Are you properly balanced?

 

You may wonder why I chose a picture of a parking lot for a blog with a title on being properly balanced. A few nights ago, I had a dream that my husband and I had arrived in a new location and were attempting to park our vehicle at a grocery store.  The parking spaces were as you see in the photo, slanted at an angle and a little longer than the ones you may use at Wal-Mart.  My husband was driving, and we pulled into a space with no car on our right, but a large truck to our left, and no vehicles behind us.  

Mel turned off the engine, but before we could exit the vehicle, a woman leaving the grocery store (heading toward us) looked at us with a disapproving expression. Her face did not show cruelty, but more like disappointment.  The best way I can think of to describe this woman is that she had an old-fashioned hairdo similar to what some legalistic religions still wear, pulled up in a less flashy bee-hive sort of style.  However, she was not dressed as the women in their churches do - only wearing dresses. Instead, she was wearing a feminine, modest top and pants.  

We were not sure why she was giving us a disapproving look, but we looked in the direction of where her gaze had fallen, to the back of the vehicle.  We realized we were parked too far backwards and it would be difficult for another vehicle pulling in to park without hitting us.  We then re-parked.

This time, we had yet to turn off the engine when a man dressed like a cowboy walked toward us as the woman had, only this time on our left.  It was his turn to give us the same expression as the woman had, not in disgust or anger, but rather disappointed that we had now parked too far forward. 

We immediately realized that the front end of our vehicle was over the line and if anyone drove the stretch of parking lot in front of us, they would risk striking us. Mel immediately reversed the vehicle, this time centering it perfectly in the middle.

At first, I just thought this was a normal dream that was not worth mentioning, but one of the first things Mel asked me that morning was if I had had any dreams from the Lord.  Initially, I said I had not, but this dream was in the back of my mind, so I asked him why he had asked me this.  Mel said he had had a vision that I was going to be given a dream by the Holy Spirit. After I shared this dream with my husband, I then told him the same thing I always say, that I am not completely sure this dream was from the Lord, but that I can easily see a spiritual message in it.

Before I get into the interpretation of this dream that Mel and I both agreed upon, I want to explain why I used the title I did, rather than using a parking term in the title.  That same evening, I was playing a word game on my Kindle, and the first round of the night was titled, "Properly Balanced."  Coincidence? Maybe, but it still fits the theme of the dream.

Here is how my husband and I interpreted the dream.

The grocery store: In spiritual dreams, stores, restaurants, or anytime you are eating with someone, symbolizes spiritual food for us to learn from and/or to share with others. 

New location: This has dual meanings. We were in a new town in this dream because we believe God will be moving us in 1-2 years (or less). Because we believe this location will be where we launch the next phase of our ministry, a new location also means getting settled spiritually where God wants us to be. 

Being in a vehicle: In spiritual dreams, vehicles  represent spiritual beliefs. The person driving is the one who is the leader. In this case, my husband is the spiritual head of our home. If it is another person and the vehicle is driving recklessly, this means that person is leading you down dangerous theological paths. 

The woman / parking too far backward: She was disappointed in us because she did not want us going backwards into legalism. Let me clarify, I am not trying to insult anyone's religion, but I am merely sharing what the Lord shared with me. She represented being too legalistic and rigid in holiness beliefs, to the point it goes beyond what the Bible teaches.  While I completely agree with modesty in women, I have also attended churches similar to the one she symbolized, and they make a woman feel unwelcome if they do not have hair to their waist, their dress does not reach her ankles, or she wears pants. This and other types of religions and others trapped in old testament laws have so many unbiblical rules one must follow, that they make people not want God at all.  I will not go into why they have legalistic and not Biblical beliefs, because the point of the woman in this dream was that God does not want us to be so over-the-top seeped in holiness alone, that we turn people away from Him. Whether you believe it or not, holiness does not equal legalism!!  There needs to be a proper balance of grace and love added to our message. This is why she had the hairdo of the religion, but the clothes were less rigid.  In other words, TRUE HOLINESS BELIEFS ARE VERY PLEASING TO THE LORD!  (For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:11-14)

The cowboy / parking too far forward: Just as the woman represented the proper balance of holiness beliefs, the man symbolized not being unequally yoked with worldly beliefs. He was disappointed in us because he did not want us to be too involved with the world. By parking too far forward, we would have gotten too close to the world. This not only meant getting too intertwined with the unsaved or backslidden people in our lives, but also not getting involved in the liberal grace message of eternal security. Quickly PULLING AWAY FROM the line where OTHER VEHICLES (people, WORLDY BELIEFS/ACTIONS, or false religions) could have caused us harm, WAS ALSO PLEASING TO THE LORD!  (Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 & And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2)

The parking lot: Where we had settled in our belief systems. This is why the dream ended with us parked properly balanced where God has been training us to be. This dream was encouraging us to stay properly balanced and not park either too far forward or backward.(This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21)

Don't Exchange the Truth for a Lie

 

I have been praying about what God wanted me to write about next.  He gave me two phrases: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil." And "They traded the truth for a lie." God also told me very clearly not to be afraid of anyone who might reject me for my writings because it is important to share the Truth.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 

Isaiah 5:20 

Keep those words in mind as they go along with the theme of this blog.

The second phrase God gave me, I knew I had heard before, but could not remember where it was in the bible nor what the context of that scripture was.  I had to look it up.  It is in Romans Because the context of scripture is long, I will post it at the end of this writing.

I realize that a portion of Romans 1 has to do with the sin of homosexuality, but I do not believe that is what God is specifically calling me to write about at this time.  The theme God wants me to focus on is the backsliding of saints. Those that have been taught the Truth and have rejected it.

In other writings, I explain that I was once just as guilty of knowing not to watch things God considers evil.  I knew better, but I did it anyway.  I did not give up all tv/movies until September 2015.  Therefore, I do not write out if a self-righteous heart, but out if compassion in wishing you all to be set free from darkness. 

So, if we are taught at an early (or not-so-early) age to avoid witchcraft, drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, etc., then why do we choose to sin?  It is because we have been hurt to the very core and we blame God.  We think He should have intervened and saved us from an illness,  miscarriage, a divorce, a death of a loved one, the loss of a home, etc.  We may think we have gotten over the anger towards God, but in all reality, we choose to rebel against the scriptures we have heard for many years, and probably even memorized.  We choose this as a child rebels against a parent they think is being unfair.  In all honesty, I was a good kid.  But, when my parents set a curfew I did not agree with, I simply chose to come home whenever I wanted and suffer the consequences later.  Sound familiar?  Our attitude may sound something like this, "God, I think it was pretty heartless of you to allow my wife to cheat on me, so therefore, I am going to smoke this joint."  or "God, I don't understand why I cannot have children, and since you don't seem to care, neither do I."

Satan absolutely loves it when we allow our minds to wander down such paths of what we consider logical rebellion.

But, don't be fooled...  God does care!  He does not will bad things to happen to us.  Bad things often happen due to poor choices we make, and God will not save us when we jump off a cliff without a parachute just because we say we have faith.  He expects us to be proactive.  You cannot expect God to heal you of high blood pressure if you continue to pig out on chips and ice cream (something I am learning to gain control of).  You cannot expect God to save your marriage if you refuse to put down the sin of pornography.  Or bless your business if you treat your employees unfairly.  We have to take care of our marriages, our bodies, and other people if we want God's blessings.  We cannot hold someone responsible that did not pull the trigger.  Unfortunately, our mistakes can cause others hurt.  If you refuse to have your vehicle serviced on a regular basis and it breaks down on your wife and she gets stranded in the middle of nowhere, that is not God's fault.

I am well aware that bad things happen to people who live life as clean as they can.  They are devout in their faith and love God with all their hearts.  Do they have a reason to be mad?  Sure.  In fact, even those that are victims of their own fault have reason to be mad.  The Bible says it is okay to be angry as long as we do not sin in anger (Ephesians 4:26)  But don't stay mad; pray that God helps you heal by the power of His Holy Spirit as it is impossible to heal on our own.  We live in a fallen world where man chooses to alienate God.  Therefore, God does not always intervene.  I have several health issues.  Is that my fault or God's?  No.  Has God chosen to heal me?  No.  But He has or will lead me to the proper doctor and proper medications.  If I was still obsessing over "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Lord of the Rings" and knowingly watching a show that was displeasing to God, I would have no right to even ask God to heal me.  Anymore than you could expect a boss to give you a raise if you are always late to work and have a bad attitude. 

I think I'm getting off subject. 

Anyway, my point was that we choose to dishonor God with our rebellions because we blame Him for our unfortunate circumstances.  We justify glorifying witchcraft or drinking alcohol because it is fun or makes us feel better.  I have heard people often say, "Oh, I know there's swearing, violence, and sex in that movie, but overall I really loved it."  And they watch it again and again.

 Verses 20-21: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

This sounds to me like they were well aware of God's power, rebelled, and God was absolutely going to hold them accountable because they knew better.  In fact, I believe God holds us more accountable when we know the Truth and trade it for a lie than when our sins are a little bit more ignorant. 

 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.  Hebrews 6:4-6

 Verse 22 states that, Professing to be wise, they became fools.  To me, this sounds like they knew better and justified their actions with false logic, and therefore, became foolish.   

But there is good news for those that have rebelled and chosen to backslide.  I see a lot of people who choose to do wrong still going to church, calling themselves Christians, and reading their bibles.  The hope lies in prayers. We can pray this all sinks in once and for all.  That God will ultimately open their eyes, or re-open as the case may be.  Or if it is us that has fallen away, we need to repent and start over.

I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.  Revelation 2:4-5

Please prayerfully consider all I have said.  Remember my goal is never to condemn anyone, but if the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart and convicts you, please listen and obey.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,  because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.  Romans 1:18-32