JUST ON THE HORIZON-A VISION

Ever have one of those days when you just can’t go to church?  Your body is screaming to stay within the confines of the sheets which now feel like they are the most luxurious Pima, cotton fiber; the warmth is perfectly matched with your own body temperature; and the position you are in is one you feel you could stay in eternally without ever having to toss or turn!  Kurt and I have those times which our judges/critics would say, “too often!”  In fact, when we do go to the church we have attended together for over two years, we still get well intentioned “greeters” with extended hands zealously welcoming us to church and inviting us to fill out the “guest” card!

One Sunday, a couple of months ago, we didn’t fight the urge to purge church.  After actually seeking the Lord for His approval, we truly did feel we were not compromising and this was one Sunday to stay in our jammies, sip a rich cup of chai tea for Kurt, bold cup of creamer laced coffee for me, and hold a “church” service between the two of us.  We sought the Lord prayerfully about how He wanted the two of us to gather together in His name, guaranteeing He would be there in the midst of us, (Matt. 18:20).  This particular morning, I shuffled over to the computer, still in that painful, “not awake for anything but a cup of coffee” state.  I attempted to chase away the cobwebs of sleep as well as the guilt for not getting up earlier and heading off to church and fumbled on the keyboard pecking out the search for Joel Osteen.  Scanning his sermons, I finally just clicked on one, trusting God that whatever would come forth would be relevant, in the same way one just opens their Bible with eyes closed and pokes their index finger onto a random page, then expectantly opens the eyes to hopefully see an encouraging word from God and not a scary one about war, death or End Times!

I love Joel’s positive attitude.  I can identify with Joel’s insecurities when he was perfectly comfortable behind the camera, quietly observing.  He, like Jeremiah and Moses, didn’t feel he was qualified to lead with words and yet, God has the WORD of the Lord pouring out of his mouth.  I realize there are those who disagree, and that’s fine as long as we believe what we feel about this man or any other person is from a place of discernment, filtered through God’s heart and not just coming forth from our own opinion, pain, judgment, criticism, or fear.  I know this happens against this particular servant of God, because I too used to be bothered by watching him and hearing his message.  My sincere apologies are extended to Joel if he ever comes across this BLOG!  I feel the need to validate that I LOVE this man and that I KNOW God is using him in a big way right now for the season my husband and I are currently experiencing.

The streamed service began with worship which was nice but wasn’t taking me into the inner chambers of the Holy of Holies.  This type of music is more what I call “praise” and it uplifts your spirit and “peps” you up, which frankly was what I needed to clear my head and awaken my sluggish body.  The worship team then moved into a deeper level of worship with a song which took me to the place of adoration and passion of the Lord which I love to enter.

Kurt and I were each comfortably seated in our own respective chairs, he in the cushy recliner, and me in my comfy yet chic upholstered chair.  As is my habit with worship at this level, I began to sing along slipping into spontaneous worship in which the Holy Spirit and I trail off into another musical composition which complements the vocal of the song playing.  It’s a lovely place that delves you right into the midst of the heart of God.  It’s difficult to explain, but it is a place of abandon where you are no longer self conscious of how you sound but just want to express heartfelt gratitude and worship of the One who is worthy to receive such.  We are told to worship Him with these types of songs, (Eph. 5:19) yet few traditional or mainline churches are willing to “go there.”  It creates an atmosphere of untold beauty, but to those who feel a need to be completely in control or who truly need to be “dignified” it is just too uncomfortable.  Some churches don’t realize this is available to us.  I however, HAVE to go to that place with God in worship.  I hunger for it because His presence is so amazing and touches my heart in ways that when I stay outside His Holy of Holies, afraid to fully enter into His presence, it is unsatisfying and dry to my soul.  This place of worship is a place of intimacy that only a complete abandon to self gets to experience.  As we give all to Him, hungering and thirsting for him as a deer pants for water, (Psalm 42:1), He shows Himself strong and His enemies scatter, (Psalm 68).  Some of those enemies of God are the very things that hurt His children.  So this place of abandon, where the Lord has taught me to go, is a place where I am delivered of pain and healed of what caused the pain.  My Healer and Deliver is in this sweet place of surrender and I love to go meet Him at His alter.  Often, I am moved to tears as I experience His beauty and tenderness.  I understand my description will be foreign to many who read this and at the risk of even sounding crazy to some, I will assure you that once you experience true worship at this level you will not be satisfied with the mundane ever again.  My Lord spoiled me and now having tasted the finest tender filet mignon, I cannot return to hamburger.  This is fine dining!  This is tasting and seeing that the Lord is good, (Psalm 34:8).  

So it was while having that worshipful experience of blessing the Lord with my all heart that Sunday, He in turn blessed me.  He instructed me through unction to go lay prostrate on the floor and pray in tongues.  This is the way the Holy Spirit has given me to pray when I don’t know how to pray. Right at this point I may lose some of you and a major reason why is that this gift is so misunderstood through wrong teaching.  (For an article God gave me over a year’s time span on the precious gift of speaking in tongues, which is scripture based, please email me:  kissfromgodsheart@gmail.com).

While I was lying prostrate on the floor, praying in this manner, the tone of the language shifted from worshipful to warfare.  I could feel the warrior rising up in me as a much more bold tongue came forth.  Even at the risk of freaking out my husband who had not witnessed warfare tongues in me before, I could not quench what the Lord was doing at that moment.  I lifted my head off the floor and found myself extending my forearm in a powerful point.  What I saw before me in a vision was a row of impish looking creatures which were lined up shoulder to shoulder just on the horizon.  For those who remember the disgusting Lamisil commercial for toe nail fungus, that repulsed me to the point I had to look away, these creatures looked the most identifiable to those, only this time I was equipped with the power and grace of the Lord and I would NOT look away but directly into their eyes.  They were all closely observing me as if just waiting for an opportunity to advance.   

Suddenly, I felt the actual presence of my husband standing over me and then lying down to cover me with his body as if he needed to protect me from eminent harm.  Even though he didn’t have a clue at the moment what in the world was happening, he too had unction from the Lord to which he was obedient.  I equate his action as if we were being attacked by enemies yet he was taking a bullet for me, hiding me with the covering of his own body.  Later he told me that during that worship experience for him, the Lord told him to go cover his wife!  This was a symbolic act on his part of the scripture that tells husbands to cover their wives as they are our covering, or protection, (1 Cor. 11).  Because Adam did not “cover” his wife, his passivity left them both, as well as all future mankind, in a state of being “uncovered” or stripped of the glory of God.

This was profound for me in so many ways.  Even though my husband had never witnessed such an occurrence, he still trusted the Lord and was able to be obedient to hear and obey what His God was telling him to do.  This showed that even though he may not have understood what the heck was going on, and he certainly could have been tempted to think I had flipped out, he still participated in the event in the manner he was instructed by God to do.   

This was monumental for me as it gave me encouragement that I will be free to operate in the gifts the way God instructs me, even in front of my husband.  The closet intercessor in me can come out in the presence of my husband without fear of rejection, shame or judgment.  The support I felt in his acknowledgment of that moment as a legitimate encounter with the Lord was massive in sealing our relationship at a deeper level than ever before.  Although it could have been a very uncomfortable encounter for the obvious reasons that it can be offensive to our minds, it was an amazing and inspiring encounter ultimately, and a moment I wouldn’t trade for the comfortable yet mundane worship experience.

If you accept my encounter as legitimate, what does it all mean?  We are told all interpretation belongs to the Lord and He gives it to whomever He chooses, (Gen. 40:8).  We are also told in 1 Corinthians 14:13 to ask for the interpretation to what we are praying.  So I asked.  I’d like to tell you I got an immediate response, but I didn’t.  It has taken two months for me to get the full interpretation, or at least, what I believe at this moment is the complete interpretation.  

Initially, I kept pondering the phrase, “On the horizon.”  What could I see on the horizon?  I could see demons waiting for the chance to advance.  I knew this was a warning from the Lord not to give opportunity to the enemy by opening doors which would give them legal right to come against me.  Since then, I have had many opportunities for strife, bitterness, resentment, and jealousy, just to mention of FEW of the ways that entrapment has seemed to have been unleashed and knocking at the door of my heart.  I would like to tell you I sailed through each attempt to ensnare me.  I can honestly say I have, with the grace of the Lord, advanced victoriously through some trials, however, others I was not so successful and will get to repeat the trial until I achieve complete freedom from any hold those things have on me.  :-}  

I knew in my gut the warning was only a portion of the interpretation, and I kept feeling an urge to keep seeking the Lord for more.  The rest of the interpretation has come to me while speaking with a very precious friend.  I am safe with her and she listens with a Godly, tender heart.  Because God yoked us together in a powerful spiritual way, we seem to flow in an anointing for God to speak to us when we are in prayer together.  While in conversation with her, the vision came back to my mind and I knew I was supposed to share it with her.  I then saw the vision again only this time I could see one of those demons up close to me, facing to his left, turned that direction, with his torso/belly right in my face.  I knew this meant one particular event was very much “in my face” or would be actively coming against me.  Days later, something occurred which wounded me at a very deep level but which I am not privy to share at this particular moment with you.  Suffice it to say, it touched on the very core of an emotional situation for me and has had profound effects.   I believe God is using it for good and I’m grateful for the trial which actually brought about health to my mind and emotions as well as to others I dearly love and to our relationships.  I have also been able to see my husband, once again, prove his love and support for me.

A second prayerful conversation with my sweet sister in the Lord brought the vision back.  I could still see that “up close and personal” view of the one demon; however, I felt it was a different meaning this time.  While I was describing what I was again seeing to my friend I began to think of the scripture in Genesis 15 which speaks of Abraham entering into covenant with the Lord which would redirect his life and open up great blessings not only to him but to all mankind.  A sacrifice had to be made which meant animals were killed.  (For those who are offended at animal sacrifice of the Old Covenant, please understand that through sin, death entered this world and that these “offerings” are symbolic pictures of innocent life being shed for another; which leads us straight to the person of Jesus, the most innocent LIFE being sacrificed for our sins and taking our place, paying the price for sin which was death; yet rising above and overcoming that penalty.  Thereby we, who accept His sacrifice of Himself taking our place and paying our price, are thereby saved.)  

There was a point in the new walk with God, which Abraham had to shoo away the birds of prey because they wanted to take those sacrificed animals for themselves.  This is a picture of how whenever we are getting ready to embark on a new journey with God at a deeper level than ever before, the enemy of God, satan and his kingdom activity, come against that action and try to steal the sacrifice we are making in surrender to our Lord.  This is the enemy’s attempt to prevent the plan of God from coming to fruition in our lives.  It is interesting to note the Hebrew word for birds of prey in that scripture literally means, “ravenous”.  Satan can be relentless in his pursuit to prevent God’s best for our lives when he sees the powerful impact our choice to go forward with God will have.

That up close view of the torso of the demon in my vision represented me being able to see the intentions of the heart of evil since it was right in front of me.  The objective of the enemy of my Lord and me is to steal the new walk of which my husband and I are embarking.  Those demons on the horizon are the birds of prey that are drawn to the place of sacrifice; to the place of new beginnings; what is right on the horizon of breakthrough as we yield our hearts, minds, emotions, bodies, finances, relationships, work, and all other things associated with our lives to the Lord’s plan for our lives.  We have to do as Abraham and shoo them away as they are specifically assigned the tasks to steal, kill and destroy the LIFE that Jesus came to give us in abundance, (John 10:10). 

How do we shoo them away?  We are to use the weapons of God which are mighty through Him for pulling down strongholds.  What do strongholds that have to be pulled down and birds have in common?  They are both up in the air.  It’s no accident that satan is called the prince of the power of the air.  That is the realm above Earth, but we tend to think of it as outer space, or where the clouds are, much higher up than another reality of where there is “air”.  There is air around our heads!  This employs the most active place where satan tries to dominate…our minds!  He brings the thoughts to our minds which will be unhealthy, unproductive, fearful, anxiety producing, negative, destructive and which will ultimately defeat us if we don’t shoo those thoughts away.  In this passive action of keeping them, they will then become a stronghold which will capture our thought life and thereby our life.

I don’t know if any of you have ever been attacked by a bird, but they purposefully dive bomb your head.  They try to attack you at the highest, easiest target for them and like satan, they instinctively know it’s our heads.  We just think we have random thoughts floating around in our minds, but those thoughts are very purposeful intents of the evil heart of the enemy of God to hurt our Father where it counts the most, by harming His children through a most powerful means; what they are thinking about.  This is why God instructs us:

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  (Phil. 4:8, NLV)

To be perfectly honest, even though I know this, I still have trouble some days “fixing” my thoughts on good things.  It actually feels good to my carnal flesh, (that portion of my mind, body and emotions which still have not been renewed to the word and to which I still have not crucified to death,) to feel sorry for myself; to be justified in my anger or offense; to protect myself with unbelief so I won’t be disappointed if things don’t go the way I want; to be judgmental and critical; to be jealous and threatened; to blame someone/thing other than being accountable for my own actions and choices. 

Some days the enemy is ravenous with his relentless attempts to take hold of my blessings in the Lord.  How, then, do I succeed at overcoming those bad thoughts in those moments?   

God has shown me something that is powerful and works for me.  There is a spiritual law called the power of agreement; when two agree, they have what they have agreed upon, (Matt. 18:19).  What the enemy is after is your SURRENDER to him, giving up and just agreeing to the thoughts he is trying to poison your mind with.  If you agree with him, either through concurring with the thought or by consension through not purposefully standing against those thoughts, then the thought becomes yours and you have taken it into your heart.  This was the very tactic used by satan in the Garden with Adam and Eve.  It was to get them to agree to what he was telling them instead of the word God had given them.  Adam’s failure to DO what God had instructed him to DO left them wide open to the attack that ensued.

God has to allow what we want for our life which gives us the free will to choose.  If we choose to align with the thoughts of the enemy this shows we are in agreement and thereby “want” what he is dishing out for us to partake of.  Even in passivity, we are showing agreement because we are not actively coming against that thing to deny its access in our lives.  We are either for or against; there is no third choice of “middle of the road” or indecision.  (Matt. 12:30; Deut. 30:19)

When those thoughts come, if we will instead just say, whether in our hearts/minds or out loud if appropriate, “I am not in agreement with that,” it breaks the power of what the intent was and the fiery dart that shot through the air at our head is quenched!  It will be a complete miss of the target instead of a bull’s-eye.  Some days, we may need to repeat this several times, but the ungodly connection/agreement will not be made if we will persevere in this.

If we will take it one step further, we can have complete victory at defeating that enemy; find the scripture that is opposite to what the thought was and speak it out of our mouths.  In that, we are wielding the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.  That is our only offensive weapon in the armor God gives us, (Eph. 6:17).  If we will wield that sword it is the only offensive weapon we need to destroy the attacking enemy!

For instance:

Thought:  You will never make it; you can’t do this.

Word of Truth:  I am not in agreement with that.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Thought:  Your wife doesn’t love you.

Word of Truth:  I am not in agreement with that.  I am my beloveds and she is mine.

Thought:  You’re going to die.

Word of Truth:  I am not in agreement with that.  I will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord.

Thought:  You are alone.

Word of Truth:  I am not in agreement with that.  The Lord will never leave nor forsake me.  

Thought:  You are always going to be sick.

Word of Truth:  I am not in agreement with that.  By Jesus’ stripes, I am healed.

This two step simple process will defeat the enemy’s attempt to poison your mind and life.  Fight the good fight of faith and shoo him away from the battlefield which belongs to Your Lord and you…your mind!  Don’t agree with your adversary the liar; agree with God who is Truth!  You have the mind of Christ!  Amen!