CHAPTER THIRTEEN: NO OTHER VISION EXCEPT ONE

Jack was so accustomed to seeing a number of visions that he thought seeing one was unusual. Today he thus recorded, “Read Psalms 1-10. Shoulder pain: asked for healing. Saw Jesus holding a fig cake (paste, as in Isaiah?) No other vision.”

Nevertheless, he went on and read Psalms and pondered on a number of questions pertaining to his present life. He asked:

1. What advice should I give to others in this pres
ent economic crisis?
2. Why must I continue to live in the world system?
3. How to prepare for end time?
He pondered on the possibility and practicality to buy a plot of land to build a self-sustaining farm and a sanctuary (a safe place to live, worship, prayer, retreat and training) for his family and people of the same mind and Spirit. He was thinking of organic living and a retired home.

He also listed the foreseeable limitations to overcome: No experience. Lack knowledge. Physical limitations. Too used to city comfort. Workers (trustworthy issues). Security and safety issues. Finance matters. Age issues.

Reading Psalm 8 lifted his spirit. He noted, “We have dominion over the works of our hands. He put all things under our feet, domestic animals, wild beasts, poultry and fishes (that pass through the paths of the sea).”
The sea has paths (like land)! He marveled. This was new to him. He realized how little he knew about God’s works.

Hearing from God- fig cake
I had terrible shoulder pain so I asked Jesus to heal me. As I lied on the floor face down, I saw the following picture: Jesus holding a fig cake in His hand. I recalled the verses from Isaiah about how the prophet was sent to heal the king Hezekiah and he made a fig paste. The king was healed.

After that I did not see any further picture so I got up and found that my shoulder pain had subsided.

March 12, 2009

CHAPTER TWELEVE: HEALING A BALD LAMB

Jack continued to progress spiritually under the tutorship of the Holy Spirit. This was the beginning of his faith to the God who heals. “I am the Lord who heals you.” He continued to read Psalms (chapters 58-67) and interceded for the nation. God was revealing more and more of Himself and His mighty power as Jack sought after Him.

Hearing from God – healing a lamb

Today my back was hurting badly (old injury) and I saw and experienced the following:

1. Jesus held an apple in His left hand.

2. In His right hand He carried a lamb (indeterminable age) which was bold (without any wool), dirty with mud all over, and wounded. He touched the lamb and appeared to be mending or binding the wounds and broken parts (leg? Body? I could not see clearly the parts).

I was kneeling when I saw this so I took out an exercise mat and bowed down. Then I felt I needed to lie down with my face down (as the sick did in the Prayers House). I lied there for sometime, not feeling anything physically. I continued to focus on seeing Jesus.

3. Then I saw Jesus released the lamb and it became a white fluffy, healthy and lively little lamb. It hopped onto green pasture on a hillside and ran off joyously!
I recalled to my mind that Jesus is the great Shepherd. He is the Healer too!
So I gave thanks to Him and got up. My backache has subsided.

AAA Jack
2009-03-11

chapter eleven: seeing God, hearing His words

After the first breakthrough Jack began to see pictures/visions often when he sought God in the early morning on his own. He often woke before the alarm rang. He sometimes woke way before, an hour or two, the alarm was supposed to ring! He tried to interpret such pictures at times. When he though he got the clear message, he would pray over it. For example, when he saw his loved ones in an unusual situation, he would pray for the situation to clear and the problem resolved. He also became quite excited as it was like the Bible coming to life and he could now ask God to show him things to come. He got up every morning with eagerness to see or receive personal messages from God.

He recorded the following visions in his journal on March 10, 2009.

Hearing from God –golden field with one worker
Everyday I spent time before God and asked Him to show me what to pray for or what to attend to. So far I have seen a number of pictures, some of which reminded me of verses I have read before. I could understand some as the meaning was clear and supported by immediate recall of verses. But I could not figure out some. So I have decided to record down all or as many as I recall the pictures that I saw daily when waiting upon the Lord in the early morning. This morning I woke around 3am and worshipped God. I saw the following vision:

1. Jesus put His hand into muddy water. I could not see whether the water was in a river but I thought it was.

2. A living spring or brook with clear, clean water. I could see the pebbles underneath the water in the river bed.

3. Fruit trees bearing fruits by the river side. I did not exactly see them clearly but in my mind I was reminded of the trees which bear fruits and leaves with healing faculties.

4. Jesus holding a bowl which He had emptied (through a pouring motion), green shoots in the ground, followed by grown wheat plants in the midst of thorns and thistles. I was reminded of the verses about the enemy sowing bad seeds at night among the good seeds that God had planted. On harvest day the bad plants (weeds, thorns etc.) will be gathered and burned by the angel of God. The good ones will be gathered unto God.

5. A vast field of golden wheat and only one man/worker stooping down cutting the wheat. I was reminded of Jesus saying the harvest is plenty and workers are few, and that we are to pray for God to send more workers to harvest the ready field.

Praying for the nation
While praying for the nation, he was led by the Holy Spirit to see and read the following words from the Book of Psalms (reading from 53-57):

55: 9-23: “Destroy, o Lord, and divide their tongues” Next to this, he wrote: ‘_________’(the name of the ruling party) – NIMROD? “For I have seen violence and strife in the city”, iniquity and trouble, destruction, oppression and deceit, broken covenant, smooth words with war at heart (drawn swords), bloodthirsty and deceitful men. Jack saw that the verses aptly described the situation of the country.

He did not know its spiritual link yet. Months later when he attended a series of spiritual lessons given by a master who had spent nearly two decades studying the spiritual matters and the history of the land, Jack discovered that what the Holy Spirit had prompted him to pray for were indeed the situation as reflected in the verses and they were linked to the blood shade, violence, gangsters, piracy, and secret societies background of the founding masters of the land!

However, he was positive in his one line summary of Psalm 57, “As David saw the troubles he was in, he exalted God. Caught in between two types of dangers, direct attacks by weapons and secret snarls, David praised God. Clue to success!”

Jack also saw another truth, the reason why people could not see or hear God was because of their rebellious and defiant hearts against God. Even a donkey could see the angel with drawn sword by the road side, but the prophet Balaam who loved money more than God could not see.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: SEEING GOD, HEARING GOD'S WORDS

After the first breakthrough Jack began to see pictures/visions often when he sought God in the early morning on his own. He often woke before the alarm rang. He sometimes woke way before, an hour or two, the alarm was supposed to ring! He tried to interpret such pictures at times. When he though he got the clear message, he would pray over it. For example, when he saw his loved ones in an unusual situation, he would pray for the situation to clear and the problem resolved. He also became quite excited as it was like the Bible coming to life and he could now ask God to show him things to come. He got up every morning with eagerness to see or receive personal messages from God.

Hearing from God –golden field with one worker

Everyday I spent time before God and asked Him to show me what to pray for or what to attend to. So far I have seen a number of pictures, some of which reminded me of verses I have read before. I could understand some as the meaning was clear and supported by immediate recall of verses. But I could not figure out some. So I have decided to record down all or as many as I recall the pictures that I saw daily when waiting upon the Lord in the early morning. This morning I woke around 3am and worshipped God. I saw the following vision:

1. Jesus put His hand into muddy water. I could not see whether the water was in a river but I thought it was.
2. A living spring or brook with clear, clean water. I could see the pebbles underneath the water in the river bed.
3. Fruit trees bearing fruits by the river side. I did not exactly see them clearly but in my mind I was reminded of the trees which bear fruits and leaves with healing faculties.
4. Jesus holding a bowl which He had emptied (through a pouring motion), green shoots in the ground, followed by grown wheat plants in the midst of thorns and thistles. I was reminded of the verses about the enemy sowing bad seeds at night among the good seeds that God had planted. On harvest day the bad plants (weeds, thorns etc.) will be gathered and burned by the angel of God. The good ones will be gathered unto God.
5. A vast field of golden wheat and only one man/worker stooping down cutting the wheat. I was reminded of Jesus saying the harvest is plenty and workers are few, and that we are to pray for God to send more workers to harvest the ready field.
Praying for the nation

While praying for the nation, he was led by the Holy Spirit to see and read the following words from the Book of Psalms (reading from 53-57):
55: 9-23: “Destroy, o Lord, and divide their tongues” Next to this, he wrote: ‘_________’(the name of the ruling party) – NIMROD? “For I have seen violence and strife in the city”, iniquity and trouble, destruction, oppression and deceit, broken covenant, smooth words with war at heart (drawn swords), bloodthirsty and deceitful men. Jack saw that the verses aptly described the situation of the country.

He did not know its spiritual link yet. Months later when he attended a series of spiritual lessons given by a master who had spent nearly two decades studying the spiritual matters and the history of the land, Jack discovered that what the Holy Spirit had prompted him to pray for were indeed the situation as reflected in the verses and they were linked to the blood shade, violence, gangsters, piracy, and secret societies background of the founding masters of the land!

However, he was positive in his one line summary of Psalm 57, “As David saw the troubles he was in, he exalted God. Caught in between two types of dangers, direct attacks by weapons and secret snarls, David praised God. Clue to success!”
Jack also saw another truth, the reason why people could not see or hear God was because of their rebellious and defiant hearts against God. Even a donkey could see the angel with drawn sword by the road side, but the prophet Balaam who loved money more than God could not see.

March 10, 2009

CHAPTER TEN: SEEING IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Although Jack was still unsure of the application part, he was making positive spiritual progress in heeding to the Holy Spirit. He continued to spend time in the presence of God and began to see visions often during worship. He also reviewed his personal goals. When he first started this spiritual journey of intercessions he merely wanted to perform a religious duty for the church. However, the quest transformed him as he sought God. The Holy Spirit had led him to seek after God so that he could know God more.
Hearing from God 2 –seeing pictures
I continued to seek God in the morning regardless of my inability to get up on time. I managed to wake around 5 am but have indulged in lingering in bed until 6 am and got up around 6.15 am. (Sigh)
Anyway, I persisted in my ritual which had gone on for about a month. I focused on my goals which are to know God more and hear from Him or see visions He wants me to see. I normally started with reading the wordings of one or two praise and worship songs as I forgot how to sing the tune. After that I prayed. During the last three days I had run out of things about the city to pray for, so I asked God to show me. Yesterday being a Lord’s Day, I prayed for my church and the way the last two Holy Communions was conducted. The respective elder who conducted the communion was so distracted by the last song sung that both of them forgot to mention the blood and the body of Christ! These went on for two consecutive weeks! I prayed that this omission would not happen this week. However I did not manage to attend yesterday as I had to accompany my wife to a medical equipment store to buy stuff for her invalid father.
I believe that worship and praise songs should more focus on the Lord and not on us. According to the Bible, the Holy Communion should focus on what Jesus had done and not what we shall do for Him!
If we want to talk about ourselves, we need not do that in church. We can go to a social function and talk as much as we like. A church is meant for worship and praise and minister to God.
A social function can minister to all else.
Besides praying for the city/church, I prayed for revelation for me from the Lord. Waiting for response I kept my eyes closed and focused. I shall try to record below what I saw during the last two days.
Yesterday: I saw Jesus (as perceived by me) holding something, like rulers (?), and then the verse “enter into my rest” came into my mind. Then I saw myself kneeling down on a flight of steps. The steps led to a throne on which the Lord was sitting. At first I thought I was alone so I cried out and was worried (not knowing it was a good or bad sign). Then I saw a great multitude of people similarly kneeling down in front of the Lord. Countless number of people were bowing before the Lord, worshipping Him /praying.
Last night: I went to the Prayers House to worship the Lord and during worship I knelt down and held out my palms. I saw Jesus holding a bag full of something with their ends sticking out and they were made of feathers. I thought they were arrows. Then Jesus put one in my right palm. It turned out to be a quill pen. He also put something in my left palm. They were gold. But I had no verses entering my mind so I could not interpret this vision.
Today: this morning I saw Jesus with an open scroll, full of small prints. He was talking and pointing to the words with an angel. I could not see the angel but in my mind I thought there was an angel and Jesus was instructing him.
Then I saw a tall Mongolian or Eastern European costumed warrior, with a battle axe in his hand. After that there was a giant holding a whip (as in a circus) with his upper torso bare. But there was no lion or tiger around. The word “chastisement” entered my mind.
Then Jesus pointed to a box full of black seeds. Verses came to my mind about the enemy (devil) sowing tares among the good seeds (wheat) that God has planted and the Lord let them grow until the harvest by which time the angels will gather the tares and burn them. (Matt.13: 14-30)
After that I saw a very small Chinese boy (in traditional costume) kneeling down, praying in an empty court yard. Some chicken were pecking the ground and an eagle rising and soaring from their midst into the sky above.
What does all this mean? I have no verses. I just record them and wait.
AAA Jack
9-Mar-09

CHAPTER NINE: WALKING THROUGH THE VALLEY GATE AND NOT FEAR EVIL

Neh 3:13 Hanun, and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Dung/Refuse Gate.

The Valley Gate depictss walking with God, in Christ Jesus.
Ge 26:19 And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
De 8:7 For the LORD thy God brings thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
Ps 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

As Jack dug deeper, as he grew and renewed his mind daily worshipping, praying and reading the words of God, he began to heed to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Digging deeper means he had to practice living according to the word of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. He started to see visions. The following is an account of what happened to him.
____________________________________________________
Hearing from God, enter through the narrow gate
I have always wanted to hear from God as many others (prophets) before me did. Today I woke up late again by 15 minutes. It has become a habit! Anyway as I read God’s words and pondered upon their relevance to me, I told God (in my prayer) that I was not sure what all these readings meant. I had been reading books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah all of whom are Old Testament prophets. How should I interpret them? How should I understand what Jesus had said about the narrow gate?
After praying for awhile I continued to close my eyes, wrinkling my forehead (in my most focused frowning state) and concentrate real hard on my question to God. What happened after that came almost as normal as any everyday event. In my mind I saw the picture of Jesus (as perceived by me) pointing to a Bible, carrying a lamb in His arms, pointing to a gate, bending down and binding the wounded lamb. The pictures are not in exact sequence of what I write down now. But while seeing the pictures, Bible verses from the New Testament came to my mind as follows.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
“I am the door of the sheep.” John 10:7
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11
“My sheep hears my voice, and I know them and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28
In short, whoever believes in Jesus becomes His sheep and follows Him, entering the kingdom of heaven through Him alone. He came to the world not to harm but to bind up the wounded and heal the broken. He came to save and He will keep them saved until the end! What more shall I fear? Yes, back to the Bible. This is the key to hearing God.
P/s: I am pleased and relieved that I too can learn to hear from God. For a long time I thought I was the most unspiritual person around.
DAY 14-15: HE IS MORE CONCERNED WITH MY BEING THAN DOING
In my previous discovery, I found that Jesus was concerned with the sinful causes and not the Law because without the causes there would be no need for the Law restrictions. No wonder the Apostle Paul was adamant that we live according to the Spirit and not according to the whims and fancy of the flesh (living in the physical, emotional and mental realm). The way to living Biblically (spiritually) is through the Spirit and inner life/character.
That explains the importance of living before God and seeking to appreciate and benefit from God’s presence through worship, praise, thanksgiving, prayers and reading the Word of God daily.
After Matthew 5, I have started reading and applying Matthew 6. I bear in mind the last verse in Matthew 5. Jesus said, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Having the privilege of being made a child of God, it makes sense that my Father in heaven wants me to be like Him.
Matthew 6:1-8: “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.” “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.” Jesus continued to teach how God wants us to be like Him. He used the two examples of doing charity and praying. The world likes to show off and do these good deeds in public for men to see as they live before men. They have no God to give accounts to. Christians have an all seeing God to Whom we give accounts. Our Father sees in secret, into the true motive of the heart. So there is no need to put up a show.
My application: These two days I have not had the chance to do a good deed other than trying to cook a Spanish rice dish for the benefit (or misfortune) of my wife. She is grateful regardless whether the dish is edible or not. So I guess the good deed is more on her part than mine. I managed to pray in private as I got up before she did. However she knows I am doing this project. So the praying in secret requirement is not exactly being complied with. The fact that I am writing this also means that I am not doing the good deeds in secret. On the other hand I just assume no one reads and knows as this is my personal blog.
AAA Jack
March 11, 2009

Chapter Eight: Why break through the Jerusalem Old Gate?

Neh 3:6 Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

In the Book of Nehemiah, after the Sheep Gate and the Fish Gate comes the Old Gate. The spiritual meaning is death of the old person (i.e. our old sinful nature/flesh). The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit kills deeds of our flesh. The Old Gate signifies the demand of Jesus that the old nature must die, and one must be reborn to enter the kingdom of God. How can this happen? The Holy Spirit gives the believers the power to do so. By this miraculous transformation, Jesus’ followers have the ability to walk and live according to the will of God.

Yes, Jack had the first breakthrough today as he worshipped God and sought to hear God’s voice. He still did not know that he was hearing from God but he decided to obey the prompting of his heart (Holy Spirit) during his morning worship at home. He was urged to read Chapters eight and nine of the book of Ezekiel. He read about how the prophet Ezekiel was brought by the Holy Spirit to see the reality of the false religion of the elders of the church of Israel.

Jack was supposed to carry on reading the Book of Matthew, but he was led to read the above two chapters instead. He merely obeyed. When he read through them he was led to see the scenes of horror. Ezekiel was sitting with the elders quietly socializing, just like any other normal days. But he saw what God saw, their sins and all the abominations done within the house of God, worshipping idols and following superstitious religious practices of the unbelievers, land full of bloodshed, city full of perversity. God sent six angels having charge over the city to go round and utterly slay with their battle axes, starting with the elders of the church (before the temple). Only those who sighed and groaned over all the abominations committed in the midst of it were spared.

Ezekiel’s vision shocked Jack to the core and he interceded for the city he lived in for the first time with conviction and fear.

When he finally got down to reading Matthew, he had a breakthrough in the spirit. his old self must die because Jesus has given him a new self! The following is a record in his journal of living Biblically.
__________________________________________________

DAY EIGHT-THIRTEEN: A BREAKTHROUGH IN LIVING BIBLICALLY ACCORDING TO JESUS

I had started this practice with zeal but not with sufficient knowledge. When I read the Gospel of Matthew, I realized that what Jesus taught was hard to impossible to do. As I progressed in reading I soon reached a point when I thought my efforts were futile. How could I be rejoicing in practice when being bullied? How could I not break any of the Law consciously or unconsciously? How could my righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees?

What Jesus demanded was beyond any human reach. For example, getting angry with your brother is same as murder. Looking at a woman and getting attracted to her is same as adultery. Plucking out your right eye if it causes you to sin. Cutting off your right hand if it causes you to sin. Divorcing your wife is causing her to sin (commit adultery). Not swearing any oath. Giving in to someone who bullies you, even to the extent of loving your enemy!

I regretted in choosing to start with this Gospel. So I stopped for a few days and read other parts of the Bible. Yesterday I re-read the verses and had a breakthrough! How blind I had been! The following is a summary of what I discovered about what Jesus was saying in Matthew 5: 17-48.

1. Verse 17: Jesus declared that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. It is Jesus who fulfilled and not us. Indeed he had already done so.

2. Verse 20: the righteousness (of God) that Jesus has imputed to His believers definitely exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. We received the righteousness by faith and not be works (just as Abraham did). (Romans 4)

3. Verses 21-37: when Jesus talked about the Law He pointed out the real causes of sins. For example, anger leads to murder; lust leads to adultery; covetousness of the eye leads to stealing; breaking of the marriage covenant leads to further breaches of the covenant; dishonesty leads to false swearing of oath. Therefore, what we need to watch out and deal with are the causes of sin and take preventive moral measure (Biblical inoculations and daily cleansing by the Word). Jesus was concerned with the sinful causes and not the Law because without the causes there would be no need for the Law.

4. Verses 38-48: Jesus contrasted the legitimate duty or right of a person with relationship-focus and service-attitude (far superior in value and worth in God’s eyes). God Himself after all is our role model. He needs not provide for us and yet He does it out of love, even for the unlovely. He has every legitimate reason to judge and sentence us but He has chosen to pardon and forgive.

My application: continue to seek God’s presence and read His words daily, to receive His cleansing and working into me continuously. Watch my mouth and behavior. Examine my motives before acting.

AAA Jack
2009-03-10