Hi Friends, I am writing today about a vision I received just February 1, nearly a week ago.  God is so faithful.  He said, “My sheep hear my voice.”  God is more than willing to communicate with us, if we make ourselves available to listen.  I hope that by reading these visions you are encouraged to listen for the voice of God, and to receive dreams and visions.  It is simply taking the time to draw close everyday.  I hope your hunger for the presence of God increases each time you meet with him.  

I began praying about the meaning of the vision that same day, and I was still not sure, so God gave me a fourth piece of the vision the next evening, and now the following morning, while preparing for people to come to prayer, He placed on the Vineyard Worship Radio, a song entitled, “Surrender.”  That is what I decided was to be the name of the vision and this post, because It is about surrendering our will to God.

The Vision

I.   First I saw a clear plastic food container with peeled garlic cloves.

II.  Next, I saw seven or eight soldiers kneeling on the grass next to an army jeep.  They had their faces to the ground and their hands clasped behind their heads.  They appeared to have been captured.  I somehow knew that someone was standing watch over them, even though I did not see a guard.  I viewed the scene from only a few feet away.  I could see a fairly new curb in front of me, and the soldiers were on the grass near the edge of the street.  The scene must have been in a nice suburban or grassy commercial area.  The day was bright, and I couldn’t help but notice that the jeep was clean, and the soldiers were neat.  This was not a combat zone, and no one had been fighting.  Yet they had been captured, nonetheless.

III.  Next I saw a slice of white bread, which had been toasted.  In the center of the bread was mold, about the size of a dime.  I asked myself, who would bother toasting moldy bread?  Did they not see the mold?  Or did they not care that the mold was there?  Are they intending to cut the mold away before putting on butter?  It just seemed senseless.

IV.  In the fourth piece of the vision,  I saw a woman holding a card that held several rows of pierced earrings, She removed the back from one earring and placed the earring and its back to the side.

What I believe the vision means:

I.  The container of peeled garlic cloves

As you know, garlic is a vegetable in the same family, as onions and leeks.  It has been used in cooking and for medicinal purposes for thousands of years.  Garlic has an amazing history if you are so inclined to read, it is fascinating.  Here is a website that tells about the history and the chemical properties of garlic:    http://www.allicinfacts.com/garlic-history/

I believe that the garlic points to several things.  First it gives flavor to food.  I think everyone loves garlic bread along with their pasta.  It’s Italian, but It has become a well loved American food.

When the Hebrews came out of slavery in Egypt, they complained for their lack of onions, leeks and garlic.  They missed these so much while in the wilderness, that they actually thought of going back!  Can you imagine garlic or leeks over slavery?  But they were always complainers.  They did not trust God for their provision.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.  That is why I was angry with that generation;  I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”  Hebrews 3:7-11

The garlic represents the things in the world that offer comfort and pleasure.  The Lord tells us to be separate from the world, to not love the things of this world. This passage describes people who have chosen the things of the world over their love for the Lord:  “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is set on earthly things.”  Philippians 3:19

Just like the Hebrews in the wilderness, we can complain to God and bellyache about our circumstances, or what we consider a hardship.  We can grow impatient and decide to leave God and his ways, for the things of this world.  If we are not willing to seek him, and enter the rest provided by him, then we can become discouraged and take matters into our own hands.  This is the opposite of surrendering and rather than gaining peace and contentment in the Holy Spirit, we will become enamoured with the world and what it has to offer.  

Garlic also has medicinal qualities.  As we age, and experience physical pain in our bodies, we can look to medicine for the cure.  After seeking the traditional medical  treatments and finding no cure, rather than seeking God, so many look to alternative medicines which can be a mixed bag of truths and lies.  God is truth, and unless we seek him first, for his wisdom and guidance, we can be lead astray.  Some wake up one morning and find themselves hooked on pain meds, or heroine.  Some take another path and become lured into trusting “Eastern medicine.”    Acupuncture, and other “wholistic” approaches to medicine, like taking many herbs or medicinal tonics, and folk remedies can cause more problems - both physical and spiritual in nature.

Again it is about surrendering to the Lord.  When we seek first the kingdom of God, he will lead us into all truth.  He will keep us from going down a path that leads away from him.  He said,  “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and wonderful things you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3

“If anyone of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives graciously without finding fault.”  James 5:1

Turn to God and give him your concerns, and he will provide what you need.  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.   And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6

II.  The Soldiers

The soldiers are in a posture of surrender.  There has been no physical battle or conflict.  Even the jeep was clean.  So the surrender is a surrender of the will and an acknowledgment that someone else will be calling the shots.  We are not effective in God’s kingdom until we recognize the king of the kingdom.  As Americans, we value independence, self determination, and self reliance.  Even when someone is arrested, by law,  they must be told their rights.  We often hear someone say, “I know my rights!”  

But  when it comes to living as a Christian, we have to change our mindset.  We have to come to the realization that we are not in charge.  We are not the boss, and we cannot do whatever we please.  To please the Lord, we need to submit to him in love.  This amounts to surrendering our right - to ourselves.  “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I remember in a prayer group one night, I prayed that God would make us his bond servants.  The leader of the group rebuked me, saying - “No!  We are not his bondservants, we are his children!”

But I know that what I prayed was God’s will for us.  Yes, we are his children; we are his friends; he calls us brothers.  These are simultaneously true.  But to be a bondservant is something necessary for the Christian character to be formed in us.

Jesus himself said that he came to serve, not to be served.  He said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:26-28  

The soldiers are people like you and me, who have surrendered to the Lord.  There was no apparent battle, or conflict in the vision.  However, in the spiritual realm, there will be battles fought for your soul.  Your enemy, the devil, would like to take you down.  He wants to shipwreck your faith, and cause you to defect to the world.  But we stand firm on Jesus, who is our rock and our firm foundation.  We will not be moved!

III.  The Moldy Toasted Bread

What does this represent?  I believe that the mold is the world.  The bread is what sustains us.  When we leave homemade bread out in the open air, and sometimes even within a plastic bag, it will grow mold in a matter of a few days.  Where does the mold come from?  The mold is made of spores of fungus, that live in the very air we breathe, and on any surface that will provide nourishment.

Mold is very much like yeast.  Yeast, is also a fungus, living in the air, called saccharomyces cerevisiae.   The yeast converts carbohydrates in the flour to carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation.  The yeast is used both for making bread as well as wine, beer and alcohols.   Anyone can make yeast simply by boiling a potato in unsalted water.  Mash the potato, add a little of the reserved potato water, and let it all ferment.

I am sure that you are familiar with the use of yeast to represent sin.   It also symbolizes false teaching:  the yeast of the Pharisees.  It can represent the world view:  the yeast of Herod. Jesus wanted them to see the multiplication effect of words and teachings.  He said, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” Mark 8:15

And then he wanted them to get the idea of how yeast divides and propagates, by asking them - what happened to the five loaves when he broke them to feed the five thousand?  There were twelve loaves left over!  (See Mark 8:19-21)

A teaching that is not founded in truth can spread, and infect everyone.  Embracing a world view, like the Greek and Roman culture of Jesus’ day, or living comfortably in the American culture with its humanistic view, is equally infecting, affecting and effecting.  Truly a danger to all who embrace it.  “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father in not in them.”  1 John 2:15

The vision shows mold growing on a slice of white bread.  Whoever toasted the bread, was either unaware of the mold, or didn’t care that it was there.  Going back to the verse I quoted earlier, “their glory is in their shame.”  Philippians 3:19

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”  Isaiah 5:20

This is a characteristic of our culture today.  People take pride in a sinful lifestyle.  Some say with pride, “He (or she) is “my partner,” the one they live with out of wedlock.  There is no shame.  

People take pride in some aspect of their bodies, so they flaunt or expose their body parts for the world to see.  Again there is no shame.

Some take pride in the capacity to drink, (to hold their liquor).  There is no shame.

The mold is on the bread. It is not wholesome.  We say, “Open our eyes, Lord.  Let us see where we have accepted the world’s values, over yours.”

IV.  The Earing and its Back

This was the vision that God gave me to help me understand the previous three visions.  The woman in the vision has a card with several earrings and their backs.  She takes a single earring off the card and its back and places it to the side.  I knew that the Lord was showing me what total surrender is about.  

“But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life.  Do the same for your female servant.”  Deuteronomy 15:16-15

When we choose to serve the Lord freely, and make a commitment to him, we enter into a covenant.  We receive his salvation, through the cross of Christ.  We receive and acknowledge his lordship over us.  We belong to the Lord, we are part of his treasured possession.  We choose to become bondservants of the Lord.  As I stated before:  “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies.”  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The earrings are set aside for those who have chosen the Lord, those who have surrendered their lives to hIm.  They say, “We don’t want to leave you.  We want to serve you all the days of our lives.”  The Lord will take his awl, and drive it through our ears to the door post.  We will take his ring and place it in our ear, and become his forever.

Summary

We are to trust God for our provision.  Not seeking the world’s wisdom and the world’s solutions to our problems.  We have to surrender our wills to God.  We owe him everything, for he has purchased us with his blood.  We have to value what God values, and hate what God hates.  Out of love and devotion to the Lord, we must say, “I am not my own, I was bought at a price.”

We have to follow our Lord’s example:  “Yet not my will, but yours be done.”  Luke 22:42

Be blessed, friends and fellow bond servants!