THE DREAM: I saw three Bibles side-by-side in the relative area of the bathtub shared by me and my husband. Something had been dropped previously. It looked like a photograph. It had slipped underneath the bathtub. Somehow I was led to reach underneath the bathtub with my hand, and I discovered this hidden photo, and I pulled it out. END
This immediately brought to recall a vision I had last evening right after the Lord had given me the song, “Listen! Listen!” to write and to post. I had A VISION of three Bibles side-by-side, and behind these three Bibles were all the songs (76 of them now) the Lord had given me to write, and to post on the internet to share with others. END
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 10 (quoting vv. 30-47 NIV 1984):
Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
My Understanding: Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Regiment of that time, “and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” So, God gave him a vision, letting him know that God had heard his prayers, and that he was to send for a man named Peter. So, Cornelius did just that.
The next day God then gave Peter a vision. “He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat’.” Peter rejected the vision based upon his Jewish beliefs and practices, i.e. based upon his upbringing and the way he was raised and taught. Yet, the Lord responded to him, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, I believe to signify that this was from God – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Peter did not immediately understand the meaning of his vision. While he was still thinking about what it meant, the Spirit told him that three men were looking for him, so he was not to hesitate to go with them, for God had sent them. The men then told Peter about Cornelius’ vision. Then, Peter invited the men into his house to be his guests.
The next day Peter went with the three men, and some of the brothers went, too. Cornelius was expecting them, and he had gathered together his relatives and friends to hear what Peter had to say. Cornelius fell at Peter’s feet in reverence, but Peter quickly let him know that he was just a man. Then, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people inside Cornelius’ house. He stated the obvious – He was a Jew and they were Gentiles, and he had been taught that Jews don’t associate with Gentiles, yet God had shown him not to call anything impure that God had made clean. And, then he asked them why they sent for him. So, Cornelius relayed his vision to Peter, and he told Peter that they were all there in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord had commanded Peter to say to them.
The Hidden Image
Then, Peter began to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this is where the Lord began to show me the meaning of my vision and dream. Peter told them all about who Jesus is and what he did during his time of earthly ministry, and how they were witnesses of everything he did during that time. And, then he got to the crux of the gospel message, i.e. the cross of Christ. He told them how the Jews in Jerusalem had killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree, but that God had raised him from the dead on the third day, and had caused him to be seen. Yet, he was not seen by all the people, but only by the witnesses whom God had already chosen – “by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
What the Lord showed me here concerning the dream and this vision is this: The bathtub in this case represents a false gospel (half-truths). It is shared by me and my husband, i.e. by the true church and the institutional church, or by the true church and the US government and/or world, comprising the institutional church. The three Bibles, side-by-side, represent God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. The three Bibles were not directly connected to this bathtub, but were in the relative area of it, i.e. this false gospel is loosely related to the true gospel, as it does have some truth in it, but it has missing components of the true gospel that have been dropped from the gospel presentations of today, and have slipped underneath this false gospel, and thus have been hidden from view.
So, the Lord led me, and others of his witnesses, to see this missing component(s) that had been dropped from the true gospel, and had been hidden underneath the false gospel message, and he led us to bring it out into the light so that it could be seen. These 76 songs the Lord has given to me represent the true gospel message with no hidden components. That is why these songs are behind the three Bibles, i.e. they are in support of and are following God and his word, with God and his word in the forefront, leading the way.
When I read, “They killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree,” I realized that this dropping of the essential components of the true gospel message, and the hiding of them underneath the false gospel (half-truths), was the same as killing Jesus all over again and hanging him on a tree, because they killed his true image (the photo) by dropping it from the gospel message and by hiding it underneath a false gospel. And, when I read that “God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen,” I realized that the hand of the Lord had guided me to discover this dropped and hidden image of Christ underneath this false gospel message, and the Lord had led me (and others of his chosen witnesses) to bring the true image of Christ out into the open and to reveal it to the world and church.
As well, when I read that Jesus was not seen by all the people, but by the witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who eat and drink with him in daily fellowship and communion with him, sitting at his feet, learning of him and obeying him – I realized that he was speaking here of his true image which had been dropped from the gospel message and had been hidden underneath this false gospel. Not everyone has been able to see this, but only those to whom God has chosen to reveal it. Yet, I believe that one day God is going to open the eyes of the blind, and to turn them from darkness to light, and they will have their blinded eyes opened and their ears unstopped. They will be able to see past their traditions and thinking and reasoning of men, and they will be able to see the true image of who Jesus Christ really is, and of his true gospel message.
When I read, “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead,” I realized that this has been the calling upon my life these past seven years, and that these songs represent this testimony of God’s – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – true character and true gospel message. And, when I read, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name,” I realized that this represents, as well, one of the missing components of the true gospel message, and the missing image of Christ’s true character that has been dropped, and has been hidden underneath the false gospel, and that is the true meaning of the word “believe.”
Many have minimized this word to some intellectual assent or some emotional decision, yet the word of God throughout the New Testament makes it perfectly clear that true belief involves repentance and obedience to Christ and to his commands, and that true belief will be accompanied by action and spiritual fruit, which will prove that true faith exists. Yet, this fruit must be Biblical fruit. As well, Christ’s true image is one, not just of Savior, but of judge, and he will judge his church (read Revelation 2-3), and he will judge the world. So, that is why it is essential that we stop believing in a false gospel which tells people that they don’t have to repent of their sins and they don’t have to obey God’s commands in order to be saved, and that tells them that God is pleased with them no matter what they do. This is a gospel of men, and it does not represent Christ’s true image nor does it represent the NT teachings on what it means to truly be saved and to truly be in relationship with Jesus Christ. If you don’t repent of your sins, and you don’t choose to obey Christ, the Bible says you won’t be saved. It is a hard truth to accept, but it is the truth of the gospel.
Like Peter, I and the Lord’s other witnesses are just human beings trying the best we know how, in the power of the Holy Spirit of God working within us, and out through us, to obey all that God reveals to us, his servants, and to present the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all who will listen. So, all the glory, praise and honor belong to God for all that he chooses to accomplish through his servants in bringing what has been hidden into the light.
The Peace of Christ / An Original Work / October 31, 2011
Based off of Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 5:19-20
Let the word of Christ dwell in you,
As you teach with all wisdom,
Teaching one another to not
Think on earthly things;
Think instead on things above,
Where Christ sits with God, in love,
Saving us from all of our sins,
Cleansing us; made new within.
Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts,
As you sing songs unto Him;
Speak to one another with psalms,
Hymns, and spir’tual songs;
Always giving thanks to God,
In the name of Christ, His Son,
Who gave His life up for us all,
And gave us eternal life.
Let the love of Christ within you
Rule in your hearts; grace within,
Purifying you from your sin,
Make you whole within.
Forgive as the Lord forgave.
Show His kindness ev’ry day.
In word or deed, whate’er you do,
Glory give to Jesus Christ.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
Audio, song lyrics and sheet music (free):
https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/the-peace-of-christ
Song on video:
http://youtu.be/tW7HXchJ9qE
1 comment:
The songs: http://www.christianforums.com/t7587522/
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