Hi Friends,  I am happy to write today about a change that has taken place over the last twenty years, and finally God is confirming another stage of this change.  If we continue to seek the Lord, he will wean us of our passions, and the things we have idolized. Thank goodness, that I am turning this corner in my life.  Hallelujah!

Twenty-four years ago, I was saved, delivered and Baptized in the Holy Spirit on an Episcopal retreat, near the quad cities in Illinois!  Hallelujah! I am forever changed. God had begun a work in me in the years before, preparing me for a life devoted to him. The initial changes brought a lot of conflict to my home, but I held tight to the Lord and his word, and he has brought me through it all.

The visions that I am sharing today are God’s way of saying, “You’ve come a long way, but there is still much to do.” 

“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  John 15:1-2

God wants us to bear fruit, so everything that is an obstacle, or a hindrance to our maturity in Christ, must be cut away.  The fruit the Lord wants to see in us are fruits of character. We call them collectively, the Fruit of the Spirit, because it is the Holy Spirit within each of us that guides and directs our actions and thoughts.  Over time, God’s nature and holy character are formed in us. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” Galatians 5:22-23

When we remain in him, and his word thrives within us, we will bear this fruit, and the Father will receive the glory.  “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  John 15:7-8

This is the vision

1.  A Stack of Books

I saw a stack of new books with their paper covers and spines facing me.  It is a stack of perhaps 6-7 books. None of the books’ titles I was able to read.  However I imagined them to be popular books of the latest ideas, and notions about health, exercise, diet, personal development etc. I have read several of these not long ago, but I spent much more time reading textbooks and studying for several professional certifications.  I have always enjoyed studying, but these so called “popular” books of the latest and greatest notions and research, have no appeal to me now whatsoever.  But this was not always the case.

About twenty years ago, I had a dream:  I had created two small cubicles for my two children.  Each had a desk, a lamp an overhead storage bin and a bed with a blanket and pillow.  They were complaining about their cubicles, that they were too small and there was not enough room for all their stuff.  I showed them my brother’s cubicle. He was working at his desk and seemed to be contend with the simplicity of the space.  I asked them, “Why can’t you be like my brother? He is happy with his space, and doesn’t need all that other stuff.”

The scene immediately changed, and I was on a jobsite.  The project was an expansion to our home. I was directing the building of a mezzanine between the first and second floors to accommodate more space for books.  You see, the entire first and second floors were filled with library shelving. It looked like a mammoth library rather than a home. And I found it wasn’t quite big enough, so I was adding the mezzanine!

That next morning, as we were homeschooling, my daughter was working on an SAT prep test.  The English vocabulary section began with the word “bibliolatry.” God is amazing! His message to me was loud and clear!  “You are idolizing education and books!” All I could say was “Oops!” I had let my passion for learning become a snare to me.  

God had already told me earlier, “You are not your education, you are not your accomplishments, You are not the plaques on the wall.  I do not want you to do. I want you to be.” Right then and there, I decided to change my focus. I still homeschooled my kids, but I realized that God loved me and that I had worth just as myself.  I didn’t need a plaque or certificate to have worth in his eyes. I didn’t have to BE SOMEBODY. I just had to please God, and him alone. Whew! What a relief!

Unfortunately there were times when I felt that I needed to get this certification, or that training, for what? -  Success?  I was still trying to accomplish something, build a business, have an income.  But God’s words to me continued to come back time and time again, “I don’t want you  to do.  I want you to be.”

I must admit that every once in a while, I succumb to feelings of guilt.  “I should be pulling my own weight. I should be bringing in income for the family.”  These are real concerns of mine, but at the same time, I do not want the Lord to say to me, “I asked you for your time and your devotion, and you went your own way.”

I am very fortunate that my husband has a good job and provides for the needs of our family.  And in the event, that it ever stops, the walk of faith, will be even more important than ever.  God fed Elijah, and the Israelites in the wilderness, and he can feed us too. Elijah ate what the ravens brought; the Israelites ate manna from heaven, and John the Baptist ate locusts and honey.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?......So do not worry saying, “What shall we eat? Or What shall we drink?’ or What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-26; 31-34  

2.  The Empty Closet and Refrigerator

I saw a large white closet or wardrobe about seven feet tall and about four feet in width.  The shelves were completely empty and there was a small dormitory size refrigerator placed in the lower right hand corner.  When I saw this, my heart leaped! What joy, empty shelves!  And large enough for all my possessions to fit neatly inside!  I took inventory.  There was just enough room for my bed roll, and my blankets, next to the refrigerator. And just enough room for my two sewing machines, my clothes, shoes, and food, cooking utensils, and dishware.  Yep! That is all I needed. If I had a mess kit, or an electric wok, I would be in business!

In case you didn’t notice, I am a minimalist - ex-interior designer, ex-materialist.  I was happy to see the empty closet.  I own only about 18” of books now, including my thick study Bible.  I sleep on the floor, and we eat on the floor at a 10” high round table. We do have a TV, but as of the New Year, I am not watching it.  I do have a desk with a laptop, monitor, keyboard and printer.  I finally got rid of my piano, and I can now use my nearly empty living room for fitness training with clients.  

What I believe this closet represents is my joy in owning less and having more time to pray and to write.  I believe that I can finally say no to plaques, certificates, and having to “BE SOMEBODY.”

Isaiah 58 is one of my favorite scriptures, and has blessed me.  You see the heart of God in its message to us.  In its passages you will find a true treasure - joy in the Lord.

Isaiah 58 New International Version (NIV)

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.  Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its

God.

They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:  to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the

oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.  12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.  13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the

inheritance of your father Jacob.”  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
 

3.  Muddy Shoes and a Book

I saw a woman leaning against something (a car, a wall), standing on one foot while wiping off the mud from her other shoe.  She used a book to clean the shoe.  Not a rag, or sponge, a stick or a knife, but a book to clean the shoe!

So what does this mean?  The shoe is our covering and represents our walk with God.  When Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them, “Take nothing for the journey-- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.  Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”  Luke 9:3-5

The shoe, represents the journey or mission.  I left a ministry this past month, because God had shown me that, “They had no room for my message.”  They did not consider it important, or having any merit. So I believe that God was confirming his direction for me - to “shake the dust off your feet  as a testimony against them.”   Mud is harder to remove than dust, and so it is also difficult to leave a place you called home for several years.  But I also remember, that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13

The book?  Why a book?  It makes no sense.  If books represent wisdom and knowledge, why wouldn’t we treasure the book and use a rag to clean the shoes instead?  Solomon wrote, “in all your getting, get wisdom. ‘Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.  Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.  The beginning of wisdom is this; Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.  She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown.’” Proverbs 4:4-9

Of what wisdom are we speaking?  Man’s wisdom? God’s wisdom? “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe….For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”  1 Corinthians 1:20-21; 25

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”  Isaiah 29:14 and 1 Corinthians 1:19

What I believe about the person wiping off the shoe using a book, is that she did not value or respect the book. The shoe or mission was far more important than the wisdom of man found in the book.  Salvation for the lost is more valuable than worldly possessions like books, or the knowledge that they contain.  Salvation has eternal value, where possessions and knowledge have only value for this life.  These things will pass away.

Jesus sent his disciples out without any means of caring for their own needs.  He wanted them to trust him to open doors of hospitality, provision, shelter, food, comfort and warmth.  Today the Great Commission is still the Lord's primary focus for believers.  He wants us to trust him for the same things:  open doors, provision, health, peace and comfort.  

The book is unnecessary.  It is an obstacle to going forward with him.  We may say, oh, I can’t do that, I don’t have the proper credentials!  I need to study for that certification before I am ready. This is like Elisha, saying to Elijah, I am not ready.  I have to go and kiss my father and mother goodby. But Elijah wanted it to be clear, there was only one opportunity and this was it.  “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

“So Elisha left him and went back.  He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them.  He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate.  Then he set out to follow Elijah and become his attendant.” 1 Kings 19:20-21

When God calls us, we come as we are. So many of God’s servants do not feel prepared or adequate for the job.  Gideon thought he was the least in his family, from the weakest of the clan of Manasseh. He felt that perhaps God had made a mistake in selecting him.  Even the Lord’s greeting to him was “mighty warrior” when he was threshing wheat in the wine press to keep it away from the Midianites. Gideon felt nothing like a “mighty warrior.”

But God used him to defeat the Midianites.  God can use each of us too. We have to let go of our excuses, our former “failures,” and anything that is a hindrance to our walk with God.  

In the vision of the muddy shoe, the mud represents the world, its systems, its values, and its point of view.  This includes temptations, what the world offers as an enticement to cause us to leave our calling and take another path.  The world's seduction is powerful.  It calls to us like the Sirens called to Ulysees.  It says come follow a way that is more comfortable, more self fulfilling, more to our liking.  When we leave God’s calling, our faith becomes empty, and our relationship with the Lord grows stale.  By this we find ourselves on the road that leads to apostasy.

In the vision, the woman believes that it is imperative that the mud comes off.  Even if she has to use a book - it has to come off!  It will certainly look foolish to the world, to use a book to clean a shoe.  She is apt to get criticized for her decision.  But she knows that to keep the mud on her shoes, is the same thing as allowing the world to influence her walk with God.  And that can not be!

So God is asking both you and me, to be aware of our relationship to the world and our relationship with him.  So we ask ourselves, “Is there mud on my shoes?” “How have I compromised my walk and my faith? “How have I taken on the world’s views, placing those ideas above the truth of God’s word?  Have I made excuses or ignored God’s calling on my life?” These are necessary questions to ask ourselves. How we answer these questions, will affect our walk with the Lord.

“Search me O God, and know my heart;  test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is  any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  Psalm 139:23-24

I hope you are so moved, as to ask the Lord these important questions.  We need his guidance and the assurance that we are following his lead for our lives.  Peace comes when we know everything is right between the Lord and us.  Be blessed!