The Graffiti tree

Zooming over the underwater forest, I stop above the most majestic tree. It is by far the most fruitful, but it appears to be dying. I hope off my helicopter, and go in for a closer look. Etched into the bark of the tree are a bunch of initials and signatures. I see a couple of ititials that I recognise- my own for one. The bark is diseased now, because it is so scarred by the graffiti, but it breaks off piece by piece and new, clean bark appears beneath.

It's very tempting to try and associate ourselves with successful minstries, or even with successful minsters. If we try to make our own little mark on that ministry, we will just infect the minstry with our fleshly pride and kill it, unless the Lord sheds that superficial bark and brings fresh, anonymous servants in to continue the work.

Why try to get your name in lights when it's already in the book of life?

Suicide for Christ

A dry valley, filled with donosaur bones. These guys died some time ago, but it is apparent that they all committed suicide. From the way they are sitting, it appears that they are waiting for something.

Water pours into the valley. New flesh is built on the bones. Life is breathed into the new creatures. It's a little like Ezekiel's vision.

But these creatures had all committed suicide. Does anyone remember suicide for Christ? If you don't, don't worry, it may have just been in my head. I'm not saying that we should go and jump off a cliff, but willingly crucify our flesh in order to receive the new life of the spirit.

Also this week:

Unbelief comes out by fasting and praying.

Amen.

The climbing wall

People are gathering for a Sunday morning service. As they sit down, a brick wall is built over their heads. In between certain people there are little gaps in the wall. It looks a little like a climbing wall, with plenty of gaps in the brick work for footholds.

These footholds are the broken relationships, silent grips and complaints we have about the church. Many come together feeling that things should be done differently, silently complaining about the state of the music, the preaching, the youth, the oldies. Some don't like the person in front of them. They're singing too loudly/quietly, dancing too much/too little, smell like crap/roses. But it's a good job I'm not like them... says the PHARISEE.

Let's be honest, as long as we come together in disunity we are not getting anywhere, and we are allowing the enemy to have footholds all over the church.

The devil thrives on disunity

He flees from unity.

The spirit of true repentence falls on that wall, filling in the gaps. A proper defence is formed, and the enemy has no ground on which to stand.

The devil flees.

Psalm 133

Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is here that the Lord commands his blessing.

The fat-boy tree

There's a young boy eating fruit on the bank of the river. The fruit grows from the ground and it doesn't looks like anything special, in fact, you may not even realise it's fruit, until you taste it- it's the sweetest, most refreshing thing ever to cross a man's lips. This little boy seems to think so anyway. As he continues to eat his face shines with an unearthly glow, and he grows just a little bit. He keeps eating.

The boy is lying on his back on the bank, he is quite fat now. But he looks so satisfied, his face is almost unbearably bright, and he has his hands behind his head, enjoying the sunshine. Then he closes his eyes and a tree shoots up through his heart and grows into the most beautiful tree. He continues to lie there, now looking even more satisfied, and with a great look of fulfilment on his face.

At first I thought that this was a warning against over indulence in the fruit of the spirit, never taking enough time to sow seed into others' lives. But then I saw a bunch of these kids, all eating from this one boy's patch of land. I thought being fat might be a bad thing, but the bible doesn't seem to think so...

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; (Psalm 92)

The fruit only does so much good sitting on the ground. Unless we actually take and eat it's not very useful. But the fruit of the spirit nourishes us- it makes our face shine, and satisfies the longing in our soul to dwell in the Spirit. And as we continually feast on the fruit we shall grow fat and flourish. Then we are full of seed, and we will flourish like a tree. And what do trees do? make more fruit!

The beautiful tree scatters it's fruit all over the area, and many other young children come and satisfy themselves with it's delicious fruit.

He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. (Psalm 104:13)

The Canoe

I am in a canoe, paddling up a stream. The stream is running through a system of caves. As I progress the stream becomes narrower and narrower. It becomes increasingly more difficult to use the paddle, as it keep hitting the walls, and eventually it is smashed to pieces when I try to use it to get through a particularly tight spot. The current quickens, and I am carried along at a frightening pace. As the cave walls get closer and closer, even the canoe begins to look a little wide. Right enough, it begins to smash into the rocks and disintigrates around me. Now I am sitting on the surface of the water, just being carried along by the ever quickening current. I should logically smash into the rocks, but all of a sudden I am plunged into a pool in the sea cave. It's pretty sweet.

Right now we have a reasonable amount of room to manoeuvre in our own ability and strength. The calling of God is still reasonably general, but is becoming more specific day by day. As he speaks prophetically into our lives to call us on in an ever intensifying ministry, our lives become more and more focussed. Our own abilities don't work any more, they will be smashed on the rock if we try to use them. Even the structures we trusted to carry us in our ministry will be destroyed. Just when it looks like we have no hope and will surely perish, we will be released in a new fruitfulness and the fulfilment of our life calling.

I believe this is not a once off event. The Lord will continually call us on into ever increasing depths of his spirit, and we will have to go through the same process. Maybe we'll learn to trust the current and throw our paddles out. Maybe we'll just jump right in to the water...

The Clam man

That clam again. Lying, almost drowned under all that lovely water. The shell is now completely obselete- why would the clam ever want to shut now he's used to all that water?

But then a man comes along. A big, strong man. He's carrying a sword, and has a horse bearing his armour and supplies. He picks up the little clam, scoops it out of its shell and places it in his heart.

We're not going to be lying there in the water forever. The Father wants us in his heart. There we have more protection than we ever could have from the shell, and the body nourishes us as we have need. Now we are at the heart of the warrior, as we head into the battle.

But the clam never could have found a place in that heart had he not been softened by all that water, and certainly not if he was holding onto his shell. As someone once said-

"The fight is not to obtain the peace of the Spirit. The peace of the Spirit is the preparation for the fight. The prayers are not fighting to obtain the Spirit, the Spirit is the basis for fighting in prayer."

All my springs are in you...

The outer shell

God, standing there with his arms wide open is calling to me to come into his arms, to give myself to him and allow him to change me and mould me etc etc... I see myself giving him fragments of what seems to be an outer shell. It looks pretty cool- sort of shiny and attractive but God doesn't seem to be impressed. He inspects each fragment before deciding he can't do anything with it and tosses it away. Still he stands there waiting expectantly for something.

God wants us. He doesn't want our ministry, he doesn't want our reputation. He want's our hearts. It seems right to offer the external things. They are the things that other people see, and so it's natural for us to want to have these changed by God, so that other people will see how annointed our ministry is. But it's useless to give him our ministry unless he has our hearts. As long as we hold on to our hearts, God cannot do anything for our ministry. He's our daddy, he loves us so intensely, he just wants our hearts. When we give him our heart he will change it to such an extent that our ministry will be changed too.

All my springs are in you...

Wings of gold and silver

There's a winged man flying about. It's pretty awesome looking- he's so free and natural. He doesn't look awkward flying- it looks real. But his wings are edged with razor sharp gold and silver (Psalm 68:13). He begins to fly through the forest. Every branch which is in his way is fruitless. As he flys through the treetops, these branches are cut off. He passes through the forest unscathed leaving it more fruitful.

It's very tempting for us to want to cut down those branches before we would even consider flying. Surely we should prepare the forest for our flight? Isn't that good planning? But God just wants us to fly. Flying speaks to me of absolute freedom, that which God purchased for us through Jesus. We often want to sort out our lives in order to receive freedom- but God wants us to receive his freedom so he can sort our lives out.

Think about salvation- so many people want to sort their lives out before they become Christians- but that's stupid! They have no hope without Jesus in the first place! And it's now the same for us- receive God's freedom and this will empower you to remove the fruitless branches.

God created and called Israel before he delivered them. He didn't deliver them and then call them his sons. Check it out in the glorious Old Testament.

Fly- I have given you the air.

The dark waters

There's a man clothed in white, radiating a pure white glow, walking through a street. But then it becomes apparent that it's not a street after all. It's a lake. He is walking on these dark waters in pitch black surroundings.

The white light speaks of the peace of God. We often think of walking on water as some crazy, exciting, jump-around-and-dance act. But the truth is that Peter was operating in complete peace when he steppd out of the boat. He asked 'If it is you Lord, then command me to come out to you'. He knew that if it was Jesus, he could trust Him completely that he wouldn't sink. It was an act born of complete security in Jesus, of utter peace.

This was such an act of trust, that it didn't even matter that he couldn't see where he was going.

'We walk by faith, not by sight.'

Sunburn

Travelling toward the sun all I can see is the blinding light of this spectacular heavenly body. But then in the sky I meet... me! Suspended in mid air, held perfectly still by some miraculous power I stand in the searing light and heat. Nobody can see me from the ground and I don't care. Beneath me the land stretches out, and truly it is a land flowing with milk and honey! lush and green, with rivers snaking out across the landscape.

But then a cloud comes. Just as I think I can't take any more heat. The cloud surrounds me, the water cleanses my skin- cracked and dry as it is, and refreshes me. And then the cloud moves on. I was still obscured from view the whole time.

We are to be anonymous servants in the ministry of God's Spirit- simply empty vessels for him to inhabit and use. And we can burn out if we are only ever exposed to the sun. But God is the God of perfect provision. He sends rain on the righteous and the wicked, and then that rain comes, we will be refreshed and revived for the work he is doing in us. Isn't interesting that God lead the people of Israel in a Pillar of Fire and a pillar of cloud?

Lying on the surface of a great lake, my skin begins to burn with the heat of the sun. I begin to tread water, trying to take my focus off the pain. I continue to burn. I see the people around me who are unable to swim ust sinking to the bottom of the lake. They are protected by the cool refreshing water which filters the suns rays.

Again- stop trying to protect yourself from God's life giving water. It's like protecting yourself from your own body guard!

The underwater chains

Another burning man, standing up to his kness in steadily rising water. As the water rises the fire is extinguished, much to the man's distress. But he can't do anything, because he's is chained in place. He struggles a lot, and gasps for a few final breaths before the water covers his head. The fire now completely out he concentrates on survival, still trying to free himself from the chains. Eventually he gives up and cannot hold his breath any longer. He opens his mouth expecting water to rush in and fill his lungs. But he finds that he can breathe perfectly well. In fact, this water gives his a new strength. And he tries to break the chains again. But he wears himself out again. Finally he gives up. At that moment that he stops trying, he bursts into flames again- the chains are blown apart and he is free at last, and the fire continues to burn, even under water.

Stop trying to protect yourself from the life giving water. Even when it feels like you're going to drown, let it in. Then stop trying to break your chains. As soon as you stop striving in your own strength God's strength will take over. Our efforts are extinguished by the water, but God's fire burns in the water.

Fire is not one of the fruits of the spirit, but peace is...

The Heart room

There's an underwater complex with kindly and yet scary security guards at each of the doors. They are armed with tridents, protecting the precious contents of each room. They're not letting just anyone in there, they know exactly who is allowed in to each room.

I get into one of the rooms, walking past a security guard who looks awfully like someone I know. Inside there are rows and rows of hearts all plugged into a central terminal. This terminal links to a second room, just next door, wherein is the biggest heart I've ever seen. Each of the individual hearts has a name tag above it, and has it's own special cable linking it to the central terminal.

I walk through to the next room, and am greeted by rows and rows of minds, all with their own name tags and linked by their own cables to another central terminal, this time linked to a giant brain in the adjacent room.

Then a room filled with vials of what can only be spirits. The same sort of arrangement is in place, linking to a giant, apparently empty room. However the water in this room is different somehow- it is brighter, and thicker. It's filled with another spirit of some sort.

Then I see a special room at one end of the complex. Inside the decaying body of a dead man is releasing something into the water. It moves like a cloud through the water, thousands of tiny particles of some fluid, injecting something powerful into the water. This water flows through the different rooms washing over the hearts, then the minds, then the spirits. There is an electric current in the water, drawing the water through to a final special room at the other end of the complex. In this room is a giant man, growing all the time and glowing with an unearthly glow. It is a spectacular sight. I can see the cloud from the first room, now increased in intensity flowing to this new body, as if attracted by the electric current.

The best parallel would be electolysis, for anyone who did GCSE chemistry!

So God is taking our hearts, our minds and our spirits. All are laid down as we tap into the power of his heart, mind and spirit. We retain our identity- we are unique creations, but all of a sudden we are operating with God's power and not our own, his thoughts, his desires, his love.

The dead body represents first of all the death of Jesus. It releases the blood into our lives, which empowers us to be transformed into his image. But 2 Corinthians says that if one died for all then all died. So this body also represents our lives, laid down for his Glory. This releases that which he has placed within us to change our hearts minds and spirits.

But this death is not without a resurrection. We are being built into a more glorious body, as we tap into his heart, his mind and spirit we are raised up- transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit if the Lord.

Another vision confirms this. The sun is setting on a picture of the cross. But with the sunrise comes an empty tomb. In this christian life death must be followed by resurrection.

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." 1 Cor 15:42-44

The heart water

A burning man, completely and utterly on fire. He is laughing a lot. But then he begins to cry, and his tears begin to quench the fire. Not only that but water begins to pour out from his heart which puts out the fire as well. But then some people around about him begin to pour water on him- but this is different water. This water burns like petrol and refreshes like... water... And the man burns more brightly than he did at first.

When we burn brightly with the spirit of God it is easy to have the joy of the spirit, but when something crap happens, it can be very easy to allow emotions to quench our fire. The water which comes from our heart is oftentimes not the life giving water that God provides but the deceitful lies of the enemy, masquerading as Godly sorrow and quenching the fire of the Spirit.

But praise God for those around us, who, unhindered by emotion, are able to speak the truth in love and refresh us with God's burning water.

Emotions are part of the soul, they must be controlled by the spirit as much as our words or actions.

Big up to Joy and Stephen Blair who both spoke words of burning water to my soul last night.

"Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

The footsteps in the snow

Friday night worship at Fire (again). The whole building is filled with water, and people are praising in the water. Then a giant ball of fire falls into the water and all of a sudden eveyone is electrocuted.

A man, walking his dog in the snow. In his footsteps the ground is broken up and a seed has been planted.

Then the dog comes along and takes a dump in every single footstep.

But then a small boy runs along, following in those same footsteps, trampling the turd underfoot. As he does so, plants shoot up from the footsteps.

First of all, God is going to change our worship from being a once a week thing to being an everyday attitude- walking the dog speaks of the mundane things of life- but even these things can become an act of worship when God changes our attitudes. I worshipped God today by folding somebody else's washing from the tumble-drier in the common room.

The white snow speaks of peace, but it also speaks of coldness. God is granting us peace all about, in order that we may have a platform on which he can build his temple. But the enemy can turn this peace into apathy. I read this the other day- 'indifference is not the same thing as submission. Yielding to [God's] Spirit is not the same as being apathetic about the things of the spirit'. Don't let the peace of God become coldness- it should be revitalising and energising.

But then that man walking his dog breaks the snow apart, and smashes the hard ground beneath. We overcome that coldness by breaking up the fallow ground, destroying the hardness in our hearts, by being transformed by the renewing of our minds. This allows the spirit to plant seeds in our hearts. This seed is the potential for limitless fruitfulness. Remember that it is the God of peace who crushes Satan under our feet, hence the white snow.

But then somebody will come along and dump all over that seed. The enemy will send a lying tongue to confuse our minds. Or someone will discourage us in our faith. But what the enemy intended for evil, God will use for good. That crap will become that which fertilises the seed, and makes it to grow into a mighty plant, bearing much fruit.

The little boy speaks of discipleship. As we disciple others, the seeds we plant begin to bear fruit- those disciples become the outlet for our ministry, they become fellow gardeners with us- like Paul said 'I planted, Apollos watered, but it is God who gave the increase'.

Try to find the balance of these two scriptures in your life this week.

'The God of peace will soon crush satan under our feet.' (Romans 16:20)

'The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force' (Matthew 11:12)

The golden hook

Worship on a Friday night. People are worshipping away, and some of them begin to line up in the centre of the church. All of a sudden a giant golden hook swings through the building, skewering those who had lined up through the heart and pulling them out of the building.

The hook speaks of God's divine will. It is gold because it is perfect- there is no detail he has forgotten about. The Holy Spirit has often appeared to me to act as a hook in people's hearts. He is the one who draws us into fellowship with the Father. He is the one who puts the desire in our hearts to serve our daddy.

This hook also speaks of our calling though. If you think about it, our calling is God's perfect will- or a small part of it at least. It's very easy for us to cower away in the corner when the hook swings through, but unless we are in line with his will, we'll miss out on our calling.

I saw a few people who were almost there, but not quite- they were holding back, not submitting totally and utterly, keeping something of the world close to their hearts. When the hook swung through, they just got knocked out. In a way it was better for those who were sitting on the sidelines...

Rev 3:15-16

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

No point in doing this half way guys...