I was reading Robby Dawkins book, “Do What Jesus Did” at the coffee shop today. Reading through his stories makes me laugh and cry. The most recent story was how God sometimes gives us pictures to share with those we are praying with. He told of a woman who was skeptical of God and church and didn’t know if it was a safe place to let her guard down. (I suppose some churches are and some aren’t.)
Robby and another lady were praying for this woman and the lady praying got a picture of a jack-in-the-box on a mantel and something about playing it over and over. So she took the courage to share that with her. The woman hung her head and started to cry. She told of how when her parents used to fight really bad, she would go to a neighbors house and take their jack-in-the-box off the mantel and play with it over and over and it made her feel safe. She said, “I think God is telling me that it is safe here.” She came to Jesus and opened her heart to the love of God!
This story made me cry because God knows every detail of our lives and he cares… deeply. Jesus is a safe place. You can let your guard down around him and around those who truly know him.
Sometimes I haven’t felt so safe or loved or valued in “church”. You know what I mean? A dream helped me define how I sometimes feel:
I was part of a play but I had no lines, so I wrote some lines that I thought would fit perfectly and complimented the scene. My lines were relating a dream about the events in the play. During rehearsal as they read over my included part they said, “who wrote this? This is crap! This doesn’t belong in this play.”
Then I was shown a house. It was fully completed. I was an extra part of the house (like an appendix) and didn’t seem to fit anywhere. I was represented by a cubed rectangle object with a cone coming off of it. “What is this? Where can we fit this?” Someone said, “Perhaps up here on the roof? Wow that looks weird.”
Here is the lie:
I don’t fit. The stuff I’m into and believe and think is cool from the Bible just doesn’t belong in the established way of things. My part doesn’t fit in the ongoing play. The church doesn’t need a fifth wheel.
Of course I know I am exactly who God has made me to be and I fit perfectly in his kingdom right where he puts me. I am fully secure in the fact that he accepts me and has made me a masterpiece to show a unique side of him… as we all do!
Then I had another dream:
I was with Jesus the carpenter and I was a peice of wood. I told him, “I suppose you can use me to light a fire or something.” He told me, “This is more of what I had in mind”. He showed me a picture of a flamed maple table top. Wow!
I once told a pastor, “If this thing (church) is fake and not for real people (who are sometimes weird like me) I don’t want it. I want the real thing.”
Of course I know the church – the true body of Christ – welcomes all the different and unique parts and functions that make up Christ’s body. I want that! I have experienced this and if you have experienced it for yourself, you would desperately want more of this too!
There is a place for you. You fit with Jesus. You belong in his family! In fact, your role is vital. There is an emptiness in our hearts until you are with us, healthy and holy, functioning and contributing as you should in the real way you do.
You are His masterpiece!
The real body of Christ is everywhere. It is organic and living and breathing. It’s in the relationships and friendships you form with other believers. It’s also in the gifted and anointed preachers, teachers, and worship leaders, or in the healers and miracle workers and prophetic intercessors that God uses. You have gifts (“superpowers”) too! You can speak into people’s lives like the woman did who had that prophetic word that I began this blog with! God will use you to grow His kingdom of Love.
In the last blog post I explored teleportation in Scripture. We looked at how it has happened on many occasions throughout Scripture by the Spirit of God and, if you choose to believe the reports of believers who have experienced it, teleportation continues to happen today at (I believe) an ever increasing rate!
“Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.” Matthew 4:6-11 NLT
So the devil teleports Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and tempts him to test God by jumping off. Apparently this is a very real temptation for him? And then the devil teleports him to the peak of a very high mountain and gives him supernatural vision to see all the kingdoms of the world. Worship me, he says, and it’s all yours. He was tempting Jesus to circumvent the cross. As if to say, you don’t have to suffer and die to reclaim this lost world, just worship me.
Jesus responded to the attack both times with Scripture (as the Father gave to him in that moment).
It’s SO important to know God’s Word if we are to survive the testing of the enemy (the written word of Scripture AND knowing the Living Word which is Jesus himself!) I encourage you, as I have many times before in my blog, to be a good “Berean”:
“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB
Receive the word with great eagerness, search out the Scriptures for yourself!
Have you ever considered that when Moses was sent to rescue Israel from Egypt that for many of the miracles that Moses did, the Egyptian sorcerers could do the same? See Exodus 7!
Aaron, Moses brother, threw down his staff and it became a serpent. The sorcerers threw down their staffs and they became serpents. Somehow it wasn’t all that persuasive to them that Aaron’s snake then ate theirs? The ultimate showdown of power moves begins.
Moses and Aaron use the same staff to turn the waters of the Nile into blood. But, the Egyptian magicians then turned water into blood also. Next a plague of frogs, “But the magicians were able to do the same thing with their magic” (Exodus 8:7).
But listen to what happens next:
“When Aaron raised his hand and struck the ground with his staff, gnats infested the entire land, covering the Egyptians and their animals. All the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats. 18 Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered everyone, people and animals alike.
19 “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.” Exodus 8:17-19
From then on, the sorcerers could not do as Moses did and when the plague of festering boils came:
“Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and just as the Lord had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen.” Exodus 9:11-12
In the end times Jesus warns that the Antichrist and his false prophet will perform great miracles to deceive if possible even the elect.
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25″Behold, I have told you in advance.” Matthew 24:24
So… my point in sharing this is to say that a show of power isn’t everything and to alert you to the fact that we ought not to simply be searching for power. The devil can offer you a measure of that. We ought to be searching for the person of God Himself and to be endued with his power to turn the world upside down as the apostles did in the first century for God’s kingdom of love.
The Scripture predicts that people in the last days will have a form of godliness but deny it’s power. I don’t want that to be me. I don’t want that to be you.
How do we foster and protect a childlike heart that receives the things (or power) of God? How do we continue to walk in faith and freedom and the power of God?
This is your inheritance as a child of God and his promise to you, see Joel 2 below – Which has found its ongoing fulfillment since Acts 2:
The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit
28 “Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red( of course we don’t see this kind of thing happening do we?)
before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.
32 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved,
for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,
just as the Lord has said.
These will be among the survivors
whom the Lord has called. Joel 2:28-29 NASB
I urge you, as the apostle Paul does, to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (but most of all Love – PLEASE read 1 Corinthians 13!) in your walk with God just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:
“Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy. 2 For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. 3 But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. 4 A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. 5 I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy…”
I was blessed years ago to read these angel’s words in regard to prophecy:
“For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 NASB
Or, “For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.” NLT
It’s all about Jesus! HE is everything!
“God is love… in whom we live and move and have our being.” (from 1 Jn 4 & Acts 17)
My position is this:
“For the believer, there is not more than Jesus to discover and experience, BUT, there is more OF Jesus to discover and experience!”
Now, I must admit, I got just the tiniest bit of flak for my post on teleportation and spirit travel. I can understand why this would freak people out.
When I was exploring visions in Scripture I was seeing that sometimes their spirits were leaving their body! Many would call this “astral projection” (I have no history, as some of my readers might, that would cause that word to be a negative trigger – I mentioned it once which I will refrain from using from now on. I realize now that it is needlessly provocative. I am SO sorry for my carelessness and recklessness of some of my wording.)
So when I was teaching people to prepare their hearts and minds for a vision from the Lord Jesus, I was strongly suggesting – and kind of geeking out over the fact – that this just might mean you have an out-of-body experience! And to realize that as you seek the Lord it’s ok and not automatically “from the devil” if that were to happen!
“Oh no! Daniel is teaching people how to astral project!”
That’s what some likely heard. But, that was not my intent at all. This is what the Bible actually says happened to so many saints and prophets and apostles! (Ezekiel, Paul, and John)
What a sad state the church would be in if it were to reject and judge people for believing the Bible! Thank God that isn’t the case! Have you ever read something in the Bible and thought that most people (even other believers) will find what you had just read as simply unacceptable? Sometimes we can’t wrap our minds around the reality what the Bible is actually saying. This has been true about me for most of my Christian life until the Lord started to open my eyes.
God has made me to be an writer. I know that. He has gifted me in this and in my desires and interests in the supernatural as well. I am glad for who he made me! I am happy to be who I am! I feel his smile and favor upon me. He has made me confident in my relationship – my friendship – with him. If you want to know how to arrive at that place of confidence I would be delighted to share my journey with you! Much of that journey is captured right here in this seven-year long blog.
I didn’t give myself my first life altering vision. I wasn’t seeking a vision. I was just seeking and loving Jesus, fresh back from a life of backsliding and going the devils way. The visions (and mostly dreams – night visions) have helped me immensely along the way however and so I don’t belittle them as some do and I don’t believe it’s wrong to seek them. I think we need to. I often ask for dreams from God and that I would remember them.
It is hard being here on this planet. The Lord is the master at striking a balance between keeping you grounded and present for your mission here AND giving you just enough of heaven along the way to keep the smile always on your face. I was beaming yesterday as this thought crossed my mind.
At the age of eighteen I came back to Jesus because he gave me a dream and showed me my life in five or so years time. The corruption and pain from remaining on the devils path that I saw was too great to bear and so I called up my mom who had been praying for me and asked to go to church with her!
God used a dream/vision of my future to bring me back to himself! Six months later I had an extraordinary supernatural experience with the Lord. It seemed to me that he took my spirit on a time travel. At least that’s my geeky way of interpreting what I experienced. The experiences of and with the Lord continue and I’m SO thankful for each and every one!
Stay tuned. Keep seeking Jesus with all your heart! Stay immersed in His Word and in fellowship and in prayer! And be free!
Daniel Lovett 