Plastic People

[Christsfreeservant]

Monday, February 15, 2010, 10:36 p.m. – My husband and I went to bed early because we were both really tired. I woke at 9:30 p.m., went back to sleep and then woke again at 10:36 p.m. out of a dream.

THE DREAM: I was working with some youth. Then, another person or people came in and took over. I got the impression that they felt like I was not doing a good enough job, as though I could not handle it, either because I was female or because of my age.

So, I watched as this other person took my place. Then, I ended up asking a series of questions of him (or her) in which I drilled him (or her) concerning the requirements or the qualifications for the job.

It came to a head when I began to espouse my qualifications and to claim that I should be allowed to use my God-given talents and abilities. I was very passionate about what I was communicating to him to the point to where I was raising my arms and was waving them in the air. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 4 & 5 (selected vs.):

The Throne in Heaven
1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

…Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth"…

I also woke with this song playing in my mind: Stained Glass Masquerade / Mark Hall / Nichole Nordeman

I don’t think it bothers the world that we sin. I think it bothers the world that we act like we don’t. There are times that instead of being myself and exposing my own weakness and hurt, I portray a character of the person that I know I should be. But when I expose myself as weak and frail at times, it frees the body of Christ to restore me as it should and invites others to unmask as well.

Matthew 23:25-28 / Matthew 7:1-6 / John 8:7-9 / Galatians 6:1 / I John 1:9 / I Co. 15:9 / 2 Co. 12:9 / Romans 14:1

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small


‘Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong


So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the heart again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them


Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

My Understanding: The Lord has given me this dream as a parable to illustrate, first of all, what he feels like. We are the “youth”, his children, with whom he has been working for generations upon generations, yet he is being replaced by “happy plastic people” and a “stained-glass masquerade” of forms of religion that lack real truth and substance to them. So many of today’s church leaders are these “happy plastic people” who are there to entertain and to give surface-level feel good sermons that do not lead people to true repentance and to obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. So much of what we call “worship” services are really “stained-glass masquerades.” We have great bands that play cool music and we have videos and games and we try to make church fun and appealing to the flesh in order to draw in large crowds of people, many of whom do not know the Lord. How can they worship someone they do not know? We call it a “worship service” because the music has “worship lyrics”, but that is not true worship. True worship is described in Romans 12:1-2:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

God has been watching as these “happy plastic people” have taken his place in the hearts and minds of his children. Yet, he has not been silent. He has been speaking via his servants who have been expressing to the church and to the world God’s concerns over being replaced by idols (idolatry), by other gods (spiritual adultery), by entertainment, by appeals to the flesh and fleshly desires, by men who say what our tickling ears want to hear, by forms of religion, etc. He has been “drilling” the church concerning her lack of zeal for Almighty God, her spiritual adultery, her waywardness and her refusal to repent and to follow the Lord in obedience. He has been doing this via messages given through his servants who have been confronting the church with their forsaking of their “first love.” And, he has been doing this via hardships, discipline, trials, tribulations, etc. to try to get our attention. Basically, God has been asking them, i.e. these leaders who have taken his place, and those of us who are following these man-made idols, a series of questions to get them to recognize him and his divine qualifications to do the job of being God.

His divine qualifications are listed in this passage of scripture in Revelation –

• Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come
• He lives for ever and ever
• He created all things and by His will they were created and have their being
• He was slain and with his blood he purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation
• He has made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.

It has now or will soon come to a head, though when God will raise his arms (power; weapons) in the air (judgment; airstrikes) as judgment on those who think they can replace God or who think they can play the role of God in his children’s lives via this takeover of the church. I also see this in the political realm as speaking of political leaders who are “playing god” or who are pretending to be gods and who are taking over other countries. That brings me to these stories:

Taliban's top military commander captured - Excite News - Taliban's top military commander captured

Taliban step up attacks in besieged Afghan town - Excite News - Taliban step up attacks in besieged Afghan town.

This top military commander, Baradar, was the “deputy defense minister in the Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan until it was ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion,” according to this first article. So, this fits. He was part of this ruling body in Afghanistan until the U.S. came in and took over. And, he has been watching us as we have come in and have taken over his country, just like I did in this dream. The article continued by stating, “One Pakistani officer said Baradar was arrested 10 days ago with the assistance of the United States and “was talking” to his interrogators. This also fits with me asking questions, in the dream, of the people who came in and took over, as to the qualifications for the job and why I had been replaced. In the dream, it came to a head when I began to espouse my qualifications and I expressed myself by raising my arms in the air and was waving them.

This takes me to the next article where it talks about our servicemen being attacked by these Taliban fighters who have stepped up their counterattacks against Marines and Afghan soldiers. Our news reports it as though the Taliban are the bad guys who are coming against us, yet they are attacking us because we are attacking them, i.e. because we are coming in and are killing their people and are taking over their country. Wouldn’t we fight back if people from another country sent their military into our country to take it over and they took over the leadership of our country? I think we may get an opportunity to feel what that is like in the very near future.

The most important thing here, though, is that this is how God is being treated. These “happy plastic” forms of religion have swept through His church and have taken his place. He wants us to recognize him for who he is and to allow Him to be God and for us to not follow these “happy plastic people” whether they be in the church or in the government. He wants us to also not be “happy plastic people” who live our lives to please men and to say what others want to hear. He desires that we be transparent, honest, and humble and that we acknowledge our sin, that we confess it before God and before men (where appropriate) and that we turn from our sin and turn to God in faith and in obedience. This is coming to a head, and God is going to wave his arms in the air to show us how passionate he is about this subject, i.e. judgment is coming, and it is coming to America. So, we need to wake up!

 

[Undeniably Blessed]

I totally agree!