April 1, 2016
The precious peace and grace of our Lord Jesus be with you all, Heartdwellers.
You know how it is when you get busy with the world and it's difficult to finally get your mind to settle down and get into worship? I'm just getting the edge back on my prayer, after all my "busy work". And during worship, I was finally able to focus and really enter into that sacred place with the Lord.
We were dancing on a large, open ballroom dance floor. I could see my dress, which was slightly full and a rich, midnight blue color. It had stars trimming the bottom edges and coming halfway up the under-lighting fabric. The outer layers of the dress were sheer fabric and the bodice was satin, coming almost all the way up, and then sheer fabric to my neck and wrists, and was tastefully studded with TINY, tiny stars.
I take the time to describe the dress, because it was designed in Heaven, and who would think there are evening gowns in Heaven? There's not even an evening in Heaven! But there are evening gowns. Since the Lord has taken the time and trouble to give me such a beautiful garment, I think it should be shared with you, because He surely has something like that prepared for you as well!
His face became clear as we danced and I realized I was dancing with Holy Spirit, yet I didn't feel distant from Him, as I sometimes do. He smiled, and I felt so relaxed and at home in His arms.
We were on some sort of outdoor dance floor near a lilac bush in full bloom. Wow, He knows how much I love lilacs! After a few moments, Jesus cut in and danced with me. I was singing a worship song to Him in my heart. You're probably familiar with that song, "Draw Me Close To You."
"Draw me close to You, you are my desire.
And no one
else will do.
'Cause nothing
else can take Your place
To feel the
warmth of Your embrace.
And every time
that verse came around again, He would take my face in His hands and
accent the verse, "You are My desire, no one else will do, cause
no one else can take your place..."
and looking
into my eyes so sincerely, I was overcome with thanksgiving and joy
that I could mean anything to my God.
And I won't go
into any depth here but as I have shared with you in the past, He has
taught me that there is a place in His being where each person,
unique as they are fulfills a desire in Him that no one else can
fulfill. And that's why He is so grieved when He loses a soul to the
enemy; that is a part of Him that is gone forever.
I was quietly
thinking of the Rapture - and kind of complaining, you know? Nothing
anything out loud, but it's like, "It's taking so LONG, Lord, so
long! So many disappointments. I am weary, weary, weary of all the
delays. Oh, when will You ever come?"
And that's
what I was thinking, supposedly to myself. But when you're in His
presence - forget it! Nothing is "to yourself." He sees and
hears it all.
And He broke into my private little conversation, looking down at me with great compassion and He said, "I know how you feel."
I answered,
"You do?"
"Yes, I know exactly how you feel."
But how could
You?
"Because I wait for you to come to Me, with your whole heart, in prayer. I wait and I wait and I wait. And I listen to you telling Me, 'I'll be there soon, Lord!' and I continue to wait. Sometimes days. So you see, I do know how you feel."
Oh, that's
terrible Lord!
"I know."
Well, what is
it like when I finally come?
"Heaven." He answered emphatically.
I smiled. I
was also thinking, 'I don't want to be one of those who teaches about
God and isn't in love with Him.' Loving and serving Him is one
thing...being in love? Well, that's quite another. I always want to
be in love with Him.
He continued, "I'll tell you one thing though, it will be when you least expect it."
ohhh... Oh,
Lord - stop teasing me!! I wondered to myself, 'When could that
possibly be? What circumstance could that possibly be? Maybe I'll be
asleep? I wouldn't be expecting Him if I were asleep...'
Right around that time, I saw myself in a wedding gown and we were dancing all over the dance floor. I was going to put "Draw Me Close to You" on repeat again and He said, "Let Me pick the next song." He chose Terry's song, "We Glorify The Lamb," and I worshipped Him.
Afterwards, I
asked Him, "Lord do you have anything to say to us?"
"Indeed I do, sweet Bride. I know how you have all waited, and waited, and waited for Me. I know how you feel because I wait and wait and wait for you to come to Me with your whole heart, your whole mind. That can at times be a very long wait. I understand the undercurrents in this world that pull you into its vast ocean. And I want to tell you, you must exert great force in swimming out of its undertow."
I don't know
if any of you are familiar with that aspect of the ocean, but
sometimes there are very dangerous undertows. And you can get out in,
maybe five feet of water, and all of a sudden you're feet can go out
from under you, because there's an undertow under the current of the
water, on the bottom of the water. You get out there far enough, and
it'll just drag you. That's why some beaches say, "No swimming.
Dangerous undertow." So, that's what He means by the "undertow."
Once you get caught in that, the only way to get out, that I
understand, is to swim WITH it, but sideways, so that you someway
make it to land. You can't...there's no way to swim against it. It's
way too powerful.
"Interesting
You should say that, about an undertow. The last two days I have
deliberately ignored e-mails and the internet because I wanted You to
have that time."
And He replied, "And you have seen how difficult it is to escape the seductive power of 'you need to do this, you need to do that.' It is a guilt tactic the enemy uses to take you away from Me. 'You haven't answered your e-mails, you haven't checked the channel, you haven't done the dishes, etc. etc.' Yes, guilt works. That is, unless you are more clever than the enemy.
"Clare, for the last two days, I have given you a grace to swim away and out of that undertow, that undercurrent that so quickly swallows you up and draws you far out into the ocean of this world and away from Me. I have helped you keep in mind, 'One thing only is necessary and Mary has chosen the better part.'
"You see, this is what it takes My Beloved Brides. The Kingdom of Heaven is indeed taken by the violent - those who do violence to the myriads of petty things that come to mind each day, nagging for attention from you. They are things that may have a purpose in your life, but if you watch carefully, you will notice that come up strongly during prayer time. They come against you and press on you to abandon Me and do other things.
"At prayer time, you begin to still your mind and focus on Me. That infuriates the demons who say, 'Oh no you don't! You haven't hung the laundry, you haven't made that call back, you haven't listened to your messages, you haven't made dinner.' And on and on.
"They will use anything they can against you to force you to withdraw from prayer. Anything. And the more responsible and diligent you are, the more perfectionistic you are, the more you will say to yourself, 'I shouldn't be praying now - I haven't finished my housework yet.'
"I want you, My Brides, to put those voices out of your heads and treat prayer time as the greatest responsibility you have. Because it IS. Many of you have been raised, no - MOST of you have been raised to see 'free time' as a reward after you've done all your chores. Most of you equate prayer with 'free time.' Not so! Prayer should come before any work that is not a timely necessity, like getting the children off to school. The world's priorities are upside down. And who do you suppose arranged them that way? If you cannot get a good person to do bad things, get them to neglect prayer and that will begin their moral decline.
"Put demands before them from relatives and then spike those demands with guilt so they can't turn them down. It was not without good reason that I said that those who love mother, father, wife, husband and children more than they love Me, are not worthy of Me.
"There will always be demons to inspire dissatisfaction with some family member when you don't bow to their demands. Are you willing to face them off and lose their affection for My sake? Obedience is not something you give to everyone. You are never under any obligation to obey something when it violates your conscience or the Gospels. For this, great discrimination is needed. It is so easy for the devils to twist priorities to cause guilt. 'Honor your parents' does not mean sin for your parents. 'Honor your husband, your wife', does not mean sin for them. You are under no obligation to live the life your parents want you to live, rather you're to follow Me in your life path."
I just want to
explain what the Lord meant by that last statement. I knew a lady who
was in her 30's, and she wanted to be a missionary so badly, but her
mother didn't want her to go and be a missionary. So, she lived a
life that her mother wanted her to live instead of living the life
that she felt called by God to live. And, in a godly household, of
course we are to obey, but if ever you're drawn off in a different
direction by the Lord in the household.
Say, for
instance, your parents want you to be a doctor and you know that the
Lord's calling you to the mission field - you're not under any
obligation to please them. You're under the obligation to please the
Lord.
The Lord continued here, "When moral obligations come into conflict with family, so often excuses are made just to avoid confrontations and keep the peace. If you are living with a non-believing spouse, parent, or family member don't fall into the trap of being self-righteous. Find peaceful ways around confrontations when you can, but if push comes to shove, stand your ground and honor Me. Many times I am working with a hostile family member to give them an example and bring them to Myself.
"The devils will continually stir up strife to deprive you of your prayer time. So, be prepared in the long run to stand for what is right."
Well, Lord,
what about saying the binding prayer?
"Yes. Binding and loosing prayers are very effective for stopping demon traffic in your home. As a believer, living in your house, you have rights over evil and you can pray against it and receive angelic assistance. But you are somewhat limited by the workings of evil spirits that are there by consent of the others who live in the house. Still, your prayers are powerful and very often whoever you are praying for, removing their demons and their company, they don't know what hit them. Just all of a sudden, the oppression and impulse to do evil leaves - with no explanation.
"This is the heritage of the children of God. Freedom from oppression and the constraints of the enemy. There are many, many times when I am testing your courage and your charity, and so it is essential that you remain close to Me so that you know the season you are in. Is this a time to be conciliatory or a time to stand your ground?
"I am telling you these things, My children, because many of you live in oppressive environments and are confused about obeying your parents, your husband or providing for your wife. Whenever a request comes to you that compromises your conscience or inspires guilt, beware. It is the ploy of the enemy.
"Really, what are you willing to suffer for Me? Are you willing to fall from favor in the eyes of man? Call to Me in these moments and I will instruct you and lead you out into an open place where you can find peace in My presence without the entanglements of men. Never fear to call evil what is evil, never fear to stand when you know what is right. It will sooner or later bring you into confrontation, so the sooner you master your fears, the more freedom you will have in the long run. Remember: I am always with you, beside you, in you, and I will come to you and give you comfort for the wrath you incur on My behalf.
"I love you, I guide you, I am with you. You are Mine. Let no man insist they have the dominion over you. You are a child of God."
Source: Heartdwellers
