John,
I wanted to share with you and the body some thoughts I had from Wednesday night and a dream I had that when along with what you were saying.
Very thankful for all the thoughts you shared with us Wednesday night.
Tim
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Thanks, Tim. Your dream reminded me of what Oral Roberts said about 60 years ago concerning the lesson he learned from the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “If we do not bow, we cannot burn.”
Pastor John
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Wednesday night’s meeting reminded me of a dream I had a number of years ago. What brought it back to my mind was something that Pastor John said in the meeting. He said that we live in a bordered land that is protected and safe. We live inside of a bubble, and that we need to stay inside our city of refuge and not be drawn outside its borders.
My dream started out with everybody we knew from past meetings playing in this really bright green meadow. We were having such a wonderful time playing. Then suddenly someone saw off in the distance a line of very large tanks. It looked like more than twenty, each one leaving a trail of dark exhaust behind it.
As they approached us, you could hear the noise of their diesel powered engines. Still, they were off in the distance, but they were moving at a rapid pace. By this time some of our folks began to scream in terror. Some began to run away. They were shot as they ran away. Some dropped to their knees crying out for God to help them. It was very chaotic with all the screaming and crying. Some of us didn’t know what to do or where to go.
By this time, you could really hear the tanks well. I remember closing my eyes and raising my hands up toward heaven and crying for Jesus to help us. Then I felt a presence of something falling down from heaven. As I opened my eyes I saw a canopy like bubble covering over us. As this was happening, the noise level started fading away until it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everything was moving in slow motion.
Then I heard a cow bell, as if it were moving very slowly behind me. As I turned to see what I was hearing, I saw a huge light grey, almost tan, colored ox. It had stopped right in the middle of a dirt path that was leading away from us. The ox was turned perpendicular on the path. On the side of the ox was painted in dark green a map of the land of Israel with a red bulls eye around it. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “The land is yours, STAND!” Then I heard it again. “The land is yours, STAND!” This time I felt the words resting on my chest with great comfort. As I started to turn back around, the bubble began to lift off of us.
The tanks were quickly approaching us. I was standing in the middle of the pathway. I could see one of the tanks turning and squaring up with me. It was moving very fast toward me. The closer it got, I could feel my flesh wanting to shake in fear. But I still had the comfort of the words I heard resting on my chest, “The land is yours, STAND!”
The tank came to an abrupt stop. Then I heard the screeching sound coming from the movement of the very large barrel on the tank. It moved downward until it was pointing directly at my head. I could see down the end of the barrel, knowing that at any time the driver could pull the trigger. I don’t know how much time passed while looking down the barrel, but it seemed long to me. Thoughts were coming to me saying, “You’re finished now. Give up, you’re going to be destroyed.” The thoughts that were coming were like a flood of water rising up toward my neck. But the words that I heard coming down from heaven were still saying, “The land is yours, STAND!” I had to make a choice-believe the words that were bombarding me by fear or believe the words I had experienced from heaven. I told Jesus I was going to trust him. At this time the words I had heard from above dropped down into my heart. At that moment a peace covered me and I knew that I was safe. I was going to stand no matter what.
Then I heard what sounded like flames of fire moving very rapidly above my head. As I looked up, I saw a wheel of fire spinning round and round very fast. In a moment the fire fell down on the tank. The tank was destroyed to a powder like substance. That was the end of my dream. As I began to wake up, the scripture from 2 Cor.10:4 came to me. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.
Thoughts can be strongholds. Even though things in this world are very chaotic and can feel overwhelming, the experiences Jesus gives us are more sure than the thoughts of fear and doubt that surround us. We just have to do like Pastor John told us and stay within the borders God has set for us and hold on to the words He has given us and we will be safe.