I Wonder When Noah Gave Up

  I've had two recurring thoughts lately.  The first is, when did man give up on God?  The second, is based on my cynical/reality based interpretation of the world.  That is, I wonder at what point Noah gave up on the people?  The arc took Noah100 years to build.  People assume he was preaching to the people around him, although there's no Biblical evidence to prove this.  I think we just assume that, because Noah spoke with God, and knew the fate of the world, that he would've tried to warn people, but NOBODY listened.  Not one.  At what point do you think he just said "screw em'"?  I mean, really?  There is a passage in Jeremiah where God tells Jeremiah not to even pray for these people!  They were beyond prayer or help!  That blows my mind, but at the same time, I can totally see why.  I feel like everyone is unreachable, unteachable  and untouchable these days.  I feel like Noah and his family.  I have 100% confidence in God's word, and it can't be shaken.  But the world?  The world is like the Pharoah of Egypt.  They need to be  humbled by the hand of God.  I've heard many Hebrew Roots teachers saying "warn Christians about not participating in Halloween, it's a pagan and a satanic holiday".  And I completely agree, but people just use this stuff as more ammo to hate God.  "God just doesn't want us to have fun".  It just makes them want to rebel further.  At least the Israelites repented of worshipping the golden calf when Moses rebuked them!  People today?  No hope.  So, I'm seeking God about this, and battling my inner cynic.  Is there hope for humanity?  It is up to Him... 

The truth of it is that I feel for anyone who doesn't have God in their life, but if they can't recognize that need there's little anyone can do to help them.  I might give up on the world, but I'll never give up on God.  Here is a link to my music mix on youtube  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfglOLiQStR7dDuFAw_vFRPmTZlXxx2O_

Further from them... closer to Him;-). 

Old Me.. New Me, Politics and Transformation

  Seven years ago I voted for president Obama.  I was SO excited.  I had a party to celebrate.  I had so much hope in the renewal of the world, the earth and humanity.  I used to hear republicans call Obama the antichrist (I didn't know anything about the antichrist) and thought they just hated good people.  I actually thought they hated everything that (I thought) was good.  Women's right to choose (abortion), climate change reform.  I thought they wanted to destroy the planet.  I bashed Fox news because I thought they were the only biased news channel, hah!  I thought they hated immigrants, homosexuals and poor people. I supported gun control, afterall guns kill people right?  I honestly didn't care if Obama was Christian or Muslim.  I thought, as long as he cares about the planet, I like him.  He defends the oppressed, believes in healthcare for all who need it.  He's just a good guy!  The old me would have hated the new me for questioning whether we should take Muslim immagrants.  To me, religion was religion and they all had the same goal.  I was clueless.  Never in my WILDEST dreams would I have thought I would change my views on any of these issues.  I mean, I considered myself to be a good person because I cared about the welfare of all people.  I was SO set in my beliefs about woman's right to choose I would flip off church protesters.  I'm not even kidding.  I actually flipped off church protesters at the church I now attend! Shhh.. don't tell them;;-). I was a HARD CORE leftist.  More of a democrat than a liberal though.  I never embraced the anarchic anything goes philosophy.  

  

   I'm not going to tell you that God flipped a switch in my hard headed head and suddenly I woke up conservative.  Being a Christian isn't about being a political conservative.  That's not what this post is about.  It is about God's ability to effect positive change in a person.  His ability to completey change your mind about things.  His ability to make you see things you never would have seen before.  His ability to transform.  Am I a finished masterpiece?  Far from it!!  I am a work in progress if ever there was one.  I'm not "there" but I'm getting there.  I still have a tendency toward anxiety.  I get extremly angry about certain things.  I admire people who can turn the other cheek, but I really want to stand and fight (especially with words).  I have a sharp tongue that is excruciatingly difficult to tame. I enjoy verbal swordplay a little too much.  I don't have any real enemies, but if I did could I love them truly?  I don't know.  He's working on me in those areas.  

 

  The fact is, is that the elections are coming up and I see things differently this time around.  Granted I'm not excited about any of the canididates, but my views are FAR from where they used to be.  I no longer see republicans as enemy and demacrats as friend.  I question everyone.  I question every issue, and see that it has two sides.  I would NEVER in a million years vote for an atheist, a potential Muslim, or a socialist!  I would never vote for a candidate who doesn't acknowledge the importance of supporting Israel as a basic tenet of survival for this country.  Even I am amazed at my thoughts!  I'm like.. really?  I'm thinking this now?  Crazy!  Left leaning readers probably see it as a change for the worse, and honestly, the old me gets it;-). I totally understand where you're coming from, because I just came from there.  

 

   The thing is though, that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways.  When we tune into Him, he reprograms us.  He gives us new eyes and new ears to see and hear in ways we never thought possible, or probable.  I can't explain it.  My only mission is to point people to the truth, which lies in the Words of God.  The Bible.  The truth will set us all free, eventually.

Dream: Microchip

I had a dream about a week ago.  I was going to a new bible study.  As I was walking in I recognized a guy who was waiting for me.  I asked him "are you the hebrew roots guy"?  He kind of laughed at me and I smacked him on the arm (in a joking way) for making fun of me:-0. We went in, and were listening.  Next thing I remember was being in this room with an overweight Italian lady who was kissing me on the cheeks emphatically (picture a very expressive Italian lady?).  She almost smothered me.  When she was done I realized she had inserted something in my arm.  It was a microchip!  She told me if I took it out I would die.  I was panicked, knowing if I stayed I was with a psycho, and if I left I still had this microchip with no way to get it out.  I ran out the door.  Suddenly I was carrying my cat and running to my car.  I was in the country, and I was looking for a white Subaru.  A car I had for about two years after high school.  

When I woke up I thought it was weird that I was looking for a car I owned over a decade ago, but I was carrying my current cat?  I immediately thought about how the Antichrist will use flattery to get people to worship him and take the mark of the beast.  The fact that she was Italian made me think of the Pope, who is a very likely candidate for the false prophet.  The fact that the microchip was inserted without my knowledge or consent was VERY concerning.  Taking the "mark" is the most forbidden thing anyone can do.  I don't know what else to say. 

Be A Wall

  Every human is a universe within a universe.  All unique in perspective. Every day has a beginning and an end.  Every night is full of discovery.  Time moves shapes and shift the universal mirror, echoing endless possibilities within.  I have no time for grudges or enemies.  What a way to spend the mind!  The map in the stars points to the one vying for recognition.  His decress being difficult to percieve. Interpretations galore! He says "here I am"!  Speak to me now.  I am listening...

I've Seen the Future

  A lot of people are talking about September.  Ok, maybe not a lot of people, just a lot of people in the small circles I frequent.  There's talk from meteors to astroids, WWIII to the Psalm 84 war, Jesus second coming to the time of the anti-christ.  And for some reason it all seems to be hinging on or around September of this year.  Let's just say there's A LOT of speculation,






I've seen the future... but so did Leonard Cohen:

    "The Future"

Give me back my broken night 
my mirrored room, my secret life 
it's lonely here, 
there's no one left to torture 
Give me absolute control 
over every living soul 
And lie beside me, baby, 
that's an order! 
Give me crack and anal sex 
Take the only tree that's left 
and stuff it up the hole 
in your culture 
Give me back the Berlin wall 
give me Stalin and St Paul 
I've seen the future, brother: 
it is murder. 

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions 
Won't be nothing 
Nothing you can measure anymore 
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world 
has crossed the threshold 
and it has overturned 
the order of the soul 
When they said REPENT REPENT 
I wonder what they meant 
When they said REPENT REPENT 
I wonder what they meant 
When they said REPENT REPENT 
I wonder what they meant 

You don't know me from the wind 
you never will, you never did 
I'm the little jew 
who wrote the Bible 
I've seen the nations rise and fall 
I've heard their stories, heard them all 
but love's the only engine of survival 
Your servant here, he has been told 
to say it clear, to say it cold: 
It's over, it ain't going 
any further 
And now the wheels of heaven stop 
you feel the devil's riding crop 
Get ready for the future: 
it is murder 

Things are going to slide ... 

There'll be the breaking of the ancient 
western code 
Your private life will suddenly explode 
There'll be phantoms 
There'll be fires on the road 
and the white man dancing 
You'll see a woman 
hanging upside down 
her features covered by her fallen gown 
and all the lousy little poets 
coming round 
tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson 
and the white man dancin' 

Give me back the Berlin wall 
Give me Stalin and St Paul 
Give me Christ 
or give me Hiroshima 
Destroy another fetus now 
We don't like children anyhow 
I've seen the future, baby: 
it is murder 

Things are going to slide ... 

When they said REPENT REPENT ...

From Exodus to Revelation.. Moses to Messiah

  Hands down, one of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Moses.  I get excited just thinking about it.  This story is paramount to the Jewish faith and for good reason.  It is always referred to, and certain passages recited on Jewish feasts, holy days etc.  It's pretty important, and is the ultimate story revealing the protection, faithfulness and the mercy of God.  Throughout the story, God is using Moses not only to encourage the Israelites and build their faith, but to reach the Babylonians and show them who God is.  He doesn't have mercy on Pharoah and his army.  We can assume they were beyond his grace at the point they died in the sea.  I recommend reading the story for yourself here:  Exodus 3 through 20:25

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+3

  Jewish people tend to think their Messiah will be much like Moses, an annointed man of God who will lead them to safety, out of persecution and into a time of peace in the Millennial age.  They think the entire world will be led to the truth of the one true God, and we will all worship him in peace and harmony.  Sounds pretty good right?  There's one problem with this though, it's already been done!  See, they don't think their messiah will be a divine being.  They don't think he will be the son of God, or God himself.  Just another man anointed by God, like Moses.  Look at the state of the world today.  If what Moses accomplished had lasted, we wouldn't be in the state of darkness, violence, corruption and evil we're in today.  Even the Isaelites who were lead out of Egypt, who witnessed miracles from God, the parting of the sea, the love of God through his plagues (they were protected), they even heard Him speak (they were so terrified, they elected Moses to be the official interceder between them and God).  Even after all of this, they couldn't just believe God and follow his instructions and commandments.  If even the Isrealites couldn't do as God commands, how could anyone?

  This brings us to Jesus, the messiah they missed.  You see, the Jews were anticipating something/someone different than Jesus when he came.  The people relied on the priests and pharisees to determine what qualities to look for and expect in a messiah.  They had preconceived notions about what the prophets had alluded to in their fortellings of the messiah.  This is never good because God's ways aren't man's ways. His thoughts aren't our thoughts.  His clues and our interpretations don't always intersect.  Entertaining different possibilities and perspectives on His word is a GOOD idea.  We have to be open, awake, and listening for the voice of God to understand moment to moment.  We can't rely on the higher ups, the priests and "pharisees" to interpret God for us.  I love many of our preachers today, but I don't get caught up in one way of thinking.  God will always be ten steps ahead of our thinking.  Jesus wasn't a military man leading Jews out of persecution, saving them from their enemy (the Roman Empire), leading them to peace in the natural world and reigning as thier physical king. He was the ultimate sacrificial lamb, atoning for the sins of humanity, leading us out of darkness and the clutches of the enemy (the devil), sending his holy spirit to be our peace and ruling over the entire heavenly realm (there's more going on in the spiritual realm than we realize) as King of Kings, not just King of the Jews.  Jesus fulfilled many of the prophesies the first time around, and he will fulfill the rest the second time.  See how wild God is? He's insanely genius, and He will return... but probably not as we expect;-).  So let's be on our toes with anticipation and open to the brilliant manifestations and workings of God.  

The sermon at my church last weekend was really good and pertains to the Moses story, expecting the unexpected and listening for God...  It's the one from 8.02.15 entitled Joshua.  NOT the first one that pops up (Coming Home-which was by a newbie intern guy).

http://www.timberlinechurch.org/listen-watch/weekend


Additionally fitting, this song Future/Past by John Mark Mcmillon

End note: Moses and the Exodus are the past, but I think they are a foreshadow of our present and future, as we see Revelation playing out in our lives right NOW!  It is important to realize that even the prophets, speaking the very words of God didn't know exactly how things would look when they came to pass.  The major prophesies they prophesied didn't even come to pass in their lifetimes.  Many of them still haven't come to pass!  God only reveals as much as he wants to reveal and sometimes we just have to wait in faith until their revealing.  

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

   At some point in our lives I think every well meaning and good natured person asks why bad things happen to innocent people.  Some people like to use this question as ammunition against God, but without understanding of God, there is no wisdom.  Why is understanding God key to understanding life?  Because He created life.  His laws govern life. To go against this is to rebel against gravity.  Hint: it's not going to work.  Refer to the Tower of Babel.  Man says "we don't need God, we will build a tower to the heavens and be as Gods!".  God says "we'll see about that" boom, he confuses their language so they can't understand each other.  They scatter in their insufficiency and abandon the tower.  Man says "we don't need God, we'll find the cure for disease on our own".  God says "pssht, I'll give you more diseases than you can label, and not a cure will you find".  Man says "we don't need God.  We'll protect our own children".  God says "don't test me, i WILL teach you exactly what you need to know".  Bad things happen because man is defiant, and rebels against God.  Yes, this affects the innocent.  Jesus is the prime example: the innocent afflicted for the iniquity of man.  Jesus sacrifice offered our souls redemption, but he still allowed us free will to choose life or death.  He warns us again and again:

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

Deuteronomy 30:19.  

He that loves discipline loves knowledge, and he that hates reproof is a fool.  

  Proverbs 12:1

  Is God not loving?  What is love?  Is love teaching your child discipline or giving them ice cream and Mcdonalds for every meal?  Which is more valuable?  Which is more useful down the road.  Which kind of love is your child going to grow up and thank you for?  Self gratification leads to dissatisfaction, struggles with weight, addiction and preventable disease.  Discipline leads to self control, satiation, health and the ability to see outside of ones own self imposed trap. You say "well, we're not children".  God says you are, and refers to you as such.  Do you not understand God's discipline?  Does your child understand when you put them in time out?  Maybe not the first time, or the second.  Depending on how defiant your child is, it might take 100 times, you might resort to something more extreme.  Eventually they understand cause and effect, but it's not until experience meets intellect that they truly get it.  This might be decades later!  By now you've probably forgotten the lesson, but your son/daughter is just getting it.  If it takes decades or millennia, God will wait.  You say "well, I just don't believe in a God that needs to be worshipped".  Again with the understanding.  I never understood this either, and frankly it ticked me off.  I've never worshipped anything in my life (aside from a segment of my life when I thought Jerry Garcia was God).  But I think any Grateful Dead  head acid trip will do that to an impressionable young teenager;-). Anyway... God warns us: 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

Worship is a form of umbilical cord connecting us to God and protecting us from these forces.  Sometimes worship is just acknowledging God and knowing that he's in control.  Sometimes it's just gratitude to him that repels the darkness from our sight.  I believe worship is like the Sabbath.  Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.  It benefits us!  God doesn't NEED it.  The bottom line is that anger towards God about things we don't understand is an adolescent attitude.  Potentially even a Spirit of doubt that binds us in darkness. The only way to figure it out is to ask diligently and seek out God's word for wisdom.  Life is easier when we work with gravity instead of against it.  That's all for now!

 LOVE- I have a new obsession...

John Mark Mcmillan: Ten Thousand

John Mark Mcmillan- Counting On

God vs The World

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.  Romans 12:2

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.  Matthew 6:24

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  Ephesians 5:11

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  2 Corinthians 4:4

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  James 4:4

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.  Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.  They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.  

John 15: 18-21

Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 1 John 3:13

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:16

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  John 17:14

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  Revelations 3:17

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.   James 1:27

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  Ephesians 2

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men

Colossians 3:23

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:18

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Matthew 10:16

A rant- then Let's Fly

One thing I'll never understand about people is their love affair with the superficial surface things in life.  They flee from a conversation with depth as if it were a swarm of wasps.  Preferring the strenuously boring safety of weather, sports, job updates, just the facts ma'am.  Borefest!   There's nothing more tiring for me than having to pull out the bag of "safe" questions to keep a dead conversation alive.  Like how's your family (I've never actually met), and how's your job going?

  People look at me crazy when I bring up world events that I believe could be fulfilling Bible prophecy and leading to the second coming of Jesus.  Can you imagine what the reality of this means?  It means that people are so content with this superficial, temporary life that they've given up on wondering why we're here, and the ultimate purpose of life.  They've given plenty of self imposed meaning to life, but they don't even try anymore.  Yesterday the google image was paying homage to the first women who went to space, somebody someonehymer.  The image was of a bunch of people floating up out of their seats.  To me it looked like the rapture, which was kind of exciting.  But the first women in space?  Is that supposed to be exciting by any stretch of the imagination?  Has anything exciting ever happened from our travels to space?  It's a bunch of dead planets with no oxygen.  Sorry, but that just doesn't do it for me.  I'm sleeping just thinking about it.  It's like thinking someday scientists are going to find the cure for something... (they haven't yet btw) and that excites people?  I just don't get it.  I guess I just wasn't made for here...

Let's Fly instead! 

Michael Gungor Band- Fly

Dream 3/?/15 -Sacrificial Love

My dreams are often prophetic, either in my personal life or in the bigger picture world scene.  Before my sister had her first child I had a dream of her at 3ish years old.  My sister was sick, and the exact details of the dream played out three years later.  Her daughter looked exactly as she did in my dream at three yrs old, curls and all.  My sister also had a major health scare at that time.

I've always dreamt about fights my husband and I would have ahead of time (lucky him;). 

  I rarely have nightmares or scary dreams but in March I had this dream:

I was in a big city on a bus or subway.  Demonic forces wanted my life.  They would seek me out of the crowds and try to grab me and strike me with a sword.  Everytime, they would nearly get me.  I would get off one bus and run to another, narrowly escaping death.  On one of the bus's was my current husband who had left me (in the dream).  He had become a slithering drunk.  He was no help whatsoever even though I was being severely attacked.  I got off that bus.  Onto another, and just as these demonic forces were about to kill me I woke up.  

Interpretation:  So, when I had this dream I thought my husband was sober (an ex alcoholic), but he wasn't.  He was just living a double life and lying to me everyday.  He was good too.  I'm a solid detective with supersonic senses, and while I did suspect things at times I let it go.  So, like a year and a half goes by when suddenly I discover he's been lying and drinking the whole time.  The fact that he "left me" in the dream and became a drunk probably meant that he left me emotionally (by sneaking around) and drinking.  Now, I understand lying and addiction go hand in hand.  But when you're married to an addict, life is crazy.  You don't have trust in your relationship.  That's right, a relationship without trust?  How can you do it?  I don't know!  I've been trying to figure that out;-).  Is this dream about the demons involved in this scenario?  Is it a warning dream to me?  I know our society paints this picture of everyone deserving so much more in relationships. And you need trust to survive, and once he "breaks" you he can never "fix" you.  But, I don't need my husband to "fix" me.  Whatever happened to selfless love?  What about loving the way Jesus did?  Sacrificial love.  Yes, this is a sacrificial love.  One that's aiming to kill me!  But it won't...

  Perhaps, the enemy is attacking my husband because his faith is weak.  Maybe he's using his weak faith to try and dismantle mine.  But guess what?  He doesn't know what's coming... 

Dream 5/17/15- Star of David

 I had a dream last night that seems significant.  I don't know exactly what it means but it's obviously very symbolic.  As a disclaimer, I hadn't previously known much about the star of David or the Islamic crescent moon symbol.  Looking it up will reveal a lot of diffent ideas, but in general I think we can assume the star of David represents Israel (the people, Israel, not just the country) and the crescent represents Islam.

Begin dream:  I am on a white boat by myself.  It's very sturdy, built like a sailboat, but there's no sails.  It has the power and speed of a motor boat, but there is no motor.  The boat is supernaturally propelling me across a large body of water.  I got the feeling a shark was chasing us (I say "us" because the Spirit of God was with me).  We got to the other side.  I switched sides of the boat and it propelled me back.  When it landed on the shore it landed me amongst a group of people I knew were Muslim.  One lady began to tell me how much money she would have to spend on fuel for her boat to get across the water and back.  I began to tell her about my boat, that required no fuel and got me across  and back in less than 30 minutes! She was listening, then all of a sudden in the darkening sky we all saw the star of David.  It was very large, and lit up like it was formed by other stars.  At the bottom right tip of the star was a small cresent, much like the Islamic symbol.  Usually their symbol is a large crescent and a little star at the bottom or in the middle.

 This was a huge star with a little crescent dangling off the bottom (I couldn't find an image like that).

The scene changed, and I was in a hotel (which felt like my house) and I was telling my sister about the star in the sky.  I pointed out the window and the star was even bigger!  It was ridiculously huge and I was like omg!  Look at it, it's huge!  But she wasn't interested.  She seemed distracted.  Like she was getting ready to go somewhere and this didn't really matter.  I was in shock at her non chalance.  Then I woke up.

They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” Genesis 40:8

   I can only make stabs at the meaning of this dream.  God has not revealed the absolute interpretation:

 My sister represents the world, too busy with their own lives to see the signs in the heavens.  The hotel feeling like my house symbolizing my temporary residence on this Earth. I am on a boat propelled supernaturally by God because I believe in the Y'shua the Messiah.  Muslims are struggling without the truth or the real MESSIAH, BUT their symbol is in the sky, attatched to God's symbol.  He cares about them and he's sending me (representing a believer in Messiach)  to give them the gift of supernatural fuel, which is the truth?  Or is it a shift in powers?  

5/20/15- Clarification of interpretation:

For believers in Y'shua, our time seems short we're spreading the word in our last 15 minutes on this Earth.  For Jews and Muslims there is a journey ahead (I can only assume it's not going to be a pretty one), but on the horizon we will clearly see who dominates- God's chosen.  It will be clear to all.

 

As I was looking up symbols and meanings.. I stumbled across this dream.  Wow!   http://www.sparrowsbarn.com/h-43-heaven-dream-xliii

The Brilliance- Open Up

The Testimony

Back in 2011, this spoke to me.  I've come a long way since then, but to believe is to begin. A lot of people are here.  Deciphering the cost of a leap of faith.  I can only tell you from my personal experience that NOTHING in my previous life compares, or meant anything of true and lasting value...

Shavuot-Pentacost May 23-24th 2015

"I invoke heaven and Earth as reliable witnesses."

"May the bridegroom rejoice with the bride whom He has taken as His lot and may the bride rejoice with the husband of her youth while uttering words of praise."

Shavuot, otherwise known as Pentacost or Feast of Weeks is writhing with meaning, clues, shadows and types.  It is oozing with what in the world is happening here?  Is this speaking of the rapture or what?  I'm not saying it is, but this is imperative info that every Christian should be hip to in my opinion.  Sure, Pentacost was the the day God released the holy spirit on anyone who would believe, but what did it mean in the past, and how does the significance of all that we now know about Shavuot/Pentacost tie into the future?  

This article is strictly from a Jewish perspective and talks of the element of Marriage and Shavuot.

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shavuot-marriage-contract/3/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shavuot-marriage-contract/3/

This one goes into more detail:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/Shavuot/shavuot.html

True Believer

"Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her … I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion." (Hosea 2:14,19)

Come wayward bride!  Understand fate.  Observe the shallow shores upon which you dwell in restless confinement.  You who romanticize sin and cleave to it's grasp. Seek now, the one who humbly whispers from the deep. Purge darkness from your hearts.  Set your minds on heavenly sights.  Soon, the coming greatness shall descend upon the watchmen.  Who will he find waiting?

Brooke Fraser- C.S. Lewis Song

I hope there's a lot I don't know.  

Seek find express

Seek find express

Digress...

Seek find express

Seek find express

Digress...

What is necessary

Oh God

What are the boundries

Of your creation

What is the purpose 

Of your vision

To contain 

To liberate 

To reflect

What are the perametors

Of your light

The end is the beginning

  Perspective is everything.  For it to be the end of the world as we know it, is the most amazing thing that has ever happened.  Some people think it's fear talk, but those who wait for this and dream of it are not afraid.  Gods will be done!  The sooner the better...

Wake up oh sleepers

From the dead world

Wake up you sleepers

In your graves

Wake up oh sleepers marching 

Valiently to the clay

Today he whispers

Tomorrow he shouts

Wake up oh lovers

This is your time

To announce

Hope

Like a rope

To save

Wake up you rivers

And wake up the winds

Wake up faithful sun 

It begins

Ecoute- The beauty of change

Do you ever find yourself deeply immersed in something, inspired, rearing to go, making elaborate plans.  You think, I love this moment, the way I feel in it.  Maybe it will last.. forever.  Only to be getting over it before it's even over. You can see it leaving.  It's on it's way out, and you want to call it back, invite it to stay. You're holding on to it, knowing this is the pattern of your life, and potentially life itself.  You think about people you've known who have continued to live in a phase and you wonder how.  You've always just been passing through.  When you exit yet another realm of created self you wipe off the clutter of sight and sound.  You become quiet, clean and simple again.  You were a painting being made, and now you're a blank canvas again.  It was a beautiful picture.  You loved it's ethereal hues and poetic curvature.  The way the light danced through the wind and flowed through your hair.  The sounds of heaven rang in such a way, but as all things, we are being created every moment, every second.  If we're honest we can never stop being created.  We can never live in a moment too long, or it will begin to burn.  Like the brilliance of spring sun, summer sun lies heavy and thick.  We become cautious and seek shade and solace, which leads to other and new ventures.  We look back, usually only remembering the good in every moment, nomatter how bad it seemed sometimes.  It amazes me.  It comes as no surprise, that we move on, everytime, growing through, owning nothing, becoming all the things that are still unknown.  

Song Revolution

He not busy being born is busy dying

      -Bob Dylan

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,he is a new creation. Old things have passed away behold, all things have become new. 

   1 Corinthians 5:17

 First there was breath, then there was sound.  Sound became song which became life... and we danced.  

I discovered some new music that rocks my socks off.  It's different, it's insane, it's weird, it's alive and it's SO infused with everything I find important these days.  I hope you can find yourself in it somehow too... 

First things first.. I've liked the band Gungor for a while, but didn't realize how much I liked the band Gungor.  If you've never heard of them you need to.  You also need to watch this documentary.  Essentially (as I gather it) they're attempting to portray creation from the perspective of the old testament and bring that potential of understanding to life through sound and words and layers of organic expression.  It's particularly interesting if 1- you've read the old testament and have a fascination with creation  2- if you listen with an open mind and 3- if you often find yourself meditating and reflecting on life and what this God truly is and just the very nature of our relationship with and to the one who made us into being and lives among us and within us.  What I like in particular, is that their style of worship is so natural.  It almost blurs the lines of secular and spiritual.  It doesn't portray a "religious" rule book spirit.  It doesn't form to the mold of what "Christian songs" should sound like, yet it demands a curiosity and a willingness to consider the source of all life.

A smaller sample:

This song from Hillsong United is organic, unpolished, vulnerable and wonderful:

John Mark McMillan's song Heart Runs makes me dance.. and it's just good.

The Liturgist are essentially Gungor under a different name.  Sneaky right?  I'm not obsessed, maybe a little...  

We sit with the understanding of the fullness of the darkness, tragedy and suffering in this world.  That understanding leads to a hope, and a faith... which is optimism in it's truest sense.

I recently discovered this one by The Brilliance.  So unique and natural..  A beautiful example of infusing God into a casual, relatable communion.  This song pretty much sums up the times we're living in, as well as the imperative of my thoughts.  Really, it's that encompassing.

Build Your Kingdom Here by the band Rend is so grassroots INSANE, and fun.  I love the concept.

And one more Gungor for good measure;-)  This is an absolute favorite... usually followed by the song We Will Run.

The Husband Dream

I had a dream last week that my husband was cheating on me with... me.  But the me he was cheating on me with was an over simplified, shallow, superficial shell of who I am.  Their affair was of a carnal nature as affairs usually are.  I remembered thinking I could never be her.  I could pretend to be her for a while, but how empty would that be?  I wanted peace in our relationship, but not at the cost of my soul.  So, he decided he was going to divorce me, and marry her.  He told her the reason is because I beat him over the head with the bible (but I also knew it was the shallow sex life).  We were all going to convene in the basement with our families and he was going to tell me the news.  I knew this because I was also her (a remnant of myself).  I couldn't believe he would leave everything that I am for everything that she isn't.  The dream ended with us all sitting there waiting for him to say something and I woke up.  

This dream was foretelling some issues my husband and I had over the weekend.  I won't go into detail.  We're going through the thick.. again.  Anyone else struggle with cyclical relationship issues? I'm sure we're not alone;-). It's hard though... Paul was right when he said relationships would bring unnecessary trouble!  But when it's good it's good right?  Sometimes I wish I could trade stories with someone else during these times.  I could experience their hangups and they could experience mine from a fresh perspective.  Sometimes these issues feel like such reruns.  Like, been here done that, bored as heck!  It's just the nature if two different minded people trying to sing in harmony.  Sometimes we just don't agree on the song or the sound and why it should be this way or that.  It's stupid but it's real.  I want the song to be deep, authentic and warm to touch.  I dislike, am repulsed by the shallow things of our modern age.  The era of  the sleazy, cheap and profane.  

Dreams- 4/25

(I'm not promoting this book, I just like the cover) 

For those who question dream interpretation and think it might be too "mystical" or too "new age" for Bible believers, let's go back and examine that Bible  again.  While we should always be cautious and mindful of what we engage in we should also keep in mind that new age concepts and practices often come out of the Bible.  They are profaned by filtering God out of the picture.  Where do you think Ekhart Tolle got his New Earth idea?  Don't even get me started on Ekhart Tolle.  How he managed to write an entire book on the "power of now" still confounds me to this day, and yes, I used to buy into all that jazz;-).  Let's all pray for him and his enormous following. That they would know the power of the living God and be introduced to the whole message and the truth!

They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” Genesis 40:8

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;  Acts 2:17

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13

And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I theLord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.  Numbers 12:6

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds,  Job 33:15

But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:

Daniel 2:28

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”  Genesis 46:2

  I've had a couple of interesting dreams the last two nights.  Interesting to me anyway.  You know, some dreams are entirely personal and others are prophetic.  I'm realizing how bad I am at interpretation though.  If it's not in my face obvious I'm fairly clueless.  In these moments I long for the counsel of Daniel (otherwise known as Belteshazzar;) or Joseph! 

4/24  I'm with my mom at a grocery store (similar to Sprouts on Drake).  We split up, then I realize she's looking for me.  I see her but she's far away.  I start walking faster to catch up but she leaves the store and walks down the way and into a coffee shop (that does not exist near Sprouts).  I can tell she's still looking for me as she walks in there.  As I'm following her I hear someone singing hallelujah yeah, hallelujah yeah really loud.  The sound echoes against the brick building and as I enter the coffee shop I announce " here I am" in a humorous way, as if to indicate that my presense always preludes with a heavenly announcement.  Alan Horvath is the barista and he laughs at my arrival getting the joke of course.  It feels like I've known him forever (I just love that guy).  

Correlation or coincidence?  I remember thinking it was pretty strange for somebody to be singing hallelujah so loudly in public.  Alan Horvath is one of my favorite teachers on youtube and he's really into a specific interpretation of the bible called the Hallelujah Scriptures.

Second scene- (Back at the house I grew up in) I'm waking up early in the morning and I notice a fish tank (I've never owned a fish tank) sitting to my left on the ledge of my headboard.  I feel like it's going to fall into the bed so I reach up to move it back when I see a snake!  I also notice some other living creature and as I look to observe it it turns into a small Giraffe!  Then I see a smallish cat that I thought was a wildcat for some reason.  I tried to get out of my bedroom and shut the door  to prevent the wildcat from attacking my real cat!  I ran upstairs and there was Alan Horvath again!  He was dating my mom.  I guess he was getting up early to leave.  I told him about the snake and he asked if I had a fish tank (implying that that could be the cause of the snake).  I said yes, and he looked at me like yah, that's probably why. - End dream-

Uhm... any takers?  I know that fish can represent spirit or souls, so it could be saying that since I'm dwelling in God's realm the serpent (the enemy) is lurking around waiting to attack?  To me, giraffe's represent an innocent animal that could be easily subject to prey because they don't have a lot of defense mechanisms.  Wildcats are obviously scary predators... The room (my room) was filled with the innocent and the blood thirsty, and I was seeking the wise counsel of Alan Horvath.  

On a larger scale this dream could represent the current state of my world or the  world.  The powers of good and evil  co-existing and my seeking (Alan H. Could represent God) higher wisdom while I'm here.  And he's telling me to be aware because while I'm living in this current reality evil will always be lurking in the shadows...

4/25  I dreamed I was working in someones house, when one of my clients (whome I've had in multiple dreams) comes over and is surprised to see me there.  For some reason I get really dizzy and can hardly move.  She helps me up and I just apologizing saying "I don't know what's wrong with me, I can hardly move, this is so weird...".  Then, I'm working my way through this house and it just keeps getting bigger and there's more and more flights of stairs.  There's people everywhere and they're really nice.  Everyone is really lively and many people seem to be working like it's an office out of a house.  I'm actually having a good time, but I'm working and I'll never get done!  One guy is at his desk and asks if I'll clean up around his desk.  Then he tells me I need to put all the cups in the dishwasher.  At this point I get mad and I'm like "no dude, you don't understand.  First of all I don't DO that and second of all I WAY under bid this job".  He was just looking at me confoundedly.  I told him "look, everyone here has been really nice, but we just did not realize how big of a job this is".  He understood, but he's not the boss.  My helper decides to leave and I consider leaving too because I clearly under bid this job!  It ends with us considering the weight or reprecussion of just leaving, as this is not something we would normally do.

--End dream-

Side note- the client who keeps appearing in my dream is notably Christian (a rare phenom around here).  I don't often think about or dream about any of my clients so this is kind of unique that she keeps appearing.  

The size of the job compared to our bid felt like in reality that it would be pro bono  if we were to stay, but at the same time, our job wasn't life altering in any way so why would we do it for free?  Ya know?  Perhaps the dream is referring more to just being over my head in terms of really trying to understand God.  It feels like a job researching all the streets(interpretations) and avenues(theories) of understanding and percieving the angles of God.  The deeper I dig the "bigger" it gets.  It's hard work!  

Dreams: past and present

    Let's talk about dreams.  Not the dreams about personal success and worldly attainment, that's for another post;-). Let's talk about our nightly escapades into the unknown .  When I was young, I didn't remember my dreams.  I'm sure I had them, but didn't try to remember them.  When I was a teenager I took some dream interpretaition workshops and analyzed my dreams from a secular, new age type framework.  Then, I went through a long period where I thought dreams were just meaningless and nonsensical undigested thoughts and projections carried over from our daily impressions.  Regardless of how I percieved dreams and their meaning, I always had them!  As a teen and into my early 20's I was into new age ideas (yes, this was before it became mainstream).  I used to have this recurring dream of a tsunami.  Keep in mind this dream started BEFORE I ever even saw the ocean!  This dream continued for years.  I didn't understand it at all.  There's always been an underlying element of tumult and ungroundedness (Kabbalists might attribute this to the letter M in my name) in my life so I attributed it to my general aloofness.  Looking back with the perspective of God giving us warning dreams, I can see how he was warning me, BUT I couldn't have understood at the time what it was about.  Fast farward to 2011.  My mom had been working HARD on me to get me to see that God was the God of the Bible, and not the God that I created in my head.  You know, the one who just kind of agrees with everything WE think?  Yah... anyway, I finally crucified my ego and actually asked God to come into my life and reveal himself to me (the way Christians do).  To me, this was HARD.  I had embraced eastern religions and the new age concept God which required nothing of me, and certainly implied that God was already inside me, as well as in everything.  The effect of thinking this way is 1) you don't actually know God at all and 2) you become very egotistical!

  Anywho, shortly after I "broke" myself and prayed this really embarassing (I thought) prayer, I had a dream.  It was scary.  I was in this dessert like town with people milling about.  Suddenly a bus came by and everyone got on it but me.  I missed it!  I was all alone in this town, and there was this sense of impending doom.  I was freaking out, when by some miracle the bus came back and my moms old hippy boyfriend (who I knew was attending church) came out and said he got a ticket for me.  I was SOOo relieved!!  The dream was a definite warning to me, that if I didn't get serious about God I would be left behind.

  For two years God made my life a living nightmare.  I believe he was testing and refining me.  THEN, he woke me up!  When he woke me up he started to urge me to finish reading the Bible.  I had only read about half way through at this point. Side note about me: I'm easily distracted and not good on follow through.  I start many projects and move on before they're finished.  Know yourself, right?  Anyway, I decided to start reading 15 minutes every night.  Something I could commit to.  15 minutes turned into 30, and eventually I finished it (side note to anyone who has a hard time reading the old testament: The Bible in 90 Days on audio is awesome.  You can purchase it in segments from Itunes).  I quickly realized that if we haven't read the entire word of God we are CLUE LESS!  I guess that's what he was trying to tell ME.. haha!  Now, I'm trying to spread that message.  Church is a good thing, but just going to church is not enough.  

  Fast foreward again to the most recent warning type dream.  I was at work when one of my clients told me the state of Texas was under water.  I knew it was the END of days so to speak, and I said "It's here".  Then I was outside.  The oceanic water was to my right.  Suddenly I was with my mom and sister and we had tube type rafts (side note: I HATE rafting) and was getting into a river.  I had no clue what would happen.  My husband showed up but didn't have a raft.  I knew my raft could never carry both of us, but I was torn between survival and helping him.  Obviously, this dream was a warning to my husband, but it was also a reassurance to me that I was progressing in my security with God.  Now, I have many dreams, but these are just the ones that are the most significant and memorable.  There was also the dream where God revealed to me that I need to share the Bible with people.  I've had many packing dreams lately, even though I'm not planning any trips in the natural world.  I had one dream very recently that I was actually in heaven getting prayed for.  And another one where I was preparing for a wedding.  That was a cool dream.  I couldn't tell who was getting married but the setting for the wedding was a vintage/farm type wedding which is my favorite setting for a wedding.  I also recall Jesus speaking.  It seemed like he was saying vows, but I couldn't remember a word he said.  The dream ended very vividly with a silver bowl with the number 12 in it.  I've got a few ideas of what that could symbolize, but if anyone has any insight, do share!  There is much talk on youtube about the groom (Jesus) coming for his bride (the church), which is all Biblical of course but people are having dreams and visions like crazy:-o My sister said "well it's no wonder you're having these dreams because you're watching all these videos and filling your head with this stuff".  I can see why she would think that but what about all the dreams I had before?  I don't know about you but I can't force myself to dream something just because I want to.  In fact, I'd love to have cool wedding and rapture dreams every night but I don't!  Many nights my dreams are the usual random boring type despite all the info I'm listening to. They're kind of disappointing actually!  Many nights God has spoken Hebrew words in my dreams.  This is significant to me, and has lead me to research the Jewish roots of Christianity, taking me back to the ancient paths.  Alan Horvath and Mark Biltz have become great sources of info for me because of these dreams.  I'm learning some Hebrew and travelling all the way back to God's original perspective, language and calendar.  It's pretty cool the way God is actually using my dreams to guide me.  We don't randomly assign meaning to life.  God assigns meaning, and we aquire knowledge of meaning by knowing Him.  Happy dream trails friends!  

This is a 5 minute video about the Hebrew Roots of the Aaronic Blessing.  It's powerful.  Please watch it!

https://youtu.be/7U6js9OkV2c

The first video led me to the teachings of Rico Cortes.  I know most people don't have the endurance to sit through this entire series but 6 & 7 are SO amazing.  It makes the most sense to start from the beginning but if that's not going to happen, watch 6 & 7.  God is SO interesting you guys!  If you don't think God is interesting you just don't know enough...  If you've ever wondered about the origins of sound and music this is a great one to watch!

https://youtu.be/DeKG5TexA0s?list=PL126472709CF88208

P.s.  Some people have this idea that going back to the Jewish roots is somehow "un-Christian". I'd just like to remind them that Jesus was a Jew.  The first "Christians" were Messianic Jews.  His intent was not to un-Jewify people.  The Christianity we have today is a highly processed version of the heirloom variety, so to speak.  If we want absolute truth I believe we need to go all the way back to the original.  All that said,  I am not convinced that any one denomination has all the answers and I do not subscribe to or belong to any denomination.  I don't need a label to identify myself with God.  I will listen to teachers from any and all denominations to get a full perspective.  I belong to God, and believe His word.  His word is not bound by the limitations of man's perception or understanding.