I experienced
a dream/vision several years ago when I was going through a
particularly hard trial of my faith. I pray I never forget it.
I
saw a huge wall of white colored square stones. They were hand-chiseled and made up a mighty tall and wide wall. At
the bottom of the wall, there were cornerstones. In toward
the middle of the wall of stones, there were openings of holes every other stone on what
I understood to be the foundation. You could see through them. The Lord
spoke and said, “This is what criticism does to the
church.”
I immediately understood what He
meant. He meant criticism from within the church.
Later, I read in the Bible, “
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood...acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” -and this...”For
we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry,
ye are God's building .”
I also was privileged to go to
Israel in 2011.
When I came near to the site of
the Wailing Wall/Western Wall in Jerusalem, it looked SO familiar. It
looked exactly like the stones I had seen in the vision! The Wailing Wall/Western
Wall is believed to be a surviving remnant of the Temple which was destroyed
by the Romans in 70 AD. It is said that it is the main
conduit for the flow of Godliness. The Jewish people
mourn and pray at that site. It is so sacred, many do not turn their
backs on it as they exit the site.
Just like that wall, we the
church survive. Through siege, fiery trial, disease-we survive! We survive when there is
no division among us. Division weakens the entire structure. We need
to cultivate our love for one another in unity. Together, we can
stand strong against the enemy who would like nothing more that to
destroy us from within. God help us. We are your
church - Not the people's church, not the pastor's church, but your
church. And as such, the gates of Hell shall not prevail against us! God
help me not to criticize anyone in the church- whether I agree with
them or not! Whether they have a personality like me or not! Mark my
tongue Lord that I may contribute to the strength of the entire
body!
