The Kingdom of God Revealed - A Dream

I've been a Christian for a little over 10 years. In that time, I've learned a great deal about the church. But only recently have I understood anything about the kingdom of God. I've been asking the Lord to show me this mysterious kingdom I read about in the bible. Lately, I've been having dreams in which God has been illustrating different parts of the kingdom. Some of those dreams have become notes. It's always hard to know who to tag in a note, because I write on different subjects. There is a feature you can use to subscribe to anyone's notes, if you wish. Click the blue button under 'subscribe' in the left hand column next to a note and you'll be notified when that person publishes a note.

I had a rather profound dream about the kingdom of God last night. I wanted to share it with you.

In the dream I watched as different people experienced the kingdom of God. I was one of them. The first person I saw was a friend named Pete. He was living as a drug addict, heavily involved in criminal activity. His life was one of watching for the police everywhere he went and living in fear of being arrested. He lived to have his own selfish desires met. It was a life of fear, selfishness and using others. He didn't make a positive impact on a single person. He had no rest and no freedom. It seemed like a miserable life.

Then I saw him enter the kingdom of God. He was dressed in a uniform, sitting on a stool at the opening in a wall. The wall separated a prison and the kingdom of God. The opening was a like a gate, without a door. It was about 4 feet wide. Pete was a guard. He got up and walked around in the kingdom which seemed like an endless expanse as far as I could see. He was exploring this new place. He looked for familiar things like what he experienced in the world but found nothing like those experience.

There was no crime or drugs and no police. Everywhere he went he experienced freedom. He could walk anywhere he wanted and there was no fear or guilt. He was never afraid of getting caught doing something wrong – nothing wrong ever happened in the kingdom. All his needs were met and he was filled with peace. He met the Father who had only good things to say about him. The Father provided everything he needed in the kingdom. Pete went back to the stool and sat at the gate. His new position was to tell anyone who asked how they could enter the kingdom. His life was profoundly changed by his experience. Although the daily problems of his life didn’t immediately disappear, Pete began living from the reality he experienced in the kingdom. The freedom and acceptance he found in the kingdom allowed him to live free in the world. He never lived in fear of anything again.

I was also in the dream. In the world I was looking for acceptance and to be understood by others. I sought popularity and wanted people to like me. That was until I entered the kingdom. In the kingdom, I found immediate acceptance. Everyone I met seemed to instantly understand me. Even more amazing was the fact that they all liked me. I had no enemies and there was nobody I didn't get along with. I never argued with anyone. I made friends everywhere I went. When I met the Father, I encountered absolute acceptance and love. He had an endless list of wonderful things to say about me. I was the apple of His eye. Everything I did was perfect in His sight. He could not be more proud of me. This experience profoundly changed how I lived in the world. I no longer went around seeking acceptance from others. I lived from the reality I had experienced in the kingdom and never again wondered if I was good enough.

Another person appeared in the dream. I don't recall who this person was, but they seemed to be another friend, who lived with the fear of never having enough money. Although they had a good job and invested their money wisely, they lived with a nagging fear of poverty. Thoughts about earning and saving money plagued them continually. This person also entered the kingdom of God.

In the kingdom, they traveled from place to place. Money was the last thing anyone worried about. In fact, there were no worries of any kind in the kingdom. Citizens of the kingdom had piles of cash. My friend found that they could easily get as much money as they wanted from any stranger on the street. Nobody hoarded money. No one cared how much they had or how much they gave away. There was abundance for everyone. This experience in the kingdom profoundly changed the way he lived from that time forward. Experiencing the provision of heaven and knowing that God’s economy never lacked resources, gave him a freedom with money he never thought possible. Their fear of poverty instantly vanished. He began living from the reality he experienced in the kingdom and began to give abundantly with gladness.

I hope you're encouraged by this dream. The kingdom of God is within and around you. I hope we will all live from the unseen reality of God's eternal kingdom.

Lou Gehrig's Disease Healed

This testimony was published on the Christian Healing Ministries website. Go here for the original story.

Often we are asked whether we have ever seen certain very serious illnesses healed, such as Down’s Syndrome (we do know of one). One of the sicknesses we are asked about is ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Back in 1977 our team prayed in Toledo, Ohio, for a woman who has ALS and she was notably improved, although not totally healed, in the two days’ time our teams prayed with her, but, so far as we know, she was not totally healed. (If you wish to see what happened to her, her partial healing is captured on our video “The Healing Ministry in the Church.”)

Well, finally, I met a man who has been healed of ALS. His name is Don Jaeger (from Winter Park, FL), and he was kind enough to write out a description of his healing from which I take the following salient points. During the summer of 1992 he was diagnosed with ALS, which is ordinarily fatal and whose downward progress is steady and irretrievable. (Two of the top experts in central Florida, an EMG specialist and a neurologist, agreed upon the diagnosis.) Then Don went to hear Canon Jim Glennon (author of Your Healing is Within You) and came to believe in Jesus’ healing him of ALS. They prayed for him at his church and he had his first religious experience – a warmness and peace – that convinced him that he would be cured. He continued to seek medical counsel and physical therapy, as well as attending weekly healing services at his church.

During this time, he continued to believe that he was being healed, and, while waiting in a neurologist’s office, he received what he felt was an irrefutable sign that he was healed when he became very warm and a “total encompassing, utter peace came over my body.”

A month later, he asked for a sign that he had been cured and that time would prove it. He was at his physical therapy session, and they asked him to lift some weight with only his lower legs to establish a base-line for further exercises. With his lower leg weakened through muscular atrophy, and with absolutely “no strain, or hanging on the handles, I lifted the maximum weight of 220 pounds. This word flew all over the center.”

Later he went to the Cleveland Clinic, one of the best hospitals in the U.S. specializing in ALS. The doctors there put him through three hours of tests and one said, “The people in Florida may not believe me, but I see over 150 cases of ALS a year and you show no signs of ever having had ALS.” Don then threw away his brace and went snow skiing. “As a reminder of my illness, I still have a weakness and pain in my left leg and right hand.” After his healing he dealt with fear that the ALS would return but “through God’s help I no longer have that fear.” So, praise God, this is the first report I have ever received on the healing of ALS. (Don says he knows of another man who was also healed of ALS.)

Shoulder Healed Through Forgiveness

This is the testimony of a young woman who was healed of chronic shoulder pain. She was healed several times, but the pain kept returning. While in the healing rooms at Bethel church, it was suggested that unforgiveness was the cause. After forgiving her coach and releasing the bitterness she was holding onto, she was healed and the pain hasn't returned. I had the same experience myself a year ago. When a person is healed, only to have the condition come back repeatedly, it may be helpful to explore these types of issues.

Healing For a Co-worker II

On a day when my regular partner took a sick day, I worked with someone I didn't know very well. Cindy (not her real name or picture) and I were having a slow day. We were five hours into the shift and hadn't run a call. We talked about a lot of different things. One of my favorite things to talk about?

Dreams.

I shared a few of the crazy dreams I've had about healing people. One of the latest was a dream in which I transported someone from a car accident. My patient had severe crush injuries. Although, I'd never do it in real life, I didn't provide any medical care for this patient. By the time we got to the hospital, all his injuries were healed. I didn't even pray for him. It was the presence of God in the ambulance that healed him.

I know - crazy dream, huh?

The subject of healing dreams led to the subject of healing itself. I told her some of the stories I'd seen of people being healed. That prompted her to tell me about the car accident she was in a few years ago that left her with chronic pain between her shoulder blades, even after physical therapy.

In healing, it's always helpful to build a bridge of understanding before asking the person if they want to be healed. It took several hours, but I gained her trust and when I asked if she wanted to be healed she was comfortable having me pray for her. I explained the process then put my hand on her back and commanded it to be healed.

And it was.

We talked the rest of the shift about healing and the things God has been doing in my life. I didn't preach at her or ask her to say the sinner's prayer. I didn't feel the Holy Spirit leading us in that direction. It was a low - key afternoon of simple conversations about everyday life. It just so happens that my everyday life is a little more supernatural than it once was. In getting her healed, I opened the door to the kingdom of God. It's her choice to decide if she's ready to go in. Perhaps she will. Maybe she won't. The Holy Spirit is more than able to guide her if she's ready.

I'm gradually coming to the awareness that I'm a role model for others. I'll confess I'm a little uncomfortable with that. I've been comfortable as a student thus far. But now people are asking me the questions. I'm being asked to demonstrate healing for others and to consider teaching classes. Like it or not, when we operate in some type of calling whether traditional medicine, divine healing or something else, we naturally become role models.

If we are to be role models in healing, perhaps healing should become a lifestyle. It certainly was the lifestyle of Jesus. He knew it would take a consistent demonstration of healing if His disciples were to believe they could also do it. I don't think anything is different today. For others to believe they can heal the sick, some of us need to make it our lifestyle.

It seems like people are catching on to healing and that's good. It shouldn't be about one person doing something unusual. Healing should be a common thing practiced by many of us. At some point in the future it should become the norm.

My desire is to see more people healed on the job. That's one of the reasons for writing these stories. It's going to require more of us to leave the safety of the boat and walk out on the water. I hope you'll take a step of faith and heal someone today. If you do, send me an e-mail.

We'd love to hear your story.

This week I ran into her and asked how she felt. It's been two months since she was healed and the pain has not returned.

Freeing The Prisoners

I've been turned down more in recent days when I ask people on the street if I can pray for them. The funny thing is - the people who don't want me to pray for them are often Christians. They usually tell me about the church they go to then offer a reason why they don't need my prayers. I've decided not to engage in debates. I don't try to convince them to let me pray with them. I smile and continue looking for people who want to be free.

I'm not as discouraged as I once was. It used to be more painful to be rejected, but I'm gradually accepting the fact that some people are comfortable with their pain, sickness, fear or whatever imprisons them. They've made a choice and I need to honor it. Apparently, God knew I was feeling a little rejected yesterday, so He gave me a dream last night to help illustrate the reality of His kingdom.

In the dream I was traveling to different locations. My job was to facilitate the closure of prisons. People in the areas I went to had voted to close certain prisons and to let the prisoners go free. My job was to make sure the prisons closed on time without any problems. I was a representative who had been given the authority to close the prisons. I went to many different prisons and helped in the process of of getting them closed.

Near the end of the dream, I went to one prison and asked if it was to be closed. I was told that I had no authority to close that one yet, because the people had not yet voted to close it. This was the end of the dream.

I asked God to help me understand the dream. Here's what I heard:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
(Isaiah 61:1 - See also Luke 4:18)

God has been speaking with me lately about freedom; specifically about our choices and His decision not to overrule them. As an evangelical I was often taught about the sovereignty of God. I've leaned hard on this idea over the years, but I'm finding lately that the more I lean on it, the more it seems to be failing me.

The Old Testament often uses the title "Sovereign Lord." It was brought to my attention that this name was previously translated, "Lord Almighty". I hate long debates about theology, so I'll get to the point: I think many of us (myself included) have a faulty belief about the sovereignty of God. I've been under the impression that God always does whatever He wants, with little or no regard to what humans want. I think this belief is wrong.

I believe God is all powerful; that is to say He has the ability or power to do anything He wants. But I believe He honors the will of man much more than I've been comfortable with.

In my dream about closing prisons, a group of people had not yet voted to close a prison. Their decision was to keep it. And their decision had to be honored. Although God gave me authority as His representative to close some prisons and free the captives, that did not give me authority to overrule the free will of others. And this seems to be the main point God wants me to understand.

I've heard people teach that it's OK to cast demons out of people against their will. In studying the ministry of Jesus, I don't see that lived out. I'm often surprised at how low- key and unobtrusive the Lord was in ministering to people. He often simply asked, "What do you want from me?" In ministering to those oppressed by the enemy, Jesus first inquired, then gave according to what was asked for. He honored the desires and free will of others. Jesus didn't use His authority to violate the free will of those who were in bondage. He delivered those who wanted freedom.

In another recent dream, God spoke to me about having authority over all the power of the enemy. (Luke 10:19) We do without question, have a great deal of authority in Christ. Using it properly seems to be the thing we struggle with. Perhaps the most common problem is not knowing the authority we have or not walking in it. Less common, but still problematic is choosing to wield our authority at a time when restraint might be the better thing.

Thanks for your time.

(Feel free to leave comments)

Bill Johnson on Healing

If you need a little motivation or encouragement to heal the sick and help destroy the kingdom of darkness. This might do the trick.

An Apointment With Healing

This is the testimony of a woman who suffered traumatic injuries from a fall while mountain climbing. (The story is told by her husband) Due to age and other risk factors, she was deemed ineligible for surgery. With no other options, they began looking for a divine healing appointment. Bill Johnson happened to be visiting their town for a healing seminar. Her husband made an appointment to bring her to the church the next day to be healed, and she was.

Healing For a Co -Worker

(Stock image - not the actual ambulance )

What does a believer do when a co-worker is injured on the job?

Here's what one person did:

Nine months ago one of our ambulances was involved in an accident while on a call. The truck was severely damaged. Both crew members suffered injuries and had to take time off work to recover. Tonight I was talking with one of them about healing. He's a believer like me, but he hasn't seen the miraculous healings that I have. He asked me what I do that's different from others who don't see consistent results when they pray.

I explained that I command healing instead of asking God for it. I pretended his wrist was injured and demonstrated my method on his wrist.

He reminded me about his injury from the ambulance crash last year. He said he still has back pain even though he went through physical therapy. I said, "Why don't we get your back healed and you can watch how I do it."

So there we were in a parking lot, surrounded by ambulances. Just a few blocks from a major hospital. All the high tech medical equipment and education in town couldn't take away his back pain. I commanded pain and inflammation to leave and discs, tendons, ligaments and muscles to be healed and bones to be aligned. And in a couple of minutes he was healed.

I followed up with him the week after I prayed and asked how his back was doing. He said it was great. He hiked the Skyline trail at Mt. Rainier the next day and has plans to climb to the summit.

Tom Fischer Healing (East Coast Style)

This is my friend Tom Fischer on the streets of Philadelphia demonstrating the power of God and sharing the message of the gospel with a group of skateboarders.

Who Will Be Healed Today?

As I drove to work I wondered...

Who will be healed today?

God has been doing more miracles lately when I ask people if they want prayer. It's not an occasional thing anymore, but a lifestyle.

We checked the rig and went in service on a slow morning where everyone seemed to be in quarters.

...would it be someone with a foot injury?

...or back pain?

Our first call was for a woman who fell while attempting to cross the busiest street in town. She didn't make it far. We found her lying half on the curb and half in the street in the pouring rain. We quickly put her on a backboard and in the rig where it was dry.

I got her medical history and asked what happened. She was walking with a cane because she has decreased feeling in her right foot from neuropathy. She couldn't feel the irregularities in the sidewalk and tripped. She had an appointment to see a specialist the following day. He would do a procedure on her foot and she'd be using a walker after that.

I asked if I could pray for her foot to be healed. She said, "Get over here and take my hands. Let's get this done!"

I placed my hand on her foot and commanded it to be healed. I told the nerves to come back to life and spirits of disease to leave then asked if she felt anything. She said she could feel the swelling in her foot going down and in a minute or two it felt normal in size, but she had numbness in her foot. I commanded the sensation in her foot to be restored. She felt a wave of sensation going down her foot and the numbness was leaving.

Lying on a hard yellow board in the back of an ambulance, I can only imagine what was going through her mind.

I looked in her eyes. "In case you didn't know it, God really loves you."

I didn't need to tell her. With tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, she softly said "I know He does".

Who will be healed today?

The choice is ours. If we don't lay hands on the sick, the answer is 'nobody'.

47 Days In a Coma

This is the heart warming story of a woman named Lindsey. Shortly after the birth of her fifth child, she was admitted to the hospital with bleeding from her uterus. Two surgeries later, she wasn't doing much better. Her condition deteriorated and she was placed on life support. When all medical efforts to save her life failed, the power of prayer ignited her family. Her doctor confesses that her recovery was nothing less than a miracle.

Miracle In The Ambulance

I've waited two years to write this story.

My adventure down the rabbit hole began with a book written by a cardiologist who prayed for his patients and saw some miracles. I happened to pick up the book at a Goodwill store.

It challenged everything I believed about God.

Did God still heal people today?

Would He do it through me?

Would I have the guts to ask my patients?

Would they want me to pray for them?

Would He actually heal someone in the ambulance?

Would anyone be crazy enough to believe it really happened?

I've had so many dreams about healing people I've forgotten most of them. I've probably prayed for a thousand patients and haven't heard back from more than one or two. I've seen unexplained changes for the better in critically ill patients that made me wonder if God was healing them. But I can't say that one patient has been healed miraculously in the ambulance yet.

Today would be different.

We responded on what would be a boring call for most of us. A little old lady with the flu.

How exciting.

I suggested that there wasn't anything the hospital could do for her, but my objections were overruled. She was going with us. While loading her in the rig, I got her medical history. She was pretty healthy except for severe scoliosis, arthritis and a torn meniscus in her left knee. It was the torn meniscus got me excited.

About a month earlier, I prayed for a young woman at a grocery store who had the same problem. I saw her in a wheelchair leaving the store and asked if I could pray for her. After a few minutes of prayer she was healed. Having done it once, I believed my little old lady would be healed, too.

I told her about the healing at the store and asked if I could pray for her. She was delighted. She had limited range of motion in her left knee with severe pain when she flexed the joint. I had her relax and placed my hand on her knee and commanded it to be healed. I asked if she felt anything. She said it felt very warm. I didn't have to ask her to flex the knee, she did and her jaw dropped open. All she could say was "how did you do that?" She had full range of motion with no pain. She grabbed my hands and thanked me repeatedly. After a short celebration in the back of the rig, I asked about her back. She told me about the chronic back pain and that she used to be 4 inches taller than she is now. I asked if I could pray and she agreed, so I placed my hand on her back and commanded it to be healed. She felt heat going down her back. She was on the way to having that healed, too. She talked about the goodness of God all the way to the hospital.

About a hour after dropping her off at the emergency room, we responded for another little old lady who tripped and fell.

How exciting.

I instantly linked this woman. She had a beautiful Scottish brogue. I asked where she was from and she said, Glasgow. She gave us a sad history of a misdiagnosed injury to her left leg. She'd developed severe pain in her lower leg and was told she had shin splints. They never bothered to take an x-ray. She began physical therapy and the pain got worse. She had another exam and an x-ray they realized she had a fractured tibia. The pain in her lower leg and ankle was so bad she wouldn't let anyone touch it.

We got her loaded. I got down next to her and explained what happened on the previous transport. She was so glad to have me pray she almost kissed me. I placed my hand on her leg and invited the Holy Spirit to join us.

Her hands went up in the air immediately and she began praising God.

Very loudly...

In the ambulance....

I'm so glad my supervisor wasn't there.

In less than a minute the pain was almost gone. She said it was a 1 out of 10. I kept praying, thinking I could make it leave completely.

She kept praising God, louder and louder.

We dropped her off at the emergency room. I have no idea what she told them. I never want to find out.

So far in this little adventure, I've been keeping the healing thing a secret. (There hasn't been much to tell anyway) But if it keeps going like this, it won't be a secret for long.