Posted: 05/23/2012 at 7:32am | IP Logged

This morning, I dreamed of being in an area with many people. A man came up to me and said he needed my help. He had something growing out of his forehead. It looked at his forehead and it looked like a twig was growing out of his forehead. It had a small stem and a bud on it. He wanted me to pull it out. I wondered how he got a tree seed to sprout on his face. I was concerned that if I pulled it out that it might take a part of his face or skin with it. I told him that I could not pull it out and that he had to go see a doctor. Then, the dream then shifted and I saw several other people walking around and they each had tree branches growing out of them. Some branches were growing out of their heads, some had branches growing out of their chests, or others had them growing out of other areas their body. Some had short small twig-like trees growing out of them, and others had bigger tree branches growing out of them. Some of their branches were blooming and some had only leaves on them. All were in various stages of growth and maturity.

What was interesting to me was the people themselves. I overhead some of the people saying that they did not want the tree branches to grow out of them because they wanted to be like normal people. Some of the people did not like the area that their branches grew out of and some said that they wanted them to be less noticeable. I saw a few of the people that were smiling and walking around enjoying their new found growth. I then turned and looked around, and saw lots of other people in the dream did not have any branches growing out of them at all. This phenomenon was affecting only certain people among the masses. I was just about to talk to one of them when I was awakened by my husband to go to the morning prayer watch at our church.

The interpretation is obvious, as we are the oaks of righteousness, God's plantings.......but the deeper issues as seen in the above experience is that we have a tendency to not want God to come as He wants to, but we want it our way........and the Lord wants us to open up to Him, and let Him do what He wants to in us, through us, and among us. Also, whether we like it or not, God is going to come how He wants to, when He wants to, and He will use who He wants to.......but will you be among them? We have to say yes to God and let Him have full control, and make us into what He wants us to be! God is manifesting Himself in our midst right now, can you see Him, or feel Him? He wants all of His Children to enter in and to come to know Him intimately and fully, and then let Him out, into your lives and into the lives around you!

Scriptures:

Psalms 1:1 BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. 2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. 3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

Psalms 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in and confidently rely on the loving-kindness and the mercy of God forever and ever.

Psalms 92:12 The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible]. 13 Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men--he gathers and receives them for eternity].

Isaiah 6:13 And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land, it will be for their destruction [eaten up and burned] like a terebinth tree or like an oak whose stump and substance remain when they are felled or have cast their leaves. The holy seed [the elect remnant] is the stump and substance [of Israel].

Hosea 14:5 I will be like the dew and the night mist to Israel; he shall grow and blossom like the lily and cast forth his roots like [the sturdy evergreens of] Lebanon. 6 His suckers and shoots shall spread, and his beauty shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like [the cedars and aromatic shrubs of] Lebanon.

The Habitation of the Lord is His Resting Place, the Place of His Feet:

Isaiah 60:1 ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you! 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [O Jerusalem], and His glory shall be seen on you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes round about you and see! They all gather themselves together, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried and nursed in the arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant, and your heart shall thrill and tremble with joy [at the glorious deliverance] and be enlarged; because the abundant wealth of the [Dead] Sea shall be turned to you, unto you shall the nations come with their treasures. 6 A multitude of camels [from the eastern trading tribes] shall cover you [Jerusalem], the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all the men from Sheba [who once came to trade] shall come, bringing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the Lord. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you [as the eastern pastoral tribes join the trading tribes], the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on My altar, and My glorious house I will glorify. 8 Who are these who fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? 9 Surely the isles and distant coastlands shall wait for and expect Me; and the ships of Tarshish [shall come] first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, for the Holy One of Israel, because He has beautified and glorified you. 10 Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in My wrath I smote you, but in My favor, pleasure, and goodwill I have had mercy, love, and pity for you. 11 And your gates shall be open continually, they shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations--and their kings led in procession [your voluntary captives]. 12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you in that day [Jerusalem] shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly laid waste. 13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane, and the pine [trees] together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. 14 The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all those who despised you shall bow down at your feet, and they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through you, I will make you [Jerusalem] an eternal glory, a joy from age to age. 16 You shall suck the milk of the [Gentile] nations and shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall recognize and know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. [Instead of the tyranny of the present] I will appoint peace as your officers and righteousness as your taskmasters. 18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders, but you shall call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. 19 The sun shall no more be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you, but the Lord shall be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory and your beauty. 20 Your sun shall no more go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. 21 Your people also shall all be [uncompromisingly and consistently] righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. 22 The least one shall become a thousand [a clan], and the small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its [appointed] time.

Isaiah 61:1 THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound, 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord [the year of His favor] and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant [consolation and joy] to those who mourn in Zion--to give them an ornament (a garland or diadem) of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit--that they may be called oaks of righteousness [lofty, strong, and magnificent, distinguished for uprightness, justice, and right standing with God], the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. 4 And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former desolations and renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. 5 Aliens shall stand [ready] and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. 6 But you shall be called the priests of the Lord; people will speak of you as the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and the glory [once that of your captors] shall be yours. 7 Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs. 8 For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong with violence or a burnt offering. And I will faithfully give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant or league with them. 9 And their offspring shall be known among the nations and their descendants among the peoples. All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge that they are the people whom the Lord has blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as [surely as] the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring forth, so [surely] the Lord God will cause rightness and justice and praise to spring forth before all the nations [through the self-fulfilling power of His word].

God is fulfilling every prophecy right now, they are unfolding as we walk them out. Each one in it's timing. Let God have His Way, and let God fully in today! You are to be that visible expression of the Lord in the earth for all men to see!

Daniel 4:11 The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.

-Susan O'Marra

05-22-12

Posted: 05/23/2012 at 9:19pm | IP Logged

Hi Juanita, thanks for posting Susan's word.  I have 2 interesting things to share about this.   The first one is a bit bizarre.  A friend gave me a winter arrangement of sticks in a foam block in a plastic bucket.  I started to take it apart about a week ago.  Everything but a birch branch had turned brown.  When I went to remove it I noticed that it was budding!  I've still got it in a pot.  I don't really know what I'm going to do with it, but felt I couldn't just get rid of this branch that's come back to life.  I was taking it for a sign of what He's doing in us...then you posted this word! 

The other thing is what Father's been doing in my heart.  He's helping me to see that neither my failures get in HIs way, nor do my successes necessarily impress Him.  He's given me talents I know & I will use them if He wants me to.  But I believe He led me to realize that just because I have natural talents, it doesn't mean that that is how He would desire to work through me.  I placed before Him all those abilities that I have had in my life, as well as the expectations that He would use me according to them.  Whether it was Moses feeling he was too slow of tongue to speak for God, or Gideon who was too afraid to thresh in the open to lead a charge against a great multitude of the enemy, or newly circumcized Israelites positioned against one of the highest walled cities of the promised land to conquer...Father isn't perturbed about our lack of abilities, actually when we lack them He's able to show us what He actually plans to do through His greater power.  Like Susan's word says above He wants to do what He wants in & through us & He doesn't really need our abilities to do that.  Really, we come to HIm with nothing but who we are in Jesus....even our best isn't good enough to gain us any points or position with HIm...only through HIs much beloved Son are we welcomed.  Once we let go of our preconceived ideas of our usefulness, of our part in His plan, then He's free to begin to fulfil His work His way in us & through us. 

Posted: 05/25/2012 at 8:32pm | IP Logged

It's so nice to have others in the body who understand these common things we sometimes go through.  I smile about your SUV criticisms & then you drive one...

I've known for years now that anything that I begin to get too attached to or begin to become identified with that there comes a time when I will feel the tug to give it up.  I understand His jealous love, or rather His loving heart that wants to ensure other vines don't entangle our hearts & choke Him out.  Now through these experiences, He also wants us to become less 'humanly' opinionated as you mentioned.  It's such a human tendency, but not one that He shares, so I guess it makes very good sense that He would want us to give that up.

I remember reading a story once about a wise old villager in South America who goes through different experiences (his son finds a horse, the horse brings a herd along, the son falls & breaks a leg while training the horses, the army won't take him because he's hurt etc).   In all of these situations, like Job's false comforters the other villagers are all eager to comment...oh that's good, oh no that's bad, now that's good etc.  Yet the wise old man just keeps saying "maybe it is, maybe it isn't, only the Lord knows".  I guess our willingness to judge situations & people as good or bad is really the wrong fruit from the wrong tree that He doesn't want us to eat from any longer.  Instead, His tree of Life doesn't cast false judgement, He knows what is truly good & He knows what He's going to glean from the 'bad' situations FOR GOOD, & we could too if we asked for His perspective more often.  And as you wrote, that includes our opinions about our areas of usefulness or hindrance to Him...

So, as you say, Help us Father to keep ourselves neutral for You, help us to grasp things only lightly, willing at any time to hand the to You & Your higher wisdom.  And as you mention, He often gives us back something greater...ask Abraham! 

Posted: 05/28/2012 at 9:03pm | IP Logged

Hi Juanita, yes I've read his words...you're right, very much meat.  Father does some deep dealings with Mitt.  I haven't read the one you're talking about but the others that I've read I've found that it's easier for Father to deal with me about things when I read Mitt's words...they always hit home.

I've looked at it online, thanks for the info Juanita...I'll have to give it a read also.  Maybe we can compare notes afterward.

Colleen

Posted: 05/29/2012 at 8:54am | IP Logged

Powerful word from Susan; thank you for sharing it Juanita!

Interestingly, Pastor Joseph Prince was teaching on Psalms 1: 1-3 this past Sunday.  He spoke about meditating on the scriptures and how God reveals Himself through them.

He gave an example of his meditating on vs. 3 -- trees being planted by the water and how God showed him the symbolism of the tree in this verse of "trees have long lives." 

Later, I remember a song that my grandmother used to sing of that very verse.  I then also meditated on it and God revealed to me "that the water continuosly nourished the trees causing them to be strong (Daniel 4:11)  And that "strong trees, deeply rooted, can survive any storm."

This is confirmation of Pastor Prince's teaching, as well as a prophetic truth that has been spoken to me twice to let me know the critical importance of this word to my life.

“The Lord bless you and keep you;The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’