“Prepare”…Are You Whitewashed?

8/13/13

"HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR"

Last night as Dhyan was praying for Annabella (our 5 year old) at bedtime, she stopped him and said, "Dad, Jesus is talking to me." So He said,"Ok , then listen to what He is saying." This morning August 13, 2013) she told me, "Mom! I forgot to tell you, Jesus was talking to me last night! He said, "I am coming soon, so prepare." She didn't know what those words meant so she asked Him, "What does prepare mean?" He didn't answer her back, but she told me today. This is the very word He spoke to me 3 years ago, "Prepare", and to several others. At night I got before the Lord as my heart was heavy. I had talked to a few people, sharing this word with them, and though it resonated there is the question of what does that mean specifically. I feel the Lord has shown me that our heart is what He is looking at, that we cannot be consumed with busyness, apathy, compromise and false teachings that promote nothing but self. He has been speaking to me about the times we are in and that if we understood we wouldn’t be going on as “business as usual”, trying to establish ourselves, like they did with the tower of babel, saying, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name…”, isn’t this the same spirit we see in operation today!  Instead we should be crying out in repentance, preparing ourselves and Gods people. Instead of preaching prosperity, favor, blessing and establishing ourselves we instead preached: prepare, give away, don't store up treasures, repent, return to your first love, get your homes spiritually in order, look for His coming. As He reminded me of all of this I still continued to petition the Lord for a specific understanding. Two nights later I had the following dream.

Dream 8/15/13

Dreamt a woman was getting married, renewing her vows. We were all rushing around trying to get ready for this wedding, but there was such a frustration because her closest friends/sisters knew she was in the middle of a divorce and it was a big show she was putting on for the people. I was getting frustrated because I began to think about the money spent, the time put into all of this, the effort and it was all a facade. I asked her,” aren’t you guys getting divorced, I don’t understand?” She said, “yeah but people don’t know that and everyone is expecting this”.  So everyone continued running around saying “get read, get ready”. Meanwhile she was “getting ready” so she could go out to her husband make a false proclamation of her love and devotion, when beneath all the false words, and dress, she had a heart of adultery and divorce.

In light of the prophetic word that the Holy Spirit has been giving, “prepare”, and get ready, I thought this was a sobering picture of the church condition. I asked the Lord for interpretation and this is what He showed to me: A church who says they are ready, but it’s a facade. Their heart is a heart of divorce and adultery toward God and not one of a bride in love.

But they were doing the whole show on the outside (white-washed), spending the time, spending the money and putting a “show” on for the people. It was a picture of a busyness and a heart of divorce and adultery with an outside appearance of the “right” thing (white-washed).  This is a picture of the American  "church"...all these programs, all these teachings, all these “prophetic words”,  things that do nothing but elevate and honor "self" and God is only included to hook a blessing , favor  and an unarguable authority to our SELF agendas. Blessings, favor, prosperity, peace is the false prophetic word. It is what we want to hear but this is not what God is saying. The “prophets” and “apostles” are honoring God with their lips and saying the “right” things, yet God sees beneath the white wash and sees the heart. Then I was reminded immediately of this verse:

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8“ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”

I called my father to tell him the dream and he said it confirmed for him what the Lord was showing him in Ezekiel a few nights earlier. He pointed me to chpt 13.

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord! 3 Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing. 4 O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word. 7 Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” 8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord God. 9 “So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord God. 10 It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; 11 so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out. 12 Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” 13 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. 14 So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone, 16 along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord God.

The prophets and priests had not prepared a people, instead they whitewashed over the cracks in the wall to make it appear that it was a solid wall; they misled the people with their false prophecies. The Lord God Himself said He would destroy this. Likewise, the Lord God Himself will also destroy the false system of “church” that has not prepared the people, and bring it down to its foundation to lay bare. He sees the heart. Ask Him to reveal your heart to you…

Does Your Marriage Ideals Align With the World or the Word?

May 21, 2013

Sometimes I am asked, "What's God saying to you?" and sometimes I don't really feel like sharing what He is speaking to me because I know it may not be received well. In this day and age where men are practically accused of "hate crimes" for being strong men of faith and taking their godly positions in the family, and women have become so convinced that being a submissive wife is a "bad word" or degrading, you can see why I would avoid such controversial talk. So what do I think God is saying? I believe He is restoring once again righteous order into families, and the enemy is on overtime attacking homes! Its hard enough to have a healthy productive marriage, but even harder to have a Christian one under the all out, vicious war that there is on family. When God gives me a word, I listen up because I know that means He is going to have me walk it first, test me in it. In 2006 He spoke to me, in that word there was one part that kept repeating itself to me as I have tried with my natural mind and strength to achieve this over the last 7 years. I have always been complimented by others of the kind of wife I am, but there was a deeper understanding that I could not grasp; the beauty of gentleness. I constantly came short because even if my actions changed my heart had not, and it would only take a fight to expose my heart. Certainly what my cup was filled with would come out once bumped.

 So what was this wisdom I was trying to achieve? "I will put righteous order in your family the way My holiness demands." It was a few years ago when I was at the end of myself, I had tried and tried to be this wife He was speaking of me to be. He allowed me to exhaust my ideas, ways and strengths and be broken, then He began to reveal to me His character, why this was so important in a marriage and how we together, as husband and wife, are to reflect the relationship of Jesus and His Church. I have by no means perfected this, but now I can say when I stumble and sin and respond wrongly it truly is a conduct problem, not an attitude/heart problem.

Women: If you understood the beauty in your position of a wife you wouldn't hinge your obedience to His Word on whether or not your husband was doing all he is supposed to. Instead you would see yourself accountable to God, not dependent on your husband's obedience, but rather your attitude of submission to Jesus. You would understand that you are called to be a reflection of the Bride (the Church), how we ought to respond, and our relationship with Christ, as we reflect that in our marriage it's a spiritual reflection of our heart toward Jesus. You wouldn’t despise being the “weaker vessel”, or the word submission. You would be thankful and lift up your husband in prayer as you begin to see the weightiness of his responsibility before God for you and his children.

Men: likewise, you would understand to reflect Christ to your wife and to your children, with honor given, love and grace shown, laying down your own life; understanding she is the weaker vessel.  You would  see yourself as her covering, protection, and understand that her vulnerability to you will also be the degree in which you can crush her with harsh words, unkind actions, lack of leadership, or selfishness. To have her trust and vulnerability cannot be understood if you don't also understand "to much is given, much is required." You would understand that you need to wholly submit yourself to God for direction.

What I see instead (in general) is a flip-flopped, twisted version of what God intended. I see women being encouraged to be “strong”, which by the worlds standards equates to , “tell it like it is, don’t back down, I can do anything as good as a man” attitude. Sadly we have been lied to and have lost sight that our strength is in the Lord; in what He has called us to be. I have found more strength in my silence and self control, more strength in my prayers that nobody sees, more strength in not saying that thing I wanted to say than what the world tells me is strength. I have found I am strong in the Lord when I am weak in Him .

The condition of what a man has been attacked with is that he needs to be weaker, quieter, and if he isn’t then he is an ignorant, chauvinistic hater. I see that men face an especially hard role as the world screams this and the christian wife can absolutely degrade and disrespect with her words and then expect him to be the "spiritual lead". In everything he is facing he's being told (by words, responses, actions) that he is not good enough, spiritual enough, too spiritual, not weak enough, not strong enough. He's stuck in an internal conflict and ends up floundering and failing. Sometimes as wives we want them to be weak when we want our way, but when the family is falling apart to be the strong "lead".

Men take up the battle by getting before the Lord on your face, asking Him for a revelation and how to be an example of Christ. Women, you too battle, but on your knees and face against the lies that have completely taken over this nation on what you are supposed to look like.  Husband and wife, understand that your marriage should reflect Jesus and His bride; that in itself  the lived out example of love and submission, the protection and trust would speak volumes to the world, to your children and to other Christians. This takes a transforming of heart, not of will power. 

Remember that it is work to have a marriage and effort. I don't care how long you have been married, God has put into woman  to feel loved, protected, listened to, desired, respected and valued, and into a man to feel respected, valued  needed, appreciated, and desired. However often times we forget that those needs are satisfied differently for man and woman. The best thing we can do is remember this and fulfill each others needs not by fulfilling ours, rather putting each other first. I have found the desire to fulfill those needs come naturally. Another thing is just stop. Stop the cycle of who started something, or "I do this because you do that", etc. Instead align yourself with the roll God gave to you and allow time for the other to do the same, with patience and prayer. Basically understand  you are accountable to God for your role in the marriage and if the other one is falling short doesn't give you the right to. Like my mom always said, "Two wrongs don't make a right." Choose to forgive even if forgiveness wasn't asked. Go on dates, and pray for one another. Pray you see your spouse the way God does, ask for spiritual eyes.

Lord, may we have revelation of this and align ourselves with Your will and be a people who glorify You and represent a beautiful picture of Christ and His Church. In Jesus name. Amen.

Have You Stopped Learning?

April 13, 2013


Over a lifetime of ministry you will refine and adjust your general theology. Nothing will be contrary to the simplicity of Christ crucified, but as Paul demonstrates that as we grow and "mature" there is more to learn. He describes this as "Gods' wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom". He further says, its' revealed by the Spirit, and that the Spirit searches the depths of God. Since the time I was saved as a young child and since have walked this journey for 35 years already, I have come to some conclusions. One important thing is that we need to be expecting, asking, seeking the Lord to reveal His further truths through His Spirit. We are human and anyone that claims to have hold of understanding ALL of Gods word has deceived himself and misses out. "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." If you have been walking a long time w/God do you still ask Him to change your mind to line up with His? Do you still seek the Spirit on understanding? Many times when we come to Jesus we learn a lot in the first years, and kinda settle in...have you left any room for the Holy Spirit to still reveal peeks and revelations into the endless depth of the mind of God? Oh Lord, Your ways are perfect, Your depths impossible to know, keep me ever vigilant in desiring to see You revealed through Your Word, as the Spirit give understanding. In Jesus name, amen.

"And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden [wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8[the wisdom] which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND [which] HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."

For to us God revealed [them] through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the [thoughts] of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the [thoughts] of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual [thoughts] with spiritual [words].

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ."