CARRIED AWAY

Rev 21v20: 'And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high…'


We can only ever walk with the Lord as long as we are being carried by Him. Most times we are unconscious of it because the Lord does it by His grace and power, but it is a certain fact that we can do nothing apart from Him:

John 15v5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Acts 17v28: 'For in him we live and move and exist. …'

When we do become conscious of it, it is usually because we have begun to rely on ourselves instead of Him. Other things become what we trust to hold us up, and they always fail us or run dry. When we become conscious of it, we are in particular need of being carried by the Spirit. John was carried by the Spirit for God's purpose at that time, and we too have need to be carried by the Spirit. The only way we can do this is by placing ourselves where the Spirit can lift us up and carry us. This means reading His Word, worshipping, praying and encouraging each other in the faith with fellow believers. When we do this, we begin to consciously realise that He is carrying us and that He is doing so at whatever time and circumstance we're in for His reasons- not only for our spiritual health, but also so that we'll be fruitful in the way that He wants, for Him, His Kingdom and also for our own spiritual health.

Before John was picked up by the Spirit and carried to the mountain God had for him, he had been in the Spirit on the Lord's day (Rev 1v10…). John had been spending time with Jesus in an attitude of waiting and worship. We are always in the Spirit in one sense, but at other times in another sense; communing with Him and worshipping Him. From that place God picked him up, and will pick us up. Where He will lead us, if anywhere, is up to Him, but the most important thing is that we are picked up by Him, so that He'll give us the continued grace so that we'll be able to walk with Him and follow Him. He gives us spiritual desires and a heart that burns for Him, and this can only be given by Him.

Once I had a dream wherein I saw a match box, and along the side of the box it read 'The matches belong to Christ'. Christ sets our hearts burning within us for Him, and He gives us the continued desire to keep walking with Him:

Luke 24v32: They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

WHERE THE POWER OF GOD LIES

Mark 4v26-28 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.

The seed spoken of in the above parable is the Word of God. The one who sows it is not only the Son of God, but his servants (for God sows into peoples' live through using us as His servants). When we as Christians put forth the Word of God, the Lord and the Spirit go about to make that seed fruitful; both to grow it and make life come from it. This seed does not consist of certain parts of the Word, but of any and all parts of it; for it is all Spirit, and all life, for it is all of Jesus:

John 1v1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

We as Christians can often mistake where the power of God comes from. The scripture from Mark, at the top of this post, shows that the power of God does not come from our powers of persuasion, and it doesn't come from what we believe is good about God. The power of God lies in neither of those things, for it is its own power, which does not originate in us. We often do not understand this, and do not understand the fact that we will not understand how this seed sprouts and grows, because it is He who does both these workings (Mark 4v27).

When we evangelise, our task is to share the gospel of God and also to share anything and everything the Word teaches us. That is the power of the seed, for the seed reveals all the characteristics of God and of our Lord Jesus, and all these things are good. The power of God does not lie in our ability to share the gospel and the Word, or in any parable we may make up, for parables test whether men are being moved by the Spirit of God, or by natural means (means related only to feelings and to the feeding of the flesh i.e when many deserted Jesus due to Him not providing physical bread for them anymore). This is clear from the fact that, straight after Jesus shared the parable in Mark 4 v26-29 and then another parable in the same Chapter from v30-32, He then explained the parable He had spoken to the disciples:

Mark 4v33-34:
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when He was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Parables actually came as a test for the unsaved; for in their natural understanding, people would have thought Christ was actually talking about a literal seed. But, if they were truly being moved by the Spirit of God, then they would have realised that the seed was speaking about the Word, and the Kingdom of God in spiritual terms, not a literal Kingdom for the present time. Jesus showed the disciples that the power of God lay in the Spirit, not in the flesh and in human ways of understanding or in powers of persuasion. Contrary to popular opinion, Jesus didn't use parables to make the Word easier for the unsaved to understand. And that is where the Church has run in to much trouble, for we have often diluted the Word of God in only giving likenesses to the Kingdom, which actually giving the truth as it really is, and in full. When this happens preaching and evangelism becomes a useless, fleshly thing.

The only way Christians will ever know if they are having an effect on this world, and are seeing true conversions, will be to preach the Gospel and the Word as it truly is- not by compromise or by half measure, but by any and every part of the Bible. The test must be given by showing the truth as it is, and not fearing that we may lose because of it, for that is not trusting God, but trusting in ourselves and in our own strength, and showing that, at least in part, we have selfish motives for preaching and evangelising. That is a preaching out of fear and the flesh, and there will come bad fruit from it.

Jesus taught us that the power of God lies in the Spirit and in His work to grow the seed and to make it fruitful. We will often not understand how this works, for the world says that it will only love God if God has something good for them, according to their understanding of what good is. The world says that they will love God if He suits their desires and does what they want Him to do. But that is contrary to truth, for God is the only God there is, and we are only His creation. We must serve Him and we must follow and obey Him, not the other way around. We serve His desires and His truth, and not our own desires and understanding. Whereas the Word often offers up hard truths and things difficult for us to understand and accept. The Word says that those that follow Jesus will have to suffer and will face many hardships. The Word says that we must deny ourselves and take up our cross, and it says that in this world we will have tribulation.

We must trust that God knows what is best for people and the unsaved, whereas we don't. If we do this, and preach the Word and Christ as He truly is, then we will be sure to see the power of God. God will take care of us, and He will also take care of those that rightly respond to that preaching. He will take care of His work and grow it and make it fruitful in a way that passes our understanding. God will build His Church, and the gates of Hell, and all powers of men will not prevail to hinder this, or to destroy it in any way.

PROPHECY COMING TO PASS & WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE

On my blog last year I posted a dream that showed that America was secretly preparing itself for a possibly imminent war. In the dream I saw a large white van (that appeared in such a way as to show that this was being done in secret) and a large collection of missiles, both large and small (although even the smaller ones looked formidable) that were about to be loaded onto it. I knew that they were about to be taken to a military base. In the dream I felt as though America was readying itself for a possible war that could take place. War SEEMED imminent. When I woke from the dream the song 'Radioactive' went through my head and the lyrics 'Welcome to the new age, to the new age' (the other lyrics to that song are quite interesting too if you do a quick google search). The imagery and link between the dream and the song should be quite self-explanatory.

The point being is that what looked extremely unlikely a year ago, now is a possibility and it is highly likely that it has already been fulfilled. America is, or already has, prepared itself for what may eventuate in Russia's part of the world. If one of the NATO countries is attacked by Russia, under the NATO Treaty and as a signatory to it, America is obligated to defend its Allies, and so to go to war against Russia. Putin has reminded and warned the world that Russia is a nuclear power and to not mess with it. Dark storm clouds are rolling in, and the day of the storm draws closer. On more than a few occasions in the past I've written about this and tried to warn people that a storm is coming. Jesus is in control, and He is sovereign! He will protect His people.

Below is the post I posted on my blog last year. Praise the Lord that He knows the future and He is in control of what happens next.



'Monday, 5 August 2013

DREAM: AMERICA READIES ITSELF FOR POSSIBLE WAR


1 Cor 12v7: But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all...

Acts 2:17: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...

On the 20th of last month I had a dream. I dreamt I was in America and saw many missiles being loaded onto what I just knew was a military truck (one that tried to disguise itself as such). Some of the missiles were extremely large, and even the smaller ones still looked pretty formidable. I instinctively knew that these missiles were being taken to a US military base in readiness for what felt like a possible imminent war. It felt as though an enemy was threatening the US, and the US was taking it very seriously indeed, so seriously that they were arming themselves in readiness for what could take place. Another person came onto the scene and said something to the effect of even though war seemed imminent, that Christ never instructs man to go to war, but desires that men treat each other with love and kindness.

I think the interpretation of this dream is pretty straight forward. Although we 'know in part,' and 'see in part.' I don't pretend to know exactly what it means, but from my perspective, and definitely not a 'thus saith the Lord,' I think it means that it is very likely that the US will be on the BRINK of a POSSIBLE war/battle sometime in the future. The key words though I think are POSSIBLE WAR/BATTLE. It seems as though an enemy will threaten the US, and the US will take it very seriously indeed, so seriously that they will ready their armoury just in case they need to fight. I think it is also very POSSIBLE that the US may actually have to go to war with an adversary. There was an indication in the dream (something I haven't mentioned), that MAY speak about the US being successful in the battle/war (if they end up fighting/going to war), but that is only me interpreting something, and I could have got that wrong.

So why share this? One, the Lord gives dreams of the future for a reason, mainly, to strengthen and encourage our walk with Him in the present by warning, encouraging, instructing and directing. Jesus said to watch, and so we need to be obedient to watch for the signs of our times- Matt 16v2 He replied, "You know the saying, 'Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow, 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.' You are good at reading the weather signs in the sky, but you can't read the obvious signs of the times! When we watch, we show the Lord that we are being attentive to what He is doing in the earth, and then we can respond accordingly, in our lives and in our testimony for Him, and be most effective for Him in His service. If the disciples had never read the prophecy within the Old Testament, they would've never recognised the Saviour when He came, and if we never understand the prophecy of the Word, and the prophecy given by the Spirit, we'll never recognise His hand in world events, and not be able to guard our spiritual lives in the way we should. The Word says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, so if we are interested in being a testimony for Him, we'll be interested in prophetic things. Such things are for our good, and were given for a purpose, He desires that we should benefit by them!

God bless!'



Below is a part of another dream I had a few years ago, and that is yet to come to pass concerning America and Russia:


'Then we were all watching the news and something major had happened that they were covering on the news. We were all watching, and Russia apparently had just ‘acted against’/ attacked the US. Then one of the people said we were going down stairs now because CNN was just about to do a major broadcast/ news report on what was happening.'

At first I hadn’t being paying that much attention to the news, but then I realised that we were all watching a current report of what had just started between Russia and the US, Russia being the ones to start it (it seemed like preliminary actions had just begun, as the CNN report was just about to come out).'