Light in the Darkness
"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you." ~ Isaiah 60:1
Read the following Entries before this one
Heavenly Father
Your strength in me outweighs the heaviness of my flesh. May You ignite my heart with Your power and glory, so I may have victory in Your name. For my victory is Yours, and my heart and soul is Yours! May Your will be done at this moment, for if I fall to death, I know for certain You have beaten it and peace will take hold. But I ask, for those who You’ve brought me to, send more faithful servants of Yours, so that they may know Your name!
In Your Son’s mighty name, Jesus… I pray
Amen
“Teacher?” Harim’s eyes shake as he nods to me.
I take my feet and plant them firmly against the face of the cliff, then with a great push, I leap over to the stone…
In the seconds it took for me to leap, my hand gripped tightly to the stone, but my strength to pull myself up to Harim’s hand was used up from holding on to the cliffside for too long.
I slipped right before I could lock my hand onto his. My last words uttered from my lips were, “Trust in Him.”
I closed my eyes, ready to join You in Your heavenly plane, my Lord. Yet, You still have plans for me. Even in the darkness, You lit up my path.
Your unifying light calls me forth, but what does it all mean? I still struggle to grasp what it is You’ve shown me.
Jesus, if Your church is in disunity, I am unsure of how I may thread it back together, but as You once prayed…
“Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.”
Luke 22:42
If it is Your will for me to unify, then work through me as I place my trust in You. May Your light shine through the seeds I plant for Your great harvest.
As I look back up toward the stalactites in this cavern, the luminescent glow from the stream I emerged from reminds me of the prophetic vision You gave me regarding Your church…
This is the vision the Lord sent me through The Holy Spirit:
A formless void engulfed all my surroundings when a light broke through the darkness in the form of a cross. The Angel of the Lord shined with such glory that out from the tip of the cross extended a pillar of light, gleaming into an infinite beam.
Upon closer inspection of this magnificent pillar, images of memories poured through the pillar, sending me through the eyes of the Lord’s children. In each memory, they sprang like branches and fruit from the eternal vine that wrapped through the pillar of light.
The further up I climbed the larger the branches grew. Then Your Spirit spoke to me. “My Child, what is it that you see?”
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who remains in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5
“Lord,” I praised, “I am Your humble servant, thank You for showing me Your glory! I am ready to serve You in Your heavenly kingdom, for that’s what I see, is it not?”
Then Your Spirit spoke again, “Your time has not yet come. Therefore, what is it that you see?”
In His presence, His voice radiated with such splendor that I couldn’t bear to keep close to the pillar of light. I gave distance between myself and the pillar of light, as I pondered and gave my response, “My Lord, I see Your glory where You ascended from the cross. I see the pillar of light and the vine that extends into eternity. I see branches that begin small and grow larger and larger, producing much fruit that…” Suddenly, I noticed that as I veered further up the pillar of light, the branches extended out branches of their own, with some producing ripe fruit but others that withered away, and fruit from both the ripe and withered fell. The withered fell into the darkness and the ripe were pulled back into the pillar of light, “…are falling?”
For the third time, Your Spirit spoke once more, “Focus on the branches upon branches, what is it that you see?”
Doing as the Lord commanded, I saw the body of Christ flogged with each withered branch that fell into darkness. I saw His blood drip upon each ripe branch that grew larger.
“Jesus, I see Your body, Your church growing and changing. Yet, I still do not understand why You show me this. Please, my Lord, can You explain this sight You’ve given me?” I prayed to Him.
“Yes, I shall. What you see before you is My body. What you see above is My bride. What you see growing are My children. What you see falling are My children and those who have turned from Me. As you start from My passion and the place where I received My glory, you will find that the further you look up the more the future that has yet to happen. Every branch is a church, and the further up you go, the more branches upon branches there will be. This gives Me great joy and sorrow. For there are many who have kept My commandments and have followed Me. But the branches upon branches lead My children away from loving each other. To be unified through Me. Therefore, My child, the work you do for My kingdom will be to unify My bride so she may be one with My body.”
In His complete explanation and commandment, the pillar of light shined so brightly that it drowned out the darkness and my eyes were opened.
Suddenly, from within the stream that crosses through this underground cavern, I see a fish swim through the luminescent glow. It swirls around a few times, then comes up out of the water for a moment as if looking at me.
“My Lord?” I ask aloud, as the fish dips down and swirls three more times. Then the fish swims toward the other end of the stream and goes under.
“My Lord,” I stand up and rush to where the fish went. Staring into the glowing stream, I see the scales on the fish glistening as it waits for me, “I’m not much of a swimmer, but I trust You are sent by my Lord.”
Closing my eyes tightly, I breathe in one last breath and dive in.
Heavenly Father
Your church has expanded to the ends of the earth, yet, with our broken world, we still at times fall short of Your holiness. Please, Lord, set this ministry apart to be the ‘branch’ that connects others back to Your pillar of light! May the fruit that grows from this branch have a 100-fold gain to Your kingdom! May we be a bridge that will guide many to Your eternal Word, to Your salvation, to Your kingdom!
In Your mighty name, Jesus, I pray…
Amen