Part 1: A Vision of Home 02-12-02

"Their threats have had no influence on me or my men but to make all fight with desperation and that high souled courage which characterizes the patriot, who is willing to die in defense of his own country's liberty and his own honor!" William Barrett Travis, Commander of the Alamo

For the last several months I have been thinking about writing about spiritual warfare. My qualifications are that I have war stories - and the scars to prove them. What I have learned I have learned from the field of battle, not from a book or tape. We have entered into a new day where the old ways no longer work. The Lord is in the process of transforming His army and there are issues we need to look at as part of this process. At the heart of this transformation are the same kind of questions that the U.S. Army is asking about itself: What is the true mission of the army? What will the next war look like? What will be the new kind of battlefield? Who is the potential enemy?

We're going to look at some of those questions as they apply to the Army of the Lord in a series of articles but the first thing that I think we have to do is establish a vision. Without a vision, the people perish. A lot of people are writing about and talking about warfare these days but very, very few have a clear revelation of what they are fighting for.

William Barrett Travis was 26 years old when he wrote his famous dispatch from the Alamo. For thirteen days a little band of less than 200 Texas patriots held out against thousands of Mexican soldiers and the brutal dictator leading them. Santa Anna raised a "blood red banner" over them declaring them as rebels and each man knew that it meant there would be no prisoners taken. Near the end Barrett gave the men the choice to stay and fight to the death or to take a chance on escape. Every man but one stayed and fought. At the end of the siege all died.

It is hard to imagine what kind of vision a young man of 26 held in his heart that caused him to write such courageous words in the face of imminent destruction. What is it that inspires that "high souled courage" that makes an ordinary man become a "true patriot" that is willing to die in defense of his country?

Do you remember the story of Hanukah? It took THREE YEARS of hiding in the mountains and fighting guerrilla warfare with a small band of loyalists for Judah the Macabee to gain enough support to reclaim the Temple in Jerusalem. The people were so far into the process of Greek assimilation that they were ambivalent about their faith. Many thought it wasn't worth dying for apparently. Apostate priests accepted the Greek law that abolished the religious practices of Israel and Israel became poisoned as it spread from town to town. Somehow they had forgotten that Antiochus had destroyed Jerusalem, killing thousands of Jews and taking many into slavery. They somehow must have lost the memory that he destroyed their Temple, defiled the holy vessels and sprinkled pig's blood in the Holy of Holies. Somehow it escaped them that he killed whole families if they were found with a Torah in their home. Somehow they forgot who they were and where they came from and who and what made them a people.

I am afraid that the current state of the church is in the same condition. There is a vague sense that we are fighting for "souls" and "revival" but most people are truly ambivalent about their faith when it comes down to laying down their lives. Janis Joplin sang that "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose." Most people who call themselves Christians are not truly ready to fight for freedom because they don't want to lose anything in the process. They can't see that we have already lost it all and that what we are fighting for is to take back what has been stolen from us. They have forgotten where they were born and are content to live in Egypt. They can no longer see that Promised Land where we owe our allegiance. Most are willing to die in slavery believing that the only escape is to "go to heaven" not realizing that heaven is meant to come to earth.

If we are to go to war with the "high souled courage" of a true patriot then we need to know that what we are fighting and willing to die for is of greater value than our lives so that our courage does not fail us. Before we begin to look at the nuts and bolts of spiritual warfare, let's take some time and visualize that "other country" - that Kingdom that was and is and is to come on earth as it is in heaven. It is the home of our mother - the New Jerusalem - that is coming down out of heaven. Paul said about her: "But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother." (Gal. 4: 26) I want to share with you some of the visions the Lord has given me of what our Mother Country, our Promised Land looks like.

John Lennon wrote a song called Imagine. One of the lyrics is "Imagine no religion!" Well that would be a good place to start. Imagine an earth where the people live by the Spirit of God rather than by religious rules and rituals. There will be no more four walled churches where we go on certain days for a certain number of hours. No more denominational divisions. Revelation 21: 22: "I did not see a temple in the city because the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY AND THE LAMB are its temple." Every where we are, every thing we do will BE "church". The Presence of God will go with us and flow out of us wherever we are.

Imagine a world filled with people who no longer live but Christ lives in them. Imagine no more fear of being betrayed, rejected, heart broken, or hurt because everyone will live by the law of love. And if they violate that law it will be so painful to them that they will quickly remedy it. Every man will love his neighbor more than himself because he will truly see that we are all one. What harms one part of the body harms the whole. This doesn't mean that we will all become little clones but rather that the true nature of God will shine through each of us individually and the sinful nature will be fully crucified. Jesus is like a diamond and every one of us is a different facet when we are truly IN HIM and He is IN US. He has many, many faces and personalities that are unique to each of us but His nature is ALWAYS love and will rule our hearts rather than the selfish desires that control us now. Imagine being married to Jesus - a man who loved us so much that He was willing to die for us. If He lives in us then we will all be married to Jesus! What a great friend, brother, sister, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband and wife HE makes! The romance will never die. It will only get more exciting.

Imagine a world with no more sickness or violence. Imagine no fear. What do you worry about? Imagine it GONE. The Lord gave me a dream once where I was in heaven and I felt absolutely no fear. It is indescribable. Even in my most peaceful moments I have never experienced what I felt in that dream. Imagine the freedom of living completely without fear if you can. This is true freedom.

Imagine a world where the focus is on LIVING rather than SURVIVING. The purpose of life will be to enjoy it and to worship the Lord with joy and gladness. Everything we do will be an expression of worship and it will all be joyful. Imagine a world that is centered around creativity rather than accumulating money. Money won't be necessary because all necessities will be provided and held in common. No one will lack anything but rather, have an abundance of all good things.

Matthew 6: 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Imagine a world where everything that we do will become an act of creativity and the arts will become central as we work to create beauty wherever we go. Whether a person is an artist, a writer, a musician, an architect, a dress designer, or a scientist the work we do will be focused on creating the most beautiful expression of it and filling the earth with beauty. The earth will be reestablished as a garden, the waters and the land will be healed. We'll have a whole world to replant. Gardens of every type will fill the earth with plants, waterfalls, birds, butterflies, whatever the imagination can come up with.

Imagine no longer being confined by time. It isn't that time won't exist necessarily, but as we live in the divine harmony of God it will cease to limit us. We will always be exactly where we need to be exactly when we need to be. It will be like folding our arms and relaxing while the Spirit carries us down the river. Imagine no more clocks, no more calendars, no more time schedules, no more rabbits running around going "I'm late! I'm late!" Imagine having all the time in the world to do all the things you love to do. Imagine time to spend with the people you love and never having to say goodbye.

Now, imagine bodies that are not limited by physical laws. Imagine being completely healthy and your brain working at its full 100 percent capacity rather than the 20 percent that we function with now. Imagine being able to step through a portal in the Spirit and be in Scotland or South America or where ever you want to be at any time you want to be there. No more long distance friends that you never get to see or talk to because they will be just a step away. Imagine having a home in every place that there is a believer because all things will be held in common. The whole earth will be your home. My home will truly be your home because it will all be the Father's house and in it are many, many rooms. The whole earth will be like a Hillbilly family reunion. People will come and go, stay and visit, eat and drink, and then go visit the relatives in another part of the world because we will ALL be family.

Imagine being able to dive to the bottom of the sea to explore and being able to stay as long as you like without any special equipment because your body will not be subject to the physical limitations of the earth. Imagine being able to fly to the moon or a distant galaxy because your spirit can go anywhere the Spirit of the Lord goes. Everything that man works so hard to achieve on his own will be ours by the power of the Spirit.

Imagine red-cheeked, cherub faced children, happy and laughing and able to play freely without fear. Imagine the whole earth becoming their classroom and the Spirit of the Lord their teacher. Imagine them no longer confined to the institutional prisons we call schools. There will be no more animosity between men and animals so if a child wants to learn about lions he might spend a day with a lion. If he wants to learn about the sea, he might dive to the bottom of it. If he wants to learn about the stars he might go with the Creator of them and help make a new one. He'll hang it in the sky instead of on the refrigerator. If he wants to learn about the great painters, he might spend the day with Picasso or whatever great painters the Lord resurrects. If he wants to learn about his family history he can visit his resurrected ancestors.

Imagine a world where every day is a party. Music and dancing will fill the streets. Good food and wine will cover every table. Every day will be a celebration of life. Imagine walking down the street of the city and on one corner you might stop and chat for awhile with the apostle Paul and Abraham Lincoln. Down the street, sitting on the front porch, there is an impromptu jam session with Hank Williams, Beethoven and several others. From one area you might hear country music, from another classical, from another native drums, from another a mixture of the old and the new and a completely new sound. Life will be filled with surprises and wonders, new inventions, new forms of music and art.

The most amazing thing will be that the Lord Himself will be there, in the flesh, rejoicing in His creation. It will be possible to touch Him, see Him, and talk to Him. He will be the host of this endless celebration. He'll invite you into His home and offer you the best food and wine and rejoice in your company! And when we have filled and subdued this creation we will go with Him to the stars to fill the universe with the Kingdom of God. I can only speculate but I can imagine that when we have filled this universe that we might create new ones. There are NO limits to the possibilities in THIS Kingdom!

Isaiah 65: 17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20 "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. 23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.

Are you getting HOMESICK yet?? Are you getting angry enough about everything that has been stolen from you and all the generations before you to kick the devil's butt off your land? This is just a snapshot of the world the Lord meant for this earth to be. THIS is what was stolen from us by Satan and our own evil human natures! THIS is our Promised Land. It is the WHOLE earth not just a little piece of geography in the Middle East. Church is more than being bored for a couple of hours on Sunday morning. Worship is more than singing a few songs and thinking we have touched the throne of God. Restoration is much more than the taste we've had in past revivals. We are talking about more than revival. We are talking about RESURRECTION and REVOLUTION. And revolution takes war. The Lord has VASTLY more for us than we can ask or imagine. It has already been granted to us at the cross, but we have to rise up out of our complacency and TAKE IT BACK! NOW, if we are able to see the vision of a Kingdom and a King worth fighting and dying for, then we are able to begin to talk about what we have to do to get it back. Coming next: Warring from the Garden.

Ephesians 3: 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.