Boating

Around the start of this year, I have several visions of boats.  Vanessa, too, has been getting images of boats, even cruise ships.  There wasn't given much insight into this until January 5th, when I read at random Acts 21.  Also, while in street ministry I felt instructed and guided to simply 'flow' in the Spirit and allow His Love to guide me here and there.

"We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail."  Acts 21:2

But praise God that His messages are never really random! (Proverbs 16:33)  God gives a vision in steps so that our seeking Him in faith reveals the next part (1 Corinthians 13:9).    In leading me to Acts, I felt God was speaking to me about Vanessa and my upcoming mission trip.   Further confirmations followed fast after this one.

Confirmed 1/6/15:  Patricia King featured on the Elijah List with a word called, "Remember My Promises in 2015".  Below is an excerpt, in italics:


"Your life is in My hands. I am the Captain of your ship and I will lead you through the channel of promises into a glorious place. Remember My promises in 2015."


God is the captain of our ship!  Aha!  He is the one who steers us towards His will.  He is the one who guides us continually and broadens our path (Isaiah 58:11).  More on this later.

Confirmed  1/6/15:  Jennifer Rivas also released a new word this day.  Here it is.  In it she exhorts the body to "Anchor yourself" to the Word.

Confirmed:  There was a post on the Quickened Word entitled, "The Angel of Change On The Good Ship."  Wow!  In it were so many confirmations and encouragements.  The site's author even posted a picture of a cruise ship!

Thanks to the revelation that each of the above ministers shared (Romans 12:3 and on) a clear picture came together.  The Lord combined the above themes and what He's been revealing to me, and led me into the truth!

God is taking the chosen onto a new boat.  This boat has been designed by the master architect Himself!  He has helped us in the past, and He is still helping us today.  He has given us inspiration in our personal lives.  This inspiration, these dreams from Him, are what the boat represents.

God is taking us to a new spiritual place, and that may have aftereffects in the natural world.  It did for the apostles in Acts 21.  He is taking us to a place where we work for Him.  He will captain our ship, and He will steer us where He pleases.  All we need to do is flow with Him and have faith.  We need to let Him navigate like only a captain can.

"At this rate they were afraid we would soon be driven against the rocks along the shore, so they threw out four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for daylight."  Acts 27:29

There is another level to this, though.  As God takes us on this boat, from Glory to Glory, we need to stay grounded in the Word through all the journey.  We need to always be aligning and realigning with the truth.  There will be trouble, and there will be stops.  All of these trials will be included on our boat ride with God.  When waves come, we need to let the Word be our anchor.  Simply go back to His promises, and go back to the written and prophesied Word.   He who trusts in Him, and in the things He's spoken, will never be shaken (Psalms 125:1).

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."  Matthew 24:35

God is the captain, the Word is the anchor......and our tongue is the rudder on the Ship.  God knows where He's going.  And He knows where He wants to take us.  He wants to steer us, but we need to align our mouths with Him.  We need to use the power of our tongue to choose life.  We can align the rudder of our God-given ship with it's captain.  We need to align our rudder with His heart.

"With the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."  Proverbs 18:20-21

Imagine how frustrating it would be if the captain of a ship was constantly trying to steer a ship whose rudder just would not cooperate.  What if it had a mind of it's own?  Wouldn't that be so annoying?  I bet that's how God feels when He tries to guide us, but we confound His efforts with our words.  Or He may be waiting for us to set sail, but we in our speaking and praying remain unaware of His desire to initiate or change our course.

What a long-suffering job God might have as our captain of our lives, if we didn't speak and pray His Kingdom come.  But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)!  We can be at one with our Captain.  We can by our words be a cooperative rudder that listens and knows the desires of the captain.  Let's get the boat moving.  Let's allow Him to relocate us.  Let's allow Him to take us across new seas, just like Apostles Luke and Paul.  Let's also position ourselves to receive from our Lord gifts from other ships! All we need to do is provide the agreement of our thoughts and tongues.

"Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the LORD your God, And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you."  Isaiah 60:9

Snapshot: Entering the Promised Land

A few days ago God spoke to me about my pathway through life.  This was the same day He was telling me to ask for details.  But in addition to this, we need to allow the Spirit to control our will and our dreams.  We need to imagine God's Will, and walk into it.  We need to see what He sees, feel what He feels, and follow His leadings step by step into the Promised Land.

I remember that a Christian figure from past times coined the term "Holy Imagination".  And that's what we need to have.  We need to have Holy thoughts and pure minds.  Only then can we dream big.
And only then can God implant Himself into our visions and our dreams .  Infact, this was the way that He called many old testament prophets.  So many were called and received their calling from a Spirit filled,  almost otherworldly dream.

This past Spring, I had a dream that I was crossing the Jordan river.  The dream wasn't set in ancient times, though; instead, I was on a steamboat that was slowly being evacuated.  Many passengers were on this boat, and many were scared about whatever might happen while they were stuck on this stalled boat.  Other passengers, however, didn't seem to see any problem in their situation.  I was left wondering what to do myself.

After some time, a militia-type group had also been sent onto the scene.  These military leaders searched for passengers willing to be recruited into their evacuation team.  Brave passengers became compelled to join this team, which was preparing to leave the ship and search for help on the mainland nearby.  I remember that the ship was fairly close to the riverbank, although the evacuation team was facing a jungle once across the river.  I listened as the military personnel spoke about the dangers of the mission ahead, and I felt more than slightly intimidated by my own prospects of joining this voluntary team.  But the situation on the boat was boring and lifeless, and people were left to waste away through their own devices.  So I decided I would go.  I was going to join this team and cross the Jordan!  I was told that the mission would be long and hard.  I was told it would be dangerous.  But I wanted to get off of that boat--it wasn't going anywhere and the people on board were not motivated to do much.  This is where the dream ended.

When I woke up I felt it was a dream from the Lord.  I felt His leading to be bold for Him and venture into uncharted territory.  I felt His desire to take me into new places, and report back to those 'stuck' what I tasted and saw.  Shortly after waking up that morning, God led me to the Joshua 1, 2 and 3, which strongly matched my dream.  God was beginning a new season in my life, and I was being exhorted to enter into the promised land.  Around the same time I had this dream, I started doing healing ministry on the street.  I was just starting to be used by our Lord to pray for the afflicted.  I was out of my comfort zone oftentimes.  But I had made the choice; I had crossed the Jordan!

God's recently began speaking about this to me again.  I believe that I'm in a new season now, and I've just crossed another river of roadblocks.  In the life of a strong believer, there may well be many "Jordans" to cross.  God wants His children to personally walk through the exploits in the Bible, and in that dream He gave me, I was shown that He wanted me to live out Jordan crossing of Joshua.

Confirmed 12/13:  God showed me that I've crossed the Jordan, because His commandments were more important.

Confirmed 12/14:  I was reading the book of Judges, and through 'quickened eye-glances' (see the Quickened Word for more on this), God revealed to me that I had been called out with Him.  This is exactly what the military leaders were doing in my dream all those months ago.  And He went on and showed me that I was to follow His lead.  How critical!  Just as the Israelites could not cross the Jordan without the Presence of God, in the Ark, guiding them, we cannot enter the Promised Land that He's called us to unless we follow Him into it.

Confirmed 12/15: Recent Themes have been:  Lush, green gardens.  Green trees. The Tree of Life. Milk and Honey.  The finest of foods.  Open Door to His Promises!

Confirmed 12/15:  I was reading the Bible Commentary book again, and God really spoke through it.  Random reading (search the 'labels' feature for this, if you're interested).  I was led to the subtitles "Canaan" and "Canaan as a type of Heaven".  God wants to lead us all into a land where the Promises He's given us become manifest.  He wants to lead all those who will listen into a land of heaven on earth.  The Promised Land symbolizes that our Lord has given us another chance to return to the Garden.  The Promised Land symbolizes that our God has great things planned for us, even before we enter Heaven itself.  Praise God!