I've been realising more and more clearly that it’s right here in my current job that God wants the vision to come true. In my current job I can be setting others free to be filled with and transformed by the Spirit so they can join in the dance. Back in 2003 when I was in the UK the "Prophetess of Birmingham" said that:
* God would use me double
* He’d call me to do a new thing
* God hadn’t finished with me in Russia (where my current work is)
What she didn’t give were the specifics. The vision recorded on Day One of this blog pointed to the nature of what God wanted me to do: set others free. In His strength, and having been set free myself by the Spirit of God. My friend in the the vision... I have a close friend here in the Russian work; we identified the same passion, and continue to share freely with each other. Is he the one?
And then the more recent "prophetic word". The message confirmed that God had given me his message. I wasn’t to wait for further revelations. God had spoken. The ball was now in my court.
And so recently I’ve taken specific steps. If I’m to be involved in liberating folk in my current work to join in the dance I need to equip myself. I’ve asked someone to mentor me in mentoring and doing growth plans. And she’s started on the mentoring in mentoring bit. Growth plans will follow soon.
How else can I liberate people in my current work? (I’m aware that I’m not really free myself: I need to address a number of fronts.) Is my close friend a key? Liberation comes together, in community, in the context of God’s worshipping people. However when I went to minister to someone in the vision it was by myself. And then came the incredible thirst – thirst for God.
“The truth shall set you free.” I’m seriously searching after truth. Real truth. The foundation is the truth that God is Love. That is who/what he is. He himself declared that in Exodus 34.6 when he gave his name to Moses (“The LORD, the LORD, a God compassionate and merciful, long-suffering, ever faithful and true”). That is why he forgives sin. It is in his very character. It is who he is. And so even the Psalmist could be so sure, the Psalmist who had never heard of Jesus (“As far as east is from west, so far from us has he put away our offences.”) God doesn’t forgive our sin because Jesus died. He forgives sin because of who he is. Jesus life and death in some mysterious way is simply part of the mechanics.
Looking forward to your comments . . . Michael
Showing posts with label VisionProphecy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VisionProphecy. Show all posts
Monday, September 18, 2006
Saturday, September 16, 2006
The power of vision
The power of vision. In order to reach for the future we need that glimpse of the future. In her song Sand in my shoes, Dido got her glimpse in a two week experience by the sea. (Praying for a glimpse of you...) If Dido had just been told about the other life she could have been leading, away from her flat on the road where the cars never stop going through the night, it would have sounded nice but would not have had the oomph for I wanna see you again, and neither would it have left the sand in her shoes, that perpetual itch so that she would never forget. The best way to instil vision is through experience.
But how to give folks that visionary experience? “Two weeks away, all it takes to change and turn me around I’ve fallen…” Dido’s vision for a new lifestyle came from experiencing that new lifestyle for two weeks. It included a human relationship. And then the second challenge is when I’m back home after the visionary experience: “Two weeks away it feels like the world should've changed, but I'm home now and things still look the same” – how to sustain the vision during the ordinariness of normal existence. The beginning of transformation and the sand in my shoes. The prophetic sand. And the I wanna see you again. The desire to live the vision.
My vision is to be set free and for you to be set free. God is putting that sand in my shoes so that I won't lose the vision. We don't need to be content with ordinariness. I still haven't found what I'm looking for, sang U2. If I think I've found all there is to look for I've lost the sand in my shoes. There is more to life that what I'm experiencing now.
But how to give folks that visionary experience? “Two weeks away, all it takes to change and turn me around I’ve fallen…” Dido’s vision for a new lifestyle came from experiencing that new lifestyle for two weeks. It included a human relationship. And then the second challenge is when I’m back home after the visionary experience: “Two weeks away it feels like the world should've changed, but I'm home now and things still look the same” – how to sustain the vision during the ordinariness of normal existence. The beginning of transformation and the sand in my shoes. The prophetic sand. And the I wanna see you again. The desire to live the vision.
My vision is to be set free and for you to be set free. God is putting that sand in my shoes so that I won't lose the vision. We don't need to be content with ordinariness. I still haven't found what I'm looking for, sang U2. If I think I've found all there is to look for I've lost the sand in my shoes. There is more to life that what I'm experiencing now.
Friday, September 15, 2006
An everlasting cycle?
It's scary. If the Spirit of God were to take control of me I would not be in control of myself. But on the other hand it would make the battle with sin a whole lot easier. What matters to me: What I really am, or what others think of me? So often I play to the gallery, and evaluate a particular course of action by what others will think. Is that authentic? Is that being free? Is that what God intends? Is that taking God seriously?
But life goes on. Until God steps in. This time in the form of someone at church with the gift of prophecy. The prophecy was simple: "You know what God is saying to you." It took me a full week to realise what it was that God was saying to me! How could I have been so blind, so entangled in the sin that so easily pervades, that I'd entirely forgotten, I'd failed to see! I long to rise up on wings like eagles. But to whom does that happen? “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength and mount up on wings like eagles.” My “waiting on the Lord” has been virtually non-existent.
Is there always this everlasting cycle? The night, the dawn, the day, the fading light, the night, the dawn… The night, the time when we cannot see the unseen, when temptations ravage as all we can see are the bright colours that entice and drag us away. The dawn when God brings us back to our senses. The day when we can see God and the vision he has for us. But then the light fades and the synthetic attractions raise their ugly head once again and the sin that so easily entangles entangles us once again. But it doesn’t have to entangle! Sing your praises in the night! But even Paul was perpetually battling with sin in Romans 7. Who will deliver me from this body of death! Come, Lord Jesus! Be the centre, the source, the vision, the path, my guide, so that
Grant Heaven’s joy to me Bright Heaven’s Sun. Michael
But life goes on. Until God steps in. This time in the form of someone at church with the gift of prophecy. The prophecy was simple: "You know what God is saying to you." It took me a full week to realise what it was that God was saying to me! How could I have been so blind, so entangled in the sin that so easily pervades, that I'd entirely forgotten, I'd failed to see! I long to rise up on wings like eagles. But to whom does that happen? “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength and mount up on wings like eagles.” My “waiting on the Lord” has been virtually non-existent.
Is there always this everlasting cycle? The night, the dawn, the day, the fading light, the night, the dawn… The night, the time when we cannot see the unseen, when temptations ravage as all we can see are the bright colours that entice and drag us away. The dawn when God brings us back to our senses. The day when we can see God and the vision he has for us. But then the light fades and the synthetic attractions raise their ugly head once again and the sin that so easily entangles entangles us once again. But it doesn’t have to entangle! Sing your praises in the night! But even Paul was perpetually battling with sin in Romans 7. Who will deliver me from this body of death! Come, Lord Jesus! Be the centre, the source, the vision, the path, my guide, so that
High King of Heaven, when battle is done
Grant Heaven’s joy to me Bright Heaven’s Sun. Michael
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Be authentic!
Dream? Vision? Who can tell? Well, not every dream is a vision, and not every vision is a dream. But a dream can be a vision and a vision can be a dream. And I firmly believe my dream was a vision. For starters, I woke up with it clearly and vividly in my mind, with a clear awareness that God had spoken to me. And so I wrote it down right away. We know that God does speak through dreams. We find it in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and in Christian history. In the modern era it is particularly noticable amongst Muslims, whom God may speak to directly, through a dream.
But back to my vision. I was on a training course that week. And it began with devotions. We were randomly divided into groups. The subject was stones. My group was given Genesis 28.10-22 where God speaks to Jacob vividly in a dream and sets up a stone to commemorate the fact. That was confirmation no.1. Confirmation no.2 was this: the topic of the training course was training to be trainers, and we were put into pairs to write training modules on topics of our own choice. My partner's topic was "Being authentic." We made the Gil Bailie quote a central part of that module. (By the way, I've no idea who Gil Bailie is. I found the quote in John Eldredge's "Wild at Heart" - great book!) A key component of being set free is being set free to be yourself. And so to me this module topic that I kind of got landed with was a second confirmation that the vision was a vision.
What happened next? More tomorrow! Michael
But back to my vision. I was on a training course that week. And it began with devotions. We were randomly divided into groups. The subject was stones. My group was given Genesis 28.10-22 where God speaks to Jacob vividly in a dream and sets up a stone to commemorate the fact. That was confirmation no.1. Confirmation no.2 was this: the topic of the training course was training to be trainers, and we were put into pairs to write training modules on topics of our own choice. My partner's topic was "Being authentic." We made the Gil Bailie quote a central part of that module. (By the way, I've no idea who Gil Bailie is. I found the quote in John Eldredge's "Wild at Heart" - great book!) A key component of being set free is being set free to be yourself. And so to me this module topic that I kind of got landed with was a second confirmation that the vision was a vision.
What happened next? More tomorrow! Michael
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
I had a dream
Hello. Welcome. Awake Me. This blog is dedicated to helping you, helping me, to live the life God intended us to lead. Why these two particular quotes that I've put at the top of your screen? The first, Eyes wide open... comes from the song, Awake Me by the British band River Deep. The song is a prayer that God will set me free, wake me up, a vibrant, passionate prayer. Am I comfortably happy, fighting for passivity? Am I losing my focus of who God intends me to be? Heaven calls my name!
I had a dream, call it a vision if you like. I'm in a big Christian meeting, feeling self-conscious, not quite knowing what to do next. The worship leader is very close to me, and then as they begin the next song it isn’t a song of words and music but rhythmic clapping. My friends and I are a little unsure as to how to respond, but it feels right to join in the clapping. Then the Spirit of God releases us and we are set free, and my friend and I clasp each other in wild embrace and fall to the floor, rejoicing, free in the Spirit. I know clearly what to do next. Just as I received the Spirit of God from the worship leader, so I am to pass it on. And I go out amongst the congregation. They appear to be asleep. I go to one particular man, the one I am prompted to go to, and taking him by the hand say, “Arise, shine, wake up o sleeper, the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!” Whatever his needs were, they are met. He seems a little surprised, and very glad that he has been chosen, and filled with and transformed by the Spirit of God he gets up and joins the dance. After this I feel incredibly thirsty and need to find some water...
"Don't ask what the world needs..." Do I do my work out of duty or passion? OK, there's times when I must simply follow duty. But if that's all there is to my life I'm missing out on what God intends for me. He gave me my skills, my gifts, my passions. The world doesn't need a whole bunch of do-gooders; it needs people who have come alive, who are passionate about what they are doing. Who love what they are doing. Who believe in what they are doing. Who believe in what they are. As Evanescence pray, "Bring me to life!"
I had a dream, call it a vision if you like. I'm in a big Christian meeting, feeling self-conscious, not quite knowing what to do next. The worship leader is very close to me, and then as they begin the next song it isn’t a song of words and music but rhythmic clapping. My friends and I are a little unsure as to how to respond, but it feels right to join in the clapping. Then the Spirit of God releases us and we are set free, and my friend and I clasp each other in wild embrace and fall to the floor, rejoicing, free in the Spirit. I know clearly what to do next. Just as I received the Spirit of God from the worship leader, so I am to pass it on. And I go out amongst the congregation. They appear to be asleep. I go to one particular man, the one I am prompted to go to, and taking him by the hand say, “Arise, shine, wake up o sleeper, the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!” Whatever his needs were, they are met. He seems a little surprised, and very glad that he has been chosen, and filled with and transformed by the Spirit of God he gets up and joins the dance. After this I feel incredibly thirsty and need to find some water...
"Don't ask what the world needs..." Do I do my work out of duty or passion? OK, there's times when I must simply follow duty. But if that's all there is to my life I'm missing out on what God intends for me. He gave me my skills, my gifts, my passions. The world doesn't need a whole bunch of do-gooders; it needs people who have come alive, who are passionate about what they are doing. Who love what they are doing. Who believe in what they are doing. Who believe in what they are. As Evanescence pray, "Bring me to life!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
