At a time when my blind confidence in the world around me was being shaken by the realization of how easily communities that were born of God's glory, can drift away and establish a bureaucratic structure and strange protocols set by the human authority were to replace broken relationships and to hide the fading of God’s glory.
And a veil was slowly setting on people’s hearts not to see, and not to understand. My own heart was also veiled. I saw that things were wrong, but I couldn’t see a way out. And I was too scared of my own thoughts to utter a prayer.
One day, as I pondered upon this, I was really sad.
But when my husband and I were praying, something wonderful and unexpected happened. God answered that prayer that I was too afraid to pray.
In a vision Jesus took me by the hand, we were up in the Spirit and then He took me right down to earth, and showed me some traits of His true church and I could see from the look on His face how very proud He was of what I was about to witness.
I saw a church in London, a small one, numbering about forty people, which was placed as a beacon over all of London. Its light reigned mightily over the whole city and illumined everything. Although there are many churches in the city that serve God, this little church is extremely dear to Jesus and beloved in heaven. The glory of God that was in this church came from simple relationships between people, the people in this church really loved each other and the light between them was so strong that the movements of individuals were not noticed. It was amazing to see a small church emanate so much light.
We went on, into the Amazon rainforest, where he showed me a small tribal church, completely hidden from the eyes of the world. It was to see that Jesus loved to visit and work with these people. He was involved in their everyday work, helping them in the simplest tasks of life as cutting the woods and preparing meals.
Then we flew over the American continent, where He showed me some of the larger churches in the heart of the United States. These were not the modern churches that market their image and doctrine through the media, they were nothing special in their expressiveness, but they are the ones, that give stability and continuity to Christianity in America. There was an extraordinary sense of connection and closeness in the people that came from constantly being together and working together, their community was active 24-7, not only during worship services. The people in the congregations held themselves concentrically around the core values, faith, and leaders. This concentric key gives congregations incredible stability and long-term existence. I noticed that many people were dressed in work clothes, which reminded me of the American work ethic and the perseverance with which they serve God day after day. I saw that in churches when I visited friends in Kentucky some years ago. Although many in these churches feel that God is a little far from them, His eyes are always upon them and they represent a place of God's rest and are His pride in the nation.
Then we passed over Arctic regions, where I saw a Christian community of about fifteen persons assembled in a simple hut. We stopped quite a distance from them and stood for a while in a quiet snowy landscape. It was as if Jesus didn’t want me to become too curious about what is going on in that church. From a distance, I could not understand what they were doing or figure out the traits of their community. But what was obvious was that they lived in extreme weather conditions, strongly connected to God and strongly connected to nature. That is why they have a special place in the heart of Jesus.
Our last stop was in a province of China, where we visited an unusual place. Two very young teachers ran what could have been a kindergarten and the first three grades of elementary school. The teacher and all the children who learned there were Christians. Everything that happened in that school had the seal of God and eternity. Heaven was open above them, and extraordinary grace, goodness, and favor of God were felt. Jesus said that this is a holy place, his church, of which He is very proud. That was the last place that we visited, and then I found myself back in my living room.
This vision had a tremendous impact on my life. It changed my perspective completely. I was totally released from the burden that I carried in my heart for quite some time.
Sometimes what is honored in eyes of men means nothing to God, and what God considers wonderful is often overlooked in man. What looks great in human eyes is small in God’s.
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