Friday, December 26, 2008, 5:55 a.m. – I woke out of a dream. My mom was being held captive in a nursing home of some sort. When I went to investigate this, they had moved her to another facility. So, I talked with some of the other patients who began to tell me about where they had taken her.
I had a little notebook and a pen in my purse, so I got them out and I began to take notes. One patient said something about an electric company and there were a few other hints, as well. There was an official of the nursing home who began to look over my shoulder to see what I was writing. She said, “I see you are taking notes.” So, I attempted to hide the notes from her in some way so that she could not see what I was writing.
When I went back to the patients to get more information, all of a sudden they were suffering memory loss.
Next I remember someone charging through these huge iron gates. There appeared to be some kind of battle with evil forces. I thought that I could do that, too, as though seeing this encouraged me that I could charge through the gates of hell. End
That is when I woke up. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
www.excite.com Daily Bible Verse - 1 John 5:3-4 (New International Version):
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Hebrews 5:11-6:20: Warning Against Falling Away
11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Certainty of God's Promise
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
My Understanding: The first thing I noticed was the time of day today, 5:55 a.m.
Whenever the Lord wanted to show that something had his divine stamp on it in scripture, he used the number 3 which represents our triune Godhead. He gave Peter a vision 3 times. Peter denied the Lord 3 times and he reaffirmed his love for the Lord 3 times. Jonah was in the belly of the big fish 3 days and 3 nights and Jesus was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights. 5 is the number of grace, so 3 – 5’s demonstrates that the Lord’s grace is more than sufficient for all of our needs.
In the dream I was taking notes because I was “slow to learn” about true spiritual warfare. I attempted to hide my notes out of fear of rejection (in the past). The patients represent believers in Jesus who are subjected to earthly authorities and who are struggling in their faith but who have not yielded completely to the world’s influences in their lives. They have “memory loss” because they are afraid, too.
I sensed in the dream that the nursing home official represented the government and the Lord has since confirmed that the official represents the universal government, i.e. the one world order, a.k.a. the beast of Revelation. My mom represents the apostate church. A nursing home is a place where people have all their needs met by someone else. In the first nursing home, this represents a socialistic society where everyone is dependent on the government. In the “electric company” nursing home where my mom was moved and was being held captive, it represents our electronic society – TV, videos, video games and the Internet, etc. that have become the central focus of most homes and lives in the USA and in other countries, as well, that have adopted the ways of the west.
In the Hebrews passage, we are encouraged to increase our learning and to no longer be “slow to learn”, because the days are evil. We are exhorted to leave the elementary teachings of our faith and to move on to maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can discern good from evil. Our “electronic society” represents so much evil. There is good mixed in with it, but so many believers in Christ have fallen captive to the evils of this electronic society and God is barely remembered by them.
This next section of scripture is highly controversial with many varied interpretations. I believe the Lord is showing me that the word “impossible” is a word of contrast such as in the passage of scripture where we are instructed to “hate” our family members and ourselves if we want to be the Lord’s disciples (See Luke 14:25-27). In other passages of scripture we are told to love people, in fact that is the second greatest commandment, so “hate” is a contrast word that by comparison to our love for our Lord it should be as though we “hate” all else. It also has to do with not holding on to anyone or anything of this world but to yield our lives completely to the Lord. In this same manner, the word “impossible” contrasts the spiritual condition of the apostate church whose only hope is the grace of God multiplied 3 times.
It is true that the church (apostate) today is crucifying the Son of God all over again and is subjecting him to public disgrace. The church of today, for the most part, is a very poor representation of our Lord Jesus, for it is more a reflection of our society, our culture and the world’s influences than it is a reflection of pure devotion to God. This electronic society has wielded a most powerful influence over today’s church.
The last part of this passage goes with the last part of the dream where someone is storming the gates of hell so that victory can be won over evil. That someone is Jesus who already conquered sin, death and hell and won the victory for us. We just have to take hold of the hope offered to us (v.17-20) through obedience to Almighty God in forsaking the idols of our lives that have taken His place in our lives.