Fellowship .|. Precious Stone .|. Fork in the Road

Fire of God .|. Heavenward .|. My Dream

"Redemption" (original music by Bill Drayton)

FELLOWSHIP

I see Jesus, sitting on the ground, with all of us somehow sitting round him and facing him. We cannot keep our eyes off his face, which seems to shine out at each one of us. We are no longer adults, holding up the barrier of our reluctance to make ourselves vulnerable and be embarrassed. We have become like a group of children, handing on every word Jesus is saying to us. He points to particular people and beckons them to come up to him. He hugs them and whispers in their ear: “I understand”. As this continues, with each person in turn going up, gradually everyone begins to weep softly and then embrace one another. It is as though Jesus’ love for the brokenhearted has broken out among us, and we are drawn closer to each other, and a new life of freedom has been released into our fellowship. Others from further away become curious and sit with us. Jesus calls them up one by one, and as they get nearer, they are given the eyes of faith and they recognize Jesus, who hugs them, just as he does with everyone else. This time he says to each of them: “I love you and I know you. Do not be afraid. You are safe with me”.

PRECIOUS STONE

A precious stone has been hidden deep in the ground – deep, because of all the soil and dirt that has accumulated over a considerable length of time. The ground is being dug up for a specific purpose. During the excavation, the precious stone is almost overlooked, because it has become so much a part of the soil and dirt, that it is practically unrecognizable. However, something about it catches the eye of the person who has dug it up. He takes it away for cleaning. He washes it with water, using a brush – not too soft so as to be ineffective, and yet not too hard so as to graze the stone. After some time, the precious stone has returned to its original glory and, as it were, ‘come to life’ – shining brightly with beautiful, clear colours, as the person who dug it up holds it up to the light.

FORK IN THE ROAD

You have come to a fork in the road. Jesus comes up and embraces you. Then He puts His arm round your shoulder, and you look back at the road you’ve just been on – a road of pain and hurts. And Jesus is saying: “The past is over. Look at the cross ahead. That’s where I paid for your sins. You’re washed clean by My blood.” And then Jesus shows you the fork in the road. There are two ways, and He says: “if you turn one way, I cannot go with you. If you go that way, you’ll be on your own. You’ll have your own righteousness which you have to rely on. And you’ll be using that to form your own judgments about other people, and you’ll be pointing the finger at other people, but they will be calling you a hypocrite, because your own righteousness will have holes in it. Your life will not match up to it. And their arrows will pierce you. You will be unprotected. And that way eventually leads to destruction – permanent destruction, everlasting destruction. But if you follow Me, if you wish to follow Me, there’s another way. But you need to count the cost, because this way includes suffering. It is the way of the cross. You need to surrender yourself to Me completely. Otherwise you can’t follow Me. If you follow Me, you will hate the sin and love the sinner. You will be insulted, you’ll be scourged – physically and verbally, you’ll go through the valley of death, but I will be with you, I will be guiding you, upholding you. It is the way of suffering to reach your resurrection. You have My promise that I’ve already given you eternal life. Your faith will be tested. It will be shown to be genuine, and you will see Me at work My yoke is easy. Take it, take it. My burden is light, and you’ll find rest for your soul. But your life is hidden with Me in heaven, And by the power of the Holy Spirit that power is made perfect in your weakness. So surrender your life to Me now. I am with you. I love you. I understand. He who wishes to save his life will lose it. He who wishes to lose his life for My sake will gain it. I have laid down My life for you of My own accord, and I’ve taken it up again of My own accord, because My love for you is self-sacrificial. That is the way of the cross, and your love for others should also be self-sacrificial, surrendering yourself to Me. My food and drink is to do the will of Him Who has sent Me and to complete it. Are you willing? Are you prepared to follow that path?

FIRE OF GOD

Ask God to reveal His perfect will for your life, and prayerfully consider whether these are the words that He may be saying to you:

“I see the Lord coming to you with a new fire. This fire is totally new. He is coming to you. I see you through the eyes of Jesus and He sees you as one like Peter. He says you are a rock – a mighty rock. It takes a great force to move this rock so you will see things happen now that have not happened before because the move of God did not carry sufficient weight to pick you up. So you are very much a man (or a woman) for now – the here and now. God is moving you from the tail and He is placing you at the head. He says He’s moving the heavy guns for His devastating wave of glory and fire to obliterate the work of the enemy around where you live. There is no wasted time, no sense of failure or if only, because the Sovereign Lord God has saved you for this time. He is moving strategically and you are at the centre of His plan for this next phase. He is coming to you with a fresh fire.”

HEAVENWARD

You stand at the foot of a long, wide, steep staircase made of pure, white marble. Looking up, you see a strong light glowing from what looks like a throne, upon which sits the figure of a man, dressed in a dazzling white robe, whom you recognize as the Lord Jesus Christ. As you contemplate this scene, you are awestruck by the glory that is coming from above and have a sense of your own inadequacy and unworthiness, as though you should not be there. Yet it seems you can’t move. You feel that Satan, the prince of this dark world and the father of all lies, hovers in the shadows, ready to pounce and drag you down. But Jesus catches sight of you, and fixing you with His loving gaze, rises from His throne of grace and walks down to you. With His right arm outstretched, He beckons to you. Tenderly, He calls you by your name and says, ‘Come with Me. All is ready. I am with you now. No harm can come to you. Trust Me, and don’t be afraid, Your place is where I am.’ As you put your hand in His, you feel the mark, where the nail pierced His palm, reminding you that He took the punishment for your sins on the cross of Calvary and rose again from the dead to give you freedom from the dominion of darkness and sin as well as new life in Him. You hand is joined with His, as you and He begin to climb the steps together. Then a power of electrical energy surges through your whole body, and you are effortlessly lifted up by Him into the light of heaven.

MY DREAM

If I could rise from the ground on angel-wings,

and like the mighty eagle, soar high

among the wispy clouds,

I'd whistle into the gale,

laugh at the growling thunder,

and believe I'd see beyond the rainbow's edge

into the panorama of crystal blue sky,

and move through the breathless

heat of the sun.

"REDEMPTION", An original composition, Click Image to Play

Photographs by Bill Drayton, Burton Bradstock 2007