Category: Listen

JUDGMENT

… Nothing escapes God … time has come for judgment … hold fast you who follow His voice …

Vanessa InspirzLeave a comment
Listen to Psalm 82:3-4

“Vindicate the weak and the fatherless; do justice and maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; rescue them from the hand of the wicked.”

Psalm 82:3-4 AMP

Judgment

Judgment

Judgment

Judgment

Judgment

Judgment

Judgment

Judgment

I say

Judgment from the Lord

From the Lord

It is coming

We walk around

As if the raging activities of this world

The atrocities

The evil committed

Will bear no consequence

Nothing could be further

From the truth

Pay attention to this word

Judgment

Again I say

Judgment

Nothing escapes God

Time has come for

Judgment

Hold fast

You who follow His voice

He will instruct You

And hide you

In His wings

During the turmoil

And tumultuous times

To come

Selah

“Arise, O God, judge the earth! For to you belong all the nations.”

Psalm 82:8

Photo credit: Pedro Figueras https://www.pexels.com/@pedro-figueras-202443

A Ladder, a Sword and a Challenge

If I gave you a real sword, would you store it ‘safely’ away, or would you be curious enough to actually learn how to use it?

Vanessa Inspirz6 Comments

My Dream

Scene One – A Ladder

I was trying to get back to someplace but wasn’t certain which way to go. I became more and more concerned as time went on. I had to ask several people along the way. Seems as if sometimes I was driving and other times walking. At one point I had to climb a ladder to get to another level in a building.

Scene Two – A Sword

In scene two there was a little boy, African American, kinda chubby, maybe 10 years old. He had a class or some type of camp with other little boys to join. For some reason I was responsible for him, although I don’t believe he was my child. I took him to one of the class sessions, to which we arrived late. Consequently, the class had already started. I discovered that this particular class was a lesson on how to use swords. The kicker was that they were real! As we waited to enter the class, the instructor came out of the classroom and closed the door. Only the three of us were in the waiting room, and he gave the little boy his sword. It was still sheathed, thankfully, I thought. The boy began to walk around the room with it, saying random things, just sort of bouncing around and playing by himself, as kids do. He eventually settled in a particular corner on the opposite side of the room and stayed there, haphazardly handling the sword. I just watched him, still shocked that such young kids were given real swords to practice with. He didn’t realize that what he held was a potentially dangerous thing. I was quite concerned he may hurt himself or others and began to voice my concerns to the instructor.

Scene Three – A Challenge

Some other people and I were detectives or investigators — but with unusually high intellectual levels — and were tasked to find solutions to extremely difficult problems. We were presented with problem after problem, all seemingly impossible but somehow we would figure out the solution. It seems as if this part of the dream occurred over and over, quite a few times.

An Interpretation

To discover new levels of knowledge and understanding, we must first seek — research, learn, pray, ask, study. God’s word is no different. When reading it, we need to go deeper. If we come across a difficult passage, we should keep reading, investigate cross referenced scriptures and ask questions, with spiritual antennas at attention. We must search for the right ‘ladders’ upon which to climb. In this manner, we discern what God has to say to us, how we are to live and what we are to do.

Just like the little boy in my dream who didn’t realize the power in his hands, sometimes, we see God’s word — a sword to be used by His people — as something to place on a shelf, perhaps to ‘play’ with occasionally, but only briefly, not with passionate interest or pursuit.

Do you desire to be stagnant in your work life? In your personal life goals? I’m confident that most would answer, “No.” Your spiritual life should be no different. ” … By this time you ought to be teachers …” (Hebrews 5:12). In other words, if you have been a believer for a while, your spiritual knowledge and maturity should have grown such that you are able to teach. Just as a baby grows with time and no longer needs only milk but also solid food, your spiritual life should continually improve and be effective as you overcome challenges.

A Word

If I gave you a real sword, would you store it ‘safely’ away, or would you be curious enough to actually learn how to use it?

Once we get into a rhythm of spiritual growth, of ‘climbing’ upward and forward, we learn how to deal with certain circumstances and how to use the authority God gives us in His word. How are we to use this authority? By speaking the words He’s given us, declaring them over our lives. How did God create the world we live in? By speaking. Words really do matter.

In fact, when you speak God’s word, you are actually wielding a sword.

“God’s word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts.”

Hebrews 4:12 (NCV)

We should master the art of the sword, the ongoing study of God’s word, so that we are fully equipped to know how and when to use it. With our sword in hand, we can thwart the enemy’s traps and free ourselves from the miry clay (Psalm 40:2). In short, we can receive healing for our souls and consequently affect major life change for ourselves, our families, and strangers, alike.

Like the investigators in Scene Three of my dream, we can find solutions to life’s most difficult challenges, for with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37 CJB). And if we are with Him, we have the supremely beneficial gift of His word, a sharp sword, glistening with power, ready for battle and poised for victory against all enemies. We just need to pick it up — and use it. Selah.

#Watchman333

Listen: Even in Your Dreams … There’s Power in the Name

“… it is one of the ways God communicates with us. Likewise, the enemy can attempt to do the same …”

Vanessa Inspirz4 Comments

The Dream

I was in a room with a comfortable chair that had a large cushion. The cushion had buttons in various places, as some cushions do. All of a sudden, I didn’t see anyone but felt a presence, and at the same time saw impressions being made into the cushions, as if something invisible was punching it over and over.

Immediately I recognized it as an evil spirit and began to shout “Jesus!” However, there was no sound coming out of my mouth. I was screaming as hard as I could and tried several times, but it was as if something was holding back my vocal cords! It strained me but I didn’t give up. Finally, whatever the evil spirit was, it ceased its hold, and I woke up. 

The Revelation

The enemy tries to hold us back in many areas of our lives. He also does this in our dreams, spiritually, for in the spirit realm is where the enemy operates.

When we are asleep, our spirit is still awake. This is why we can receive dreams from God that contain messages or are symbolic of warnings or things to come; it is one of the ways God communicates with us. Likewise, the enemy can attempt to do the same, but his communication will only seek to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).

Why does the enemy come to us in the spirit? In short:

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers of this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

In my dream, the thing the enemy tried to block in the spirit was sound, specifically the sound I was attempting to make with my voice. How did God make the world? He made it with sound from his voice. He created everything with his voice. He spoke. And there was. Period.

So, when the enemy tries to stop your voice from saying the name of Jesus or whatever it is you’re trying to say while you’re dreaming, he is trying to block something from happening in your life. Perhaps it is indicative of a warning that what you are going through right now is the enemy trying to crush God’s plans, even silence His voice in your life.

You have power

The enemy knows that your words are powerful, and he wants to eliminate that power as much as he can. As long as you have a voice, you can wield spiritual power that manifests natural blessings, goodness, favor, mercy, grace and destiny, in accordance with God’s word. And for my mute brothers and sisters, you can ‘speak’ in your mind; God will still hear you through your spirit.

If you are reading God’s word, listening to Him, praying to Him and trusting Him for the answers— delighting yourself in Him—He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).

Let’s look at that verse with an emphasis on “give you.” It’s not that He gives you what you desire on your own; it’s that He gives you what He wants you to have because He knows what’s perfectly best for you. 

And so, as we listen to God, He begins placing the desires we should have in our heart. Since He is the one who put them in our heart, they align with the promises in His word, according to His purpose for our lives. 

Out of the heart the mouth speaks, right? So, we begin speaking about our heart’s desires and about God’s promises, praying about them, declaring their manifestations in our lives. God has promised us in His word that we will declare a thing and it will be established for us (Job 22:28). That makes perfect sense because, again, words have power. The underlying understanding here, of course, is that those words have to line up with His will. 

It’s like this: When you are employed, your employer grants you certain benefits. The benefits are made known and are available for you to use. However, you have to actually do something to use them. For medical benefits, you have to find a doctor, go to the dentist, decide to try the chiropractor, etc. If you don’t take the initiative to make an appointment, and then actually show up, you won’t reap the rewards of the benefits, right? If you do nothing but read about the benefits, they’re still available—but you have to act to take advantage of them.

There are blessings available for us in the spirit, but sometimes, we have to use the power of our words to receive them. Such authority is given to us as children of God, adopted through belief in His son. I say “sometimes” simply because God can do whatever He wants to do, including giving us a blessing when we didn’t ask for nor declare it.

What’s the main point here?

Open your mouth. Despite the enemy’s attempts to silence you—in dreamland or ‘awake land’—speak God’s word. Speak His promises. Speak the powerful name of Jesus. Speak what the Holy Spirit tells you to speak. Out loud. With confidence. With declaration. And expect God‘s goodness to rain all over your parade.

To those of you who have never experienced such dreams before, I am not crazy. I have experienced these types of dreams more than once. And so have others I’ve personally known about or heard about. If the enemy ever comes after you in this way, just invoke the power and authority you have in speaking the name of Jesus. By this power you can be delivered from the enemy’s attempt to block what God has for you, whether spiritually, in your dreams, or naturally, in your life. God has already delivered us from the power of darkness (Col 1:13)—just stand up and declare it to activate this benefit: speak the name of Jesus.

By His name, we are strengthened (Acts 3:16), given the power to cast out demons and speak with new tongues (Mark 16:17), and gifted with eternal salvation:

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

Great, fierce cloud of white, gray, light blue and dark blue hues, with lightning.

What Can We Learn From Ezekiel?

“When the creatures stopped, they lowered their wings …”

Vanessa Inspirz2 Comments

CHAPTER 1 – SYMBOLS

During the 30th year of the Babylonian captivity of Israel, God gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision, which he describes in Ezekiel, Chapter 1. You are personally invited to dive deep with me into the powerful meaning behind some of his words, filled with intriguing symbols, revelation and ancient wisdom.

Symbol: Stormy Wind

In the midst of a stormy wind, Ezekiel saw a cloud with flashes of fire and seemingly glowing metal, surrounded by bright light.

Lessons

Sometimes, our circumstances seem like a storm with no end in sight and that all is lost, as if burned up by fire. What we don’t see is that the storm is surrounded by God’s light, for He sees all. If we look intently within, we’ll catch a glimpse of His throne in the middle of the storm.

Symbol: Four Creatures

Ezekiel saw four living creatures. Each creature had four wings, two of which were used to cover the creature, and the remaining two touched one of the other creatures.

Lessons

The fact that two of the creatures’ wings covered themselves is symbolic of us covering ourselves spiritually: by believing in God, receiving his son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and having an intentional relationship with Him.

The other set of wings touching another creature signifies us touching other people, not only physically but spiritually. We are to have relationships with others and to encourage one another. God has something very specific to say on the subject: “When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

Symbol: Sparkling Wheels

In Ezekiel’s vision there were wheels beside each creature. In each wheel he saw a second wheel crossways inside the first. All wheels sparkled, appearing as beryl gems, and the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, the wheels moved; when they stopped, the wheels stopped; and when they were lifted up, the wheels were lifted up!

Lessons

I believe these creatures were following in whatever direction their spirit heard, and wherever they went, their spirit went. Likewise, we also should follow wherever God leads us. We are body, soul and spirit, and God’s Holy Spirit speaks to us through our spirit. When He says “jump,” we need to say, “How high?!” The benefits are plenty when we tune our spirit to God’s Spirit — and then follow where He leads.

You will notice in Ezekiel’s vision that the wheels were beside, not attached, to the creatures. They were high, frightening and sparkled like beryl, a gem that forms many of the precious gemstones we know. In other words, the wheels commanded attention. These characteristics remind me of someone I know: He has promised to never leave nor forsake us; He is definitely ‘high’ in every way; reverently speaking, He is ‘frightening’; and He “sees everything you do,” and “watches where you go” (Proverbs 5:21).

Symbol: Roaring Seas

The wings of the creatures had a sound as a roaring sea and was compared to an army, as well as the voice of God. I believe this represents the collective praise of the people of God. He is a God worthy of worship and praise 24 hours a day, not only with our lips, but in everything we do. Imagine if every child of God around this world praised Him at the same time … can you hear a sound, both pleasant and powerful, like the roaring waves of the sea?

Lessons

When the creatures stopped, they lowered their wings. Why? I believe they needed to quiet their sound in order to hear clearly from the One who sits on the throne. While praise to God should always be on our lips (Psalm 34:1) — audibly or in spirit — there are also times when we should stop, become quiet … and listen.

Symbol: The Throne

Ezekiel ends this first chapter by describing a throne that looked like sapphire, the stone associated with wisdom, royalty, prophecy and divine favor. Upon the throne sat a figure that appeared human, glowing like metal on top and fire on the bottom. Furthermore, a bright light surrounded the throne and reminded him of a rainbow on a rainy day.

Lessons

Details often reveal keys that open the doors we need to walk through. Ezekiel obviously paid attention to the details. This simple practice ensures we understand the messages we are given that set us on the right path, less we miss them altogether, travel down the wrong path and waste precious time in our lives.

The splendor of the throne compelled Ezekiel to bow face down on the ground, since, for him, it represented the glory of God. And then he heard God’s voice speaking. We can see the glory of God every day of our lives if we are humble enough to look. He created everything, and He is everywhere. If we search for Him, He is easily found. Selah.

________

Question for You

Do any of these symbols in Ezekiel’s vision stand out to you? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments. Grace & peace.

Listen: A Lion, A Girl & Oppression

” … all the people looked disheveled and/or sad, oppressed. So, I walked in and asked what happened to the place. No one gave me an answer …”

Vanessa InspirzLeave a comment

A Dream, A Prophetic Interpretation and a Word

The Dream

Scene 1 – Sudden Darkness

I was walking down a road near where I grew up in Tennessee. Except it was now a dirt road, with very light dirt. I was going to visit the area where I was raised. I don’t remember if in the dream my mom still lived there or not. As I was walking down the street, which is pretty barren on both sides for a long stretch—no homes, only corn fields, as it is in the country—all of a sudden there was a boom sound and everything went completely black, no lights anywhere. Before there were street lights and it was about dusk. After the blackout the only light was the moonlight. And that was really dim. It felt as if the entire geographical region of Tennessee and beyond, maybe the world, was suddenly dark. I speeded up walking to get to the neighborhood quicker, where I figured they were other people and I would be safe.

Scene 2 – A Lion and a Little Girl

No cars came by, but I did pass a few people walking briskly on the other side in the opposite direction. So this one lady passed by; we didn’t speak and then I noticed a little girl following her. The lady was walking very fast and seemed completely focused where she was going, not glancing over at me or even looking back to check on the child. I believe she was Caucasian or maybe Hispanic. I know her skin color was pretty light. After passing me, all of a sudden, the little girl turned back and started following me. I urged her to go and catch up with her mother. She tried to do so but her mother had gone so far and she really couldn’t see her. The next thing I know the little girl was stuck in the ditch and crying out for help. She was literally hanging on something by her dress, head downwards into the ditch. I started walking over to help her, and before I could reach the ditch, I noticed what looked like a lion slowly going down toward her. It seemed young but large enough to do damage to any human. I froze and was really scared. I turned back because I reasoned that both of us would be killed by the lion. So in fear I kept going. I heard the little girl scream, and then I didn’t hear her anymore. I felt extremely bad. I kept going in the direction of the community. At that point I realized that I had somehow veered off the actual road and was about to walk straight into a swamp. So I doubled back and got back on the road. I was worried that I had to go back in the direction of the lion, thinking surely, he would get me too. But he was nowhere in sight, so once I found the road I headed back toward the community, as fast as I could.

Scene 3 – Shantytown

When I got to where our subdivision used to be, the streets and homes that should have been there were not. Instead, it seemed to be a huge camp of people like a refugee camp of sorts, with just little small pockets or rooms, like a shantytown, set up like a maze, seemingly with no streets. Chaotic and full of people. It was very dark and depressing, and all the people looked disheveled and/or sad, oppressed. So, I walked in and asked what happened to the place. No one gave me an answer. Most of them looked rather unapproachable, and I was a bit afraid so just kept moving through the maze hoping that soon I would break free of this and find my old neighborhood as it was. I came to this one door, and as I passed I looked in and it was full of foreigners, maybe 20 people or so. They appeared to be Indian or of some Asian country, all fairly dark skinned but with straight black hair. A man who seemed to be a leader (I think he was American but not sure) made them line up and begin marching out of the room single file. They were all men and were all with such a sad countenance. I caught one’s eye and gave him a smile to encourage him. The next guy in line looked at me and said, “It’s bad. It’s really bad.” I responded, “Are they abusing you?” And he answered, “Yes.” Then I told him I would try to help. And then they kept going. I had to stop to let them pass by. I followed behind them into the next room, namely because there was nowhere else to go, and heard the leader asking the guy I had spoken to what I had said. The guy told him that I would try to help them. Then the leader was very angry, and he grabbed my hand to try to twist it to frighten me. I became bold and looked at him right in the eye, and I grabbed his hand to try to loosen it from mine and said something like, “I’m not afraid of you, let go of my hand. You’re not the boss of me.”

The Prophetic Interpretation of This Dream

Some of the children in this world are in grave danger. We, as adults, are allowing this danger. How? From neglect. Being so concerned with our own safety, our busyness, our schedules, our safety, that we’ve forgotten about the children. There are so many being abused. ‘Hanging by a thread’—and headed in the wrong direction, even the opposite one they should be going in. Once they realize they are in trouble, they cry for help, but in fear, or disinterest, many ignore their cries. And so the ‘lions’ of this world—sex traffickers, abusers, pedophiles, child soldier ‘recruiters,’ kidnappers and other evildoers—easily devour them. They become ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and I would add, ‘out of hearing range, out of thought.’ We sympathize with their issues, but how often, do we actually do anything about them?

There are also adults being abused and oppressed around the world. No one can deny this truth. There were people of all kinds of nationalities in that ‘shantytown.’ Oppression is an international issue. Many nations are in turmoil as a result. God is shaking things up, majorly. He is showing us these things in our dreams for a reason.

A Word

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we pray! It is also necessary for us to get involved in standing up for children, rather, to their abusers. The children cannot do it themselves. The enemy is behind all evil, which is why, when we decide to fight him, it’s important that we wield a sword of great power: the word of God. Praying the word of God is powerful. And prayer changes things. This is a call to warfare prayer. And for those who are able, a call to action. For the children. And for those who are oppressed. Let’s press in to God, actually listen to Him, get insight on how we are to pray, and what we are to do.

Selah.