he taught you, key?
Justin Perry: Yes. He taught me that waiting on the Lord, waiting in His presence, not reading the Bible, even, not even praying, although those things are important, but waiting in God's presence and discerning the presence of God, waiting for Him to lead us into an encounter, that that was the doorway. And Bob actually said that many of his most dramatic encounters with God began with something subtle; it began with him waiting in the presence of God, and maybe seeing a slight vision, or maybe some prompting of the Spirit. And it was whenever he leaned in or pressed into what he was seeing that it became a major encounter, even to the point of being caught up into the throne room. I think I've been convinced largely because of scriptures, like Hebrews Chapter 4, that we have an invitation to come boldly before the throne of grace. Or Revelations, Chapter 4, that there's a door standing open in heaven. That was actually Bob's favorite verse. And there's a voice saying, "Come up here and I will show you things which are to come". Hebrews Chapter 10 tells us that Jesus has made a new and living way for us to enter behind the veil, into the holiest place. And this is a privilege that used to be only for the high priest once a year. But now, God has given every believer an invitation to come into His very manifest presence, behind the veil, into the very throne room. Yeah!
Sid Roth: But then you read another person who is now in heaven, she lived over 300 years ago, and she took the revelation for you even further. What did she teach you?
Justin Perry: Yes. So, Madame Guyon, a seventeenth century contemplative lived a life of deep, experiential prayer. And she wrote really systematic steps to entering into the presence of God. Some of her principles, such as she would say that, "Prayer is nothing more than the application of the heart to God and the internal exercise of love". In other words, prayer is not primarily a prayer of the head, it's primarily a prayer of the heart. There were other things that she taught as well, related to the Word of God, and allowing prayer reading, the scriptures, to be a real catalyst to a high place of encounter.
Sid Roth: Can you take a scripture and give me an example of what you're saying?
Justin Perry: Absolutely. So one of the easiest ones, because it is a prayer, is what we would call the "Lord's Prayer," or the "Disciple's Prayer," out of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus teaches us, when you pray, pray, "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by Your Name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done". Well, she would say take that prayer, phrase by phrase, and spend as much time with each word as you need to. So, whenever you pray "Our Father," you would park there and say, "God, You're such a wonderful Father. You're teaching me how to be a son, You're teaching me how to be a daughter. Thank You for loving me like a Father". Then you would move on. "Hallowed be Your name". "God, Your Name is wonderful and glorious. Your Name is above every name". And the purpose is allowing your spirit to fully engage with the revelation of the Word of God. And she would teach that however far you got before the presence of God became so overwhelming that your focus was more on His presence than what you were reading, then you stop there, and you allow the presence of God to be the sole focus of your affections and your love. And you just allow the presence of God to be in your all in all in that moment. She would say that the goal of Bible reading is in the quality, rather than the quantity read. The purpose is to get the revelation of the Word of God, rather than to accomplish reading a certain amount of scripture.
Sid Roth: Look into that camera, and I want you to tell our audience what the Word of God really is to you, the Bible.
Justin Perry: Yeah.
Sid Roth: The thing they sometimes dust off and open up, because you're desperate. But that's not what it is to you, is it?
Justin Perry: Yes. The Word of God is bread. It is food. The Word of God is living water. It's the very life from the heart of God that He's provided for us, that we can touch and taste of God himself, His very nature, through the revelation of His Word. It's one of the most glorious gifts that He's ever given to man, because at any time, you or I can open our Bibles and have a face-to-face meeting with the Creator of Heaven and earth, the God of the universe. That's what the Word of God is to me.
Sid Roth: What would you say to someone that is watching us right now, and they say, "You don't understand. I have a stressful life. I get home. I want to not open my Bible, and just zero out". What would you say to them?
Justin Perry: I would say that we don't even realize often how much we need the life of the Spirit and the life-giving power of the Word of God. Many times, the exhaustion that we experience at the end of the day is predicated by our desperate hunger for the Word of God and the presence of God. So if we don't have a desire to get hold of God and to go after His presence, and to dig into the Word, I think the best place to start is to say, God, make me hungry. Stir hunger in my heart. Help me to hunger and thirst like the deer panting after the water brook. A prayer for hunger is a prayer that God will always answer.
Sid Roth: And you know what, everything you've been saying is really meat to us, that I didn't even get to the tease! What happened when you went to Heaven? We'll be right back.
Sid Roth: So, Justin has been, these revelations which he just shared with you, he's been exercising. And all of a sudden, he is caught up to Heaven for two and a half hours. What happened?
Justin Perry: In this encounter, I was led down a corridor. And I was handed to another person, or angel, who was escorting me. And he announced me into a very large room, that would have been like a gigantic court of a king, or a throne room of a king. He announced me and he led me in, and sort of handed me off. And as I began to walk into the room, I saw Jesus, who looked like a lion man. I don't know how to describe it, other than to say He just, He looked, He was a man, but He had some qualities of a lion.
Sid Roth: Well, He's called the Lion of Judah.
Justin Perry: Absolutely. And He was down on His knees, and He had His hands on His thighs, and He was in travailing intercession. It was Hebrews 7:25, that He "ever lives to make intercession for us". And that's why He's able to save to the utter most those who come to God through Him. And He saw me, and He motioned for me to come and join Him. So, I got down on my knees next to Him, and I began to pray. And I began to pray deeply. I think it's what Paul describes, when he told the Galatians, "I am in travailing labor for you until Christ is formed in you". And this whole encounter was mostly about intercession with the Lord. And there was revelation about my personal life, about ministry I'm involved with, about family things. He spoke a lot to me, but mostly, He was inviting me into a whole new level in my prayer life. And I can honestly say, you alluded earlier to the seven-year period where things largely shut down in my prayer life, seven years to the day when the Lord spoke to me, I was going to enter into somewhat of a dark night of the soul. April 12th to 13th, 2016, was seven years to the day that I was caught up into Heaven, and the Lord gave me my prayer life back that day. Things have been radically different in my prayer life since that encounter.
Sid Roth: Now, the reason that my producers were attracted to you was, you had a book, and I have to honestly say, I said to my producers, "I don't want another book on dreams"! But they said, "No, Sid, this is different". And I'll tell you for one thing, why it's so different. How many books have you ever read on dreams?
Justin Perry: To this date, I have read zero books on dreams.
Sid Roth: Where did you get this information?
Justin Perry: I can honestly say the majority of it came by prophetic download, during a season of praying in the Spirit for many, many hours, this season of revelation opened up in my life. And I began having more prophetic dreams than ever. And it seemed like there was a target on my back that every prophetic person within a hundred miles was coming to me, telling me their dreams, and this gift of revelation to interpret their dreams began to operate. So, it really came by revelation.
Sid Roth: Well, that's wonderful that you have that gift. But what about me? But what about you? What feedback are you getting when you teach this, or people read about it?
Justin Perry: The number one comment that I've received, and this happened about two hours ago, I was talking to one of our staff members,
Sid Roth: That's recent.
Justin Perry: Yes, very recent. This happens all the time. And I was saying to him, "I've noticed your dream life lately has been amazing". He's been sharing with me these encounters he's been having, visitations of the Lord. He said, "You know, it all began when I read your book about a year ago". I had no idea that this was the case, but I've had that feedback over and over again that when people attend one of the workshops, or when they read the book, it's like their dream life gets awakened, you know, to pardon the pun. But it's like something gets activated, where a seer gift begins to operate on a whole new level than it's ever operated before.
Sid Roth: Now, I mean, there is so much revelation, because it isn't information. There's a difference between information and revelation.
Justin Perry: Yeah.
Sid Roth: There is so much revelation. For instance, give me an example. In dreams, the Bible talks about it, some of you have entertained angels. And you weren't even aware of it. In dreams, we can entertain angels.
Justin Perry: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, the testimony of scripture is that angels are very involved with prophetic revelation. You see this throughout the books of the prophets, and the other visionary books. Many times, when we have a dream, it's because we've been visited by an angel. It's easy to illustrate by saying, if I were to say to you, "The nightmare that your six-year-old had last night was because a demon came and brought an attack to them," most parents who were spiritually aware would say, "Yeah, of course". But if I say to you, "the reason you had a revelatory dream last night was because a holy angel of God came to you, a messenger, brought you a messenger," then that should make just as much sense. So often it's the characters in our dreams that are speaking to us are angels. We see that in scripture. Sometimes a character in our dream could even be the Lord, coming to us in a form that we don't recognize. So, angels are very involved,
Sid Roth: You know most people, that's not on their radar. They don't even think about it. But you kind of awaken all of that,
Justin Perry: Yeah.
Sid Roth: When you teach on this subject. There are people that are watching us right now, and they're saying, "He's talking like he really knows God".
Justin Perry: Mmm.
Sid Roth: I want you to have your own experiential knowledge of God.
Justin Perry: Yeah.
Sid Roth: That's my desire, because I know what my life would be without it. And I know what my life is with it. And I don't know how I even existed without having this. I want to pray a prayer with you. And I want you to pray it out loud, why the Bible says you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. Say this out loud with me right now: "Dear God, I've made many mistakes, for which I'm so sorry. I thank you, that your blood, the blood of Jesus, washes away all my mistakes. And I have a clean start. That someone perfect had to die for me, and the Bible says there's no one perfect. So, God, you became man. And lived among us. And lived a perfect life. And died, and rose from the dead, and paid the price for all my sins. And now that I'm clean, Jesus, come inside of me, take over my life. I make you Lord of my life. Amen". I'm telling you, that if you start following the advice of what you're hearing on our show, and reading the Bible, and having conversations with God, and even if it seems like it's one way for a while, keep it up. Every word you say, He hears. I need you to pray for that same impartation you have for understanding and receiving dreams for all of us. Would you do that right now?
Justin Perry: Yes. Father, I thank You that You are a good Father who gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask. And for everyone who's agreeing with me right now, asking for these gifts of the Spirit, these revelatory gifts, we ask that You would release seer gifts now in Jesus Name. Release gifts for dreaming, release gifts for visions. God, would You open the eyes of our heart? Lord, would You release the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You? We ask You, Father, that You would lead us in to a revelatory, experiential walk with You, that we would not only hear of You with our ears, but we would see You with our eyes. We ask in Jesus Name. God, awaken it in every heart, Amen. Amen.
Sid Roth: That means it's done. It's finished!
Justin Perry: Amen.