THE CONVERSATION

THE CONVERSATION

                Here is the conversation I promised to share with you. You can believe what you will about it. You can say that it is all from my own imagination…after all, I am the one writing this; but if our bodies are truly temples of the Holy Spirit, is it not possible that we can have conversations with the Lord if we listen for the still small voice? I believe that we can… and even though it is imperfect because of our flesh, we can nevertheless walk and talk with Him.

                This is one way that the Lord can take a simple text from the bible and make it real to us and full of understanding that can be missed if we just read the Bible like a book. I had been reading Matthew 5 where Jesus was teaching along the shore and He bid the disciples to go out into the deep and to cast their nets. The following then is the conversation:

RICK       Lord, I know that you want us to have more vision. You want us to learn how to be in the Spirit, to see in the Spirit and to operate in the Spirit. It says so in Romans 8. What do you desire to teach me today about operating more fully in your Spirit?        

JESUS    Cast your net into the deep and receive abundance from Me. Your net must go deep. It is below the surface that fish are caught. Likewise it is below the surface that the thoughts of My Spirit run. Your mind deals with surface logic. You deal with what you can see… what your mind can see. But your heart is hidden. It runs deep. The eyes of your heart see hidden treasures.

                The people on the shore saw loaves and fish, but I ask those who would follow Me to see what others don’t see. I want you to see in the Spirit, the abundance of provision that awaits those who go deep. The treasures of My wisdom lie in the unseen realm. You must cast your nets in the deep to find them.

RICK       But how Lord? How do we cast our nets into the deep? How do we spend time with you in the unseen realm?

JESUS    You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, but they testify of Me. Men study the Word as if logic and rational thinking will bring them what they need. I wanted My disciples to move beyond the realm of logic. It was not logical to lower their nets again in broad daylight. They had used logic to fish all night.

                In telling them to go out to the deep to cast their nets again I was teaching them (and you) how to operate in My Spirit. YOU must see what is unseen… meditate upon My Word… hear what My Spirit is saying to your heart.

                I desire to open the eyes of your heart. Intellect and logic stand as guards at the door of your heart. Only those who are led by My Spirit can get past them and to enter in. Only I can open the eyes of your heart. Only I can give you passage beyond the guards of intellect and logic. Flesh wants to stand in the way.

RICK       Open the eyes of my heart Lord. Help me to cast my nets into the deep. Help me to draw from the abundance of things not seen. I desire to operate by Your Spirit more fully, so that I may bring forth abundance to share with those along the shore.

JESUS    It is my greatest pleasure to lead you and teach you Rick. I know your heart and how it longs to keep moving beyond the past, the self, the trail of tears and disappointments. I know your desire to convey the deep things of My Spirit with others. You have the heart of a teacher. You walk the line between logic and revelation.

                Go out into the deep and cast your nets and you will reap many rewards. Don’t study My Word like you would study a textbook. That will only give you logical truth. Meditate on My word… picture it. Picture Me speaking it. Immerse yourself in the scene until you can smell the air, hear the waves slapping against the boat… hear the gulls… see the children playing along the shore. Feel the cold water lapping at your knees. Notice the eager eyes of the crowd as they listen to My words. They are expecting miracles. They have never heard anything like this before. Listen to Me as I send you out into the deep to lower your nets.

                Lower your nets Rick…deeper… deeper. What do you see?

RICK       I see angels guiding the fish to my nets. I see me running back and taking your hand to come with me. I must have you with me. I can’t do this alone. The nets are loaded to the breaking point, but I don’t know how to bring them in.

JESUS    You are returning to logic Rick. Your intellect is overwhelmed. You are now trying to do in the flesh that which can only be done by My Spirit. Go back into the deep. Ask the angels to help you to hall in the fish. You thought they were going to leave you at some point to finish the job in the flesh. Tell Me: Having begun in the Spirit are you now going to continue in the flesh? If I be lifted up I will draw all who belong to Me. Those who are destined for salvation will come. You lower the nets. I will bring in the fish.

                You introduce Me to the people and I will draw them in. I know My sheep and My sheep hear My voice. Like the fish, they will come when you go deep… not intellectually, but deep into the picture. It is not what people know that changes them, but what they experience. My word must come to them by revelation.

                I taught the people with pictures, parables, stories. They found themselves coming home with the prodigal son. They experienced his Father’s love and forgiveness. They felt themselves naked and accused of adultery, defenseless against her accusers. They saw me coming to their defense against those who pretended to represent Me. They came to understand that their boat would not reach the other shore unless I was in it. They invited Me into their hearts when they came to understand that it is I who will cleanse their temple leaving only praise and worship. They came to understand that the Christian life is much like walking on water. They cried out for help with Peter. They could not take one step without Me. I lifted them up. They are now walking by faith and not by sight.

                Come to Me in the deep Rick and your nets will be filled with hidden treasure.

                At this point my conversation with the Lord ended… for now. And now it feels like I was actually there. Truth has moved from the theoretical realm and into the reality of revelation and experience. After all, don’t books have a whole new meaning when you have had a conversation with the Author?

                I am keeping a journal of these encounters with the Lord… and of course many of them are too deeply personal to share publically. We talk about everything. And in these conversations I am learning what is important to Him. Through human logic we tend to focus on trivial matters, while ignoring the heart of God in the matter. The wisdom of man is foolishness to God. We love to sound intellectual, but God is dwelling in humble and contrite hearts. He is using the weak things of this world to confound the wise. He prizes childlike faith over scholarship. He wants us to walk and talk with Him in the cool of the evening just as He did with Adam and Eve before their intimate connection was broken. It is that connection that Jesus came to restore.

                DISCLAIMER: Please don’t take this conversation with the Lord as more than it is. I am not saying “Thus saith the Lord, nor am I a prophet. This is just an intimate prayer conversation between me and the Lord spirit to Spirit.  I believe that such conversations are real and that they must always be consistent with the word of God.