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"For Dreams to Come True"
If we want
our dream of standing in God's fullness to come true, we must wake up
,
There
was nothing stopping me from approaching God's presence -- nothing except the
multitude of things I had to do and responsibilities that, in truth, ruled my life
more than the voice of God. Today God is awakening us to the reality of His
presence. Indeed, if we truly want Christ to shine upon us, we must arise from
the distractions that entomb us. The Lord's promises must become more to us
than dreamlike realities reserved only for the hereafter. Right at this moment
the presence of the living God is near enough to reach; we can enter the
outraying of His presence. But if we want our dream of standing in God's
fullness to come true, beloved, we must wake up
By Francis
Frangipane
In a dream I saw a temple standing in an open field.
My view of the temple was
from its side, about two hundred yards away. I could not see its front, yet it
must have been completely open because great light flashed out from the inside.
It pulsed like lightning
yet was solid like sunlight. I knew this light was the glory of God.
The temple was so close
that I knew with just a little effort I actually could enter the glory of God.
His holy presence was
clearly within my reach.
There were also others
directly in front of me whom I recognized as people from church.
And while the temple and
its light were visible and readily accessible to all, every head was bent
downward and turned away from the light; each was occupied with other things.
I heard
one voice say, "I have to do laundry."
Another said, "I
have to go to work."
People were reading
newspapers, watching televisions, and eating.
I was sure everyone could
see the light if they wanted to -- even more sure that we all knew His glory
was near.
There were even a few
people reading the Bible and praying, but everyone maintained the downward
thrust of their gaze; each had a mental barrier of some kind between themself
and the place of God's presence.
No one, though, stood up
and steadfastly walked into the nearby glory of God.
However, as I watched,
suddenly my wife lifted her head and beheld the temple.
She stood and walked
without pausing toward the open front.
As she drew closer to the
light, a garment of glory formed and thickened around her; the closer she went,
the more dense the light surrounding her became.
Finally, she stepped in
front of the temple, turned, and stood in full view of the blazing glory of
God.
Then she entered the
temple.
Oh! How jealous I felt. My wife had entered the glory of God before me!
Suddenly, I realized that
there was nothing stopping me from approaching God's presence -- nothing except
the multitude of things I had to do and responsibilities that, in truth, ruled
my life more than the voice of God.
Pushing the weight of
these pressures from me, I determined to rise and enter the temple myself.
But, to my great regret,
in my dream as I rose up, I suddenly woke up!
The longing and
disappointment within me seemed unbearable. I had been so close to entering
God's presence.
How I
wanted to stand in the temple and be swallowed up in His glory! I cried, "Lord,
why did You let me wake up?"
Immediately the word of
the Lord responded.
He
said, "I will not have My servant's life fulfilled by a dream. If you
want your dream to come true, you have to wake up."
Today God is awakening us
to the reality of His presence.
Indeed, if we truly want
Christ to shine upon us, we must arise from the distractions that entomb us.
The Lord's promises must
become more to us than dreamlike realities reserved only for the hereafter.
For
this reason Scripture says, "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you" (Ephesians 5:14).
Right at this moment the
presence of the living God is near enough to reach; we can enter the outraying
of His presence.
But if
we want our dream of standing in God's fullness to come true, beloved, we must
wake up.
Adapted from Francis Frangipane's book, I Will Be Found by You, available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
Francis Frangipane was born in 1946 and
grew up in Lodi, New Jersey. After graduating from high school in 1964,
Frangipane entered the U.S. Air Force, where he was discharged honorably as a
sergeant on February 2, 1969. He relocated briefly to Berkeley, California and
then Honolulu, Hawaii before returning to the mainland U.S. These were the days
when the hippie movement was emerging, and Frangipane, like countless other
young people, was searching for meaning. He traveled extensively throughout the
United States and Canada. Eventually his travels brought him to the Blue Ridge
Mountains of Virginia where he became a Christian on November 26, 1970. Five
months later he met his wife-to-be, Denise Piscitelli, and led her to the Lord.
In October of 1971 they were married.
In 1972 Francis and Denise received
ministerial training at Grace Chapel in Southern California; by early fall they
had moved to Hilo, Hawaii to start a church. Their little work grew to about
twenty-five people, most of whom they had personally led to Christ. They also
had their first child during this time.
After fourteen months, however, they felt
their time in Hawaii was complete. A church in the Detroit, Michigan area
offered them a pastoral position. For the remainder of the seventies, they led
a small church of approximately 100 people; they also planted eight churches
and home groups in southeastern Michigan and Ontario, Canada.
They relocated to Iowa in 1980 where, with
the addition of four more children and a Vietnamese foster child, their family
grew to eight. These were hard times. Francis was self-employed and the family
was very poor. It was during this time that Francis began to develop his
writing skills. It was also a three year season of being shut in with God; the
only spiritual food that nourished him came from the words of Christ in the Gospels.
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