A few nights ago after a powerful service, I had a significant dream. I found myself in a small, older home without any furniture and there were two children in the living room with me. One young girl about ten years old and a nine month old baby boy that I was holding in my arms. What stood out to me in this living room, were the two walls which were like partitions, were sticking out towards me. As I was holding the baby I walked over to the wall on my right and the baby became noticeably more affectionate, hugging and kissing me. However, what was quite shocking to me was that when I walked over to the left, the babies nature completely changed. He began to be very angry, biting, screaming and violently hitting me. It was as if a demonic spirit had taken over him.
It startled me to a point, that I immediately woke from the dream. After laying in bed for just a few moments asking the Lord to show me what this meant, I fell back to sleep and went right back to the dream. As I'm holding this tormented little child, I hear the Lord say "The stronghold is in the wall", "The stronghold is the wall", twice this was spoken to me. I then became aware that something had to be done, I could not allow this precious little guy to go through what he was suffering from. As I prayed, I observed that I was wearing a belt with a sword attached to it. Then as soon as I looked at the sword on my right side again I heard the Lord say, "Go through the wall". Without hesitation, I simply walked into the wall.
When I walked through this wall, I wasn't caring the baby any more, however, what became clearly apparent was that I was in a completely different place. This place was swamp like and misty, although I could see clearly, it was like dusk. There was an unnerving presence in the atmosphere, I felt somewhat angered by what I was feeling.
What captured my attention was that I was walking upon this concrete path and even though the swamp was all around, every time I took a step the concrete pads held me up and I never sank. What was intriguing was that as I walked through this swamp, clinching my sword, ready to fight, I saw these small metal signs like a for sale sign on a house, on both sides of the path. These signs said words like pornography, anger, fear, addiction, bitterness, manipulation, gossip and many other similar idioms. I felt outraged by these signs, for I knew that this was the reason why the little boy was acting the way he did.
With all the strength I could muster, I lifted the sword over my head and began belting the sign over and over again. As I began to batter the sign, the sword was not causing any damage, but neither was the sword being damaged. Now sweating, seeing that zero was being accomplished, I stopped. What was I supposed to do? I knew I must demolish these signs in order to free the baby. Then I noticed I had the little child in my arms again, my hands and arms numb and tingling all over. The little man somewhat more subdued than when I had first gone through the wall. I heard the Lord say "you can't eradicate the strongholds until you renew the mind" What? Why didn't the sword work? So I felt an urgency to lay my hands on the young baby boy, and when I did, the signs began to melt like wax. Both the child's behavior and countenance powerfully shifted. While my hand was on the child I begin to prophesy "you aren't what your actions say you are" all the signs completely vanished and I woke up.
When I woke up I began to ask the Lord to give the interpretation, knowing this was a message that the Lord desired to communicate. This is what I believe the dream means..
In the days to come, there will be an explosion of church planting unlike anything we have seen in history. Church planters will have a massive influx of spiritual babies that come into these new ministries. These leaders will create a church atmosphere of affection and fellowship. Many who have been with the Lord for years, will leave where they're at to assist in this movement of opening new churches across the earth. However, after a while, if viewpoints and ideologies aren't transformed, deep seated issues will begin to surface within individuals.
Although there is excitement and hope for growth and impact, if hidden emotional problems aren't confronted with both love and truth, those who we are called to minister to will sit in these church’s utterly unchanged. What happens when an unhealthy behavior becomes public? The tendency is to drop the baby and pick out a better one. Partly it’s because we can be afraid to hold them in their pain because we feel we don't have an explanation or a solution to their difficulty. Some will abandon these children because certain leaders don't believe these new converts possess the skill to grow the leader's vision.
Breaking strongholds are what Kingdom ministry is required to do, going through impenetrable walls of thought are what the church has been commissioned for. Gripping others in their pain and refusing to reject them because of wrong actions are what we must do in order to set others free. Let's rebuild the hearts and minds of a society not through traditions, but through a passion for their complete salvation. Time and time again, many have sat in a church while the speaker preached the word, but the individual left unchanged and unchallenged. Why weren't the strongholds cast down? What about the sword? Every one of us know the power of the word. However, without an impartation the mind will not be renewed. Impartation comes when there is a constant exposure to God's presence and truth of what Christ paid for our freedom. For some people in church, the systems for freedom aren't enough because they're nothing more than a system of shame.
BUT, there are men and women who will refuse to drop what has been entrusted to them, and they will fight with a sense of destiny, giving Jesus what He longs for.
