Dream 232 – The Race and the Potter’s House
Received Sunday, January 15, 2017
Communion
Dear Father,
Thank You for another day here! Thank You for my family, our warm home and food to eat. Thank You that we are all back together safely and under one roof.
Father, when I signed up for a greater call and asked for a heart of gold, I really had no idea what this meant. Looking back now, I believe I now know. For me, it meant long trials, painful punishing blows and everyday was met with trepidation.
This is not to be confused with paranoia, but rather it is more like severe caution caused by something happening seemingly each day during often long stretches of time. However, these several years of trouble changed my thinking.
My thinking went from ‘God, what will You now do with me next’, but sometimes ‘to me next’ as well (smiles) to ‘Oh Father, please just grant me one more day here, protect my children and keep us safe.’ I turned from feeling a need or entitlement to God’s justice and repayment for my troubles to instead accepting and trusting that God knows best.
While this is a scary place to be, it is also freeing. While I am not sure I have achieved this fully yet, I aspire to. The one thing I do know for sure is that I have prepared my field. I have taken what You, my good Lord, have given me and have done as You have instructed. To this point, there is really nothing more I can do.
Lord, I have prepared the soil, scattered the seed and dedicated all of it to You as if it were never mine to begin with. Now only You can provide the rest, Lord, as from here I am not capable to call down the rain or sun. I cannot make these crops grow by my own efforts, Lord, as only You can.
Since only You can, Father, please take the rest of all that we have. Father, even take my life if You feel it is necessary. Please take what You have given me, my story, Your story and His-story, and let it be heard. You have given me the greatest of gifts, the gift of a long and very painful race, a race that has now turned into an enduring love story.
I love You, Father, but please do not forget me. I am completing my 53rd year in just eight days from now and it seems that I do not have long to finish. I have done everything that You have asked and I have prepared as You have instructed me.
Jesus: “Erin, come up.”
I was already in a full run going down a beautiful path. It was near dawn and the sky was beautiful, filled with shades of pinks and purples. I was running in a forested area filled with green grass and ferns. There were spring flowers everywhere and so many of them were delphiniums draped in purples and blues.
The morning dew glistened like diamonds on the grass. While the temperature in this mountainous terrain was cool and crisp, it was still simply perfect. I was wearing Heavenly running clothes and shoes and, though I could see my breath, I was not cold.
I was younger and physically athletic again and just knew that I would be able to endure this course and terrain in this ‘upgraded’ condition. As the sun finally peaked over the mountains, I could see butterflies and bees flying around the delphiniums. The sun felt warm on my face and I knew that it would soon be another warm day here.
As I ran, I found myself thanking God for my race. I thanked Him for all that He has given me. As I ran, I thanked Him for the vessel of my body that He has given me here. After countless surgeries and painful accidents and falls, having this body here and being able to run without effort made me smile and thank God for His graciousness.
I sometimes remind myself that Jesus never once promised me a trouble free life here when I had asked for a heart of gold. He certainly never promised me that I would someday be wealthy or even famous here. Really, He never promised me anything at all of abundance that the world has to offer.
However, He did promise ‘extraordinary’. He also promised me a great race and a story to be told while running it, but I had to trust in Him to finish the race. I also had to try my best every day to do what Jesus would do concerning all that I have been given.
As I ran, I asked myself, ‘Who am I to question the Creator?’ Even though I sometimes still find myself questioning His timing and methods, I now fully realize that such questioning is flawed and pointless as we simply never have enough information. Only God knows the entire story and only God knows all things big and small.
Yes, I can ask Him for directions, but I also have to be willing to accept where He takes me when I do. Fighting against God simply creates delays, detours and dead ends. However, trusting God creates new routes, surprises and, ultimately, enduring rewards in Heaven.
As I kept running, I saw a final hill and what looked like some incredible scenery for me to enjoy. I sighed as I already knew it could not be that simple. Sure enough, when I looked off to the right of me, I saw a tiny path there that branched off of the main path.
Me: “Oh Lord, I am so close. Seriously? Another path?”
I took a deep breath and stopped running in order to look down the small path. I noticed that it was surrounded by pine trees. However, since the sun was rising directly over this area, I found that I could barely see. As I strained to look, all I could make out was a small house nestled next to the path.
Me: “Okay, I just have to check this out, right, Lord?”
Just then, I could hear singing from God’s choir.
Me: “Okay, that is a big sign. I will take this as a ‘yes’.”
As I turned off the main path, I saw a doe grazing on some grass. She looked up at me as if she had been waiting for me. She walked up to me and nudged my arm to point me to the tiny building down the path. She stood beside me and waited as I caught my breath. She did not have to wait long as this only takes a few seconds in Heaven.
Me: “Okay, I am committing to ‘walk this way’. Just give me a moment as I am rather thirsty all of a sudden.”
The doe nudged me again and drew my attention to a rock with a spring of water flowing from it. I laughed as it actually looked more like a water feature. There were three towers of flagstone or basalt, with the tallest tower spouting water. I could tell this was not ‘man-made’ though as there was clearly no pump or hose drilled into the rock.
I then saw another rock sitting next to the three towers. It was rectangular shaped and had a large wooden ladle sitting on top. I began to laugh again. The deer walked over and drank from the rock. She then motioned for me to do the same.
Me: Smiling. “Okay, this has the Lord’s signature all over it, especially given that there were three signs. First there were the angels singing, then the deer and now the water springing from the rock. Hmm, perhaps there were even more signs?”
As the sun rose over the path and clearing, I decided to take the ladle and drink some of the water. It was, quite simply, the most refreshing water. This was really no surprise though as the water is Heavenly in origin and straight from the restoring River of Life.
After I finished drinking my fill of water, I began to walk down the path again. As I came up to the clearing, I saw that the small house was actually a beautiful and contemporary artist’s studio.
The studio was made from several different materials, including wood, steel, concrete, rock and glass. There was also a massive window so big that it looked almost like a garage door.
Me: “Okay, this must definitely be the home of a skilled architect. Wow, I love this place!”
I circled the property and found a door on the east side near the sunrise area. I began to laugh when I saw a wooden sign with brushed stainless steel letters that said, ‘The Potter’s House’. As a reference point, I should note that the sign alone would easily cost several thousand dollars on Earth to commission.
As I approached the door to knock, I could hear music coming from inside and it was beautiful. However, I did not recognize what song it was. Just as I was about to knock on the door, the music suddenly stopped and the door opened. I called inside to announce my arrival.
Me: “Hello? I just saw your home and I thought I would stop to say hi. My name is Erin.”
After I called out, I heard the Lord laughing from inside. My heart leaped with joy. Jesus then called out back to me.
Jesus: “I have been expecting you. Come in, Erin, come in.”
As I turned the corner of the small entry to look inside, all I can say is ‘wow, wow, wow!’ It was the most beautiful pottery studio I had ever seen and completely state of the art. It was truly unlike anything I had ever seen before on Earth.
As the morning sun streamed in through the windows, I noticed that the floor of the studio consisted of stone or rock, like basalt, yet also even somewhat like concrete. There were also mosaics of glass, like ocean glass, embedded, all in beautiful colors.
As the sun shined in and on the polished glass, it reflected facets of colors that danced on the walls and the ceiling. It was breathtakingly beautiful. As I looked at the walls, I saw racks of steel, each with pots sitting on them. These pots were being glazed and seemed to now be ready for the final firing. The pots were beautiful.
As I looked back at the middle of the room, I saw an extremely high-tech Potter’s wheel made of stainless steel and stone. The stone was perfectly round. There was a seat there and I could tell it had been worn with use, but still Heavenly perfect. The base was made of solid wood and had a cushion of white material that never soiled.
This studio was so creative, beautiful and clean that all I can say about all of this is that it made me suddenly want to take up pottery. As I walked through the studio, I could not help myself from touching just about everything there.
Jesus: Laughing. “I am glad that you came by to see Me, Erin.”
As He had just walked into this room from another area, I heard His voice from behind me. As I turned to face Him, I saw that He was in a white tunic and white pants. The beautiful leather sandals on His feet had clearly been made by a master cobbler. He still had a halo of light all around Him like a corona.
He wiped His hands on a white cloth and I instinctively knew that He had just finished using the Potter’s wheel. I smiled when I noticed that the residue on the cloth He had just used to wipe off the clay from His hands had remained there for but a split second before becoming clean and white as snow again.
Jesus: Smiling. “Come, I would like to show you something.” He reached to take my hand. “I know you are enjoying your race, but I have a series of things to show you before you finish.” He smiled, looked at me and then added, “If you are interested.”
Me: Laughing. “Of course, Lord. My race is Your race, so I would love to see more.”
Jesus: “Then sit here, Erin.”
Next to the Potter’s wheel was a small stool. The Book of Jeremiah came to mind as I watched Jesus walkover to an area to consider various lumps of clay. To my surprise, He selected a lump of clay that looked dry, discolored and unusable to me.
He picked up this lump of clay and placed it onto the Potter’s wheel. As He sat down and rolled up His tunic sleeves, the wheel began to spin. I watched as Jesus began to shape the clay.
He began by shaping it into a type of vessel. However, He then reworked it into another type of vessel. After finishing this, He seemed satisfied even though, to me, the vessel seemed plain and utilitarian in structure.
Me: “Lord, what kind of pot are You shaping?”
Jesus: “Look over at this rack…”
He then pointed to a rack at the left of the studio. I saw many vessels sitting there. I noticed that all of these vessels had not been through the kiln yet. They seemed to be almost ready for glaze, but they were still drying. There were about seventy pots.
Jesus: “Erin, these represent those countries that come against Israel. I have shaped those vessels…” He pointed at the rack again for emphasis. “…and they have been there for a long time. I have moved them around periodically. Some have even been crushed over time.” He pointed to an area with broken shards.
“Others, I have created, shaped and raised, all with the intent that, if they turn from evil, I will use them for good. However, if they, in turn, fill themselves with evil and turn away from what I originally intended for them, then they will be crushed. I will break them either by My own hands or they will crack and fold under pressure, perhaps even upon entering the fire as they will be unable to bear the heat.”
The Lord looked extremely serious as He spoke all of this. As I looked, I then saw four vessels on another shelf. One vessel was blue and quite beautiful. There was a vessel to the left of it and a massive red one behind it. I also saw a vessel to the right that was yellow and black with red.
Me: “What are those, Lord?”
Jesus: “Those which remain.”
Me: “Who are those with Israel?”
Jesus: “Not many and not ‘with’.”
I then looked to my right to view the racks of beautiful pottery again.
Me: “What pots are those, Lord?”
Jesus: Smiling. “You do not know?”
Me: “No, Lord, I do not.”
Jesus: “Well, those are the vessels that I am about to use to humble the nations.”
Me: “Are those Your believers? There are many.”
Jesus: “These are the vessels that I am about to fill with ‘Living Water’. Let’s call this a pre-emptive strike in an ongoing war.”
Me: I was crying now and even as I wrote. “Are these pots soldiers?”
Jesus: “Yes. They are like ground troops from Heavenly places. These are the vessels that I have created to be used to humble and soften the hardened clay before I come to see which clay is pliable for Me to ultimately shape. Each heart will be turned to Me as I am the Potter and they will have no choice but to recognize Me.”
Me: “I do not fully understand, Lord.”
Jesus: “It is like the time of Jacob and Esau. First, messengers were sent out. Then people were divided and set apart. Then gifts were prepared and servants were sent bearing gifts. This happened to soften hearts in much the same way that I have done in the past and will do again.”
Me: “Will they wrestle with God?”
Jesus: “They do every day already, but most never get close enough to wrestle. You, Erin, have wrestled with God. You understand that this is humbling. This made your heart pliable so that I could shape you into a vessel. Through time and firing, I have prepared you.
“You reside there with Me, but you will serve Me. I will pour My Spirit into you. I have prepared many and they are also with you.” He again pointed to the shelf, but now a different one, for emphasis. “These are My vessels, Erin. This is written and the time is now. Now, are you ready?”
Me: As my eyes filled with tears again, 2 Timothy 2:21 came to mind. “Yes, Lord, I am ready.” I pointed all around the room and sighed as I looked back into His blueish green eyes. “This is all Yours, Lord, and I am Yours.”
Jesus: Smiling with such love. “Get ready!”
Dream over…
Previous Dream: http://sparrowcloud9.com/heaven-dreams-interpretations/the-tribulation/excerpt-from-dreams-questions-answered/full-dreams/dream-231/
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