Saturday, February
16, 2013, 3:36 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:
Rock of Ages /
Augustus M. Toplady / Thomas Hastings
Rock of Ages, cleft
for me,
Let me hide myself in
Thee;
Let the water and the
blood,
From Thy wounded side
which flowed,
Be of sin the double
cure;
Save from wrath and
make me pure.
The Lord Jesus also woke me from a dream. As soon as I woke
from the dream, the Lord Jesus put this scripture in my mind from Psalm 11:1-3 (in particular v. 2 NIV
1984):
“In the Lord I take
refuge.
How then can you say to me:
‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.
For look, the wicked
bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the
shadows
at the upright in heart.
When the foundations
are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?’”
THE DREAM:
Someone was shooting at me through two different doors, both of them right/east
of me. One door was directly east and the other door was southeast. I think I
tried reasoning with the person, but to no avail. I believe I was also
protecting some children. At first I was just trying to avoid being hit, but
eventually I shot back, only my weapon looked more like a water pistol (weapon;
shooter; gun).
Aside: Just as I
recorded this part of the dream about me shooting back with a water pistol, the
Lord Jesus brought this scripture to mind from 2 Co. 10:2b-5 (NIV 1984):
“…some people who
think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the
world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not
the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ.”
Continuing with the
dream… I am not sure what ensued next, but the two of us came out of the
room (which was situated to the west of the doors) together (after the children
went first). I thought most certainly there were people on the other side of
the door (to the outside of the room I was in) with guns aimed at us, but I don’t
recall seeing any.
Anyway, this other person, who had been shooting at me, and
I came out of the room (south), and we were walking side-by-side down what
appeared to be a hall of some kind (to the east). He laid down his weapon, and
then I looked at mine, which I knew was different from his, but I am not sure I
laid mine down, though I thought about it. END
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV 1984):
“You are the salt of
the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
“You are the light of
the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp
and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light
to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
The Assault
The church in the west (in this instance) is under assault
from the enemy of our souls, Satan, and he uses human instruments to do his
dirty work, too. The attacks of the enemy come from different directions, i.e.
the attacks are underhanded (shoot from the shadows), like this person in the
dream would come out from one door and shoot, and then go back inside, and then
come out through another door and shoot, always hiding behind the doors,
though. This may symbolize that the enemy does his work in the darkness, i.e.
in secret or is treacherous (deceitful; two-faced [comes out from two different
doors]; shifty; and devious) in his approach.
As I considered these directions of east, southeast, et al,
the thought came to my mind of Washington, D.C., and southeast of it are
several key military bases. If this is what the Lord is showing me here, then
this is speaking both of attacks from real guns, i.e. weapons of war on a military
front, as well as attacks on a political front with weapons of war politically
speaking against the people of the U.S., i.e. through changes in laws, removing
of human rights and freedoms, et al. Yet, the two fronts can also be political
and religious, i.e. the attacks can come from the government and from within
the church, too, because the institutional church is in a covenant relationship
with the government through (501c3) non-profit status, so it is also one room
with two different doors.
The Response
At first I tried reasoning with the enemy, and then I tried
avoiding getting hit, all the while trying to protect the children, and then
eventually I began to shoot back.
On a political front I think we try debating with the enemy,
only he comes at us through two different doors, such as Republican and
Democrat, military and government, church and government, American and foreign,
friend and foe, et al. If we are Republican or Democrat, we think we can debate
and argue our case and we can reason with people to move to our way of
thinking, but what we don’t realize is that Republican and Democrat operate out
of the same room, just with two different doors.
We think that we, as America, can reason with what we
believe to be our enemies abroad, but what we don’t realize is that the US and
other countries now operate out of the same room (the New World Order), just
with different doors, so our enemies are within and they are from our own
people. We see the institutional church under attack from the U.S. government
on some fronts, yet they operate out of the same room with two different doors.
In other words, the true enemy is sometimes difficult to discern, because he is
dubious, deceitful, two-faced (literally and figuratively), and he plays both
the part of the attacker and that of the victim sometimes to throw us off base.
Then I just tried avoiding getting hit. I literally used to
fight off Satan this way, and it didn’t work. My approach to his attacks was
like that of an abused child holding his or her arms in front of his face,
hoping not to get hit, but knowing he was going to get hit. That is a defeatist
approach. Instead, I had to learn to put on the armor of God (my water – Holy Spirit
– pistol as recorded in Ephesians 6:10-20).
I think we have many ways of “avoiding” getting hit (fleeing
like a bird). Some of it may be through apathy, lack of knowledge, i.e. “what I
don’t know won’t hurt me,” escape into entertainment, busyness, and/or lack of
planning and lack of being proactive, but rather waiting until the hit comes
and then just reacting, sometimes badly. Many Christians avoid the idea that we
could be living in the end of time, that the beast could be setting up his
kingdom right now, and that Jesus may be coming back soon. And, so they live as
though they will always have tomorrow, i.e. the children represent our future
and so they are trying to protect their own future, holding on, hoping that
things will get better.
Eventually I shot back. I stopped trying to reason with the
enemy, and I stopped just trying to avoid getting hit, trying to protect my own
future, but I began to shoot at the enemy with my water (Holy Spirit) pistol,
i.e. with the armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-20). Yet, my weapon was not
carnal and not of this world. I began to fight the enemy of my soul with the
truth of God’s Holy Word, with obedience to my Lord in humble submission to his
will for my life, despite the enemy’s attacks, with sharing the true gospel of
Jesus Christ daily wherever the Lord would lead me, and with faith and belief
in God’s word and in his many promises, warnings and words of encouragement,
hope and healing, et al.
Salt and Light
The Lord is giving me a picture here, I believe, of the
church in America, as well as he used my own life as an illustration. The enemy
is coming strong against us, and yet so much of the church is asleep, is
apathetic, is trying to hold on to their earthly lives and their future on this
earth, and is escaping the realities around us via entertainment, technology,
busyness, joking, having fun, etc., and this even goes on within the church
from the leadership down.
So many are avoiding the reality that our enemy is at the
gate and life as we now know it is short-lived, I believe. The church is so
busy having “fun” and being entertained that it is losing its saltiness (flavor;
spice; sting; impact on) in this world for the gospel of Jesus Christ. The
light of the true gospel is going out through very few, while so many are just
busy enjoying life and are just trying to avoid the realities of where we are
in time in relation to Biblical prophecy.
Yet, as these attacks of the enemy are becoming more fierce
and more evident, the church is beginning to (or will soon) wake up and realize
that she needs to put on her spiritual armor and she needs to fight off her
enemy with her Holy Spirit weapons, and she will begin to go forth with the
gospel, which will break down and will abolish those strongholds of Satan and
of men which are coming against her on many fronts. And, at the end of time,
she and her enemies (people) will walk together in peace, side-by-side, and her
enemies will no longer come against her, but she will always have the Holy Spirit
with her.
I believe this is a picture of the church being revived, of
the church awakening to the truth of God’s word and to the realities of what is
going on around us, and she will begin to let her light shine before men, and
people will begin to lay down their weapons waged in war against God/Jesus and
his church, and they will walk side-by-side with the church in going throughout
the earth sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then the Lord will return and
we will forever be with the Lord. Then we will no longer have to fight our
enemy, so there will be no more need for a “water” pistol, though for now there
most certainly is.
Just a Closer Walk with Thee / Unknown
I am weak, but Thou art strong,
Jesus, keep me from all wrong,
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more,
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom, dear Lord, to Thy
shore.
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
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