Leave It and Follow Me

Hi Friends,

I have three visions to share with you today.  The first speaks of our calling to separate from the world’s values, and cling to the truth of God’s word. The second vision concerns healing as Jesus did. And the third vision warns us of the importance to contend for the faith, and pray to expose false teaching.

The Visions

The Truck

In this vision I saw a large, white semi truck; the cab faced me.  Then as if it were a toy, there were two hands that pressed against the two front wheels and pulled the truck forward and turned it to the right so that I could see the truck in profile.  The trailer appeared to be attached to the cab when it was facing me, however in profile, I saw that the trailer was actually detached from the cab.  It seems that the trailer was meant to be left behind.

What the vision means:

A truck is meant to carry cargo, from one location to another. In the vision the truck detached itself from the trailer, leaving it and its contents behind.  The truck looked huge initially, until I saw the hands that took hold of the wheels and moved it.  Suddenly it looked like a small toy.  I believe that the hands are God’s.

The color white represents purity, righteousness, godliness and truth.  The church is called the bride of Christ, and is shown in many visions to be represented by a young woman dressed in white.   But in this vision it is the white truck that represents the church which is called by God to do his work. It is God’s hands that selected the truck and directed the cab to the right, and purposefully left the trailer behind. This shows God’s desire that we come to him and leave our cargo behind. A few scriptures came to mind.

So therefore every one of you who does not give up all that he himself possesses, is not able to be My disciple.  Luke 14:33

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.  Matthew 19:29

 When Jesus calls us, he asks us to separate from the things that keep us from surrendering fully to him.  He wants our devotion and our time. The Lord asked me to give up my design business and my Masters degree.  These were both very time consuming, and would turn my heart towards my career rather than to follow the Lord. Had I not given them up when he asked, I might be in a very different place right now in my life.  I am very glad that I made the right choice. 

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

It may seem like a hard decision, and it truly is for some.  The following Bible story is one I have mentioned in several of my posts, but it stands to point out how difficult it is for some to separate from the world and from their possessions.

The Rich Young Ruler

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

So He said to him, “Why do you call me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’  ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

The young man said to him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Matthew 19:16-22

The rich young ruler was unable to appreciate what he was being offered.  It looked like too great a commitment.  How would he feel to be like others with no money and no influence, to be at the mercy of the powerful and wealthy?

Yet, when Jesus called his disciples, they dropped everything to follow him.  That is what is required. 

Jesus called Simon Peter and Andrew his brother.

“Immediately they dropped their nets and followed him.”  Matthew 4:20

Then he called James and John.

“Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Matthew 4:22 

But if we are too busy wrapped up in commitments and social matters, we might miss our calling.  There is a special calling to ministry, and there is also a general calling, which calls us  to believe in God’s one and only Son, the Lord Jesus, and to live for him.  The following parable speaks of this general calling.

The Wedding Banquet

Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.

Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’

But the man was speechless.

Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

For many are called, but few are chosen.”  Matthew 22:1-14

The wedding clothes that the man was missing, represent the precious blood of Jesus that covers our nakedness, our sin and our shame.  When we truly give ourselves to the Lord to follow him, he gives us his Holy Spirit and clothes us in righteousness, not our own, but his righteousness.

In the letter to one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, Jesus addressed them saying:

You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.  Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent... He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:17-19 & 22

It is the blood of Jesus that clothes us, takes away our sin and reconciles us to the Father. And the Holy Spirit gives us eyes to see and ears to hear.  So when Jesus spoke in parables, it served as a filter for the gospel.  Those who could hear would respond, and those who had hardened hearts, were self-absorbed, and full of greed and wickedness, would not hear. Jesus explained this to his disciples:

This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’  Matthew 13:13-15

The Lord’s elect are those who hear the gospel message and believe that he is who he says he is:  

“I am the first and I am the last, and apart from me there is no God.”  Isaiah 44:6

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  John 6:35

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  John 6:40

Jesus is God.  To be saved we must know him and believe in him.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’  Matthew 7:21-23

So the vision of the white truck was given to us so that we would understand the Lord’s calling. It is a calling of separation from the world and its values.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.  Therefore come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord.  “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”  2 Corinthians 6:14-17

The Stirred Liquid 

In this vision I saw a liquid, like water but darker, swirling around as if it were being stirred.  There were small particles and bubbles within the liquid.

This vision reminded me of the lame man who was brought to the pool of Bethesda everyday, in hopes that he would be healed.  The pool of Bethesda was a pagan healing center as noted by Our Ancient Paths, the following is a quote:

“..it was built over the Asclepion. The Asclepion was an ancient pagan healing center which was dedicated to the Greco-Roman god of health and well-being, Asclepius. Many hundreds of these healing facilities were located throughout the Roman empire. The god Asclepius was adored among the people for his mercy towards the people. Snakes were a large part of Asclepius' cult of health and well-being.” 

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.  Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches.  Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.  One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.  But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”  Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.  John 1-15

Jesus came to a pagan healing center and found a man who had been waiting for someone to help him into the pool when the waters were stirred.  He was trusting in the pagan god to heal him.  But Jesus the Son of  God just told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”  Jesus had authority to command this man’s body to do what it could not do before.  And a miracle took place in view of all those people who were trusting in a lie.

We are to follow Jesus’ example to pray, to believe, and to declare with our mouths what our eyes of faith can see: “In the name of Jesus, “Walk!”  Jesus is God. He has all authority and he gives us his authority.

“And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,” Luke 22:29

This is our calling to believe Jesus for miracles. Jesus said that we would do greater things than he.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  Hebrews 11:6

 The Lord wants us to move in power, so he gives us his Holy Spirit and a measure of faith to believe.  It says in the word:

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  Mark 16:17-18

God is faithful.  He asks us to believe. He provides the power.

The Bolts of Fabric

In this vision, I saw many bolts of white fabrics. The yardage was rolled onto long cardboard tubes about 5 to 6 feet in length.  There were about 15 to 20 of these bolts standing against the wall in small alcove, off a larger room.  Onto every bolt was rolled perhaps 20 to 40 yards of white fabric.  There were several types of weaves: satins, moires, damasks, etc.  But standing among these bolts of white fabric was a single white foam pool noodle.  It was about 5 feet in length, but more slender in girth than the bolts of fabric.

What the vision means:

As I had mentioned earlier, white represents purity, righteousness, godliness, and truth.  There was a considerable amount of fabric, which I believe represents believers who would someday be clothed in white garments.  The book of Revelation speaks of “fine linen, bright and pure.”

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.  Revelation 19:7-8

I believe that the fabrics are prepared and ready for new believers, who will wear garments of righteousness. The 15 to 20 bolts of fabric when compared to a warehouse of fabrics, is not much. There must be some sort of hindrance, or reason for so few bolts, and off in an alcove rather than in a workroom.

I believe that the noodle that is situated in front of the bolts is placed there to blend in with the fabrics. Deception is a powerful weapon of the enemy. He comes as an angel of light but his deeds are dark. The noodle stands in front of the bolts, not just to blend in, but to thwart and deter the word of God from going forward and for people to receive it, and believe it.

This vision is given to us as a warning to be aware of the enemy’s schemes. the noodle is standing among the bolts of white fabric, as if it belongs with them.  But it represents a false believer, teacher or prophet who will try to work his way into the church to cause harm, division, and discord. These people introduce false teachings that lead many astray.  We have been warned by the Lord himself in the gospels, and by the apostles in their letters to the churches.

 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.   Matthew 24:24

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.

Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.  Acts 20:29-30

But there were also be false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 2 Peter 2:1-2

These warnings are all over the New Testament. And they apply to us in the church today as they did so many years ago. There is mixture of Greek philosophies that were introduced to Judaism in the years preceding Jesus coming in the flesh. Those same philosophies entered the church in its early years. These philosophies are mixed together with the world’s views, traditions, and cultural ideologies and have tainted church doctrine.

In a church that I had attended several years ago, a couple taught a Sunday school class as a means of pulling away people from the church, to meet in the their home on Friday nights. They wanted to start their own church and taught that everyone that they should be following the Old Testament Law.

Mixing world values and socially progressive ideologies with biblical teaching twists and distorts the truth. God’s word becomes less important and people believe what they want to believe. Man’s wisdom is elevated to compete with God’s truth. This undermines the believer who wants to follow the Lord, but receives mixed signals and is not aware of the error. This leads to believers whose faith is not firmly established on truth and in the time of testing, they could easily fall away.

The word of God tells us to test the spirits:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.  1 John 4:1-6

Summary

In the vision of the white truck we see that God has called us for his purposes.  We are to leave the trailer behind, for it represents anything that we value more than God. And we need to walk away from those who would try to discourage us or dissuade us from walking with the Lord.  We have to be willing to give up everything for him.   As I quoted before:

So therefore every one of you who does not give up all that he himself possesses, is not able to be My disciple.  Luke 14:33

The Christian life is a life that is separate.  We are called to separate from the world and its values and be devoted to the Lord God.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. He who loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” 1 John 2:15-16

The vision of the stirred water speaks to us about the miracles of Jesus in contrast to the pagan pool of Bethesda.  We need to align ourselves with the Lord and pray for ourselves and others for their healing and deliverance.  We should expect miracles, for with God all things are possible. There is life and death in the tongue, so we speak life into our situations, declaring those things that are not, as though they were.  Let’s use the faith that the Lord gives us and believe for miracles, so that God is glorified through us!

The vision of the fabric bolts and the pool noodle is given for us to pray to expose the plans of the enemy, to expose false teachers and false prophets that will arise among us and mislead the church.  We must be watchful and pray for the discernment needed so that the church will not be harmed.

Thanks for reading.  Please share with other believers for we all need to know and understand God’s heart. Be blessed!