Isa 56:6-7: “Also the sons of the foreigner who join
themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be
His servants-- everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My
covenant--even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in
My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted
on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Matt 21:12-14: “Then Jesus went into the temple of God
and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the
tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said
to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you
have made it a “den of thieves.”’ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in
the temple, and He healed them.”
Ezek. 47:1-9: “Then he brought me back to the door of the
temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple
toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing
from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He brought me out
by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway
that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. And when
the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one
thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my
ankles. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the
water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me
through; the water came up to my waist. Again he measured one thousand, and it
was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which
one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, ‘Son of man,
have you seen this?’ Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the
river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many
trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: ‘This water flows toward
the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it
reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing
that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great
multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and
everything will live wherever the river goes.’”
Rev. 22:1: “And he showed me a pure river of water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
Prologue
On November 30, 1995
during an area-wide pastor's prayer meeting, the Lord gave me the following
vision, which I shared with the brethren at that time. The vision is
encouraging, yet it contains a warning to the Body of Christ of what can and
possibly will happen if we disobey the Lord's admonition to labor with Him to
build a habitation for His glory.
After an intense time
of prayer, and an even more intense presence of the Lord, this vision came. I
have not received many "visions" from the Lord. He usually just
chooses to quietly "speak" to my heart, mind, etc. This vision was
different as it left me completely exhausted and weak. I experienced what I
perceive that Daniel and John describe in their writings in that, as it were,
all my strength left, and I was literally having trouble sitting up and raising
my head.
The Vision
I saw a very large dam
that had a very large valley in front of it. Here in the Knoxville area, Norris to be exact, there is
a very large dam named Norris Dam, managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA). What I saw in the vision looked just like Norris Dam. The water behind
the dam was something to behold. It was bright blue and quite calm. But the
interesting thing is that the water was brimming the top of the dam! It was like if there were one cup more in
that vast reservoir, it would overflow the top.
I next looked down at
the base of the dam. At the very base was an area of dirt that had been cleared
and an apparent square area had been dug out for what I assumed to be a
foundation for some structure yet to be built. Immediately in my mind was the
thought, "this is where My Habitation (corporate House) is to be built for
the region." It was at the base of
the dam and at the beginning of the large valley that lay in front of the dam.
I then looked down the
valley. I saw people huddled in scattered groups throughout the valley. I
immediately knew that these were the local churches of our area. The ones closest
to the dam were alive, but just barely. There was very little life at all,
although every now and then I could see what looked like a spark come forth
from the middle of several of the congregations. This seemed to somewhat
inspire the people to keep meeting and keep going, but it was obvious from
their countenances that there was not much joy in their labors. As I continued
to look further down the valley, I could see more people huddled together in
small congregations, but as you went further down the valley death was becoming
more and more apparent. There was absolutely no life. Then at the very fringe
of this valley I saw a horrible sight. It was much like Ezekiel's description
of the valley of dry bones. There were corpses everywhere. Some had completely
decayed, others were freshly dead, and others were half rotted away. It was
then when I understood that the dam was holding back the waters of life that
could not only revive the church that was dead and/or dying, but also I knew
that if just one drop of this water were to touch these corpses, they would
come back to life. It was then the Lord said to me, I have wanted to loose these waters in this area for many years. But I
cannot the way things presently are. Because of the lack of the proper vessel
for these waters to flow through, if I were to unleash them now, these waters
would destroy everything in their path!
They would not bring the healing and life that I desire to bring. They
would be My judgment instead of My life!
Many have tried to build the tabernacle of My presence here, but they
had always left a flaw in the foundation. The flaw was Pride! Because the foundation was not properly laid,
when the waters began to flow, it destroyed the building. This was My mercy so
as not to let the waters touch those outside of the structure.
I then looked back at
the churches closest to the dam and saw many of the people crying out to the Lord in prayer.
Their prayers seemed to go unheeded for what seemed an eternity, but then I saw
angels descending from heaven with large buckets in their hands. The angels
landed on top of the dam, scooped up a bucketful of water and then flew into
the valley pouring the water in their buckets over several congregations. Then
strange and wonderful things began to happen to the people in those
congregations. Some of the congregations began to have manifestations of what
has been termed the "Toronto Blessing" with its attending expressions
of joy, laughter, weeping, etc. But other congregations who had water poured on
them were struck with deep repentance. Still others when they had water poured
over them were, and this is the only way I could adequately describe it,
infused with Wisdom. From the change
in their countenances, they actually looked like they became smarter!
Still other congregations were infused with a baptism of love, peace,
healing, etc. The outpouring of the water did not have the same manifestation
at every location. An interesting side note: the angels gathering and pouring
out the water had different colored sashes around them. Some angels had gold
sashes, some silver, some green, some red, some purple, etc. Interestingly,
angels that had the same color sashes, when they poured out their water, the
effect on the congregations was the same. Gold-sashed angel's water produced a
specific manifestation, silver-sashed angel's water produced a different, etc.,
but the manifestations were consistent according to the color of the angel's
sash. The Lord then gave a warning. He said that the present outpouring in the world today is taking different shapes in
different places and not to judge the "quality" or importance of
what's happening somewhere because of the manifestation. Not all of the
present and coming outpourings will have the same expressions. Some are deep
moves of repentance. Some are outbreaks of divine love. The warning He gave is
to not be puffed up with pride because one congregation has a certain thing
happening and another has something different happening!
Then, not long after
the soaking began, the people, especially the leaders of these congregations,
raised their heads up and began to look around them. Up until this point all of
the members of each congregation were turned face-in, looking at one another,
and doing things only within the sphere of their circle. Now the people began
to turn around and look outward. And of course, they noticed the other
congregations around them. By the expression on their faces it was obvious they
were startled! It was almost like,
"Oh, I didn't know you were here!"
Then they began to wave and smile at one another across way. Then,
collectively, like something got everyone's attention all at once, they all
looked toward the dam and the dug-out place in front of it. They looked at one
another intra-congregationally, and then looked at one another
inter-congregationally, and many from each congregation began walking toward
the dug-out area. As they walked they came closer together and began to reach
out and take the hands of those they came in contact with, until you could not
collectively tell who came from where!
Next, I saw work begin
on what I assumed was a foundation. Cement was being made and fashioned into
huge stones. Some were mixing cement, some were pouring molds, and some were
carrying the finished cement blocks and laying them in specific places. The
whole time there were people standing and watching this, but were giving
specific direction as to how, where, etc. These were the collective eldership
of the area called and anointed to build the habitation of the Lord for this
area. They would consult with one another over large pieces, but many, over
smaller pieces, were working on their own, but always looking to what everyone
else was doing to make sure it all "fit." Those working in groups and those working
seemingly alone were still so closely tied that all could easily be said to be
working as one.
I then began to see
the foundation take shape. It was square. The blocks and the mortar were so
precisely fashioned and laid together you could not even see a seam. As it was
being laid, it looked like one big piece!
As it went up several feet, around the top, outside edge, a ledge was
definitely taking shape to which it was obvious that something was to be built
to sit on top of it. But the middle part was different. From the back two
edges, closest to the dam, it looked like what I perceived as a conduit, or
concave channel forming, that tapered to about one-third the size to the middle
of the front of the foundation. It was obvious that this was left as a large
opening in the rear of the foundation, and a smaller opening in the front that
the superstructure would set on, but not close. This "channel" was to
be the conduit for the water behind the dam to flow through.
I could tell the
foundation was close to being finished when suddenly, all the people working on
the foundation began leaving, one-by-one, and going back to their original
congregations. The leaders who were helping to "supervise" the work
were growing more frustrated with every person leaving. This went on until
finally all the people who were working had left, and the leaders became
discouraged and left also and went home!
The next thing I saw was all these same people back in their local
congregations, worshipping, dancing, and enjoying the continued manifestations.
(As this whole scenario was being played out in front of me, while the people
were working on the foundation, the angels kept taking their empty buckets up
the dam, and returning and pouring out more water on the local fellowships). When
the people left the work on the foundation and returned to their home
congregations, the angels stopped bringing the water from the dam! As when one gets wet, and it takes time to
dry out, the manifestations, etc., continued for sometime after the angels
stopped bringing fresh water. But as the people began to dry out, the
manifestations, etc., began to wane and the people looked sad and puzzled. I
then noticed individuals from several of these congregations get buckets and
then begin to go and climb up the dam like they were going to go up there and
get water and bring it back. When this happened, I then saw those same angels
descend again, but this time they had drawn swords in their hands! When the people reached the top and saw the
angels, they realized that if they tried to take this water, it would cost them
their lives! The Lord then said to me: I will never allow men to put the arm of the
flesh to what I'm doing in the earth ever again! Anyone who tries will be swiftly, and sternly
disciplined!
When the ones who
tried to climb up the dam and get water returned and told what happened, you
could see the people in each congregation get on their knees, pray, and then
leave and set back out to work on the foundation! As soon as they prayed and began to leave to
work on the foundation, the angels began bringing their buckets of water and
pour them out as before!
The foundation was
quickly finished, and then they started work on the superstructure. The
superstructure began to form and it was absolutely breathtaking! It looked somewhat like ancient Greek
architecture but with many different twists. (Note: doing research on Solomon’s Temple
since this vision, I’ve come to realize the structure in this vision looked
like many of the artist’s conceptions of the Temple I’ve read about). Then, before the
superstructure was even one-fourth of the way up, I heard something behind the
structure as if a great door opening. Then the water from behind the dam began
to flow through the opening in the foundation (under the superstructure). The
sound was like Niagara Falls! There was
so much inherent power in the flow of the water that it was deafening and
terrifying! Yet as these mighty waters
began to flow under the structure, the power of them was so harnessed and their
paths so controlled, that as they began to flow down the valley, everywhere and
almost everyone touched by them, were brought to life! The ones who were closest to the dam and did
the most work on the structure received the flow first. Then as the waters
flowed further down the valley, the other congregations who were either dying
or dead, began to come back to life!
Again everywhere the water flowed it brought life, even to the flora,
the animals, everything! Then as it
flowed further, it finally made its way to the valley where the rotted and
half-rotted corpses were. As soon as the water touched these horribly grisly
things, they were immediately whole! Let
me re-emphasize . . . immediately they were whole! There was no long time of thinking about it,
they were touched, life brought, made whole, with glorious smiles on their
faces!
Now a word about the
down side of what I saw when the waters were released. Not everyone who was
touched by these waters was restored and brought back to life. Many of those in
the valley of the congregations were swept away by the waters. I knew this to
be judgment. The Lord indicated to me that these were the ones who had not
prepared themselves, and had, at times, even joined in to ridiculing and mocking
those who were building! While the
building was going on, there were people from various congregations around the
valley who would come, mock and ridicule those building. Needless to say these
were not touched by the water from the angel's buckets. Sad to say also, which
is reality, there were those in the valley of corpses who did not come to life,
but were swept away also in the waters. I don't know why these particular ones
did not come to life, and I received no word from the Lord about it. It still
remains a mystery.
As the waters from
under the structure flowed and touched these who came to life, then they,
one-by-one began to march, yes march as an army would, toward the structure. The
structure was still not complete. I knew that they were all going to take their
place with the rest who were already there working and join in finishing the
building. Then the Lord indicated to me that as soon as the foundation and part
of the structure are complete, the water will be released, because everyone saved
now, and to be saved, has a part to play in building. No matter how "great"
or how "small," each person has a necessary part to contribute to
building the habitation of His presence.
I then went back to
the foundation, and I asked the Lord, “what is the foundation?” I knew from
scripture that the essence of the substance was Jesus Himself, and that those
who were overseeing the laying were an "apostolic/prophetic"
presbytery, but I wanted to know what this conduit, in toto, was called. I
offer what I believe His answer to me in fear and trembling, with
accountability and a readiness to be corrected. He said, Prayer and worship. Without
this corporate building on a foundation of prayer, praise and worship, pure
from pride, fear, jealousy, and greed, His habitation cannot be built. He
then re-stated to me that many works have been started in this area (East
Tennessee) that were a prototype of this, but the foundation of these works
were never right. The cement and mortar were not pure, but were mixed with
pride, lust, greed, jealousy, etc. The foundation could not stand the stress
and pressure of the superstructure much less the raging waters that would be
released through them. The empty dug-out place has had many buildings started
in it, but because the ingredients of the foundation were not pure, He allowed
the enemy to test it, these works crumbled, and He wiped the place clean again.
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