I saw a city located in a desert region at the foot of a great mountain range. This city seemed filled with churches, for I saw many buildings with crosses and spires on the outside, and many people were going in and out of these buildings with bibles in their hands and God's name on their lips. However, most of these religious buildings were very dark and seemed to be darkened by some great shadow, and many smelled of death. One building, however, was different. This building was obviously overcast by this great shadow, but the shadow was pushed back by light, which was emanating from its windows and doors. I drew closer, and could see the name on the door. The name read, "Revival Assembly".
I wondered greatly about the light emanating from its windows, for this light gave the impression that it was not intrinsic to the building, but was a grace given to the people of this church, with the purpose of infusing the people with this same light. Many of the people of this church seemed quite content to walk in this light, for they talked much about it, and they appeared to even worship this light. Some of the people of this church reflected this light, but it appeared that nearly all of the people in Revival Assembly had no light within themselves, which seemed very strange to me, because I somehow knew that this light was meant to show them the way to the source of all light, that they may have light within themselves. However, nearly all of these people seemed content to reflect the light, or to talk about the light, but had no desire to enter into the purpose for which the light was sent. I also noticed that some of the people of Revival Assembly were actually outwardly opposing this light, while nearly all of the others were outwardly embracing the light, but inwardly resisting it's purpose. This marveled me greatly, for it seemed to me that this light was very precious, and was the last hope for this people, as well as this desert city.
I was surprised to see that those who outwardly embraced the light, but inwardly resisted its purpose truly believed that this light came from within themselves. I saw that they had no desire, and felt no need to enter into the purpose or the work of the light, for they felt that they already possessed this light, and that this light was all they needed. Those who felt this way seamed to be leaders as well as followers in the church.
As I pondered these things, a man approached me who had a towel around his waist, a wash basin in his hand, and eyes like a seer. He offered to wash my feet. As he began to pour water on my feet I realized that he had light from within. In fact, I could see that he was the channel through which nearly all of the light in this church flowed, because he had entered into the purpose of the light and found the goal of the light, and now he was one of those who were sent to bring light to others. He washed my feet, and also instructed me in the way in which I would be traveling, and gave me some things that were much needed for my journey.
As I stood within Revival Assembly, I watched as the people worshiped. I saw that many in the assembly worshiped an image, which was altogether different than anyone else's image. There seemed to be as many images as there were people in the church. All of those who worshiped these strange images called their images God, or Jesus, or revival. I thought this so strange because these images did not have the appearance of what they were called, but rather, the appearance of the worshipers themselves. It seemed that the people were worshiping images made in their own likeness, but truly believed that these images were God. I was amazed at this, for the light in this building was so great that, had the people not inwardly resisted it, they could have easily seen that what they were worshiping was not God but themselves.
I wondered why there was such resistance from within these people to this light. I turned to ask the man with the towel and wash basin why they resisted the light, but when I turned, I did not see the man, but instead saw a great cross of light, most brilliant in its glory. This cross seemed to have life from within and emanated this life in pulsating waves of light. I saw that although this light was reflecting off many of the people, this light was not entering into the people, but was instead flowing like a stream out the door of the church and across the desert floor to the mountains. The light seamed to be a path that led to the mountains and although the light came from the cross behind me, the cross was also in front of the light, and I understood that the cross was the path to the mountains. I also understood the mountains to be the mountain of God. The path of light that led to the mountains was called OBEDIENCE.
I turned back and looked at the people who were worshiping and talking about their images, and I realized that they didn't recognize that this cross was a cross filled with light and life. In fact, those who had no light within themselves, who were worshiping their images, saw this cross as something dark and ugly and completely undesirable. In fact they saw this cross, and the path of light as something that led to death, as well as something that would lead to the destruction of the images that they were worshiping. "How could this be?" I thought. I turned back to look at the path of light and I saw that the path did not lead up to the mountains, but rather, led down into a dark valley. I turned and followed the path to the edge of the valley, where I looked down to the valley below.
Now I could see why those at Revival Assembly resisted the light inwardly. I don't know how I knew, but I knew that in order to follow this path of light down into the valley, one would have to recognize that what they were worshipping was, in fact, self and not God. "Oh, what a terrible price to pay!" I thought. I realized that some had traveled the path to the edge of the valley, only to turn around, unable to pay this terrible price. I saw that this price was much greater for those in positions of leadership, for they had much more to lose than the people did. They had so much knowledge, as well as position and security to lose. They also had many years of their life, which they had invested in their images. So to pay this price meant to lose their very lives. But what turned them back more than anything else, was the gate that one had to pass through, in order to follow this path down. The gate was very low, so low that one would have to get down on their hands and knees and crawl, in order to get through. I saw a name on the gate. It read, "HUMILITY". I looked for a way around the gate, but every path that led around the gate, led straight back to the city in the desert.
I saw that those who rejected the path of light, as well as those who traveled the path but turned away at the gate HUMILITY all became susceptible to certain evil spirits which were sent in order to stop the flow of light inside Revival Assembly. One of these evil spirits was called "suspicion". I saw that those who rejected the path of light, or who turned back from this path, no longer reflected the light as they once did. They seemed concerned with their own appearance, and they all had their arms crossed in front of them. I could see that the reason they crossed their arms in front of them was to protect themselves. They were saving their lives. Even though they were saving their lives, their stance or demeanor looked like a corpse might look while lying in a casket, his hands crossed over his chest. This demeanor was an indicator to the spirit called "suspicion" that these were open to receive what suspicion had for them. Suspicion immediately rushed upon these and poured out on them a most vile substance which caused these people to see and believe lies. They became suspicious of the Servant of God who was "dispensing" this light, and saw his motives and message as self-serving or even dangerous.
When these people received the vile substance that suspicion was pouring out, and embraced this deception of suspicion, their light was turned to darkness, and their darkness began opposing the light, which began to diminish the light from within Revival Assembly. The more people there were that gave in to suspicion, and the more their darkness resisted the light, the more the light within was diminished. I saw that this darkness within these people was called "self" or "pride" or "the old man". I recognized that the only remedy for this darkness was to be found in the valley beyond the gate HUMILITY, but those who were resisting the light now desired to avoid this valley at any cost, even if it meant losing the light, and losing all that God had promised to those who would walk in the light.
Beyond the gate HUMILITY, the path grew brighter as it led down into the valley. I realized that somehow, this path down into the valley was the same path that leads up into the mountains. I saw that, to go down is to go up, and to go up is to go down. Every mountain shall be brought low, and valley shall be raised up. He who humbles himself shall be exalted and he who exalts himself shall be humbled. I remembered the scripture that says, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit."
As I looked down into the valley, I saw that it was very dark, like the valley of the shadow of death. I don't know how I knew, but I knew that on the other side of this valley, looking back, it wouldn't look dark at all, but full of light. However, from this side of the valley, it looked darker than death itself. Like Abraham, I felt a horror of great darkness fall over me, and as I traveled the path of light down into the valley, I could see the valley floor take on the shape of a cross. I remembered that on one side of the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me", and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. But, on the other side of the cross, the cross was full of light and life, as I had seen in Revival Assembly.
I was amazed to find that this road, which was very narrow, led ever downward. There didn't seem to be any impression of going up, only down, down, ever downward. There were times when I would find myself going up. Oh, what a relief to feel myself finally going up. "Now I am headed up to the mountain heights. Now I am on the road to finding the one my heart desires." But, alas, every time this happened, the path before me grew dark and I was shown that I was no longer traveling the path of light down into the valley, but had turned around and had begun traveling back up the path to the city of churches and Revival Assembly. As soon as I had turned around and began the journey back to the city, unknowingly of course, I would immediately turn aside to a wide road that led straight up out of the valley. I was given to see that all of these roads, of which there were many, were very wide and smooth, but were not illuminated, like the path of light, and every time I repented, and turned around to enter the path of light once again, I would have to pass through the HUMILITY gate.
As I reached the valley floor, I saw that it was like a huge dry riverbed, a channel for life and blessing, and I heard a voice say, "Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts." I realized that the ditches speak of graves. In other words, I was to dig my own grave. I remembered that while I was in Revival Assembly, God spoke those very words to us one night. He spoke of the coming move of God when he said, "Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water".
Many of those at Revival Assembly spoke often of the waters that God would send. They called these waters "revival". In fact, some of the images the people were worshiping, and some of the things people were crying out for were mental images of what they wanted these waters to look like. Of course, all of these images were, as I saw before, made in the people's own image and likeness. I saw that the waters that God will send will only flow down here in the valley, not in the churches up in the desert. I saw that the people wanted the waters to flow where they were, and that they were getting quite disillusioned with the light, and with the servant that God had sent to show the way to this valley. I saw that the people of Revival Assembly could never comprehend having to descend into this valley in order to have the waters that God had spoken of so many times. In fact, to them, this path seamed like a path that would lead to death instead of life, to emptiness instead of fullness, to lowliness instead of greatness. This made this path very undesirable, especially for the leadership, because they saw God's promised waters as a way to make their images greater. Any path that would lead down into the darkness of death was too great a threat to their images, and yes, even their very lives, for this path would require them to go down into the grave.
I heard some of the people inside Revival Assembly saying, "I am crucified with Christ". This puzzled me, for they were still very much alive, and were in fact, inwardly resisting the light that was meant to show them the way to this experience. The light pointed the way to the cross, but the old man within rejected the cross, saying, "I am already crucified with Christ. I am a new creation. Old things are past away, and behold, all things are become new." Again and again I heard the man with the towel and wash basin tell these people, "just because you know it, doesn't mean you are it." I saw that many of the people felt that the scriptures that pertained to being crucified with Christ, as well as nearly every other scripture in the Bible, were meant to increase knowledge of doctrine, rather than to be experienced. They thought that to know it was all that was necessary. They saw no need to experience it, which greatly puzzled me, and I could tell it brought some concern to the man with the towel and wash basin, for he saw the true condition of these people, but many of them saw themselves as rich, and increased with goods, and in need of nothing.
Finally, as the people and the leadership became more disillusioned with the light and with the fact that the light was not bringing the desired waters to their desert church, I saw the leadership stand up tall, like a tall gate, and reject the light outwardly, just as they had rejected it inwardly. When that happened, I saw the light leave. It was very subtle at first, although obvious to those who had light within. But very quickly, the light left Revival Assembly, and as I looked at it from outside, it looked the same as all the other church buildings in this desert city. I saw that the people no longer reflected light. In fact, they seemed darker than many of the other people going in and out of the other buildings. It only took a very short time for Revival Assembly to return to where they were before the light came.
I saw that because most resisted the purpose of the light, which was to take them to the valley, they were never able to experience the light on any greater level than what they could experience at the beginning, when the light first came. The light increased and increased for much time while it was at Revival Assembly, but many in this church could not experience it on any increased level, and therefore did not know that it was increasing. I saw that this added to their disillusionment with the light.
I also saw that what most of the people, especially the leadership, wanted was for the light to bring the desired waters to the building, or the church structure, for they had worked very hard building a structure that they felt was very sound, and that reached higher than all the other buildings. They wanted the water to fill all the rooms, some of which had names on the doors. One said "12 steps". One said "Man's Wisdom". Another said "Doctrine". One said "Outreach", and there were many others, as well. I realized, however, that the purpose of the light was not to bring the waters to this structure, but to lead the people to the valley, where they would find the waters when the waters came.
After the light left Revival Assembly, I noticed something strange: the people began to talk about how their light was increasing and how the promised waters were surely coming. They felt liberated and encouraged now that the light was no longer there to point the way down. They began to walk a road, a wide smooth road that led up, up, up. This feeling of going up gave great encouragement to the gates, which exalted themselves even more, and became great high gates that would protect the people and themselves from that which they perceived would bring death or destruction. I saw these gates as gates on the doors and bars on the windows of Revival Assembly.
The windows and doors were now dark and the great shadow had completely overshadowed Revival Assembly, and through the bars on the windows one could see many people, very week and sickly, full of wounds and disease, starving to death on the inside.
Then I saw a great wave, like an ocean wave, sweep over this city in the desert and completely cover and destroy all of the buildings. The buildings could not withstand this great wave because they seemed to be built out of something like straw and the buildings were resting on a dirt like foundation, rather than on rock or concrete. Then I saw a river of water rush into the valley and the valley full of ditches became a vast river which neither the ditches, nor the riverbed could contain.
-- New International
Isaiah 35:6,7 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.