RESTORING THE TABLE

It is not often I share in such a public way the content of dreams I have had, but for some reason this particular dream and current state of the Church has prompted me to do so.

MY DREAM....

Early hours of 29 July 2017, I dreamt Pastor Hans our son Miseron and I were cleaning the yard of this home, that appeared to be wooden in design. Pastor Hans was located inside this home and Miseron and I were our in the garden pruning trees and tending to the lawn. This was a big home and so we needed to hire some people to come in and assist in the clean up.

Everything was now done and dusted and those who assisted now needed to be paid for their hard work, time and effort. The workers lined the rubbish on the ground but would not load it all into the back of their truck until they were paid. Pastor Hans and Miseron were keen to continue doing their chores, so off I went to draw out the money owing to the workers.

You are probably wondering how does gardening and paying people for their efforts have anything to do with the image of a table and broken wine glass. Well let me continue with my dream and it will all make sense in the end...

In this dream I drove to a city place that looked a lot like the entrance of the Cairns night markets. On the side walk to this market place entrance, public and some people who were important leaders were standing at the entrance way of this market place waiting to go into a wedding banquet. On the footpath near the crowd was a very large square rubbish bin made out of wood and metal.

As I parked the car near this entrance way, I noticed people were not allowed to enter into this particular place were the banquet feast was to be held. I hopped out of our car and being the type of person I am and always wanting to know what is going on, I asked the a man who appeared to be the security guard standing on the other side of the rope barrier, what was the problem and why can't anyone come into this feast.

In this dream, to my surprise the guard had let me through, while others still stood there waiting to be given the ok to enter. The guard said to me, "you can explain to them, as you know why this feast is not on." I looked at the guard with a surprised look on my face, as I had never met this man before let alone had any knowledge of what was going on. Inspite of all this, I accepted his invitation to talk to the crowd and stood next to him on the other side of the rope barrier looking out to those standing on the side walk.

As I stood next to this man, all of a sudden a large long beautiful banquet table appeared, then right before our eyes the table was cleared with one clean swoop but no one could be seen. The only thing that was left on the table was white linen cloth. I looked down at the floor and what laid before me was all the broken plates, cups, cutlery - yes all broken yet the table was clean with the white linen cloth remaining.

Then in this dream I sensed the Holy Spirit came upon me and I immediately turned to the crowd of leaders and said, "Lord is coming back soon, but you all have defiled the banquet table. There is no food or plates, cups and cutlery worthy to be used, not even the food has been saved." I continued to say with boldness, "If you want to eat at this table, we can no longer defile what Lord has set apart as holy and sanctified."

I then looked at the man/ guard and said, " I am not sure if what I said was meant to be said, but my purpose for being in this part of the town was to draw out some money." The man/ guard replied by saying, "Your purpose for being here was not only about the money, but for the message of how the banquet table that was defiled now needed to be restored before the Lord returns."

I could not respond to what this man/ guard had said but stood in silence, while watching the crowd of leaders begin to ask questions amongst themselves, how have they defiled the banquet table and all began to point fingers at each other. End of my dream....

Where to from here....

When I woke after having this dream, I immediately drew everything I had seen in my dream in my dream diary, something I have learnt to do for many years. Please note this dream was very specific in identifying leaders waiting to enter this banquet feast.

What to do and who to tell of my dream - after drawing my dream, I shared it with Pastor Hans and being the supportive husband he is, we both prayed about it and waited on Lord to reveal its meaning in time. Yes, some of you reading this blog may say it is pretty clear what the message is in this dream, but I still had to wait on Lord irrespective.

It is now 31 July 2017 in the evening, two days had passed and finally confirmation of the meaning of this dream came. As an itinerate minister, I often receive messages via social media from those whom I have ministered to in other nations. Conversations through chat is often centred around providing words of encouragement and support. It was during one of these conversations an incident was shared by this person of how they have been persecuted and humiliated publicly by a 'leader' from the church.

Details of this conversation I need not share any further in this blog, but the persecution and humiliation experienced by this person from another was enough to cause them much distress, anxiety and fear. Immediately thoughts of the dream I had on July 29th came to me. I finally understood the meaning of my dream....

It is simple yet as leaders, shepherds and gate keepers we find it hard to comprehend how our very actions of violence, hatred and abuse towards others Lord has entrusted us to care for, can be an act of defiling the banquet table.

Let us see what the word 'defile' means from WEB Dictionary:

defile (verb)

to damage the purity or appearance of; mar or spoil: "the land was defiled by a previous owner" synonyms: spoil · sully · mar · impair · debase · degrade · pollute ·

From this definition we can now see how defiling that which is sacred to the Lord can often cause, damage, mar, spoil, degrade or pollute. We also know a table and feast can also be symbolic of fellowship with others.

As a Pastor and Itinerate Minister those who have heard me preach know I call a spade a spade, and I make no apologies for what the Lord gives me as a word or dream in season.

Let me take you back to the end of my dream. At the end of my dream I described how leaders were asking questions amongst themselves how have they defiled the banquet table, and began to point fingers at each other.... It is simple, as leaders we have defiled the Lord's banquet table, its food, cup, cutlery and plate when our actions against another is full of hatred, jealousy, envy and violence.

If you are someone who has neglected or abused the "flock", you are supposed to shepherd then may this blog be food for thought for you.

Is this dream about breaking fellowship with other Christians due to our ungodly, unchristian like actions and words? I will leave that up to you as the reader to answer.

My thoughts and words of encouragement for those who are being persecuted by 'leaders' in and out of the church... pray and forgive those who persecute you.

One thing I love about my Lord and Saviour is regardless of what the enemy may do to me or you, Lord always prepares a table for you before your enemies... " You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Psalm 23:5 (NIV)

And never forget who we are really struggle with... "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

Yours in Unity & Blessings of Favour

Ps Yodie