Empowering the Church - Part One

Hi Friends,

I have two visions to share with you, however, I decided to cover the first in part one and the second in part two.  The first has to do with being one with God and fulfilling our call.  The second has to do with the laying on of hands for healing and commissioning us for service to God.  I hope you are able to read through these and understand God’s purpose and will for our lives.

The Visions

The Ambulances

In this vision, I saw two ambulances driving together in tandem.  They were very much like the Amazon trucks or the UPS trucks that “piggy-back” with a second cargo trailer hitched to the first.

I believe that this vision shows us the relationship that we are to have with the Lord.  We are like  the second ambulance that follows the first.  They are hitched together, reminding me of a marriage, when someone might say of a couple: “They got hitched.”  The Lord uses the marriage covenant to describe his relationship to us, the church.  He is the bridegroom and we are his bride. 

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  Genesis 2:24   

The Lord longs for us to be one with him:  

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”  John 17:20-23

As the two ambulances are hitched together, we are to be aligned with God and his word, so that we can do his will.  Jesus said:

“I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:5-7

We need to stay connected to him, for he gives us his anointing, his power and his authority to do his will.  This is the plan of God.  We are not to rely solely on our own intellect, skills and talents or resources, but to be reliant on the Lord.

An ambulance comes quickly to our 911 calls.  It is ready for any emergency, able to provide immediate life-saving assistance and transportation to a local hospital.  When we find ourselves in all types of trouble, we can call upon the Lord for he is always available.  No matter what we need, the Lord is always the answer.  If we need healing, deliverance or provision he will provide it.  If we need guidance, understanding, wisdom, words of knowledge, inspiration, or favor with authorities, he will give it freely.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  James 1:5

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  Psalm 46:1

The Lord is truly our “very present help in times of trouble.”  The first ambulance in the tandem arrangement represents God, for it is he who comes to our aid when we call.  The first ambulance has an engine which can power the life support equipment and carry both vehicles to their destination.  Because the second ambulance has no engine of its own, it cannot go anywhere by itself.  It needs the power from the engine in the first ambulance.  We have this same relationship with God, as the word declares once again:  

“Apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5  

We, as the Lord’s bride, his church, are to follow him and do the same things that he did.  

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  John 14:12-13

So as we abide in the Lord and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we become an extension of him.  We become his ambassadors.  When we submit to him, he can use us to do his will, which in turn, brings him the honor and glory that he deserves. 

“In him we live and move and have our being.”  Acts 17:28  

We need to be so united with his vision, that no harm or peril can deter us from following him.  We will find the strength and power to prevail in the midst of hardship and trials.  We remind ourselves that with Christ all things are possible, and

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Philippians 4:13

When we abide in him, our faith will stand strong in spite of fears, trials and persecution.    When we abide in him, his strength becomes ours:

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10

When we abide in him, he will stand with us in the testing of our faith, just as Daniel’s friends found the Lord standing with them in the fiery furnace.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”  

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated.  And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace.  Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”  He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.  And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them.  Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.”  Daniel 16-28

If we truly trust in him, we should expect to see greater things as miracles, signs and wonders.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  John 14:12-14

The Lord wants his church to move in power, so that we make his name great in all the world.  He is looking for people who are truly devoted to him and will separate themselves from the ideologies and things of the world and consecrate themselves for the work of God. So we ask ourselves, “Will we answer the call to serve God and be holy?”

“But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy for I am holy.’”

We all need to know that there is always a standing invitation to follow him.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’” Matthew 16:24-25

Please share this message with others and may God bless you with every good gift!