Shoot from the Shadows

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.