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COMING
INTO HIS PRESENCE
6/27/00
Hi Loved
Ones,
The
following is Francis Frangipane’s "River of Life Weekly
Summary." He was given a very profound dream. It truly
left me pondering and seeking the Lord about entering
into His Presence. Following Francis’ Word are my
comments and additional teaching.
Lovingly,
Sandy
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June 24,
2000
Pastor
Francis Frangipane
RiverofLifeMailer@InChristsImage.org
This
teaching is taken from the book, "The Days of His
Presence", by Francis Frangipane
FOR
DREAMS TO COME TRUE
Just
because we walk and talk does not mean we are truly
awake. Zechariah was not sleeping when an angel roused
him "as a man who is awakened from his sleep" (Zech.
4:1). Perhaps we too need to be shaken from our slumber
to possess the promises of God!
In spite
of all the signs, wonders, and warnings announcing that
we are truly in the last days, Jesus also said there is
a mysterious drowsiness that we have to overcome.
Indeed, immediately after highlighting the various
evidences of the end (see Matt. 24), He compares the
church to virgins who "all got drowsy and began to
sleep" (Matt. 25:5).
Virgins
sleeping at the end of the age: It seems
incomprehensible with all the signs in the heavens and
wonders upon the earth, not to mention the increasing
Presence of Christ. Yet this phenomenon is something we
each battle: the tendency to become spiritually drowsy
and lose our focus as we wait for the Lord's return.
There is
a subtle activity of the enemy that dulls our perception
and seduces our zeal. Our vision takes a backseat to
other less important aspects of life. From the
beginning, the voice of Satan has had this lulling
effect on mankind. Eve's excuse for disobedience was,
"The serpent hath caused me to forget" (Lit. Gen. 3:13
Young).
This
sense of spiritual forgetfulness, of drowsiness, is the
cloud of blindness that we each must discern and
overcome. It was in regard to this that the Holy Spirit
spoke to my heart through the following dream.
THE
DREAM
There
was a temple standing in an open field. My view of the
temple was from its side, about 200 yards away. I could
not see its front, yet it must have been completely open
because great light flashed out from the inside; it
pulsed like lightning, yet was solid like sunlight. The
block of light issued straight out and I knew this light
was the glory of God.
The
temple was so close, I knew that with a little effort I
could enter the glory of God. The Holy Presence was
clearly within my reach. There were also others directly
in front of me that I recognized as people from church.
Everyone seemed very busy. And while the temple and its
light were visible and readily accessible to any and
all, every head was bent downward and turned away from
the light; each was occupied with other things.
I heard
one voice say, "I have to do laundry." Another said, "I
have to go to work." I could see people reading
newspapers, watching televisions, and eating. I was sure
everyone could see the light if they wanted to-even more
sure that we all knew His glory was near. There were
even a few people reading the Bible and praying, but
everyone maintained the distance between themselves and
the place of God's Presence. No one, in fact, seemed
capable of standing up, turning, and walking into His
glory.
However,
as I watched, my wife lifted her head and beheld the
Lord's temple. She then stood and walked toward the
temple's open front. As she drew closer to the light, a
garment of glory formed and thickened around her; the
closer she went, the more dense the light surrounding
her grew until she stepped in front of the temple. She
then entered completely into the Presence of God.
Oh! How
jealous I felt. My wife had entered the glory of God
before me!
At the
same time I realized that there was nothing stopping me
from approaching God's Presence-nothing except the pile
of things to do and responsibilities that, in truth,
ruled my life more than the voice of God.
Pushing
the weight of these pressures from me, I determined to
rise and enter the temple myself. But, to my great
regret, as I rose up, I woke up!
The
longing and disappointment within me seemed unbearable.
I had been so close to entering God's Presence. How I
wanted to enter the temple and be swallowed up in His
glory!
I cried,
"Lord, why did You let me wake up?"
The word
of the Lord spoke deeply into my heart. He answered: I
will not have My servant's life fulfilled by a dream. If
you want your dream to come true, you have to wake up.
Today,
God is calling us all to awaken to the reality of His
Presence. The promises God gives us in the Scriptures
must become more to us than dream-like realities
reserved for the hereafter.
For this
reason, the Scripture says, "Awake, sleeper, and arise
from the dead, and Christ will shine on you" (Eph.
5:14). If we truly want Christ to "shine" upon us, we
must arise from the distractions that entomb us in
lethargy and spiritual darkness.
It is
time to put away all that is permissive, and even what
is permissible, and find what is permanent. If we want
our dream of attaining His glory to come true, we each
must wake up.
[This
article is taken from "The Days of His Presence" by
Francis Frangipane. This book is available at your local
bookstore, or it can be ordered directly for the special
price of $5.75 plus $1.50 shipping ($2.00
International). To order call 319-395-7833 or email
Daniel at dhite@frangipane.org with your order. When you
contact us be sure to mention this as the Weekly Summary
Email Special.]
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COMMENTS
& TEACHING FROM SANDY
COMING
INTO HIS PRESENCE
SWauthor@aol.com
Website:
www.thequickenedword.com
~ A
Vision of the Prophetic ~
A long
time ago the Lord gave me a vision of the prophetic. It
was one of those wonderful understandings that has
helped me along the way as I study the Words of the Lord
through the prophetic. I saw that each one had a
different pair of lenses in which to see the future. One
had a very long telescope and could see many years in
the future. I saw one who had a pair of binoculars
peering into the distance. Another had a pair of
glasses. All were given to see what was coming, but they
could only see a certain distance, depending upon their
lens.
In the
vision I understood that the prophetic had little
understanding of how their particular "lens" fit in with
His timing, and would actually be fulfilled on earth.
They also had trouble receiving one another’s Words,
because their lenses were different. The reason for
these difficulties is that they did not know each were
given a different lens nor did they know that the power
of these lenses had to do with timing. When they looked
through their own lenses, everything appeared close
regardless of how far away it was! However, the truth
was, the more powerful the lens, the longer the wait for
what was seen to become visible on earth.
~
Promises & Hopelessness ~
After
years of waiting for the Words of the Lord to come to
pass, it is easy for people to fall into slumber. A
prophetic promise faces many obstacles to come into
fruition. One of these obstacles is hopelessness and
despair. Hopelessness can be a result of the
discouragement, impatience, frustrations, and many other
emotions resulting from living and breathing His Word as
though it is right now, right here, right away, then
having to wait. If expectation is really high, delay
really hurts. The most natural way to numb the pain is
to fall asleep spiritually.
If you
have Words from the Lord given to you through the
prophetic, or if you have Words from the Lord because
you ARE prophetic, and they have not yet come to pass,
the Lord is asking you to WAKE UP. Your future is upon
you! The future is NOW. He is wanting us to walk into
His Promises now. He is wanting our participation by
moving forward towards Him.
~ I’m
awake Lord, now what? ~
As I
read Francis’ dream, I said, "Oh Lord how can I come
into Your Presence all the time? One day without Your
Presence is miserable, now that I have tasted! I long
for You Lord!" As I was praying this, I saw this wall in
front of me. It was like one of those brick walls that
are placed in an obstacle course, just standing there
not connected to anything. It was an easy thing to
overcome by simply walking around it! He told me that
wall was called hopelessness and I had overcome that
several years ago as I studied other’s prophetic lenses
and how they were beginning to connect and overlap with
my own. Hope had been wonderfully rekindled as I
believed the Words of the Lord and could see how they
were puzzling together.
~ The
Formula ~
"And so
I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what
you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on
knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who
asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door
is opened to everyone who knocks. "You fathers--if your
children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake
instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a
scorpion? Of course not! If you sinful people know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask him." (Luke 11:9-13 NLT)
I cried
out, "Lord, I’m awake! I refuse to fall into
hopelessness again. Lord what about those of us who ARE
seeking You, who have chosen You over TV and other
worldly ambitions?" I was knocking - I knew His
"formula" to move forward into His Presence. But now
even though worship, praise, tongues, studying His Word,
and prayer were all wonderful ways to move forward into
His tangible Presence, I was feeling quite dry. "Lord
did I mess up? What is going on here? I MISS YOU. Knock,
knock, knock, knock. This is me speaking. I am knocking.
Hello, is Anybody up there?" (Now other people may not
pray like that, but that was my prayer.)
~ As A
Child ~
At that
point in my prayer I saw this tunnel filled with light.
All these little people were walking through it in one
direction, towards the light. And then my attention was
on their legs. I could tell these really were little
people, about two years old! I could see their backsides
as their little short legs toddled forward.
I had a
keen sense that God had called them to come, and they
were coming. It wasn’t any major project; they had no
preconceived ideas of whether they could actually walk
towards Him, whether He would actually be there, whether
there was any obstacle in their way. They simply were
walking towards the light because He had called them.
Their little hearts told their little legs to move
forward because they WANTED to come. It was that simple
to respond to Him. — Hearts desire Him, legs move
towards Him.
~ The
Reality of His Tangible Touch ~
A short
while after this, I was playing the keyboard during
musician’s practice for Sunday AM worship. Somewhere
during the songs, it ceased being a practice, I poured
out my love for Him through singing and playing.
Suddenly out of nowhere, I was downloaded with His
Presence! I almost fell off my chair. Waves of His power
moving up and down my arms, tangible goose bumps up my
spine, heat like warm oil pouring down my head, neck and
face. New Wine making my muscles like jelly and my head
giddy. Layers of cares gone; I became a melted
marshmallow right on the spot. I was so delighted, I
began to giggle as His Presence continued in wave after
wave. It was like jumping into a cool lake on a very hot
dry day! I looked up feeling rather silly and
overwhelmed that I had just been "kissed by My Beloved"
and everyone else was just singing and playing. They
hadn’t a clue!
Oh that
we would become like little children and receive!
"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the
kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter
therein." (Luke 18:17 KJ)
So Lord
we beg You - that You would give us the hearts of simple
expectation like little children. Please give us hearts
to desire You and the spiritual legs to move into Your
Presence!
Lovingly,
Sandy
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