Dream about Spock

RHEMA 6/15/02 STONY HEARTS TO FLESH

When we read scriptures, we often read it through our own mindsets and perspectives. So recently I asked the Lord to share with me what He meant when He said He would take the heart of stone out of our flesh and give us a heart of flesh. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezek 36:26,27 & 11:19 & 20)

I couldn't quite get the language of taking out the stony heart of flesh but then replacing it with a heart of flesh. I was stuck on the semantics of the word flesh and it didn't make sense to me. He answered my prayer very quickly and I thought what He shared was very interesting.

DREAM ABOUT SPOCK OF STAR TREK

I had a dream where I saw some leaders of a church who were meeting and closeting themselves before the Lord to hear the Word of the Lord, and to see who had the Lord's heart and message for this time. As they came out, I heard a voice ask, “Who has the Word of the Lord? Who has the heart of the Lord?” And I looked over at a lay man in the congregation. Believe it or not, he was Spock of StarTrek. Spock stood up and led the congregation in a processional of worship and parade, by going forward to the platform, then turning around in the opposite direction. The people followed him to the platform, then turned around with him and walked in the opposite direction. As I woke from this strange dream, I heard phrases about changing the mind and humility.

WHO WAS SPOCK?

Spock was a character in the TV series StarTrek. He was half human, half vulcan. He believed that to be human was to be weak, emotional, and unpredictable. He tried to suppress all humanity within him, and instead be a vulcan which was to think, communicate and respond with a highly developed sense of being logical, unemotional, calculating, and predictable. Spock was the epitome of what physiologists call left brained. He represented the mathematical, logical view of life. However in spite of his best efforts to present a perfect model of intellectualism, he still managed to show a little humanity once in a while and he was a lovable character.

As I pondered the fact that Spock went to the podium, then turned around in the opposite direction with a procession following him, I realized that this was a parable of the word repentance. Repentance means to think differently and have a change of heart or mind, turning around in the other direction. It takes a humble heart to admit one's falling short and it takes a humble heart to turn around and change.

RELIGION FROM THE HEAD

As I was pondering the character of Spock, I remembered a “sermon” from Heidi Baker. As she was asked to speak at some conference, the Lord spoke 4 Words through her. She repeated them over and over again. “Too big. Too small. Too big. Too small. Too big. Too small.” From what I could tell, she must have been pointing to her head, then to her heart as she spoke these words. The Lord's Word is that our heads are too big, and our hearts are too small.

When we approach a relationship with the Lord from our heads, it leads to an intellectual study of the scriptures and circumstances, a calculating and logical view of Who He is and what He is saying. It leads to formulas, rigid, inflexible, predictable behavior and routine. It buries personal emotions and presents a cold, hardened front. It turns the perspective off the subjective self and capitalizes on the objective viewpoint. I have known many Spocks in my life and I am sure you have too. However I think that within every human being is a little of Spock.

RELATIONSHIP FROM THE HEART

The opposite side of the coin is a relationship with the Lord that becomes so transparent, there is nothing to hide. Instead of burying the humanity side of our nature, we allow it expression. Things like emotion comes to the surface. And with every emotion is a bundle of unpredictable warm, bubbly good stuff and also unclear, muddy yuck. Instead of analyzing everything the Lord might be saying, we respond. Instead of intellectualizing it, we do things like “perceive” and “feel” and we react with some kind of an “intuitive instinct.”

Have you ever had someone ask you in the middle of a spiritual experience, “What is the Lord saying to you, how are you feeling?” HUH???

I have had many visitations where the Lord has promised, then fulfilled the impartation of an anointing/ enduement in my life. All of them have been fulfilled differently and a surprise. The one I am thinking of right now was when a visiting evangelist came to town. I rarely if ever fall when traveling speakers come through. It always seems as though they go through the prayer line and dominoes fling all around me. But me? I am the lone tree still standing. (The priests must learn to stand and minister in His Presence.) But this particular time, the evangelist whizzed through the line, and I went flying backwards. “And what was the Lord saying to me? And how was I feeling?” You've got to be kidding!

I was a bundle of hysterical laughing, then deep heavy sobs and tears, then back to laughing so hard I could hardly contain myself with more tears to follow. I would say it must have been quite a display between emotional bliss and sludge. And my body? It was violently shaking with my heavy tennis shoes pounding the floor very loudly. It was like currents of supernatural electricity surging through all my cells. And how was I feeling? It must have been something like ecstasy, but I was too busy responding to think about it. For three days every time I heard the Word of the Lord, I shook. It was like every cell in my body was being re-tuned to His sync. I would lay in bed at night and hear Him say even one Word in His still small voice, and my body would shake so strong that the whole bed vibrated. And then the laughter and the tears. Another Word, more shaking. I loved it!! Understand it? Not a bit. Embarrassing? When it feels that good, you don't care.

It has been several years now since that experience and I remember it fondly. Now I am back to being the lone tree while the dominoes fly, but I am changed from the inside out. There is a deep, residing ability to sense the Holy Spirit's Presence. It is like He strikes His tuning fork, and I line up and resound with the same pitch. Explain it? Understand it? No, but I sense Him, feel Him, and my heart responds. It has the ability to go with the flow and move where it will… just like His wind.

HARD BRICK OF CHEESE, OR SOFT FRESH CHEESE

I was still pondering the Spock dream and comparing it with repenting of an intellectual religion, a fellow shared 2 Words at church. He shared a “verse” out of The Message bible in I Thess 4. “…keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living spirited dance.” The Words religious and dance were quickened to me and I came home and tried to find the verse in every translation I could think of. Finally I called him and he told me it came from the Message. I thought that kind of funny, because the only part that was quickened to me of the “verse” (The Message Bible has no verses) was the part that was the editorialized paraphrase that had nothing to do with the original Greek. I thought, that certainly is a humorous parable of religion vs life.

Then he explained that he had seen a picture vision at church of a little bit of cheese, some oil, and the glass dome that covers the cheese to keep it fresh. He felt it had something to do with keeping us fresh. That had my attention. That morning I had done a study on the word stony and flesh, while looking up the scripture, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezek 36:26,27 & 11:19 & 20)

The word stony means “to build” as like a mason. Masons build with hardened bricks, usually made out of hardened clay. The word flesh means “flesh” as from its “freshness” or even “nakedness” of body. Without the sealing of His Holy Spirit, we can become exposed like old cheese, and become hardened to life. The layers keep piling on so as to protect the hearts from yet another of life's disappointments. But when He places His anointing upon us, it seals us and keeps the “cheese” of our hearts, soft and pliable and fresh for use.

RECIPES FOR HEARTS OF FLESH

There are many ways the Lord takes our hearts of stone away, and replaces them with soft, tender hearts of flesh. As mentioned above, the anointing of His Presence is one way.

Another way is through our sufferings. Tribulations, persecutions and afflictions all take their toll upon the hard places as we lean upon Him. Somewhere in the mystery of this process, the heart becomes tender and all the stony places break off in the fiery furnace.

Rom 8:35-39 NLT

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? (Even the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep." ) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's discipline is also another way He removes our hearts of stone. He knocks, and we resist, hoping that if we wait long enough, He will change His mind. He knocks again and we resist more. For some, it is years of layered resistance towards heeding His Word. And so the spankings come. The prayer lines grow but the pain remains. Finally what was perceived as evil opposition, is finally relented and the word “chastisement” comes into focus. Yes, He does chastise those He loves. Sometimes He runs out of time, and He loves us so much that He does not want us to miss out on the joys that are soon coming… and so He brings us to that painful place where we can no longer close the door and resist His voice.

Ps 119:67 NLT

I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.

And it does hurt and the tears do flow. Every tear becomes a watering pool to soften the heart. Adam was made of dust. Through the years, he became hardened clay. Our tears soften the bricks and somehow the stony heart melts and it is replaced with the heart of flesh.

SUMMARY

Our relationships with the Lord are more complex than the pendulums of pursuing Him with our minds versus pursuing Him with our emotions. Jesus told us, “…love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30 NLT) And so we pursue Him with all of our beings. May He continue His good work among us and may we not resist His voice when He calls.