30 January 2014 Thinking in Metaphors and Symbols

Thinking in Metaphors and Symbols

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I know what you see. A beautiful red rose. But what do you see? What else could this picture say to you?

The power of God to make something from nothing? Or how about the fragility of flower petals or the way a rose opens gradually? That could speak of honoring process, not forcing things, and letting go of a “make-it-happen” approach.

Or perhaps it’s symbolic of earthly beauty that will pass away. Hmm. What do you see?

How about this?bed

In a dream or vision, a bed can symbolize sickness, intimacy, rest, or sorrow depending on what God is saying to you.  He can talk about many things, if you learn to see beyond a mere concrete image.

Airplanes can point to the prophetic, or seeing from 787 DreamlinerGod’s point of view—especially regarding earthly matters.

Is it a big plane, or a small one? Is it old-fashion or modern? Are you a passenger, the pilot, or just observing the plane from the ground? Details often matter.

For me, airplanes have to do with the launch of writing. I not only saw airplanes in dreams, I also recognized numbers such as 747 and 787 on clocks, receipts, phone numbers, and license plates.

God even spoke a first and last word over my writing life on page 747 of a dictionary. You can read the whole story if you click on the links.

Consider this peculiar statue in a small Alabama town called Enterprise. Is that a beautiful woman holding a boll weevil?boll weevil monument, Enterprise AlabamaContinue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Dreams, Prophetic Words, Uncategorized, Visions Tagged With: , , , , ,
2 January 2014 An Enlarged Spirit

An Enlarged Spirit

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I started composing this post while half asleep this morning. You know, that lucid state where your mind is active, but you’re not yet awake?

A random image formed in my mind’s eye. I believe it came from God. I pictured a man’s spirit floating like a vapor, contained by his body. His spirit actually looked compressed—as if created to be much larger than his human body.

Our physical bodies serve as temporary housing for our spirits. That much is obvious. But what captivated me this: while we’re here on earth, God wants us to develop a large spirit, full to the brim, and even overflowing.

The Bible talks a lot about humans having a soul, a spirit, and a body. These terms are commonplace throughout Scripture. Hebrews 4:12 distinguishes our souls as something different from our spirits, though some use these terms interchangeably.

John Paul Jackson teaches that the soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. Our spirit, on the other hand, is where wisdom, conscience, and communion with God are found. And of course, our body is our body.  Without going into any complex theology, I do believe two important things:

First, that the soul needs “saving” and healing. A sin-sick soul displays what we are without God.

And second, that we experience God mostly through our spirits. God is Spirit and communes with us through our spirits.

Why are these two points important? Because, to the extent that our souls are damaged and our spirits remain undeveloped, we don’t have very good “receivers” in terms of hearing God.Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Hearing God's Voice, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,
28 November 2013 God’s Poem

God’s Poem

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This is a true account of a sign and wonder.

In 1994, Jenny and I met to pray with a very troubled woman. Our youngest sons were toddlers at the time, and that day, there seemed to be a lot of commotion–fighting over toys, crocodile tears, and the tromping sound of unhappy feet. Every time we sat down to pray, some new difficulty would arise.

Jenny recognized it as spiritual warfare. Though the term has become cliché, if you’ve ever been on assignment for God you know that’s usually when the dog runs off, the milk spills, or the car won’t start. Firebrands. That’s what I call them. Sent by the enemy stir up trouble.

So what did we do? We sang a song and worshipped God together. Remember that if you’re ever in a time of distress, if you’re scared in the dark or feeling hopeless. It’s a powerful countermove.

Right after we sang, Jenny sensed that the Lord was about to give her a prophetic word. She often compared it to the feeling you have right before you sneeze. You know something is coming.

Jenny would basically “see” or “hear” in her mind—a phrase. When she spoke it out loud, another phrase would form, and she’d continue until the words stopped coming. That day the words came in such a downpour, I barely had time to take notes. Fortunately, I had my laptop. I can type much faster than I write.

Because it came rapidly, I typed her words in one continuous sentence. Later, when I made spelling corrections and added punctuation, I realized the phrases formed a rhyming poem.Continue reading

Filed Under: 2013, Barriers, Biblical Foundations, Experiencing God, Hearing God's Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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