A Dream about The Rapture: UNREAL

Dream about the Rapture

Dream that I WAS RAPTURED

October 29, 2014, 3:11 a.m.

Okay, here's as much as I can recall.  I just shot up in bed with the knowledge of it.

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I was telling ppl about Jesus, telling ppl that the time was near...

I was not alone.  But as the dream progressed, the ppl of Christ were segregated, into one group, one place.  (Hard to explain:  but there was a clear location divide on followers and non-followers.)

Evil was increasing.  (Things seemed to be changing rapidly--marked by the fact that the buildings and businesses were being remodeled, expanding, developing and I was often inwardly noting the passing of time. I don't know if this is significant.)

I was arguing MADLY with someone, intensely telling ppl about The Lord.  We had to fight to be heard, and we did not stop telling ppl about Jesus.  And I was arguing a point, the need for Christ, when I felt it.  

It happened.

In a split second, with absolutely no warning (other than KNOWING and FEELING in my spirit the immediacy of His coming), my body completely disappeared (and I actually felt it, like it phased out, and then it reappeared in a new place.  I could feel the "phasing," not unlike a "beam me up, Scotty," though there was NO warning, and it took a split second to happen) and then reappeared.  

This happened, literally, in the blink of an eye.  

And here's what I mean, split second:  When the Rapture happened, I was still arguing with someone on earth about The Lord, about how short time was, about how they needed The Lord.   I kept telling ppl they needed to get right with Christ.  It was MID-SENTENCE when the Rapture happened.   It happened so quickly that I felt it happening, but when I  reappeared, immediately, I was finishing my sentence that I was making on earth.  I was still in "argument mode" until I realized I had been raptured, that it had happened, and I was among God's ppl elsewhere.

And then I got REAAAALLY excited!  This feeling of being Raptured was SO REAL that I was REJOICING and jumping with excitement!  I was screaming (and I think I may have screamed in real life, waking myself up), "It happened!  It happened!  The Rapture happened!  I felt it!  It was REAL!"

I burst into tongues of PRAISE as I was emerging from the knowledge of dream-world.

Many of the details are sketchy, but I know the location of it all was downtown Poteau-ish, by a car lot.  It was a business district-ish.

I remember that I was constantly talking to ppl, trying to tell ppl to get their hearts right.  I felt an IMMEDIACY.  During the entire dream, I was SPEAKING, not just plotting or observing or "doing."  I was telling ppl.  Talking to some, arguing or pleading with others.  And the response to my efforts was, realistically, divided: Some were listening, some got their hearts right (and were making commitments, and joining us--physically moving from watching us to becoming one of us), but many jeered and many were non-committal. 

But it didn't stop me from speaking.  

Though this dream focused, clearly, on my own experience, I was not alone.  Again, I want to reiterate that I was in a group of people, moving about (in the dream, we were hovering in one area together), that in our group, everyone was ACTIVE.  No one was sitting down or apathetic.  You were either for us and active, or not with us (apathetic or against us.)

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I am absolutely and utterly blown away.  

Merely Human Rules

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Matthew 15:8, NIV

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'" Isaiah 29:13, NIV

What sobering scriptures.

1.  THE PROBLEM WITH LIP-SERVICE:  

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me"

These verses remind us that just because we SAY we love, praise, honor, revere Him doesn't mean that we actually do.  Just SAYING it or singing it or proclaiming it does not mean that our hearts are "right" with God--or that He receives or accepts our worship.  What a disturbing thought!  Because how many of the people this passage is directed to think it is enough to just SAY it?  How many of the people think they are in right standing when, in fact, they are not?  What a dangerous place to be, spiritually!

I think of people who say they will be there for you, that they've "got your back," and when it comes down to it, they aren't there when you need them.  I think of times when people said one thing and did another, proclaimed one thing and proved to be something else.  This is what Jesus is discussing here.  How frustrating it is to discover the person you thought was a friend was actually just pretending to be! And how said to "pretend" to be a friend of God when, in fact, you are not.  God knows our hearts.  

"Their hearts are far from me."  Not nearby.  Far from Him.  Distant.  Not even close.  How frightening that you could frequent the house of God, sing and speak about being connected--but not be.

Introspection:  Where is my heart this evening?  Right now--as opposed to yesterday or yesteryear?  Have I withdrawn myself from His presence in some way?  God forbid.  Do I rely on rituals in my faith, instead of a daily relationship?  Do I follow the crowd instead of seek His face, personally?

2.  CULTURE and MAN-MADE WORSHIP:

"Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught."

Worship is about Him, not us.  I hope we never forget that!  Else, we may be guilty of what the prophet records:  our dependance on a worthless, powerless cultural/man-made worship that we have been taught.  Do we KNOW why we do the things we do?  Believe the things we believe?  Do we mindlessly copy what is being said and done around us?  Or do we have a PERSONAL relationship and revelation that steers what we do and say?  Is my worship cultural?  Taught and copied, generation after generation?  Or is it real, heartfelt?  Is it received by the Creator?

I think of how dangerous it is just to teach people "rules" or "legalism" and not explain the WHY's of it, according to the Word of God (as opposed to the word of men).  I think of people who are discipled to MIMIC others instead of Follow Christ.  I think of how important it is not to ONLY teach recitation, but the meaning behind it, and the need to persistently fight "rote" recitation and keep the recitation "fresh" and pure.

Introspection:  Am I engaging in cultural or man-made worship?  If so, Lord, please reveal it to me.  Is there worship I'm engaging in that pleases ME (or us) more than GOD ALMIGHTY?  Is my focus on Him and Him alone--as it should be?  Do I know why I do/say/believe the things I do/say/believe?  I want my worship of my Heavenly Father to be genuine and real.  

Prayer:  Help me, Lord, to please Your heart.  Help me to stay in your Presence.  Help me not to rely on recitation, the words of others, the patterns of others, but help me to be REAL, in every way that matters to You and Your Kingdom.  Thank You for challenging me tonight, Lord.  I am humbled at this reminder.  Help me to be found pleasing in Your sight, always and forever.  xoxo