A True Story.
Timeframe: sometime in 1996, Riverhills, Qld.
One night I had a heavenly dream.
It’s not as though I’d planned it, or that I had been fasting and praying all week. It simply happened. I had neither wished for it, or was expecting it.
However looking back I’m grateful for it. I can still see and feel the way the dream went, 20 years on!
In the dream I had stepped into a very large room. Almost like a large cathedral. The room itself was shining brightly, and the walls reached right up into heaven.
Looking around the room was like looking into the distance because I could not see where they ended, just like looking up the wall to find that there was no ceiling in the place.
The walls were made of brick, and I sensed that the bricks themselves were connecting with me. I looked at them intently and realised that the bricks were people – that people were embedded into the walls – and they were looking silently on at me while I was in the room.
There was a holy presence in that place. And not a hint of fear, but extreme peace that seemed to rest on me like a warm blanket. Not figuratively, but literally. The peace was beautiful. I could simply “be” without any striving, fear or sense of urgency.
Then a friend appeared near me. This was no ordinary friend – it’s as if I had known him for a while. It soon dawned on me that this was a friend with a “capital F”.
My friend spoke to me. Actually before he spoke I sensed that he was going to speak. The whole atmosphere became charged with a mixture of what seemed like a heavy wind and static electricity. It built up in such a way that it was released as he spoke.
And then He spoke.
The words themselves were few. But more interestingly was the way that they arrived. They weren’t spoken to my head. they were spoken to my being. My whole body started to reverberate under the power of the words that He was speaking.
As he spoke the power of his voice became like a river of water that flowed, gushing through and around me. I could barely stand up as the water was driving me back. And yet I never felt as though I was going to be swept away.
Just four words. That’s it. A simple message, but one that He wanted me to remember: “I AM YOUR FRIEND”.
The power in His voice was exceptional. And calming.
I stared towards His face, but since I couldn’t hold onto my grip I couldn’t see what He looked like.
Each word seemed to take a few seconds to finish. When He Said ,”I”, it was though He was thundering as the place shook around me.
“AM” was the next word that boomed through the atmosphere and connected with my spirit like the penetrating hug of a long lost friend.
“YOUR FRIEND” seemed to take the longest time to finish because the words simply trailed off through the current of water that was saturating me.
When I finally woke up, the holy heavenly presence was still flowing over me like a strong current – and even now as I type this it comes as a warm blanket around my head and shoulders.
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DISCUSSION
Over the coming months the dream came to life from the scriptures that I read. Here is where they relate.
A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES
Hebrews 12:1(a) – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, …”
These are the people that I saw in the wall are witnesses to everything that is happening on the earth.
LIVING STONES
1 Peter 2:5 – “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
God is building a new heaven and a new earth and those who trust in Jesus are being built into that new building.
VOICE LIKE WATER
Ezekiel 43:2 – “and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.”
Revelation 1:15 – “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.”
These descriptions of God shows us that when He speaks it is a powerful force!
I AM YOUR FRIEND
John 15:15 – “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
A passage that now makes more sense than ever, given the backdrop of the dream that I experienced.
As a result of the dream, and it’s connection with the Living Word, I am resting in Jesus my Friend (with a capital F), to lead and guide me through the paths of life.
He definitely knows I need it !