"Vision Of Jesus And The Bible"

March 15, 2006

Catherine Brown:
"Vision Of Jesus And The Bible"
 

My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:20-23)

In a recent vision, I witnessed the Lord handing out books to people who stood in line before Him. As I drew closer to the Lord, I was able to see that the books were in fact black leather Bibles and the front bore the inscription “Holy Bible” in gold letters. As each person who received a Bible walked away, they formed small groups with other people.

Keys of Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding

Suddenly angels appeared with golden keys and started to unlock the Bibles in the hands of the believers. Prior to this, it was as though the people had no idea what to do with the Bibles! As the Holy Bible was opened, words began to rise off the pages. The words released included, "knowledge," "wisdom" and "understanding." As this phenomenon occurred, I marveled and rejoiced at how the people became engrossed in God’s word and were able to absorb its meaning. The angels smiled as they looked on at the impartation that was happening as a result of those who studied the Holy Bibles.

“The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” (Isaiah 33:5,6)

Land of The Book

Scotland was once known as “the land of the Book” because of our love as a nation for God’s Word and our passion in sending out missionaries around the world. Sadly, today, our nation is not as fervent in reading and living by God’s Word as it was previously; however, we continue to pray for a resurgence of passion for Jesus and His Word.

In persecuted nations often the first thing that happens, when a precious delivery of a Bible arrives amongst believers, is that they tear the Bible up into pieces so that many can be blessed by even a tiny portion of God’s Word. Oh, that we in the West would have the same ardent desire and love of God’s Word!

Preach The Good News To The Poor

Beloved, the Bible says that the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us in order that we might preach good news to the poor. How can we preach that which we do not know? God is calling us back to His Word, where the Holy Spirit can teach, inspire, encourage, correct, and rebuke us where necessary, so that we can be trained and equipped for the  mission and for the sharing of Jesus’ love. God’s Word is life and breath to us. Our prayer lives and prophetic lives are enriched beyond words when we use the love language of Scripture. When the Word of God has been marinated in our hearts and absorbed in a revelatory way, it becomes a mighty sword in our hands--a sword by which the Lord, by His Spirit, can work miracles, healings, and salvations.

I encourage you today to dive into the fresh bread of Jesus’ Word [given] to us in the Scriptures. Buy yourself (or borrow) a concordance, a dictionary of Bible themes, and sit down with your Bible, and have fun enjoying God’s Word. Educate yourself in God’s ways, His nature, His deeds, and His will. Learn about God’s love for Israel and all mankind. Enhance your lifestyle in this down-to-earth way, knowing that as you walk daily in the discipline of reading and praying and digesting God’s Word, that He will bless you beyond measure with His supernatural wisdom, knowledge and understanding. He will bless you to fall more in love with Jesus, and you will be equipped for great and wonderful works in the harvest fields.

Keeping It Real!

I didn’t always find it easy to read God’s word. It took me quite some time to understand that the Bible is really like a mini-library with 66 books, divided into chapters and verses that can be broken down into themes and two distinct "halves" of the Old and New Testament. I recall there was a time when I found it difficult, nigh on impossible to read God’s word. Here is an extract from my first book that outlines how I felt as a young believer. I am so grateful for Grace changing my ways and helping me to read the Bible each day. May this vision and book extract encourage and inspire you to turn afresh to God’s word today.

Discovering The Bible
(The following is an extract from the book: The Normal, The Deep, and The Crazy. This book is available from the Elijah List by calling 1-866-354-5245 (Inside U.S.) or 1-541-926-3250 (Outside U.S.)--to learn more about the book, or to the order the book on-line, see the details below).

“In my new lifestyle of worship, I began to study my Bible. I wanted to know all I could about God, and I felt the Book He had authored would give me access to His personality. I bought study notes from a local Christian bookstore, but most of these used language from another planet. I had no background to be able to decipher the Christian phrases, and I was overwhelmed. I gave up on them and asked the Holy Spirit to help me read the Bible instead. Without being taught, I simply knew the Holy Spirit loved to reveal truth about Jesus and Father. I committed to spending time reading the scriptures and praying through things God [would] bring to my mind. It wasn’t a structured Word study. Sometimes I couldn’t get into it. I would open the pages, read the words, wonder what, on earth, it was all about, and then give up!"

"At other times, the pages came alive to me, and I marveled at its [the Bible's] stories of Life and Death. My mind filled up with images of God that caused me to be in awe of His majesty. He was the Mighty Man on the Cross, who was also my Majestic Father, my Friend, and the Creator of the Universe. When I was a little girl, I had thought he was an angry God who dealt severely with sinners. Some people I knew thought he was a God of love who could not get angry. In my mind, a picture was forming that was between these two distorted images. God was healing me from fear and showing me the beauty of respecting and honoring Him through a lifestyle of worship. I think that was when I began to both love and fear Him. It was a safe place to shelter from the storms in my soul.”

God’s Word is daily manna to our hungry souls. Fill yourself up and share His life-giving Word with others!

Yours in Jesus’ love,

Catherine Brown
admin@gatekeepers.org.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catherine's Itinerary:

March 19, 2006
Preaching at St Andrew’s, West Kilbride

May 6-9. 2006
Paris, France: details to be confirmed

June 22-24, 2006
Celtic Rumble
Gatekeepers 2nd Annual Conference
Contact: admin@gatekeepers.org.uk

Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep Elijah List website, email contact info, and author contact information intact.

Thank you and blessings, Steve Shultz, Publisher, The Elijah List http://www.elijahlist.com

 

	Subscribe to the Elijah List Here: or unsubscribe (please allow 2-3 business days to process, you only need to submit an unsubscribe once)
French:	Cliquez ici pour souscrire à la Liste d'Élie en français ElijahElie@qwest.com
Spanish:	Puede suscribirse a La lista de Elias  lalistadeelias@gmail.com
German:
	Klicken Sie hier, um die Elijah Liste auf deutsch zu abonnieren.  elijahlist_de@qwest.net