(Edited by sister Cheryl Lowe.)
While laying down and praying with Brad, I had a series of conversations, “dreams,” and visions with the Lord.
I was given a further understanding by the Lord of what Paul shared as, “fellowship with His sufferings.” These sufferings are not what a man of sin can attain unto, but they are rather part of the life of the Son, who volunteered to bear the burden and desire of His Father towards a lost world. This is what I would call “a priestly heart.”
Wisdom is the source of divine love and power. It will take a great shift in one’s understanding for him or her to grasp how important it is to partake of God’s wisdom as the highest joy and the best satisfaction in life. The fear of God is pure and holy, it has to be the foundation and context of how we are to approach our Father, even as his sons. Foolish is the man who thinks he is something, but in God’s sight, he is accomplishing nothing.
I had two visions that seem worthy to be recorded:
Learning How to Fish
I see the Lord Jesus as he is standing on water, wearing a plain garment from his shoulders to his feet. I am looking at Him from a little bit behind him. It is as if we have walked together to the very center of a huge body of water (like a lake or something), so that He can show me something.
Step by step, He intentionally showed me how to untangle a net and how to cast it with good technique, so that it can spread further into the water. As he is casting it out into the water, He turns His head to motion me to take notice, saying: “This is how you are to cast the net.” I don’t see him pulling the net, however. It is as if He has been doing this many times, so can I learn His fishing skills by observation.
As I am watching closely what He is doing from the side, I recognize that He is not in a boat, and neither am I. I am standing on the water as well. It is a surprise, as I think we would have had to have a boat to go fishing. I still need to ask Him what this means. The only part as a reference to me is Peter’s experience with Jesus on the water.
I know from the scene that I will have to teach others how to fish when I have finished my training.
Cutting a Snake Skin
In this vision, I am holding a huge snake skin with the head and tail part cut off, and only the main body section remaining. It is as big as a human body. I have the impression that it was taken from a huge snake that I had killed quite sometime ago. On this particular day, the Lord instructs me to give it to someone as a gift, so that he can make a cloth of it and wear it.
But there is a test he has to pass. He has to use a sword to cut a perfect line in the skin so that it can be unwrapped, ready for use. Now, if he cut it carelessly, the skin would be ruined, and the gift will be taken away from him. I am to watch closely that he is to use his sword, measure the line, and then do the cutting, but not to interfere.
I am a bit anxious, as I know that he is not yet fully aware of the reality that this is urgently needed. I can detect the reluctance from him to honor and receive this gift. At the moment that I come to meet him, he is striking the sword in the air, as if fighting some imaginary enemies. He is trying to learn to be a warrior. I am concerned because I know that the skin will need a certain skill with the sword to make a precise cut, which he has not learned yet.
I was troubled after seeing this vision. I guess for two reasons: one is that I don’t understand why anyone would need a cloth made of snake skin. The idea of a snake itself is repulsive to me, not mention that I have to give its skin to another person to wear. The other is my reluctance to make things hard on anyone who is unwilling to receive me in his heart – I’d rather leave them alone.
As I was pondering on it, the Lord brought to me a memory of what I shared with others last night – of the instruction He gave to His disciples before He sent them out: be as innocent as a dove, but also be shrewd as a serpent.
“Still, what does that have to do with a snake skin?” I was still puzzled.
He then answered me:
“Well, remember what happened in the Garden? What did Adam put on?”
I still have a lot to think about with this part, but I guess I get His point. The serpent’s head and tail has to be cut off for us to overcome its power. As I am writing this right now, I also remember that in Revelation, it is mentioned that “his tail swept one third of the stars from heaven to earth.”
