A Changing of Direction

In my last entry, I talked about the Lord showing me a vision, and I decided that since I felt this vision was not only to my church, I should share it in this forum for those who will receive it.

In this vision, I saw a river flowing rather gently, and there were people in the river and standing around the river. It is difficult to describe exactly what I saw. There were people swimming in the river, some swimming against the current. There were others floating on their backs, just relaxing and let the river carry them along. Others were in the river, yet they were not. They were on floatation devices like inner-tubes and the type where you lay down on them and float. Others were in canoes and rubber life rafts, just drifting along. Along the shore here and there, there were people camped out near the river with their tents pitched and cooking out over a fire or grill.

All of a sudden the river made a very quick shift to the left, turning back at about a 315-degree angle; not quite a U-turn, but close to it. At that bend in the river, some of the people simply let the flow of the river carry them around the bend, but many of the people stopped and stood up in the water and looked at the change of direction and began to talk about it. Some pointed at it and said, I don't like that direction and got out of the river and carried their rafts straight on ahead in the direction the river had previously been flowing. Others got out of the river and began to complain about the change of direction and they pitched their tents at that bend in the river and stood at the bank laughing those going on down the river, and I heard one man say, "They are fools! Who knows where that will take them?"
Some stayed in the river but refused to go around that bend. There were a few who went around the bend, and went a little ways in the direction that the river was taking them, then decided to get out and they began walking back up the bank of the river in the direction of the bend, and they went back to those who had pitched their tents there.

In the vision, I watched those that stayed in the river as they floated along. All the boats and rafts and tubes were gone, leaving them floating freely in the river. The river began to pick up speed, and those in the river were simply swept away in it and were they were carried completely by the water. As the river picked up speed, I began to see people walking toward the river. I saw a man coming with a head wound, and he had bloody bandages wrapped around his head. He stepped into the river, and as he did, the bandages fell off and he was healed. I saw what I can only describe as broken people. There were people coming that were carrying body pieces that were broken off. There were some dragging skids behind them full of broken and severed body parts. As they stepped into the river, their limbs and body parts were reunited with their bodies. I saw families come together from the body parts on the skids. I saw people carrying huge syringes and pipes and other drug paraphernalia and they were jumping into the river, and as they did, their drugs and paraphernalia shot back out of the river and onto the banks. As we went down the river, more and more people came and jumped into the river. But there were also hundreds of people who came to the river but stood on the bank watching and never getting in. Some were excited as they watched. Some laughed. Some cursed and mocked, and some just walked away.

I understood a lot of this vision, but some I did not, and I asked the Lord to tell me what he was saying. He spoke to me and said that the river obviously was the flow of the Holy Spirit and what He was doing in the world. He reminded me that many people were around the river, but few were actually in the river. He told me how many people wanted to be NEAR what he was doing, close where they could see it, but they refused to get in. They were the people camped out along the river. He then showed me again the picture from the beginning of the vision, and how many were on rafts and floatation devices. He said that these are people who want to be a part of what God is doing but only to a degree. They depended on man-made devices and plans. These people want God on their terms. They want it "safe" and within their control.

The Lord told me that the bend represents where the Body of Christ is right now. He said many will resist, walk away and even try to dam up the river to prevent the flow, but God said there is a shifting, a transitioning of how he will operate and move in the church. He said only those who will be led and carried by the Spirit will be a part of this. He said he is ready to accelerate things and that He is sending a healing move or revival to the church. People will come to see what is going on and be healed as they "jump in"... but there will be great ridicule and mocking during this time. God spoke to me clearly and said, "Keep your eyes on the river, not on the crowd size." The Lord spoke to me about my church and said, "I will move in this church to the degree that you will allow me to move."

The Lord then gave me a word for the church that said:

Lay aside the old, says the Lord, for the new, is coming.
Take off your old garments and put on the new.
The old is too small for what I am about to do, says the Lord.
You must think bigger in terms of what I am wanting to do for you, in you and through you.
You have limited Me because you are thinking too small.
I am a big God and I am getting ready to do some big things for My people, in My people, and through My people, says the Lord.
I have spoken to many of My people and I have told them to "strap themselves in, but they have rejected my voice and will never see Me move.
I am accelerating my purpose and plan, picking up the pace.
Those who remain complacent will miss what I am about to do, says the Lord.
I have given the wake-up call.
Many have heard the call and have chosen to move with Me, while others have heard the call but refuse to wake up.
Judgment will come to My house, says the Lord.
I shall do a deep work in My people, in those who will allow Me to do it and they shall be filled with My power and My glory.
Greater things are coming, says the Lord.
Get ready.