Topsy-Turvy
Hi Friends,
I hope you are all well. Today I am writing about several visions given over the past week, Yet I was not able to write on any one of them, because I had difficulty understanding them. Each vision seemed to be more baffling than the one before it.
These are the visions in the order in which I received them:
First I saw a woman wandering around, looking at the floor as she meandered about. She seemed sad, and did not know or did not care where she was going.
Then I saw a pair of shoes on the sidewalk of an open air parking lot, that was undergoing construction. There was no one around, only a pair of shoes that had apparently been abandoned.
Then I saw on a high shelf, a series of boxes, displayed as if they were books with their spines facing towards me. A box was taken down and its face turned toward me so that I recognized it to be a box of “Cheerios.”
Then I saw that I had a bit of extra moisturizer on my finger. Instead of putting it on my face, I wiped my finger on the pants that I was wearing.
Next I saw a few dollar bills casually rolled up and placed under a fast-food wrapper.
Then I saw the inside face of a ciabatta roll, as it had been cut in half. It was made, with perfectly square corners. There were many large holes in the bread, as is typical of ciabatta.
What do these visions mean? Do you notice as I did, that something was wrong in each of these visions? The visions caused more questions than I received answers. But this is what God was showing me - that something is wrong, and asking us, “What are we doing about it?”
I believe that the general theme is this: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but it only leads to death.” And another is: “If the blind lead the blind, they both will fall into the pit.”
The Wandering Woman
There was no rhyme or reason to her wanderings. I know there is a common expression among those who love to RV: “Not all those who wander are lost.” But is this the case, here? She seems to be depressed, or sad.
The woman in the vision looked like a friend of mine whose cat, “her baby,” just died. She is still mourning her loss. She has prayed for weeks, that God would heal the cat, but her prayers were not answered in the way that she wanted. She was hoping for a total healing and full recovery, but the cat died, instead.
God didn’t withhold his love, nor did He not hear her prayers, for every time there is a trial, God tests our hearts. He also prepares us for other, perhaps more difficult situations in our future. “Do you love me more than your cat?” “Will you continue to be faithful to me, even though your heart is broken, and you feel that I am distant, or have not heard your cries?”
Through our trials, and every difficulty, God tests our hearts and our faithfulness to Him. Do you remember Job? He lost all that he had, including everyone of his children. "His wife, said to him, 'Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!'” Job 2:9 She did not love God, but she resented him - she missed the life she had loved, and she missed her children.
Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will keep it.” Matthew 16:25 He was referring to eternal life. In order to understand things from God’s perspective, we always have to see things from an eternal perspective. “What does it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his soul.” Mark 8:36
The Abandoned Shoes
The shoes I recognized to be men’s shoes, black with red accents. The parking lot appeared to be in front of a shopping mall. The parking lot was under construction, so that there was much concrete dust and gravel. Does it make sense that anyone would abandon their shoes to walk on chalk-like dust and gravel to enter a shopping mall? Perhaps the owner of the shoes, had another pair, and wanted to change into something more appropriate, and then forgot to put the first pair back into his car. You can see, that we would have to make many assumptions, in order to figure out the motives of the owner of these shoes.
However, I believe I know to whom the shoes belong. So I believe that God is giving me a heads up to pray on behalf of this individual. The abandoned shoes represent his walk, his life, his work, his desires, what he considers important. God is working in his heart, and he is being challenged everyday to change his priorities. The Holy Spirit is convicting him of the things that he must give up. He wants to run away, and forget it all, but the Spirit of God is pursuing him. He knows that he must submit to God, for he knows that God’s ways are best, and that the Lord will not relent in the pursuit of his heart. I know it is only time, before the Lord captures his heart and makes it his own. God is faithful.
I was reminded of Jonah, who boarded a ship to avoid God’s directive. He headed in the opposite direction of where the Lord had asked him to go. But the Lord pursued him and rescued him from the depths of the ocean by providing a huge fish. Inside the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed for God to forgive him and to give him a second chance. “What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." Jonah 2:9 So God caused the fish to vomit him up onto dry ground, and Jonah fulfilled his commitment to God.
My prayer is that this friend, will not fight God or run away from him, but simply submit to the Lord’s will and authority. I know the Lord will bless him and establish his love in him and he will find true peace in the Holy Spirit.
The Boxes of Cheerios
The boxes were not displayed properly as you would on a shelf, if you were shopping for them. They were instead placed as you would display books. The side panel with the nutrition labels were visible instead.
The Cheerios sales motto is “Cheerios, the breakfast of champions!” As children, we used to see famous athletes on the front side of the box. Our mother bought Cheerios, with the confidence that with 8 ounces of milk added to the cereal, she was providing one third of the recommended amount of vitamins, calcium, and protein, that her children needed. We ate the cereal, and could even fix the breakfast ourselves, allowing our sleep deprived mother of a few more minutes of sleep.
It worked. We are all still alive; none of us have died of poor nutrition. However, is it really “The breakfast of champions?” As I see people in hospitals, and nursing homes, most seem to be suffering with diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. They are simply given insulin to "control" the diabetes, diuretics to "control" their blood pressure, and statins to lower their cholesterol. Amazing - Do these therapies improve the outcome? Are they able to reverse or heal anything? Aren’t side effects and deteriorating health assumed? Don’t these health conditions lead to other problems like: cancer, blindness, wounds that refuse to heal, kidney failure, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, severe leg cramps, neuropathy, etc.? That is why they are all called “lifestyle diseases,” and also referred to as the “Metabolic Syndrome.”
These diseases stem from the typical American, (western) diet. We are what we eat. We are diseased because we eat highly processed foods, and unnatural, chemically produced fats.
God gave me a vision in 2004. I saw a young girl dressed in a plaid school uniform, looking down at the lunch tray that she was carrying in her hands. I heard a voice say, “Among the well fed will come disease.” It was the third part of a vision, which started with an inflatable toy, “happy face,” rolling down a hill. I heard the words, “Judgment, Mercy, Judgment, Mercy…….”
This vision was a warning, that God would bring judgment to our nation, because of our hedonistic desires to satisfy our cravings for pleasure and indulgence. God brings judgment in order for us to question our ways. Is it possible that we have turned away from God? Is it possible that all these sicknesses and diseases (among other calamities), we have brought upon ourselves? Do we simply blame things on global warming and old age? As a nation, we need to wake up. We need to repent of our waywardness, and turn our hearts towards God. He uses catastrophes and calamities to shake us to our core. We have to get to the point where "medical science" can do nothing for us. We must turn to God.
God is faithful and is waiting for us to reach that final straw, when we cry out to him. He wants us to know him, to experience him and acknowledge that he is the only one who can help. The Lord wants to show his mercy to those who will turn and repent. This is the same warning that I brought before to those I thought would pray. Unfortunately, it was met with disbelief. I hope and pray that today, some of you will take it to heart, and pray on behalf of our nation. Our people are unhealthy, overweight, sick, and dying, all because they refuse to bow the knee to God, and to recognize that they are killing themselves by eating unhealthy foods. "My people perish for lack of knowledge." Hosea 4:6
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man will reap what he sows.” Galatians 6:7
"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 Daub of Moisturizer
I know that in the natural, I would never wipe moisturizer on my pants. If I was painting a room, and I got a bit of paint on my hands, I might wipe off the paint on my pants, or even my shirt. But I would be wearing something that I had already deemed “paint clothes.”
If I had extra moisturizer on my finger, I would just rub the rest on my face or hands - no big deal. But in the vision, I did something that I would normally consider wasteful. If it was for the face, then I would put it on the face!
Could this represent wastefulness? Could this represent a lack of thinking or focusing? Could it represent carelessness? Yes, perhaps all of the above. God wants us to be intentional with our actions, with our thoughts, and with our communications. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord....It is the Lord you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24
What do we waste? Are we concerned for those who are in lack? Are we intentional about engaging others with the love of God, or do we avoid acknowledge another person, as if they were unimportant? Do we walk on the other side of the hall, or take the stairs to avoid eye contact or wishing someone a “Good morning?”
God wants us to be focused on how we can be used by him in an intentional way, to bring the love of God into our homes, our workplaces, and in our everyday activities. Share God’s love, choose to take time for others. If God makes time for us, shouldn’t we in turn make time for him, and the ones he loves?
The Rolled up Dollars
The rolled-up dollars were casually hiding under the fast food wrappers. I know many of the young teens, spend what they earn on video games and fast food. If the Lord is showing me that the money is under the wrappers, it shows carelessness. The money would be gathered up with the wrappers and thrown into the trash. Perhaps we are “throwing money away,” by spending money foolishly, without thinking. Are we not commanded by God to be good stewards of all that He has given us? We live in an affluent land, where people have money to spend on their pleasures.
Through carelessness and a lack of planning, we can waste money. I remember a time long ago, when we went on a family vacation. My father had to buy four bathing caps for the four girls in my family, simply because we left ours at home. My son did the same thing two weeks ago. He left his noise cancelling headphones at home, and had to buy another pair for the trip.
I know many people who think nothing of spending hundreds of dollars on shoes and purses! I can't do that; I am a minimalist, and a frugal one at that. But, God wants us to use the money he provides for good purposes. The money we spend on ourselves, might be better utilized in the kingdom of God. If we were more careful with our money, might we buy a book or Bible to give to a friend? Might we have more money to place in the offering at church? Perhaps we might support a teen going on a missions trip. Or perhaps when we see someone in need, we would have the funds to help. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He owns the money in our accounts. We need to be good stewards his possessions. We want him to say of us someday, “Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21
What we don’t want to hear is God saying to us, that we have been unfaithful, and lazy, not using our money as God directs, but simply to please ourselves. He will say to us, “You wicked lazy servant!…..Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest."
"So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:26-30
God is serious. None of these messages of which the visions speak are meant to be ignored. If God bothers to give me a message, then I must faithfully pass on the word to you. We must take these messages seriously.
The Ciabatta
The roll was a perfect square. It was cut in half and placed in front of my eyes, quite close. It was almost as if God were saying, “Pay attention! Notice this!” The interior of the roll was filled with many holes as is characteristic of ciabatta bread.
When I think of bread from a Biblical standpoint, I immediately think of it representing the presence of God as in the show bread in the tabernacle, also called the bread of Presence. “Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.” Exodus 25:30
Even though the Bible has many references to bread. I believe that this vision is truly about the presence of God, and how important it is for us as believers to experience God in this way. Even in very small prayer meetings, or private worship we can experience the presence of God.
As I was writing this, I was just reminded about an occasion when the presence of God was with me in prayer. It is in his presence that I receive visions. This is what I saw that day:
I saw a man leaning/sitting against a short stone wall. His hands were to either side of his hips. He turned his head to look directly at me and said, “Ask me about the divine curfew.”
What God was asking me to do, was to value his presence, and the intimacy that I experienced, more than going to church that day. It was a Sunday morning, and I was in the habit of going to prayer before the service, and staying for the American service, and then attending the Spanish service. There was no doubt, he wanted to test me. Did his wishes come before my “commitments?”
As church goers, we know that people expect to see us on a Sunday morning. We all have our routines, and the various functions we perform as a church member. However, when God says I want you to stay home with me today. We need to listen. He is testing us. Do we think that we so “important” at church that “the show can’t go on without me!” Do we want people to think of us as, “the faithful servants, coming every week without fail?" Is the fear of man, (What people will say) more important than the fear of God? (What does God thinks about this?)
It seems odd to me, that when we pray as a group, and are experiencing the presence of the Lord, that invariably, someone will say, "Time to go!" And everyone marches out of the room to go to the bathroom and then to the service. To do what? To enter into his presence? Why are we leaving so abruptly? We leave his presence here, only to go and find his presence somewhere else? It makes no sense. How can we leave the Lord's presence as if it were the dinner bell that rang and we were merely watching re-runs on TV?
Often, when prayer would end, I stayed behind to continue in the Lord’s presence. If I eventually made it to the service, then fine. The Lord's presence eventually lifts - that is when we should leave. The Bible gives instruction, and wisdom about many things and this is one that has impressed me: “Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence.” Ecclesiastes 8:3
The sayings of Solomon were as wise then as they are now. The Lord is supreme. We need to honor him, and not be so casual as to treat his presence as an ordinary thing. When we are in his presence, there should be honor, gratitude, and an awareness of his magnificence and his power.
It has always perplexed me, to the point of consternation, why week after week, the pastors would get up out of their chairs, as we are in worship, come to the microphone and say, “There is a sweet presence of the Lord here.” And then immediately “kill it,” by giving announcements. We keep praying for revival, but until the pastors and leaders understand that they are not to “be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence,” we won’t see the healings, and the miracles, and experience the manifest presence of the Lord. We are too quick to “pull the plug.”
If the Lord’s presence is here, then we should be still. And wait upon him. We should honor him with our time. We do not have to shove him out of the way, while we forge ahead with our plans, our agenda, and “the message,” that the pastor prepared. It is all upside down and backwards. It is topsy turvy! Don’t we come to pay honor and respect to the Lord? Where is the fear of God? Is no one concerned about what the Lord thinks of our “timed to the minute services”? I’ve seen the schedules. “So many minutes for this, and just 4 minutes for that, and cut so many minutes out of this, because we are having communion today….” Pathetic.
We are meeting with the King, the Creator of the Universe, The Great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End. Why do we limit the experience of his presence? Shouldn’t we welcome him and give him the honor due him?
I guess that is why I loved worshiping with Spanish people. They could care less about the time. At a Spanish church I attended, it was is easy to worship for three hours. One day we had communion on the floor, because most people were on the floor praying or slain in the spirit. The presence of the Lord was tangible. I remember coming in the rear of the room during worship. My body immediately felt the presence of the Lord and I went down, face first on the floor. All of my belongs flew out across the room. God was there - powerfully. Prophecy was spontaneous. Singing in the Spirit was a beautiful thing. We saw miracles through prayer.
When we give God our time ( such a precious commodity!) to the Lord, he sees our devotion and love for him. He responds to the invitation of our hearts and comes to stay a while with us in a very wonderful (full of wonder) way!
Give God your time, and see if you might come, just a bit closer to him, and hear his voice!
