I had this incredible dream this morning. In real life, I had been seeking the Lord fervently for an answer to a pressing question. I had been praying when I went to bed, and I fell asleep while praying.

I had this dream that I believe was very much from God. It started with me joining an outreach committee, comprised of three men plus myself. The others had been on the committee for some time, and I had just joined. I was at my first committee meeting and they made plans for a children's outreach. I wanted to participate in the outreach, but they told me that I had to get my procedures book and learn the procedures before I could take an active role in helping to run the event. They promised to get it to me very soon. Even though I could not help run this outreach, I was excited about it. After leaving the meeting, I started going to people with children and inviting them to come to it. I had just left one house and started towards another.

I was walking outside and suddenly the environment around me changed. I was still outside, but in a different place, and Jesus was standing not far from me. As soon as I saw Him, I remembered this question that I'd been urgently praying about, and I wanted to ask Him about it. So I approached Jesus to ask Him a question.

He had a smile and a playful expression on His face. When I got close, He sort of darted forward, and He walked right through me. I could feel Him pass through me.. it was both amazing and odd. I started to puzzle over this as I turned around to face Him.. since He had ended up behind me after passing through me. He continued walking, but turned His head back towards me and said, "It is safe for you when that happens." (He was referring to Him having passed through me.) "When flesh and spirit meet like that, it is the spirit that can get hurt, not the person."

That seemed like a really odd thing to say. Did He mean that I had somehow hurt Him? That did not make any sense to me. I stood there extremely puzzled as He continued to walk away. He turned to face me and smiled at me. "Teresa," He said, "you can ask me anything, it is ok." Then He started walking again, continuing in the direction He had been going.

I was determined to ask Him what He meant by spirit being hurt, not flesh. I began to follow Him, trying to catch up to Him so I could ask Him that question. I had a strong sense that He expected me to follow Him, that He was playing with me rather than trying to get away from me. And as I followed Him, I was filled with this sense of overwhelming joy and delight. Yet, even with all that joy and delight I was determined to reach Him so that I could ask Him what He meant about that "spirit being hurt" comment.

I had almost caught up to Jesus just as He passed this white house. I knew that any instant Jesus was going to turn around and start walking back towards me. I was feeling very playful myself. So I decided to hide by the side of the house, to jump out at Jesus and surprise Him when He came back this way. (You know how children will playfully hide and then jump out at their friends? It was that sort of thing.) But as I stood there waiting for Him to walk by me, I started thinking. "Gosh, He is God. There is no way I can surprise Him." So, I decided not to jump out at Him. Just then Jesus walked past and stopped and turned to face me. It was clear He knew I was hiding along the side of the house.

I thought my question, but did not ask it out loud. None the less, Jesus answered me as if I'd actually asked it. He said, "Teresa, no I was not hurt. I was referring to a spiritual principle. There are distinct laws that spirit beings (angels and demons) follow, just as you follow physical laws in your world. The particular law I mentioned to you is not of any value for you to know. But what is important for you to know is that the enemy can't do whatever he wants. Demons are constrained by spiritual rules. That information will be helpful for you to know when you do spiritual warfare."

Jesus had snuck such a serious answer in the midst of our playful situation. Then He smiled and got a very playful expression on His face. As He smiled, His presence and joy seemed to radiate all over me. He spoke to me without using words and invited me to play some more. I was so full of joy and delight just being in His presence that I almost count not contain it.

Then I awoke. The sense of the Lord's presence and joy was all was over me. I awoke with the realization that Jesus had been playing with me, and I was overwhelmed by His love and goodness. It was such a delightful dream, because His presence was so tangible in it. Even after I woke up, a sense of His tangible presence seemed to linger in the room. This dream served as a reminder to me of how much God loves us and of how He delights in spending time with us. He is truly an amazing God.