(Edited by sister Cheryl Lowe)
I was woken up by the alarm this morning in a middle of a very interesting and profound dream. I feel it worthy to be written down and shared.
I forgot most of the dream, in which I was obviously shown wonderful things (truths) in the heavenlies. Jesus, the Lord Himself, took me on a tour revealing many truths and heavenly places. I do not know how to describe these things in words. The only thing I know to do is to borrow some biblical words, which will certainly not do justice to what I was shown. I regret that I have no trace of it now. The small part left with me is when I was in the middle of a wonderful dialogue – wonderful, even though it was interrupted and seemingly unfinished. On one hand, I hope I could come back to the dream to have the continuation and conclusion. On the other, I feel thankful that the Lord would allow me to have at least some part retained in my mind by waking me up in the middle of it.
Obviously, the Lord decided to have me come down from His dwelling place, (I would say it was His throne, but I am not absolutely certain). After He had shown me around somewhere I believe to be the realm where He is. He then led me, flying downward speedily along a straight vertical pathway, reaching from below up to the heavenly place we came from. I knew it was as if we were “free falling,” but strangely, as if in a slow motion movie scene, I can pause and watch and study what we came by. The pathway is hard to describe for its many features: I know firstly that it was a building of people, with its top reaching to heaven, and it’s foundation coming from far below. It is also a path of light- white and straight, with substance in it and at the same time flowing like smoke or a river. It seemed to be composed of different kinds of people- one phase after another. They seemed to be straining upward to move up the “stairway,” as if they were flying up slowly (compared to our speed when we rushed down). The pathway is narrow, yet allows just enough space for one to move along.
It seemed after some time dropping down along this path, that I was allowed to slow down and engage in a conversation with some of the people who were in the pathway (or composing the pathway- it is really hard to tell the difference). They all seemed to be enduring some hardship, but they were full of hope and determination, knowing that they were steadily meandering along the passage heaven-ward. I saw three persons, the first was a young man (around 20), the second, a middle-aged man (around 50), and the last, a young girl (around 18). I had talked to the young man, and was engaging in a conversation with the older man when I was woken up. I did not have the chance to talk to the girl. But somehow, they all seemed to have been talking to me in one agreement. I do not know what I asked of them. But they all strongly and clearly gave me the same testimony, as Jesus was watching us converse and flying aside of me along the pathway.
And this is what they testified to me: First, they had separated themselves totally from the world. Second, they had reserved nothing from their Lord. I was very impressed with their plain and strong emphasis on these two things, as if they would like no one to miss it, or to misunderstand.
Reflection:
- As I was still waking up from the dream, I eagerly wanted to know what the pathway was. Then the Lord told me that this is the stairway of Jacob, upon which angels will ascend and descend. I was told by the Lord some time ago that angels will be sent for me, as I pray and ask for things in and for His kingdom. I was startled in the beginning with even the possibility that I, a finite and weak human being, could enjoy such a right and privilege. But He assured me by telling me that angels are by nature servants of the sons of God, and I do enjoy a better place than angels in Him. Then the Lord shared with me that when Jesus taught Nathaniel that He shall “see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man,” He was trying to show Nathaniel that the Son of God is just like him: a son of Man (First Adam), and Nathaniel will be just like Him (Second Adam). This will make him even more privileged than his forefather Jacob. And in this knowledge is the gateway to heaven, as Nathaniel desired! As I think more about this dream, I see what the mystery of Jesus Christ is, in terms of Him being ONE MAN, bringing many into Himself, to make them into His Body, with He Himself as the Head. As one comes into this Body, He also becomes a part of His Person- who is The Way to the Throne of the Father who is in heaven. If one is moving heaven-ward, he is not outside of Him, which is the opposite impression I have had before – as if I can only be part of Him when I could reach to certain spiritual height. What makes me a part of His Body is not how spiritual I feel, but whether or not I could fulfill the two criteria as mentioned by the testimony of others in the dream, (to be “totally separated from the world; and having reserved nothing from their Lord.”)
- As I was praying for further understanding of the first criteria- what it means to be “separated from the world,” I heard the Spirit tell me that
“the world is not worthy of such faithful ones,” like those who I had heard from. It suddenly opened up a whole new perspective of holiness to me. Holiness is not to be seen as being religious or rigid in dealings of the matters of God. Holiness is to so separate ourselves from the world in our heart and mind, that we would fully understand that we are not of this world, and we are not to be in any way befriended with this world. We are holy, set apart by God from this corrupted and crooked world. It shifted my perspective concerning how to relate to this world and to things in it. Prevailing Christianity has failed to clearly disclose the enmity between God and this world- which is under the control of the evil one through sin and death. In diverse subtle manners, contemporary teachings suggest to us that is okay to be a friend of this world, for the Lord is so “loving” that He will surely take into consideration our weaknesses. As if He will allow us to be so “restful” or slumbering, until we can overcome the world at an easy pace without needing the awareness to be consciously set apart from the world.
We should know clearly that even though we will go through struggles and hardships, it will not in any way belittle the requirement that we should, in no way, be identified with the world. It would be ignorant to believe that we are “so saved from the world,” and “so commissioned by God,” that we are fully capable to change the world and make it fully God’s. The reality is that very few will be saved, and be able to walk in the true life of Jesus Christ. In this we make a holy thing common, like some commodities in a Wal-Mart: “feel free to make your own choice, for they are many and pretty cheap, so you surely can find something to your own satisfaction.”
A “Holy thing” in the Lord means to be totally set apart. It’s uncommon, unpopular, and not appealing to man but only to God. “Be holy as He is Holy.” It is speaking of a state of being, and also of the process of change. I strongly feel that this is the key thing the Lord warned me of and into.
