Prophetic Reformation and
the Fires of Revival!
From Our Desk to You!
New Orleans:
The
Sanctuary
Dear Friends, we have been so
very busy down here in New Orleans. We are in the final stages of
renovating our new Sanctuary which, incidentally the Lord told me to call,
“The Sanctuary.” It’s lovely but, more importantly Jesus is coming to us in
this place in ways that are both wonderful and incredible. We never know
what He is going to do. One night there is teaching, another night the
prophetic, another night pure ministry in the Spirit. We are in the very
earliest stages of a move of His glory. Hearts and lives are being changed,
and people are experiencing supernatural growth. At times His glory is so
strong I am personally so overwhelmed to the point that I cannot minister
at all. People are met in a supernatural way and Jesus literally conducts
the service Himself. The greatest anointing seems to be on the Word with a
release of His presence such as I have never experienced in 30 years of
ministry. This is why spiritual growth has been supernatural for those who
attend. The crowds are still small but His presence is coming in to meet us
as though we are thousands strong. This has been an amazing year.
The
Gathering of the Eagles
We did no Gatherings last year
as we felt led to stay and secure the work here in New Orleans before
venturing out again. Now, however, the team feels as though it is time to
venture out again by the Lord’s leading as we have been receiving some
compelling things from Him. Actually, we feel it is imperative for us to
embark once again on the National level.
Let me try to explain my heart:
Every GOE we have held since
2001 has been followed by incredible responses from the Lord. We have
engaged issues such as the Native American plight, the African American
issues both concerning slavery and the Jim Crow years as well as the Civil
Rights era. We followed the repentance and intercession over those issues
with dealing with the abortion atrocities and Human Trafficking. Now we are
dealing with yet even higher International concerns that America is
responsible for. All these things I have mentioned have been led by God
step by step for the purpose of absolving America of the curses caused by
spilling innocent blood. Therefore, Jesus has led us to ask for certain
things as we near the end of our intercessions, which, He always seems to
grant. We have asked Him to do the impossible for 8 years to which He has
responded by granting us even more than we petitioned Him for. We have
detailed these remarkable answers in other letters and News Letters in the
past so I won’t go into detail again here. Suffice it to say, doing our
part in the healing of America has been an unbelievable journey.
As we look at the National
scene it does not appear as though America is any better off. Yet, I would
like to draw your attention to some things you may not know or may have
forgotten. When Jesus came to me in a three hour visitation He told me that
if I did not answer this call to do the Gatherings we would see war without
revival. If I did we would have revival before He would allow war. That was
in the year 2000. Late in 2001 after I accepted the commission and began
procedures toward engaging the call, including long hours of intercession
over the commission, I received a newspaper clipping in the mail that
stated that China and Russia had signed an agreement to attack America
together in late 2000. The writer mentioned that it was a mystery that they
apparently decided not to follow through with it. This was the first huge
answer to prayer. I can also mention that even more recently, the dangers
of a Health Care Reform was revealed to us and we interceded against it
before the last Presidential election. While I know that intercessors all
over America also interceded, we gained the decided victory through our
repentance over innocent blood issues. Why? Because God was free to bless
us with His intervention when we met His conditions. In addition, are you
aware that the Illuminati International Bankers, to whom President Bush
officially turned our Nation over to before he left office, meant to
bankrupt America and turn our financial system into ruins by the year 2010?
While they did create a huge Tsunami of problems by engineering the recent
financial crises, they did not get what they wanted. They did get a 3
trillion dollar donation to their cause from the American Tax Payers but,
they did not destroy America as they originally sought to do. They did not
succeed because intercessors prayed and we together with those who attend
the GOEs repented over the spilling of innocent blood and the realities
that most concern the Lord’s heart.
Identificational repentance is
Scriptural as I have shared in other Newsletters and it is a powerful form
of priestly intercession:
I am sharing all this because
the Illuminati elite have elucidated certain things they desire to bring
about within the next 2 to 3 years. If they succeed in their endeavors,
America will be a third-world country by the end of 2012. We can look at
Haiti and get a sobering picture of what we could look like by the end of
that time frame. We are willing to make a DVD available free of charge,
(simply pay the postage) for any who want to order it, which will go into
detail regarding their evil plans. After hearing their plans, I pray and
want to encourage you to take the next step and come to the New York, GOE.
Even if you have never attended a GOE before, please pay the price,
(whatever that might mean) to come and be a part of this New York GOE. This
year’s GOE Meetings can secure America under God’s protection if we will do
everything He tells us to do. We may not be able to save America for an
entire generation, but we can push back their diabolical plan if we will
pay the price of prayer.
This ministry is primarily
about prayer, secondarily, it is about seeing the prophetic revelations
that will help guide the Church into her destiny. Third, we are a
missionary outreach based ministry. We have an office in Nigeria, a base in
Italy and work in several other countries. We support several ministries in
many different countries, some of which rely on our support almost
exclusively to keep going. We offer books and CDs free of charge to anyone
around the world that desires what we contain in our library. Our heart is
for the Church to arise to meet its destiny. We want to encourage you to
pray about becoming a partner in our call. Our call is to liberate Nations
and our heart is strongly bent toward the Church who is Christ’s Bride.
Please pray about joining us as
a prayer partner and one who contributes financially to the work we are
doing in the earth. Please remember that you can now make donations online
through our website at www.WorldforJesus.org on our catalog - ministries
page.
I hope you enjoy the articles
in this issue and that they are good spiritual food for your precious soul.
In His Love, Nita Johnson
________________________________________
The Sanctuary
By: Nita LaFond Johnson
I am going to talk to you about
two Sanctuaries in this article. One is the spiritual Temple God is
building in the whole earth as the Temple of the Last Days. The second is
the Sanctuary He has asked us to prepare here in New Orleans. Let me begin
by sharing a very personal, divine message:
The Word of the Lord came unto
me and I wept, “Now go prepare the Sanctuary of the Lord!”
Scripture reveals that God had
the same divine intention at Mount Sinai - He wanted the people to prepare
a Sanctuary to accommodate His presence. As a result, man’s relationship to
God would encounter a divergence from what he had known - a new path would
be revealed; an historical modification would emerge.
"And let them make Me a
sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." Exodus 25:8
The reality was that although
God was certainly overseeing His people, He claimed by implication that He
did not yet dwell among them. To do so would require that a certain
protocol, a ceremonial worship be initiated for the sake of the people’s
safety. If He was to be among them, in such a way as to reveal His
Personhood, then He required a Sanctuary.
Although today we are most
certainly the Sanctuary of the Lord (e.g., I Cor.3:16-17, 6:19), it is
nevertheless true that His eyes look to and fro to find a place where He
can reveal Himself to a collective people. He thus looks for ministers who
are holy and pure, clean vessels that can lead the way into the Holy of
Holies when once it is established.
"Then stood up Jeshua the
son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar to the G-d of
Israel...." Ezra 3:2
Today Yeshua (Jesus), the Son
of God, is arising to build a Temple and erect an altar to the God of all
the earth. He spoke clearly to me at the end of the year 2000 in a
three-hour visitation – World For Jesus Ministries was to do its part in
preparing for Him a Temple in the earth, and it would take seven full years
to construct the foundation. We began this construction in 2001 by holding
The Gatherings. Of course, this new Temple is not one made by human hands,
but is one constructed by God Himself. We simply have sought to obey the
edict and to do our part by working with Him through prayer. His promise
was that He would build His Sanctuary, and He is doing this very thing!
The foundation now complete, He
is beginning to reveal Himself here and there to His people in marvelous
ways. I am excited over the wonderful things He is doing. Healing,
miracles, and His awesome presence are favoring His people as they humble
themselves before Him and worship Him in truth.
New Orleans
The Lord recently spoke to me
about yet another Sanctuary, one in New Orleans! In an audible voice, He
instructed me: “Go and prepare the Sanctuary of the Lord!” When He directed
me to do this in New Orleans, he also told me what to call it: “The
Sanctuary,” which literally means the dwelling place of God! It is but a
microcosm of what He is doing worldwide.
The Lord divinely directed us
to the very building we were to use for our meetings. At that time, it was
not on the market as a possible site. Yet, our agent’s ongoing efforts
opened the way for us to obey the Lord’s directive - we signed a lease and
began the renovation of this old building in East New Orleans (it is not
more than 5 minutes from our previous facility). We are not yet finished,
indeed, we still have a great deal of work to do in the rear of the
building. Despite where we are in the process, we took a chance, sectioned
off the unfinished portion, began to hold revival meetings, and saw the
Lord come to His Sanctuary!
In “The Sanctuary” here in New
Orleans, God is teaching us about the new Sanctuary He is still
constructing in the world. He is also teaching us how to worship and walk
before Him in this new, international, spiritual facility. His requirements
are higher now because He will reveal His presence in an unprecedented way.
Yes, signs and wonders will fill the earth, but something even greater is
about to occur - He is going to reveal His creative Word! He will recreate
human bodies by healing the maimed and raising the dead, which is awesome
in and of itself. He will also recreate the human soul by healing it and
raising up sons and daughters who will walk in the fullness of life (it
would take several books to explain all that I just said).
The Lord is training us as
priests to help Him build His Temple, just as occurred in Zerubbabel’s day.
He is teaching us how to walk before Him so as not to offend His holiness,
and how to enter into the fullness of life as mature sons. He is teaching
us how to believe Him for the supernatural, and for so much more. In one
respect, we are still doing our part in erecting His spiritual Temple
throughout the world. In another respect, we are using our physical hands
to build a Sanctuary He is soon going to visit in a way that is greater
than anything He has ever done. Remember, He is God, and we are His people.
On Mount Sinai, He disclosed Himself to the entire house of Israel in an
unprecedented revelation of Himself. He is getting ready to do this very
thing again! We want to be ready for Him; how about you?
As we wait upon God, we must
look to you for a few things. First, we need your prayers. Because of the
spiritual work we are doing in this city as we renovate The Sanctuary, the
battle is intense. Please pray for our team as well as the work on the
building. Second, please pray for the finances, and prayerfully consider
contributing to the renovation of this new Sanctuary. We still need tens of
thousands of dollars, and we need it quickly. This is not a lot of money,
although $1000.00 is a lot of money if you need it, and it is not
available. Whereas we know the Lord will bring the funds in as He has
promised, we also know that only those who consider themselves our most
supportive friends and family are going to take the responsibility for
building this work at this foundational level (this came as a prophetic
revelation to one of our dearest friends who has given sacrificially by the
Lord’s direction). God, in turn, is looking to bless our friends in a
special way for giving sacrificially and being a part of this journey. This
point came as a promise from the Lord through an angelic messenger sent
directly to me. Therefore, we bless those of you who will give
sacrificially at this time. Third, we want you to visit us down here in the
South! Those of you who pray, come and help us pray. Those of you who love
truth, come and join us as we learn about and enter into the Prophetic
Revolution that is upon us. Indeed, when we finish the second phase of
renovations, we will resume four nights of services per week. I am excited
about this increase in meetings, for His presence will be even richer and
stronger.
"I have surely built thee a
house of habitation, A place for Thee to dwell forever." 1 Kings 8:13
We are building a habitation
for His holiness in our souls and in The Sanctuary. Come and join us. Come
and help, and learn how to make an exceedingly great home for Him within
your hearts. Come and give Him praise in His Sanctuary; you will never be
sorry for doing so! This great spiritual Temple He is constructing in all
the earth will make Him a praise in the earth, and it will be the Sanctuary
of His power. As we build here in New Orleans, we are continuing to do our
part to erect the spiritual Temple of these last days. Come, and with us,
give Him praise!
Hallelujah. Praise God in
His sanctuary; Praise Him in the firmament of His power." Psalms 150:1
This Sanctuary we are building
in New Orleans will be a House of Prayer for all nations. Leading such a
“House” has always been my call, and always will be. Come, help us pray!
"For My house shall be
called a house of prayer for all nations." Isaiah 56:7
This is pleasing to the Lord
and, therefore, wonderful in our eyes!
Remember that the spiritual
Temple that God is making in all the earth, as well as its priesthood, is
also in the eternal purposes of God!
Bless you!
In His Love,
Nita Johnson
“NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO
SLEEP”:
REFLECTIONS ON SLUMBER,
By: Charles A. Metteer
Like breathing, blinking, and
eating, sleeping is a natural part of our day-to-day lives. The very
naturalness of it, however, causes most of us to put very little thought
into how sleep relates to the kingdom of God and our Christian faith. Our
tendency is to simply dismiss it as a spiritually unimportant activity
because we believe it is our wakeful activities, and not our time spent
sleeping, that constitute our lives and the boundaries of God’s kingdom.
When we awake from sleep, we start anew from where we left off when last
awake. The interim hours of sleep do not seem to count as part of our lives
and, thus, contribute nothing to our spiritual development or the expansion
of God’s kingdom. Not surprisingly, this line of reasoning leaves us with
many questions. Why is it that on the average we are required by the laws
of nature to spend eight out of every twenty-four hours, or one-third of
our entire lives, in sleep? Why are our conscious minds regularly suspended
this way? Why is so large a part of each day “wasted,” when we could spend
the time in Scripture, prayer, meditation, or productive work? Why do we
attempt to prolong our lives if we spend so much of them sleeping? Would
not decreasing the amount of time we sleep offer an easier solution?
Finally, if we are to submit every aspect of our lives to God (I Cor.
10:31; Col. 3:17), is there not therefore some connection between our
Christian faith and sleeping? If so, should we ask God to teach us to
number not only our days, but also our nights (Ps. 90:12)?
Regrettably, Western
Christianity has seldom addressed these questions, possibly because it does
not see how an unconscious activity warrants serious reflection. This
avoidance is surprising because pastors and theologians are not known for
their silence, and because of the attention they give to other aspects of
people’s inner lives, e.g., inner healing and deliverance. What then is the
reason for this silence? It is surely not due to ignorance; Scripture has
much to say about sleep and dreams. Perhaps fear is a major reason why some
of us deem sleep a waste of time spiritually, and why we close ourselves
off to the messages of our dreams. Indeed, if dreams have meanings, then
they might compel us to pray for their correct interpretations, to spend
additional time reflecting on our lives, and to consider unpleasant or
surprising insights about our lives in light of God’s rule and reign over
us. We would then need the courage to respond appropriately to their
messages.
If Scripture calls us to carry
out all of our activities to the glory of God - ordinary and extraordinary,
conscious and unconscious - then God should have something to say about the
time we spend asleep. I will substantiate this claim by offering a general
overview on the role sleep plays in the Christian life. Due to the breadth
of this topic, I will limit my thoughts, and add one clarification. Because
of the abundance of scriptural passages that deal specifically with dreams,
and because of the frequent ambiguity over whether night visions are dreams
or wakeful visions that occur at night, I will only cite passages that
clearly refer to dreams that arise from sleep.
The
Great Equalizer
God has orchestrated in
creation a natural rhythm that moves through our daily lives, e.g., work
and play, activity and rest, day and night, sun and shade, and, finally,
waking and sleeping. By and large, once every twenty-four hours we all lie
down to sleep. No matter how busy we are, no matter what responsibilities
hang over us, what problems remain unsolved, and what tasks remain
unfinished, these issues can postpone for only a few hours the relentless
demands of sleep. The mightiest of heroes and the wealthiest of people -
along with the poor, the sick, and the outcast - have a daily need to lie
down because they cannot go on unless they do. This is true of all of us.
In sleep, our masks are removed, our pretensions cease, and our authority
is nullified. This innate ritual reminds us with remorseless regularity how
things really are. Every single day we are obliged to recall that we are no
greater than anyone else. We are finite.
Vulnerability and Trust
The demands of our lives often
cause us to carry insecurity and stress to bed with us. We may lie awake
worrying about what awaits us tomorrow. Can we rise to the task? Will we
get everything done? Or, we obsess over how to deal with an unpleasant
situation or a difficult person. Then there is the incessant burden of
paying our bills and putting food on the table. Stressful moments like
these can remind us that we are vulnerable and in need of help.
While asleep, our conscious
powers and capacities lie dormant, i.e., apart from dreaming, we cannot
act, initiate, respond, or achieve. Furthermore, we are no longer in the
world with others, but have retired to a private world in which real people
are absent. Here, regardless of whether we are strong or weak, young or
old, male or female, we are not in control. Each of us is at the mercy of
others and our surroundings. Only by waking can we use, once again, our
abilities and talents, and consciously interact with our world.
Ultimately, falling asleep is
an issue of trust. On one level, we commit ourselves to the powers of our
unconscious which we do not understand. On another level, to stop and sleep
is to trust that our world will carry on in an orderly fashion without our
help for several hours, that God will continue to reign supreme even while
we slumber. But above all, sleep offers us the opportunity to entrust our
lives to God on a daily basis. We learn at a young age that we cannot go to
sleep by our own effort. This is a humbling realization since falling
asleep is such an effortless activity. Our inability reminds us that we
cannot live by ourselves, that we were made to live in dependence upon our
Maker. Sleep is thus a kind of grace - a gift from God - because we cannot
will or force it upon ourselves. At those times when anxiety and stress
keep us awake, we can chose to relax in “the everlasting arms” (Dt. 33:27).
Yet, apart from surrendering our anxieties to God, we are not expected to
maintain conscious control of our lives at all times. When we are fatigued
and least able to care for ourselves, we are allowed to entrust our entire
beings to God who receives us, protects us, and ministers to us until we
are given back to ourselves upon waking.
Restoration
Sleep offers us not only a
temporary release from conscious reality, but also personal renewal.
Without any conscious effort, a new supply of energy is built up within us.
When we rise, we are not as we were when we retired, but refreshed in
strength and thought.
Physical restoration is a
mysterious process. While asleep, we breathe more slowly. Our hearts and
metabolisms slow down. Our bodies are shielded from the fatigue and stress
of the day. We lie quietly until we awake with fresh vigor. So, too, with
our weary minds and depleted emotions. Thoughts that had not come easily
before retiring, and emotions that were dull or chaotic, are infused with
new life and order while we sleep. Our perceptions of life can also change.
Earlier, in our fatigue, we may have been unable to appreciate new
possibilities and to find strength to handle problems. Yet upon rising,
life appears differently, at least in terms of opportunities and our
resources. We can now think and respond more creatively and coherently.
This cycle of fatigue and
restoration can remind us of two great spiritual truths. First, it is an
enactment in our ordinary routines of the simple fact that strength comes
after weakness (I Cor. 2:3-5, II Cor. 12:9-10). In one sense, it is as
though we have to become like infants in the womb who are born anew each
day. Second, in the passivity of sleep, God’s direct intervention and our
bodies’ innate restorative powers are able to operate for our benefit. The
result is the discovery that things go better when we let them be, that our
actions after a certain point may prove obstructive, whereas our inaction
may work to our advantage. Such wisdom, however, is threatening to our
self-importance because it reminds us that it is truly who we are rather
than what we do that gives us worth.
Several factors suggest that
spiritual restoration and growth can occur while we sleep. Scripture
indicates that people were challenged to grow spiritually while sleeping.
For example, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, and the patriarch Joseph
were asked to love and accept others instead of disdain and reject them
(Mt. 1:19-20; Gen. 37:6-9, 45:4-8). Abraham and Jacob were invited to trust
God instead of fear for their futures (Gen. 15:12-21, 28:10-22). There is
also a certain logic to this proposition. One line of thought contends that
God would not allow us to spend one-third of our lives under conditions in
which we could not experience any spiritual growth or renewal, particularly
if we commit our sleep to Him before retiring. Another line of thought
holds that sleep interrupts our conscious contact with the world, shelters
us from its distractions and fascinations, and disengages us from our egos
and wills. Like clockwork, this “perfect seclusion” can regularly bring us
into a more direct, prolonged, and undisturbed communion with God and His
kingdom than is possible at any other time.
Contemporary authors and past
saints attest to the feasibility of these ideas. Abraham Kuyper suggests
that God interacts with us differently while we are asleep than when we are
awake: “For in the night God takes you away from yourself, independently of
yourself to fashion and to purify you, to equip you with new capital of
physical and spiritual strength” (When Thou Sittest in Thine House:
Meditations on Home Life, 33). John Bigelow uses a saying of Reverend
Horace Bushnell (1802-1876) to suggest that we are highly receptive to
God’s prompting while asleep: “Sleep is the perfectly passive side of our
existence, and best prepares us to the sense of whatever is to be got by
mere receptivity” (The Mystery of Sleep, 28). This same idea is expressed
in John Baillie’s quote of the Scottish theologian George MacDonald
(1824-1905): “Sleep is God’s contrivance for giving man the help He cannot
get into him when he is awake” (Christian Devotion, 103). Brother Lawrence,
the seventeenth-century monk from Lorraine, France, claimed that our
spiritual progress is not confined to our waking hours: “But those who have
the gale of the Holy Spirit go forward even in sleep” (The Practice of the
Presence of God, Fourth Letter). When viewed together, these quotes suggest
that spiritual growth, and not just spiritual maintenance, take place while
we sleep. God’s rule and reign apparently influence our slumbering lives.
The purposes of sleep, however,
are not confined to personal enrichment. Sleep also restores us so that we
can better serve God and further His kingdom purposes on earth. Karl Barth
maintains that because God has made us in the divine image and given us
life, we are to treat our lives, including our “primitive impulses” (e.g.,
sleeping, eating, sexuality) with a deep reverence. This includes refusing
to respond to these impulses in an “animal fashion,” as if they are an
automatic process that we obey without thought. Rather, we are to view our
physical impulses as “guided and governed by the soul as awakened by the
divine pneuma [Spirit]” (Church Dogmatics, vol.III, 4, The Doctrine of
Creation, 55.1). This perspective, when applied to sleep, not only
facilitates our service to God and others, but also encourages us to avoid
the extremes of indulgence or deprivation.
Insight
and Revelation
We process our lives and the
world differently while dreaming. In general, our dreams appear to
highlight what is really important to us, but which, for some reason, we
have not worked through or accepted. For instance, simple events or
particularly unpleasant issues we de-emphasized or dismissed while awake
are frequently explored. Our dreams can also provide us with a deeper
perception of life and God’s kingdom since we are disengaged from our
waking delusions and phobias. This insight can help us face ourselves more
honestly and God’s kingdom rule more courageously. On a different note,
revelation may occur on a prophetic or instructive level, i.e., God may
speak to us about future events or provide us with clear directions as to
what we should do.
Although we agree that life is
processed differently in our dreams, we frequently disagree over how to
think theologically about them and their interpretations (from here on,
dreamwork). A common approach is to credit the source of dreams either to
God or the unconscious. Many Christians, however, simply pay no attention
to their dreams. This indifference applies also at the corporate level,
i.e., there are very few large, well-organized movements in Western
Christianity that encourage Christians to view their dreams as a source of
spiritual insight into life. As a result, there is a general uncertainty
within the noncharismatic Western Church over the value of dreams and the
kind of authority they possess.
What has prompted this modern
disinterest in, or even disdain of, dreams? Many nonreligious people
struggle with dreams because they view them as coming from neither the
acceptable material world nor from rational thought. While they may find
their dreams fascinating, they tend to view dreamwork as silly or
superstitious. Many religiously-oriented people prefer an intellectual
approach to God and His kingdom that excludes opening themselves up to
dreams that they cannot control, and which are shrouded in mystery and
symbolism. Underlying their preference is the realization that if they take
dreams seriously, then their convenient, dogmatic theories about God will
no longer suffice. God and His kingdom then become - more than ever -
unknown realities that they can explore, but which no longer come to them
when and as they choose.
There are a few spiritual
factors, however, that point to a divine-human relationship within dreams
and dreamwork. First, Scripture clearly indicates that God spoke to people
through dreams (e.g., Gen. 15:12-21, 20:3-7, 28:10-12, 31:3-13, 37:5-11,
40:8-19, 41:1-7; Judges 7:13-15; I Kings 3:5-15, 9:2-9; Dan. 2:1-45,
4:4-26; Mt. 1:19-20, 2:12-13,19-22, 27:19). It is evident from these
examples that some of the most important divine-human communiqués in
Scripture were given while people slept. Second, because Scripture
maintains that God is omnipresent (e.g., I Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:3-10; Jer.
23:23-24; Eph.1:23), it follows that God is in intimate relationship with
our entire psyche, both in our waking and in our sleeping, so that His
kingdom extends into our conscious and unconscious lives. Certainly, from a
Christian point of view, nothing is more important to the health of our
personalities than our relationship with God and our surrender to His rule
and reign over us (e.g., Ps. 16:8, 23:3-4; Jn. 15:5-10; Mt.6:33). Since
dreams often reflect and reveal our innermost conditions, they inevitably
point to the divine-human relationship. Third, whereas dreams enable us to
experience God’s presence and reign in our lives, dreamwork helps us bring
more of ourselves into that relationship, e.g., we can pray about the
meaning of our dreams and then ask God to help us respond appropriately. A
fourth factor is the relevance of dreams and dreamwork to communities. In
biblical times, God spoke through the dreams of individual people to the
chosen community (e.g., Gen. 20:3, 31:10-24, 37:5-9, 40:1-41:45; I Kings
3:5-15). This is certainly true of Jacob’s dream at Bethel (Gen. 28:10-22).
God’s message was meant not only for Jacob, but also for his family and
descendants. Centuries later, Hosea commented that Jacob’s dream was the
property of the entire Jewish community: “God met Jacob at Bethel, and
there He spoke with us” (Hosea 12:4b).
These scriptural accounts can
challenge our thinking on dreams and dreamwork and their influence on
Christian communities. For instance, if our orientation to the Christian
life is essentially community-centered, then in what sense do our dreams
belong to our families, churches, and the entire Christian body, and their
dreams belong to us? Moreover, how should we involve ourselves in our
communities’ dreamwork, and visa versa? One way in which we can see the
community aspect of dreamwork is by applying Paul’s conception of spiritual
gifts (I Cor. 12-14) to our understanding of dreams as gifts from God. Paul
observed that all gifts, whether special or ordinary, came from the Spirit
of God (12:4). Thus, we should treat all of our gifts, including our
dreams, with gratitude and reverence, and avoid the temptation to belittle
or dismiss them. He then indicated that the Holy Spirit gave different
gifts to God’s people for the “common good” of the community (12:7).
Consequently, we can use the interpretations of our dreams to encourage,
build up, and challenge each other. Paul went on to say that people were
normally to judge each of God’s gifts according to its usefulness to the
community (14:1-5). Essentially, the more a gift helped to edify or exhort
people, the more valuable it was to the Christian community. It is perhaps
on account of this community principle that most of the dreams in Scripture
contain wisdom that benefited the covenant community and, in so doing,
furthered the kingdom of God on earth. In the same fashion, our dreamwork
can provide us with the wisdom to help others effectively and to advance
God’s kingdom.
Summary
Remarks
The spiritual implications of
sleep brought out here suggest that sleep plays a vital role in our
Christian lives and God’s kingdom reign on earth. The witness of Scripture
demonstrates that God can profoundly influence us while we sleep. Several
narratives raise the possibility that we are more receptive to God and His
kingdom while asleep than awake. Moreover, dreamwork can facilitate our
receptivity to the kingdom of God through prayer, reflection, and obedient
action. Due to our ongoing need for sleep, we can even learn how to trust
God more implicitly. When viewed together, these ideas can help us better
appreciate and respond to the divine-human link that occurs during sleep
and dreamwork. Clearly, we should not “close our eyes” to the influence
that sleep has on our overall spiritual formation, and its vital link to
God’s kingdom.
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Rising up out of the ashes
By:
Ricci Wilson
It seems that everyone I talk to recently has been going through trials. I
do not mean small trials. Rather, I am referring to life-altering trials -
cancer, their teenage daughter is pregnant, they lost their job, their
child was removed from school because s/he was involved in drugs on campus,
a death in the family, divorce, and the list goes on. These events drive us
to our knees and then to our faces, as we go before the Lord asking Him the
question I believe He hears more than any other, "Why?"
The truth is, when our lives reach this point, the point where none of
our resources remain, we turn to God. He then becomes our salvation in the
midst of our trials. He becomes the One we turn to for strength, peace, and
comfort. The beauty of turning to our heavenly Father is this: He is always
there when His children run to Him.
The Lord can take what man no longer sees as salvageable and create
something beautiful from the ashes. I have some friends whose parents’ home
burned to the ground a couple months ago. They sent me some pictures of the
rubble and I was amazed at the beauty in the ashes. Pieces of glass were
twisted into unique creations, something only intense heat can do. Metal was
distorted into artful creations. The old claw tub survived and was a piece
of art in and of itself. A photography class might have enjoyed the
discoveries amidst the ashes. Whereas a person looking at the photos would
see the rubble as interesting relics that survived, to the family, each
photo represented a piece of their lives that was lost.
One of the photos was a picture of an old Bible lying in the ash heap.
The edges were singed, the pages curling upward due to the intensity of the
heat emitted from the fire. How interesting that although the house did not
survive this fire, the Word of God did.
There is a spiritual lesson here. The Word of God always remains as a
tool from which we can draw strength to endure. When we enter fiery trials,
we must turn to the Word of God first. I wish this was instinctual for us,
but often it is not. The apostle James is very clear on the benefit of
trials in our lives:
"Be assured and understand that the trials and proving of your faith
bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and
steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that
you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking
in nothing." (James 1:3-4 Amplified Bible)
James goes on to say that that those who endure are blessed when they are
patient under trial (v.12). He reminds us not to blame God for our
temptations, for God is incapable of being tempted and therefore tempts no
one (v.13). In other words, trials come from without and temptations come
from within. If you are being tempted, it is because of an inordinate desire
or lustful passion in your life that you need to repent of and give over to
the Lord, possibly over and over again until it is no longer a temptation.
Trials, however, can serve a very different, but beneficial purpose in our
lives. Simply put, trials create a fire in us that can burn off all that is
not of the Lord.
Psalm 12:6 reads, "The words and promises of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times over."
Let's look at how a silversmith, at the time of the psalmist, refined
silver. He initially gathered wood for his fire. Then, carefully building it
up, he placed a pot over the flames and began the heating process. The
silver would then be heated to a certain temperature, a temperature that the
seasoned silversmith knew would cause impurities to rise to the surface.
These impurities are referred to as “dross,” and once at the surface, the
silversmith scraped them off. He then cleared the ashes, and again gathered
wood for another fire with which he reheated the silver, seven times over,
bringing this precious metal to such a purified state that when he looked
down into the pot, only his reflection remained.
By considering the painstaking manner in which the silversmith purified
the silver, we can better appreciate its reference in Scripture. Our God is
a patient God, carefully handling each of His children, never allowing one
to fall through the cracks, always creating beauty from the ashes.
Now consider for a moment that the trial you are currently enduring is
bringing you to a place where your great Silversmith can look into your eyes
and soul and see only His reflection. Does this picture answer your
question, "Why?" Is it worth the struggles to know that your trial is
burning off the dross from your fleshly nature in order to produce a true
reflection of the Lord? When He removes that which is not of Him, that which
keeps you from knowing Him on a deeper level, then He can begin to build in
your life that which will bring Him glory. He can teach us things that will
help us come alongside another believer and help him in his own trial. He
can help prepare us for the days ahead.
If the Lord were to come to you and say; "My child, I am about to take
you through the worst trial imaginable. You will raise your fist toward
heaven and scream at Me. You will plead with Me for relief from the
suffering in your heart. But know this, I will not grant your request. If I
put an end to this trial, the lesson will not be learned. That which is
keeping you from knowing Me intimately cannot be removed without the
completion of this trial. Stopping the trial would mean that the pain thus
far was for naught. Here are the details of your trial...."
Upon seeing the upcoming trial in detail, just about every Christian I
know would run the other way. They simply would not believe it is something
they could handle, nor would they want Him to take them through it. At least
half would enter into the trial willingly, but then they would plead for a
reprieve before reaching the half-way point. Only a remnant whose hearts
longed to know Him intimately would press through to the end.
In His mercy, God rarely shares with us the details of an upcoming trial.
Instead, He promises that His Word will give us strength to endure to the
end. He promises that if we call upon His name, He will grant us the grace
to press through until all dross is removed, and we are purified vessels
before our Master Silversmith. Something I always draw upon from the book of
Job is the deep knowledge that nothing can touch me without first filtering
through the fingers of the Father. This is demonstrated in the first chapter
of Job, when Satan had to ask and then be granted permission to even touch
Job.
Reading on in Psalm 12, we learn that the Lord is preserving His own from
this evil generation. The days we are living in are likened to the time of
Sodom and Gomorrah, a time when sin was so rampant in these cities that
people no longer cared that they were sinning against God. We are in a
season of preparation for many things, one of which is the last days. The
Lord is raising up a select group of people, the “reigning ones” that my
mother has referred to at the revival services in New Orleans. These people
must patiently endure struggles and hardships in order to be adequately
prepared to train and assist the army of believers who will live in the last
days. In other words, they must undergo many trials, trials that will create
in them a reflection of the Father. They will need this to fulfill the call
that is on their lives, as they will have many young believers in their care
at that time. By humbly accepting that these are critical times, we too can
find the strength to press through each trial, particularly if we ask the
Lord for the grace needed to endure rather than ask Him, "Why?"
My Mom always says; All suffering is redemptive. This is true. God does
not allow us to suffer for His pleasure, but for a deeper purpose in our
lives. To draw us closer to Him, to purify us, to strengthen us, to shape us
and form us on the potter's wheel, to prepare us for the days ahead. There
are many reasons, and they are all very valid for the Christian today.
My mom always says, “All suffering is redemptive.” While I do not like to
hear it, it certainly is true. God does not allow us to suffer for His
personal pleasure, but for deeply spiritual reasons: to draw us closer to
Him, to purify us, to strengthen us, to shape us and form us on the potter's
wheel, to prepare us for the days ahead. These reasons and more are all very
valid for the serious contemporary Christian.
One of the keys here is not to give up in the midst of a trial. If we
stand steadfastly and come to Him for grace to endure, He will not fail us.
It is His great pleasure to grant us the help we need. Yet, apart from
steadfastness, we must spend time with God. Prayer develops His Word in our
spirits. It enables us to hear His voice in the midst of trials. Like a
soldier in the battlefield pressing toward the goal, prayer gives us the
strength and direction we need to achieve our goal!
Friends, press through the trials, determine to seek out His Word. If the
Word is not in our hearts, how are we to draw from the golden nuggets
contained within? The Word of God serves a mighty purpose in the life of the
believer. We must tap into this great resource, realizing that it is there
for us and that it will help us rise up out of the ashes, beautiful and
prepared for His good work!
Blessings in Him,
Ricci
______________________________________________________________________________________________
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All items listed below can be ordered as tape, CD series or as a single MP3
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Please indicate tape, CD or MP3:
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NO. Series Title
? S101 Keys of Faith
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? S103 Christ and the Bride
? S104 The Liberty of Grace
? S105 Prayer Power
? S106 Melchizekek
? S107 Prophetic Insight II
? S108 Prophetic Insight III
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? S112 The Wonders of Prayer
? S113 Unity
? S114 Love Revival
? S115 Victory Over the Curse
? S116 Problem or Opportunity
? S117 Aglow with the Spirit
? S118 Revelation through Meditation
(MP3) S119 Holiness unto the Lord
? S120 Secrets of Prayer
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? S123 The New Millennium Priesthood
? S124 Gateway to Intimacy
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? S126 Living in the Light
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? S133 Prayer Link, St. Louis
? S134 Jacksonville Conference
? S135 The Prophet
? S136 The Mature Prophet
? S137 Seeking True Purpose in Life
? S138 Destiny
? S139 Choose Whom you will Serve
? S140 Desiring to know Him
? S141 The Reigning Ones
? S142 Seeker of God
? S143 Discipleship
? S144 Perfecting the Saints
? S145 Righteousness in Him
? S146 Come and Take your Stand
? S147 Understanding God’s Love
? S148 There’s a Wind Blowing
? S149 Seek Truth—It is Life
? S150 End-Time Series
Single tapes, CD or MP3:
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Books by Nita LaFond Johnson
? Prepare for the Winds of Change II
? Prophetic Insight & Family Focus
? Putting on the Breastplate of Righteousness
? The Ever Speaking Voice of God
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? Canticles of the Exchanged Life
? Melchizedek: The New Mellennium Priesthood
? Where Was God?
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