C15) A Message from the Lord for the Church in Bristol, (and UK), (S. Dobbs, 2003).
(This links to A7, C26, and B2, B5)
In May 2003 the Lord led me to set a week aside to pray as much as possible for black unbelievers living in Bristol today. As I was praying in tongues along these lines it was as if I became a bystander and was observing Jesus speaking this message to the Christians in Bristol by his Holy Spirit.
Whilst praying I saw an image of Jesus wearing a diadem upon his head with a large single stone or jewel on the front of it. I believe this signified his kingship over the church in Bristol. I had the impression he had many crowns and diadems upon his head but this was the only one I could see in this picture. It was worn at an angle with the front lower than the back so that the jewel was over the lower part of his forehead. I had the impression that this was not the angle the diadem was intended to be worn and that it would have been more comfortable for Jesus if it had not rested on his forehead in this way. I saw that the forehead symbolised the "will" and that there were issues amongst many Christians in Bristol to do with "wilfulness",that this was not fitting for the kingdom of God and was something that the Lord wanted his church to address.
To the Pastors and Elders:
Firstly, Jesus was speaking to the Pastors and Elders in the city. He was calling them to "prepare the ground beforehand before any outpouring of the spirit takes place." He was saying "the door of opportunity is still open for a while yet." I saw it was only partially open though, (about a quarter of the way open).
Jesus was also pointing out that some were earth bound and resisted responding to the Lord. That they were aware of enemy forces in the city and wanted to avoid exposing themselves to possible attacks by living risky lives themselves for the sake of serving Christ.
Then I saw a picture of the curtain in the temple torn in two because of the death of Jesus, so that we can enter safely into the Holy of Holies of God's presence forever. This was followed by a picture of Jesus' heart torn in two, which revealed his longing to see many unbelievers receive salvation in Bristol. Jesus was then saying that "there was the possibility of seeing masses of unbelievers getting saved in Bristol in the future, with churches having huge congregations as a result, but this opportunity would be missed if the ground was not prepared before band. That you must take this opportunity to prepare the ground whilst this door is still open."
The Lord was saying that "leaders had responsibilities in this but that the enemy had blinded some of them to this fact." For some of them (not all), it was as if their hearts had become like temples full of staleness, parts of which had been crowded out by other things including idols. To these people the Lord was saying "throw these things on the rubbish heap and serve Christ instead."
To the Womenfolk:
Next Jesus was speaking to God's daughters in the city. He was calling them to cry out to him about the savage history of Bristol concerning the African slave trade. I saw however many of the woman had a dislike of looking at this unsettling and disturbing side of Bristol's past. That the enemy would try to use these feelings as well as distractions around them, to prevent them from praying about this.
Jesus was also saying that there "was an urgent need for them to go into a warlike mode", for them to "warfare against all the influences of the enemy that would keep the Christian men from taking up their responsibilities in the city".
I saw that "the women will receive rewards in heaven for this, here on earth though many may have prayed in secret with no one else realising the battles they have fought on behalf of others".
To all believers in Bristol:
I saw a picture of a grave which symbolised the lost souls of all those unbelievers who had died without having received Christ. Meanwhile though many of the Christians had sought amusements for themselves in their meetings and ignored the plight of these unbelievers. Jesus was emphasising the need to "die to the self in the Christian life".
I saw a picture of different routes that Christians could choose to follow. The choices were down to each persons freewill. Some routes were more in line with Jesus' will, others routes were laid out by satan for Christians. I saw that satan had set traps in the future for those Christians who had wandered away from the route of loyalty to Jesus Christ and serving his purposes here on earth. I saw that satan would be able to bring a clouding of the spiritual vision of such Christians, so that many of them would have great difficulty in discerning things in the future. The Lord was saying that we were about to enter into a period of history known as the "END TIMES". That there would be a bombardment of their senses "and that "the enemy would attempt to sow deception and lies into their hearts". That it was important for individuals to "keep a tight grip on their loyalty to Jesus Christ and to serve the purposes of God in order to avoid these snares in the future".
I saw that many Christians felt "revolted" at the idea that we could be heading into troublesome times in the near future. They did not want to think that world affairs were moving into a period of history known as the END TIMES. Instead they wanted to enjoy themselves down here on earth and hide away, secretly in their hearts, from such thoughts. Jesus was saying however, "that this could result in them revolting, in the core of their hearts, against Gods truth in the future". That "there was indeed going to be a start of the FALLING AWAY of Christians from the faith in the near future", ( this was predicted by the Apostle Paul , see 2 Thess 2;3, K.J.V & N.K.J.V).
I saw that "there was a reluctance amongst many of us to deny the self and walk the way of the cross". That this reflected the "grip satan already had on many of our hearts. That the real struggle and biggest battle was within us. That this was reflected by whether or not a Christian was willing to serve the purposes of God as the priority in their life, and was committed to seeing unbelievers getting saved, or whether they were more concerned about pursuing their own selfish desires instead".
Finally Jesus was reminding us of how he had knelt down and washed his disciples feet in order to teach them to serve at cost to themselves, for the benefit of others, and to walk in the way of the cross.
S.Dobbs, 2003.