God is Faithful
Hi Friends,
I hope you are enjoying the day, for today is Memorial Day, and it is supposed to be in the low 70’s. The sky is blue and the air is fresh.
“This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” Psalm 118:24
I have several visions to share with you today.
The Visions
The Bowl of Blueberries
I saw a white bowl about 5” in diameter and about 3”high. It was filled with large perfectly formed blueberries. They were tightly packed together.
From a Biblical standpoint, the color white represents purity and the color blue represents God, godliness and heaven. I believe that what is represented by the blueberries in the bowl is the idea of unity. The blueberries were uniformly large and well shaped. So the blueberries represent God’s people. This vision brought to mind a few scriptures.
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133:1
The blueberries were packed together, showing agreement and unity. The bond of peace is found among those of like mind, in the body of Christ. The white bowl represents this peace and unity. It also represents purity because it is white.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:3-6
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8
These blueberries, representing God’s believers are all together for one purpose: to glorify God. As the color blue represents God, godliness and heaven, we as Christians should display the characteristics of God. which is to be God-like, showing godliness by one’s speech and actions and representing the hope of believers: to dwell in heaven with God. We are not to be like the world who push and shove each other to gain more space and more prominence. Instead, we should be willing to be at peace, packed together without discord, or argument.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Romans 12:18
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
By contrast, when Jesus spoke of or to the Pharisees and the wicked leaders, he did not commend them for their brotherly love, but something quite different:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:37-39
He wanted to gather them to himself. But they were not willing. They did not have the Father’s heart, and did not want to listen to the words that would have brought them peace. Where there should have been love and mercy, there was greed, selfishness, arrogance and pride.
“In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled:
‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” Matthew 13:14-16
We are to obey the Lord’s commands and to learn from other’s mistakes. The Bible is great for teaching these truths, and helping us to align ourselves with the Lord and his will. Let us hear the Good Shepherd’s voice and shut out the voices that come from the world that distract and trip us up!
The U-turn Sign
I shared this vision a few days ago, pulling it from this group of visions, and treating it separately. But it was given with this group and so I mention it again:
The U-turn sign given in this cluster of visions represents the idea of repentance which means to change one’s mind. Jesus had hoped to reach the religious leaders with the gospel of peace, but as Isaiah’s prophecy foretold, “they were not willing.”
We are given the Bible to learn its lessons. Let us not have calloused hearts so that we do not hear the voice of God calling us. Let us not close our eyes to God and not see what he would have us see. We need to be willing. It always starts with repentance. It is the idea of stopping wherever you are and whatever you are doing, and get right with God.
“We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20
The Ring
In the next vision in the series was a hand wearing a white gold ring with three diamonds in a row. The ring was placed on the “ring finger,” of the left hand, as if it were an engagement ring. I believe that this ring represents a pledge. It represents our betrothal to the Lord as we are the Bride of Christ. The three diamonds represent the Lord’s commitment to us, for he is faithful. These diamonds are the promise of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. When we accept and acknowledge Jesus as God, and his perfect, sacrificial death on a cross that purchased our salvation, we are made one with him. We accept his ring and his commitment to us by pledging our devotion and declaring our love to him. He is God alone; He is first in our lives. The ring also represents the Holy Spirit as His seal of ownership over us.
Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22
The ring in the vision reminds us of the commitment we made to him when we became born again and filled with his Spirit. God the Father becomes our father, and we become his children. We are born of the Spirit, and we live for Christ. Our pledge is to the Father, the Son and to the Holy Spirit, three persons yet one God!
The Clenched Fist
In the next vision of the series, I saw a clenched fist that was all by itself, but facing several other fists across from it. The lone fist appeared to be holding something tightly, not wanting to let go. The scripture that came to mind was found in the book of Revelation speaking to the church at Thyatira:
But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you than to hold fast to what you have until I come. Revelation 2:24-25
With the strains of persecution and suffering it is important to hold tightly to our faith and our relationship with God. He is the one who sees us through our trials. But the church of Thyatira, was having internal issues with the infiltration and acceptance of a false prophetess. This false prophetess was a woman in the church who was operating under the power of a deceiving spirit. The Lord called her “Jezebel,” after the wicked wife of King Ahab.
But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling. Revelation 2:20-21
From the very beginning, there have been deceiving spirits that operate in the world to blind people to the truth and to keep them from making a commitment to God. These spirits try to sabotage our faith with lies and half-truths. Jesus calls the devil the father of lies, for deception is his weapon of choice. He works his schemes to substitute worldly values and ideologies for Biblical truth and genuine faith in the Lord. Mixture is his specialty. A mixture of lies with truth make what he is selling believable. He substitutes true faith for a form of religious piety, traditions, forms and practices. They are nothing but a facade and an outward expression of godliness. The word of God tells us not to succumb to the flesh and its desires, and not to associate with people who are “believers,” that do such things:
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be fully rewarded. Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him. Whoever greets such a person shares in his evil deeds. 2 John 1:7-11
Throughout the New Testament, we are warned again and again about false prophets and false teachers that will come to deceive, to bring discord, division, and to destroy true faith in God. This is Paul’s words to the church before he was martyred:
Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Acts 20:28-31
The warnings that Jesus, Paul and the other apostles brought to the early church are still valid warnings for us today. The devil is still at work in our churches and in our fellowships. We have to be aware, but not so dogmatic that we consider everything as heresy and treat people with contempt because they do not agree with us 100%. We should not bring “cancel culture,” an abusive and intolerant attitude into the church. We are to know the word of God and cling to what is true and reject true heresy. But in order to know where to draw the line, we must study the word for ourselves, so that when a teaching comes that challenges our beliefs, we do as the Bereans did, and look up the scriptures and verify whether what is being said is true. There are many versions of the Bible that I have seen that slant the passages by their choice of words. The Scofield Bible and NIV have interpretation problems as I see it. We should have available several versions or translations to compare, and a literal word for word translation as well, to avoid misinterpretations. Studying historical documents can prove, support and validate the Bible and the various views. It can also bring to light how the audience that first received the scripture would have understood it to mean. The Study Bibles can be an asset, with their articles and study notes, but they also have an opportunity to put a spin on the meaning of a word or passage. We may not be able to translate passages from their original languages, but there are tools and resources that are available to help us understand the historical significance or how mixture and the input of pagan philosophers like Socrates and Plato have influenced the early church. Mixture has been a problem for quite some time, and traditions are hard to die. But in any case, let’s keep the main tenets of faith as the main tenets of faith, majoring on the majors and not majoring on the minors!
Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Huis Clo
Years ago, I received a vision which featured a book entitled “Huis Clo.” I wrote a blog post with this name: Huis Clo. But in this recent series of visions, I saw the words: “Huis Clo - Selected.”
The book was actually the script of a play written by a French existentialist named Jean Paul Sartre. The title means “No Exit” or “Closed Door.” Existentialists believe that you are free to make your own choices, and as a result of your choices, you make life on earth a heaven or a hell.
In the vision, we see that “Huis Clo” was selected. Sartre was an atheist. His work demonstrates freewill and life choices, without God and without restraints. This is life without morality, a life with the freedom to do as one pleases. This is not the Christian life. But the vision points to the fact that we do make choices. We can choose to consult the Lord and his will for our lives, or we can just do whatever our flesh and heart choose at the moment.
I am so thankful! I just made a discovery! Just now while writing about Sartre, who I thought was lost all these years, I found that he had become a Messianic (Christian) Jew! In 1980 just a few months before he died, he confessed that his beliefs had changed! He was no longer an atheist! Jesus was the Son of God and he embraced the Lord and accepted him as his Messiah! I am so overwhelmed! God does not give up on anyone! God is faithful!
This is a short excerpt from the article I read: Jean-Paul Sartre, the scandalous religious conversion, UCCR.
Yet, even for the greatest secular figure of the 20th century, God remained a constant interest throughout his life, as a horizon, as a transcendental illusion, as an unconscious but inescapable mistake. Sartre did not hesitate to declare the persistence of the remnants of that faith in God, which had been the central target of his intellectual program. In particular, something changed drastically in the last years of his life.
In 1980, just months before his death, at the peak of his intellectual powers (though not his physical strength), in an interview with his former Maoist friend Pierre Victor (aka Benny Levy), Jean-Paul Sartre revealed his conversion through a scandalous statement, for many a retraction of his entire philosophical work (he himself confirmed the authenticity of the interviews with Levy):
“I do not feel like the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was awaited, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being that only a Creator could have placed here. And this idea of a creative hand refers to God.” (from “Nouvel Observateur”, 1980).
If God can reveal himself to Jean-Paul Sartre, he can reveal himself to our loved ones too! Those who seem so far from him, may be closer than we realize. Let’s keep praying for them, and never give up hope.
“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” Isaiah 59:1
“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’” Isaiah 65:1
God is truly faithful! This news just made my day! Thank you Jesus! I guess the truth for this man is not:
“Huis Clo - Selected.” It is “Jesus Christ, the Messiah - Selected!” Hallelujah!
“ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
The Broccoli
In this last vision, I saw a crown of broccoli, full, green and well-formed. Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable. The vegetables in this family are call cruciferous because the flowers on the plant have four petals that form a cross. Some people refer to the vegetable as a head of broccoli, but others call it a crown of broccoli for both terms describe the vegetable as resembling the upper portion of a person’s head. Broccoli is of course green. In the Bible, the word translated “green” most often refers to life, that which is verdant, new, fresh, flourishing, and prosperity. (bible study.com) For the most part, green reminds us of something wonderfully new, like new life in Christ. The Lord wants us to flourish and be fruitful for the kingdom of God.
A scripture came to mind, from the book of Revelation. It was a message sent to the church at Smyrna:
“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10
The crown of life is the promised eternal reward given to his faithful believers. It is an everlasting life with the Lord in heaven. To those in Smyrna, who were truly suffering for their faith, they needed encouragement, to stay the course and to remain faithful unto death. The heavenly reward held out to them was for all eternity, and that suffering was only for a season. Their reward was the crown of life - an eternity with God!
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
When we come to the Lord, even if it is in our last days of life as it was for Sartre, God promises to give us everlasting life. Even the thief on the cross, who acknowledged his sin before the Lord, as they both hung on their crosses, was given the promise of Paradise, that very day.
One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”
But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment? We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”
And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39-43
The thief suffered punishment because of his sin. but those believers in Smyrna suffered because they carried the name of Jesus and gave witness to his identity as the Son of God. But they both would receive their rewards of eternal life because they chose to repent and to be saved. If we have never given our hearts to the Lord and confessed our sin, we can do that right now, and so be saved. We are given new life. The broccoli crown also represents salvation, for in salvation we become new. Everything changes: there is hope, new mercies, new birth, new understanding, and the Holy Spirit comes to bring us insight, wisdom and a new perspective. We are no longer the same. Before we were dead in our sins. But we become spiritually alive when we are born again. So let’s pray to commit our lives to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Dear Jesus!
There is no one like you. You are God, the Son of God, a triune God: made of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. You died on the cross to pay for my sins. And you were raised from the dead on the third day. You are seated at the right hand of the Father, and you will send your Holy Spirit to indwell me. I confess that I have sinned, and I ask that you forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I ask that by your precious blood, that you save me, heal me and deliver me from all my past sins and from every wicked thought. I surrender my will to yours and I ask that you write my name in the book of Life. I promise when I fall into sin, I will immediately repent and turn back to you. Help me to live for you. Bless me with your presence, and with your Holy Spirit, guide me into all truth. Because of my belief in you as the Son of God, and your death as just payment for my sins, and your resurrection from the dead, I am made new, born of the Spirit of God and reconciled to the Father! Thank you Jesus. I declare this day that you are my Lord and my Savior, my God and my King! Amen!
If you prayed this prayer with earnestness, then this is a day to remember. Just write the day down, as a remembrance of the day you became a child of God! You have been made alive in Christ, you are a new creation, filled with the Spirit of God! Hallelujah!
Thank you for reading and sharing this post. God bless you all!
