Hi Friends,

I hope you are all enjoying the fresh air, which we usually take for granted.  Now that the smoke has dissipated over the New Jersey and New York areas, we can breathe deeply and come outside and enjoy the blue skies and puffy clouds.  We have to thank the Lord for lifting the smoke and clearing the air.  He is so good.  We are greatly blessed!

I have three visions that I would like to share with you today.  The first one concerns our nation as a whole.  

The Vision

The Top Hat

In this vision I saw a man with a top hat submerged in the water up to his nose.  Only his eyes, nose, cheeks and top hat were above the water.  

The man in the top hat reminded me of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.  For many people he is the favorite and most well known of the presidents.  The man in the top hat also reminded me of the character who is the primary personification of the United States, Uncle Sam.  Both Abraham Lincoln and Uncle Sam are depicted as tall, lanky and wearing top hats.  They both represent the United States.  

Why was the man under water?  The Lord is showing us something about the state of our nation. The meaning of “being underwater,” is a real estate/financial term used to describe a property whose current value is less than what is owed.  That property is said to be underwater.

And so it is with the United States.  Those in Washington have sold our nation out to foreign countries.  They have passed spending bills that line the pockets of already wealthy people, and have strapped our nation with a debt that is not able to be supported.  Our children will be strapped with  this terrible irresponsible debt. The foreign countries that have invested in our properties across the nation will be our landlords. The foreign countries that have been purchasing our farmland will hold sway over our food supply.  The social security checks that many depend upon will not be worth the paper upon which they are printed.  

Who will we be able to depend upon?  How will families be able to afford the roof over their heads and put food on the table when our nation goes belly up?  

We can only depend on our creator, our Lord and savior, Jesus the Christ.  He is the Messiah, God Almighty, the triune, the one true God, who is Lord and King over all!  Hallelujah!

He is God our provider - Jehovah-Jireh:

“And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19

When we have no insurance and need a doctor, He is God our healer - Jehovah-Rophe:

"LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me." Psalm 30:2

When we are persecuted for our faith, He is God our deliverer - Jehovah-Mephalti:

 “...call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”  Psalm 50:15

And when we are oppressed or overwhelmed, we call to God our strength - Jehovah-Uzi

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

The Lord will never fail us.  He is forever faithful.  Because the days have become very wicked, many of us believe that we are indeed in the last days.  If this is truly the case, then we should expect wickedness to continue increasing right up until the time of the Lord’s second coming.  We must be prepared for what is ahead.

Do not think that we can count on our 401Ks, our pensions, and our properties.  We may quickly become like China, who monitors your spending, and controls your purchases through allowing or disallowing transactions.  China can freeze funds, close accounts and bulldoze your house and property with little notice, and force you to rent an apartment in the city. 

The Lord is the only one we can trust.  He is ever faithful.  We need to hold tightly to him and his word.  And as the days become darker, we need to seek refuge in him.  He is our all in all.  Everything we need is found in him!      

The Spider

In this vision, I saw what I thought at first to be a few threads.  But I watched and the thread became untangled and turned out to be a spider with long legs.  It gathered itself together and stood up.  Walking across a shirt, it entered a breast pocket and tucked itself in to be hidden from view.

I believe that the spider represents a demon.  Because of this “increase in wickedness,” we see an increase in demonic activity. Demons are positioning themselves in close proximity with people so as to tempt them, torment them or use them for their purposes.  They intentionally hide themselves so as to work without being seen.

I also saw that the spider might represent an electronic “bug” that is placed in a pocket so as to spy on an individual or group or to track their whereabouts.  Whether it is a demon or a physical apparatus the presence of a spider in someone’s pocket is highly suspicious and potentially dangerous.  Certain poisonous spiders’ bite can be deadly.  So the spider represents spying, and demonic activities that are done in secret.  

But demons do not work alone, they engage the help of willing people, who carry out their plans.  We need to stay clear of these people who work in darkness to deceive and to cause harm.  Those who do such things have become partners with the devil.  We need wisdom and discernment to avoid entanglements with such people.

“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.  Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.”   Ephesians 5:7-12

We cannot have close relationships with people who do wicked things, even if we ourselves do not do them.

“A companion of fools suffers harm.”  Proverbs 13:20

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God…”   2 Corinthians 6:14-16

We also need to be aware of the schemes of the wicked one.  The spider was up to no good, hiding in someone’s pocket.  The devil knows us perhaps better than we know ourselves.  He knows our weaknesses and where we have given in to temptation.  He will go to the same door as before, expecting that at some weak moment, we will open it to him.  

We know that Jesus was alone in the wilderness, fasting for forty days when the devil arrived at what he perceived as a weak moment, to tempt the Lord. However the Lord did not sin, or succumb to the enticements of the devil.

“And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.”  Luke 4:13

We must be aware that if the devil is bold enough to tempt Jesus, he will also tempt us. Jesus describes the devil as a thief with evil intent.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” John 10:10  

He uses deceit and trickery to mislead people.  He will use whatever means necessary to bring an individual under his influence and control.  The Pharisees and teachers of the law in Jesus’ day were corrupted by lies and so deceived, that they aligned themselves with the devil.  They became enemies of God.

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  John 8:44

We have to be careful to monitor our thoughts, for they may not have come from our own minds.  The wicked one plants his thoughts in our minds to cause doubt, fear, unbelief and hopelessness. 

The vision of the spider is given to warn us to test any thought or idea.  Does it align with the Word of God?  Is it sourced in purity?  Or is the thought perverted or twisted in any way?  If the thought is negative or unholy, we are to take that thought captive.  We do not entertain it.  But we change the channel in our minds. 

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”  Philippians 4:8

It is said that the mind is the devil’s playground.  We must take heed.  For if we do nothing and allow the wicked, purposeful thoughts to take root, we will accept a sickness or condition.  We will give place to the devil through uncontrolled thoughts.  These develop into a stronghold of the enemy and we will need deliverance.  So we take these thoughts captive and send them back to hell from which they came!  

A Bowl of Butter

In this vision, I saw a bowl of melted butter with two tiny hairs floating on the surface.  The hairs looked like those coming from trimming shears.  The strands are extremely short, only ¼ inch in length.  They are short as an eyelash, but the ends of the hair have been cut.  They do not taper like the tip of an eyelash.

What does the melted butter and two tiny strands of hair mean?  I believe that it refers to offenses and what we should do concerning them.  

If a single strand of hair were to fall in soup at your home, you might simply remove it and continue eating with or without much excitement.  However, if you were at a restaurant and ordered a bowl of soup that came with a hair in it, you would send the soup back and ask for the bill.  You would probably not ever want to go to that restaurant again, and might repeat the story to your friends, telling them it is best to avoid the restaurant altogether.

When I melt butter in the microwave, it is usually in the preparation of a meal.  The hairs in the vision were already there.  I did not know where they had come from.  Because butter is more expensive, and it was melted so that the temperature would have far exceeded that of boiling water, I would think that simply removing the tiny hairs is all that is necessary.  There is no point in throwing the good butter away.  

What I see in this vision is that when something offends us like a hair in the soup at a restaurant, we can become so offended that we never want to enter the place again, and we don’t even want to eat another bite of the meal.  We are done.  We are offended and we are not coming back.

However, when we value the butter, more than a soup, and we are not in an unfamiliar place, but in our own homes, we can overlook the offending hair, and simply remove it and carry on as if nothing terrible happened.

I can relate this to situations in life very easily.  If we are with people that we like, those with whom we are comfortable and in familiar surroundings, we can overlook an offense, and move on.  We give grace to those we love and those we like and respect.

But to those we dislike or have had previous disagreements, we are less likely to overlook the offense.  We are more likely to take their opinions and the statements that offend us and decide to get up and leave.  Just like the restaurant scenario, we don’t ever want to go back to that place, and we want nothing to do with those who offended us.  We have no grace for them.

But as Christians, we are to give grace, for the Lord has shown us grace and mercy.  We are to  forgive those who offend us, whether they apologize or not.  Just as Jesus prayed for those who crucified him, we are to do the same.

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  Luke 23:34

“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.  Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 3:39-44

This is not an easy thing, but it is the right thing.  When we get offended, we have to forgive.  And if we simply leave and never come back, we may be missing an opportunity to humble ourselves and grow in Christian character.  God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  It is hard to live with people who may not like us, or simply see things so differently from us that communication is difficult.  We may be like sandpaper to them.  But regardless, we are to respond in love.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  James 1:2-4  

And:

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”  Romans 12:18

Everyone will be offended sooner or later.  And we have an opportunity to get it right– to turn the other cheek, to forgive, to respond in love with a kind word, rather than stoking the fires of disagreement and resentment.  I know it is the right thing to do, we just have to ask the Lord for his help.  

If we look at these last to visions together, we see that the devil is all about causing harm.  If he can divide people, in families there will be strife, discord and hard feelings.

If the enemy can divide the church family, there will be disunity, and the church will suffer.  There will be no power in prayer, for the prayer of agreement is powerful, but without agreement, nothing will be accomplished.

 “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”  Matthew 12:25

If we give into offense, the devil wins, and the house is destroyed.  Let us learn to live with each other in peace, and forgive one another.

Please share this with others.  God bless you and your families!