8/11/2009
In this dream there was a large gathering of Christians taking place. I was in a room with a youth group, seemed like 7-10 year olds. A friend of mine was there and encouraged me to share. He told me, "You usually have a word from God in your heart, you should share it with these people."
I was caught off guard. I didn't know I had a word to share! But he was already gone before I could tell him otherwise. Next moment, I am passionately sharing my heart.
"In the days to come, hard times will come. There's going to be trouble, and it will be dangerous!"
I then fell to the floor on my knees with my hands up, as if begging everyone in the room to listen to me. I declared with extreme sincerity in light of the hard times coming. "...and the thing that is very very very very very Very Very Very Very very very very important, is to become intimately acquainted with Jesus!"
With this, I meant a deep prayer life and a conscious knowing of His voice(knowing what it sounds like and when you've heard it). This intimate acquaintance is a very personal knowing of who the Lord is and having a personal awareness of Him in every moment. There was a sensation of Jesus being a dear friend that you recognize by having spent generous amounts of time with Him. It was understood that this intimate knowledge of Him only comes by spending time with Him in prayer.
Also, if we waited for the hard times before we sought out and grew in this intimate acquaintance, it would be too late. The depth of intimacy required to survive these hard times needs to be grown now, during times of peace. We must take action to become good friends with the Lord now. It felt that there is a window of time that we have before things get a lot harder. I also knew, if we don't make use of this window of time, we will likely loose our lives in the hard times ahead.
After saying all of this, a young girl who was startled by the pronouncement of hard times coming, wanted to know more. She Asked . . .
"What kind of trouble will we face!?"
I knew it was many things, but one answer was quickly given to me. I saw the little girl amidst large evergreens. She was in hiding to save her life. I said in response to what I saw, "the government will track you."
I had the sense that she might be safe in the woods, but the government could find her if it wanted to. It was some kind of technology which could sense people separately from animals and recognize their identity. It could also do this using some form of long range scanner.
Thoughts:
I don't have any doubt that this will happen. Often when I have dreams with a warning of bad things coming they are conditional. If the church will respond and pray God will turn back the terrible thing that was mentioned. However, this dream did not feel conditional. It seemed matter of fact and clear. There will be a day when the government will track Christians in order to kill them. This has happened repeatedly throughout history and will happen in the greatest measure during the end times (which we are in) than it ever occurred before.
So what are the preparations necessary for this terrible persecution by our own government? Should we store up water, food, and weapons to defend ourselves. Some feel this way. I'm sure there are things you could do which would bring a benefit for a season. Have a storage of supplies, learn to garden, and become more self-sustaining.
However, I will not say what you should do naturally, not in this posting. It seems to me that the one thing we are called to do first and foremost, is to get to know Jesus. That is the only course of action declared in this dream. Spend time with the Lord until you can say that you know Jesus better than you know your spouse, parents, or your brothers and sisters. That is the kind of intimacy we will need in the days to come. All other preparations will flow out from that point.
I found an article regarding this phrase: Intimate Acquaintance with Jesus, there were two paragraphs that I felt brought out the true heart of this dream. The article is based on Jesus' talk with Pilate before being crucified found in John 18:34.
"As we move from information about things to acquaintance with persons hearsay has no place. If you were to ask me what it is to love a woman and be loved by a woman, my answer might sound somewhat self-conscious and rather awkward. Still, I profoundly know, unshakably know, in my heart what it is to love and be loved by a woman. However awkwardly I might convey this to you, neither of us would be helped by consulting a textbook on gynecology. Information of any kind, however sophisticated, is never a substitute for intimate acquaintance with a personBlessings, David H.
. . . . . .The same question is put to us. "Do you say this on your own, or did others say it to you about me?" Our Lord means, "Do you have firsthand, intimate acquaintance with me, or are you merely mouthing whatever you've absorbed unknowingly from your environment?" He expects you and me to reply, "Of our own, on our own accord;" and having rendered this reply once to render it again and again as we seize him afresh and follow him forever."
Quote by: Dr. Victor Shepherd (Link to full article)
