Under The Canopy

In the summer of 2014 I had a vision in which I saw a small group of people standing under a white canopy.  The wind was blowing very hard. Even though the wind was blowing quite hard, the edge of the canopy was barely fluttering.  It was not going anywhere.  I heard the Lord say, "The winds of change are blowing and everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But you have a kingdom that cannot be shaken."  We have the kingdom of God within us. Every place where Christ rules is His kingdom.  His kingdom cannot be shaken and will stand forever.

Hebrew 12:25-29 ESV See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. 

I then saw that the people were standing on a rock and the canopy was anchored into the rock.  This caused me to think of Matthew 7:24-25 ESV Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 

The canopy of the Lord and the Rock are not going anywhere.  We need to find and stay in that place on the Rock and under the canopy of the Lord, in that secret place of the Most High.  We must abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  One time God said to me, "the secret place of the Most High is a place to abide, not just a place to visit." It is not just a place to run to in time of trouble.  We need to learn to live there.

Psalm 91:1-2 ESV He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2  I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 

When I was trying to find a picture of a canopy to go with this post in 2015, I couldn't find a canopy that looked like the one I had seen.  Several weeks later I was reading Isaiah 4:5-6 ESV Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain. 

With a little investigation into the original Hebrew for canopy, I realized the word translated as canopy is the word  chuppâh, which is the Jewish bridal tent.  It is the canopy under which a Jewish couple would get married.  When I looked at pictures of  chuppâhs I realized that was the type of canopy I had seen.  This spoke to me of the importance of maintaining our intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the vision I saw the wind was blowing their hair of the people standing under the canopy, which to me means they were affected in some way by the winds of change that were blowing.  But they were not moved.  In these days of we will be affected in some ways by the things going on around us.  But if we stay on the rock and under the canopy we will not be moved.

The wind is beginning to blow and things are beginning to shake  and there is much more coming.  Now is the time to be prepared.  Now is the time to find that abiding place and stand there in faith.  When the things swirl and shake around us we need to keep our focus on the Lord and not on the things swirling and shaking around us.  God has spoken that very clearly to me when I have gotten my focus in the wrong place.


(This is a slightly revised blog post from 2015.)

GOD'S DEFINITION

While thinking about humility, I was considering false humility and pride as being in the ditch or gutter on either side of true humility.  As I contemplated what real humility looks like, I felt like God told me that we have little understanding of what real humility looks like.  He indicated that even our dictionary definitions of many concepts are not exactly how He sees them. 

Sometime ago I was before the Lord and declaring God You are always patient, You are always good, You are always kind, etc. As a I said You are always kind, I began to think of some situations in which Jesus' actions would not fit my definition of kind.  For example, when He drove the money changers out of the temple, the things He said to the Scribes and Pharisees, or letting the rich young ruler just walk away.  I heard the Lord say, "you don't understand My kindness." 

I think there are many words and concepts that we have a little distorted because of running them through our own grids of understanding or because of how they have been traditionally defined.  

Do I have answers yet?  No.  But I am in search of God's heart and an understanding of how He defines these terms and many others.