What does it mean if Jesus appears in our dreams?
Emotions and unresolved situations or guilt are sometimes played out in our dreams as our subconscious minds strive for resolution. Below we will quote from experts on dream interpretation and let you come to your own conclusions. Their studies may give you an insight as to why you had your dream and also the apparent need you have to let Jesus become a much larger part of your spiritual life.
“Dreams seem to help us process emotions by encoding and constructing memories of them. What we see and experience in our dreams might not necessarily be real, but the emotions attached to these experiences certainly are,” wrote Dr. Sander van der Linden, a doctoral researcher in social experimental psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, in his article for Scientific American. “Our dream stories essentially try to strip the emotion out of a certain experience by creating a memory of it. This way, the emotion itself is no longer active.
A study published by Dr. Matthew Walker and his colleagues at the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at UC Berkeley also presented evidence linking emotions and dreams. Walker and his team found that a reduction in REM sleep resulted in a reduced ability to understand complex emotions in daily life. Despite the fact that technology has vastly expanded our understanding of dreaming, much of what occurs when we’re asleep remains as it always has: a mystery.
To learn more about how God communicates with us today listen to our series, “How Does God Speak to Us Here and Now?”