7/8/09

I dreamed there was this pink hand bag, I had, and inside this hand bag was cash, pictures, credit cards.

Apparently there had been travel involved in this dream, and during this travel, this hand bag disappeared, with my belongings in it. I was so sure where it had been, who was with me, noticing the last person around me that could have possibly taken it.

There was a sense of desperation when this disappeared, as there was 300.00 in it that was needed to take care of bills, ect.  This was the outside exterior concern and what I shared with others. (Surface concern). I recalled having gone to a friend’s home, and people I knew were there.

 I kept asking the same person over and over again where the hand bag had gone, I was sure that I knew this person knew where the hand bag was. Then after asking, there was what appeared to be a HUGE film that began to play in the middle of the living room. In an instant, I there was this video that showed my hand bag, and its contents sitting on a bed.( Revealing the location of the handbag) No one else could see this video aside from me. I began asking questions relating to what was appearing before me.

 Repeatedly I asked, and after continuously asking the person, the person grabbed the hand bag, as if to say here you go, tossing it at me.

 The dream changed, after my hand bag was tossed back to me.  Immediately, I literally saw the hands of God holding a huge string of pictures that(were) are kept tucked in wallets and handbags.  It was very long, revealing everything that was kept in that hand bag. It was never about the “cash” money in the handbag. It was the images that were concealed within the hand bag.  When I saw the ties of pictures that were tied together, it was concealed pain that was hidden within me, that the Spirit of God was drawing out of me. In my spirit, it was sealed within me, though I saw pictures, He revealed, “IMAGES”. I cannot begin to describe the Holy Spirit conviction and the depths of the Love of my Abba Father at very precise divine exchange. This was all at one time. I saw my Father holding within His very hands the very things,  that began to let go within me.

The surface concern was money,(distraction) the root concern of my Heavenly Father was the concern of the images that were rooted within me.  The pictures were only pictures, but contained within those “IMAGES” was pain, and so very deep, that  I was absolutely deceived.  Each picture I saw uprooted, pain by the Spirit of God like drawing from deep within me, and releasing hidden pain. The weeping was uncontrollable, yet a deep relief as everything within me was being poured out to the Love of my Father. His love for me and the tenderness of His love drew from within me those captured memories that were contained within the pictures.

I saw in life form, in a video a face of a man, and immediately that face became others.  I saw my earthly father, as a young man, then I began seeing others in my life, who  were what I believed to be perpetrators (abusers) in my life.. This video was not just any video, God was showing me. 

In each and every person I saw within this video were not only the perpetrators in my life, but there was expressed Love of the Father towards each person. What do I mean? That although I truly had been the victim of circumstances of these people, there was the affection of our Heavenly Father to each person that hurt me, towards the very perpetrator.  Yes I had truly been a victim; my choices had been robbed as a child. Within me, with every fiber of everything within me, there was NO bitterness, or anger, but compassion of the Father.  This compassion was not experienced until there was release of the pain that had been contained within me.   

In this dream there was a continuous purging, groaning that I could never describe affectively into words. Imagine your greatest pain that you recall experiencing in your life, it was a cry deep within the very core of my being. I believe that was Jesus and Him alive within me, and such a release. Though it was a dream, it was VERY real. God went within the very depths of my heart; Heart Surgery that was being performed by the loving touch of the Father.

When this was completed, undone before God, crying out to Him, knowing I was forgiven, for the images that I was not even aware that I held onto, the Lord told me to look left.  This gets intense here as the spirit of the LIVING God reveals the thief!!!

When I looked left, I saw this HUGE creature, that stood what appeared to be ten stories high.  On first look, I did not see anything. It was as if God blew on this creature His breath revealing the accuser of the brethren.  He was not a man, but he was a beast!! He was breathing a pesticide from his mouth, with the intent to kill.  I knew with everything in me, there was just a knowing, and the word “rapist” that was exposed with the divine wisdom of God impressed within me. The spirit of the Living God, revealed the rapist of His people. I was so mad at the devil, I began calling him out, and crying uncontrollably at the same time, as God was exposing the thief of the hearts of HIS children.  IN that same instant, within seconds, divine exchange again, everything that the Lord has been revealing to me, in the past ten years His love for EVERYONE was very ALIVE in this dream. People are NEVER the enemy, whether you have been a murder, rapist, thief, JESUS LOVES you. Do you know who the real thief is? The real thief is the devil. If He can come in and have you believe that people have been your issue, then he has completed what he intended to do. Have you come into agreement with the lie that you are not LOVED. Am I saying that if you have been abused in your life, that it was not the person? No I am not saying that. What I am saying is that just as JESUS IS SPIRIT, so is the devil. Jesus became man on this earth, and the devil will manifest HIMSELF through people. All he needs is agreement. The people now become the distraction, and you become bitter because of what has happened in your life, believing the person is the issue, rooting un forgiveness, seeking to devour your life roaming about like a lion to destroy you, by making you believe that there is something that separates you from the Love of the Heavenly Father. What better way to do this, than to use the very people that were supposed to be there to protect you, come along and abuse you. God created me and you to have relationship with HIM. The enemy knows this. If he can just come in for a second by using the most impressionable people in your life, then what you can see on this earth, has already begun to root a blockage to the unseen.  In God’s infinite love, as all this was being revealed, not only was the true thief identified, the true rapist of LIFE, but everything within me, was revealed the TRUE love of the Father, as I was blanketed in His love as all the venim of the enemy was being sprayed all about me.  I was covered by the very hand of God with His blanket of LOVE. His protection, His hands, His love, His mercy, His goodness, and it IS these very things of God that reveals. Jesus, Himself. Can you contain the blessings of God? His light will expose every bit of darkness within our own hearts. It’s truly the goodness of God that gives to us a renewed mind, as well as a  heart transformation.

Now what I am about to share, may not be easy for some to read, but please continue to read on Keeping in mind, that if you have been a victim of abuse in any matter, ITS NOT YOUR FAULT!! The enemy has kept you bound long enough has he not?  God wants to heal your heart, and release that so that He can love you, as you have been created to BE LOVED. Love was very distorted in my life, the images that were kept  “secret” within my heart, for so many years, that fear gripped me at every turning point in my life. Fear became love. That was the trick of the enemy. Fear is NOT love, but Perfect Love Casts out ALL Fear.  Today I can share that, but fear became the “trust” in my life. I trusted the spirit of Fear more than I trusted the very creator that created me for Intimate relationship with Him. JESUS LOVES YOU. If you can believe that He does not love you, then the enemy has rooted in your heart, and doing exactly his job. He is the accuser, the life wrecker. Fear told me, not to ever let anyone else in again. (Spirit of Fear) . Fear told me, that everyone would reject me in my life, if I let them in. Fear told me that everyone would be the same way towards me.

Jesus came to give you life and Life more abundantly!!  There is no LIFE in fear. If you take the “f” out of fear, you have a listening EAR to the heart of our Heavenly Father in Christ Jesus.  Life comes only in Christ Jesus. The world has NOTHING to offer you.

There is nothing of this world that can fill the void. The emptiness, that rejection, the abandonment, shame that I experienced in my life, identified me, based on the images (mindsets) strongholds that were rooted deep. Because of those images, my responses in life were based on that mindset and rooted within my heart.  I am here to tell you, you can be free from this. You can be free of fear dictating your yesterday, your present and your future.  Jesus poured Himself out for ME. He poured HIMSELF out for YOU.  His love covers a multitude of sin. He does not agree with sin, but truly His grace absolutely goes around for each person. There is nothing that is that bad, that He has not died for. NOTHING.

There has to be an exchange. Something comes within you. Jesus exchanged himself for YOU. He loves YOU. When you can identify the true thief, remember is never people, though people will come into agreement with the enemy, Jesus still loves them. What the issues truly are, are the issues in MY heart, not your heart.

The Lord says to you, You are indeed MY BELOVED. To be ONE with ME. The abusers of your life, have not been of ME. My Beloved. I am doing a new thing in your life. My affections are set upon you. I am restoring what has been taken from you. I am restoring and revealing to you my affections and my thoughts towards you. I am restoring the broken relationships you have experienced in your life, because I love you. I desire you with an ever lasting love. I have good thoughts about you. You have felt squeezed, and Yes that is Me. That is me taking that within you and exchanging what you have known for the wonders of who I AM.

I am a Father to the fatherless, I am a lover of your soul. Taste and see that I am good. I will take everything that has been bitter in your life, and replace this with honey. I will melt down every barrier, with MY LOVE. Come, lean your head upon my heart, sit me with for a while. Let me share with you, my Love for you. There is Only Love with me. Let me reveal to you. I have had nothing but compassion for you. I have a life of destiny for you. I speak tenderly to your heart. I will not hurt you. Encompassed in Me, wrapped in beauty, of all the love I have for you, my Beloved My Bride. The entry is narrow, I will touch those areas of your life, I will set free every chain, expanding you in such ways you have never known. I have created you for my good pleasure my Beloved. GREAT Pleasure.

Dream- 7/2/09

I dreamed I was in this Banquet Room, and there was a Reception that was about to take place in this banqueting Room as the Bride and Bridegroom were about to make their entrance. The covenant ( wedding vows)between the two had taken place.

I recall that I was participating and anticipating the two to enter the room.  In assisting with making sure that everything was in place in the Banqueting Room, while bending down to pick something up off the floor, from the right side of my eye, I saw this huge white Train from the Wedding Gown of the Bride flow past me. Everyone (though those in the room I did not know) in the room was taken, and literally gasped for air. The Wedding Dress was pure, without blemish, white.

There was someone who was with me, that kept encouraging me to  take a look at full view. 

 In my spirit, in every part of my natural senses, I did not have to see the Bride, because I saw her though I did not see her in the natural..There were extreme impressions that were impressed like with in every fiber of my being without having to see her in the natural.

These were the impressions within me:

The Bride had long dark hair, which was like silk that when she went by you, floated, lightly what I can only describe as divine synchronized between her and everything around her. ( This was seen at glimpse)

The Scent of the Bride, was like that of a perfume never before have I ever smelled in the natural. There was a light  flowery,  and even within the scent of the perfume she was wearing, is best described as “Heavenly”.

The Bride was with great poise, confidence, and such an assurance within herself, in her Identity.  Her hands were as if they were porcelain, intricate, yet fragile, with slender fingers.  This Bride on her wedding day was vibrant with LIFE, full of Joy.

There was great laughter and joy overflowing, within the Bride and Bridegroom, and with everyone in the Banqueting room. There was a great celebration and every person in the room was in “AWE” of her.

This all transpired all the impressions within me, within seconds. 

Within me,  with everything happening within the split seconds of everything happening, there was a double impression. 

The other impression was this:

There was like comparison that was transpiring, and a veil of shame, that tried to stop me from seeing me as the Bridegroom sees me. The preparing, of the arrival of the Bride became the distraction of seeing myself as the Bridegroom sees me.  When this Bride walked by me, She was full of Life and radiated that life from within her. The confidence she displayed was the result of her commitment with her Bridegroom. The Covenant that had transpired the exchange of Wedding Vows, The Two that became One.  

Isaiah 61 (New King James Version)

7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
      And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
      Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
      Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
       8 “ For I, the LORD, love justice;
      I hate robbery for burnt offering;
      I will direct their work in truth,
      And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
       9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
      And their offspring among the people.
      All who see them shall acknowledge them,
      That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.”
       10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
      My soul shall be joyful in my God;
      For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
      He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
      As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
      And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
       11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
      As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
      So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Isaiah 62:4-7 (New King James Version)

4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
      Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
      But you shall be called Hephzibah,[a] and your land Beulah;[b]
      For the LORD delights in you,
      And your land shall be married.
       5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
      So shall your sons marry you;
      And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
      Soshall your God rejoice over you.
       6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
      They shall never hold their peace day or night.
      You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
       7 And give Him no rest till He establishes
      And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

John 3:28-30 (New King James Version)

28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Revelation 21:1-3 (New King James Version)

Revelation 21

All Things Made New

 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John,[a] saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

The New Jerusalem

   
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me[b] and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”[c] 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy[d] Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names[e] of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Revelation 22:16-18 (New King James Version)

16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

Song of Solomon 1 (New King James Version)

THE Shulamite

    12 While the king is at his table,
      My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.
       13 A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me,
      That lies all night between my breasts.
       14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms
      In the vineyards of En Gedi.

THE Beloved

    15 Behold, you are fair, my love!
      Behold, you are fair!
      You have dove’s eyes.

24^th Floor

I dreamed I was in this very large building, as many others were with me, but there were two that I recall.  Myself and someone named David.  (no one I knew)

The goal in this dream was to reach the 24^th floor, and to find rest in a room in this building. The room number was  408. This was like a very large climb, as you could not reach to the 24^th floor of this building by an easier way.  There were no elevators, and there were very narrow places that had to be gone through to get to the 24^th floor. I am sensing this was a race of some kind, as the time that myself and others did not stop for breaks but just climbed.

In the process of going up to the 24h floor, there was what appears to be a very,  narrow walk way suspended literally in the air, and you could not walk across this without “Balance”. This was an obstacle for many, as this took great concentration and focus. When someone would attempt to walk across this, knowing there was nothing under you, meaning if you lost footing you would also plunge to your death. Everyone had to trust in the Lord’s guidance through this.

As I was attempting to cross this beam, with great balance and precision, there were others who tried very hard to get me distracted so I would lose balance, and fall to my death. There had to be stillness and quietness to get across this beam to reach that 24^th  floor. The distractions that were going on around me in essence, to try and stop me from my destiny, became the very distraction for those who were causing me distraction to reach their destiny.  I recall getting up to go across this beam, and it was dark around me, those who were with me, deliberately attempted to cause noise, in the atmosphere as it echoed, and trying to frighten me. That noise did not stop me from walking across. There was such a great urgency in this dream, as something very large (in the atmosphere) sensing with everything in me the Lord was doing was about to occur, and reaching this floor was a matter of life and death.

As the noise continued, I pursued where I was led to go, allowing the distractions from around me, to not be my focal point, but to be in check within me, and extremely focused with vision.

I reached the 24^th floor, and on this 24^th floor to my surprise was a very large room, that had wall to wall window, and very open. I recall seeing the beauty of the height from this floor, and as I stood gazing out and looking around me, as I was standing on an edge trusting the Lord, in awe of what I saw, an enemy came from behind me, began to push me off this ledge, from 24 floors up, knowing it would be my death, and then pulling me back as if to save me from a death. I recall tremendous fear attempting to grip me in this dream, while this torment was happening, but I also knew that the enemy would not win. I was led by God to do this climb with great urgency.

The enemy was there to torment me and to get me off guard, to become the distraction so to speak.  I recall hearing this voice, that asked me on this floor, how does the view look? I said, its absolutely beautiful, as I was in awe, is when the enemy whispered this. His voice shivered my insides, as I had to keep my emotions in check, as they were being tempted to give in to the whispers to believe I had reached my end. When I did not give in to the enemy, the enemy dis appeared and that “test” was done.

As quick as the enemy was there, he was gone.

Suddenly, after what I knew in my spirit to be a test, an attempt of a distraction, emotional distractions, was done, EVERYTHING changed. It was as If I was launched into a new dimension. (whole new arena so to speak). It was not until I was at this place, that I became very broken. During this climb, I had to keep my emotions in check, and not pay attention to my feelings. They would have become the distraction and I knew that the enemy would use my heart, and my feelings to plummet me to my death.

I was dancing or like floating in the heavenly is the only way I can describe it.

There were people everywhere here in this dimension, and they had a “knowing” of what was going on. I recall seeing a person on what represents the four corners of the earth. I saw it is directional and each corner shared something with me. (North, South, East, West) Everyone had great peace, but knowing that time was short. In this dream, I heard, “ Sound the Trumpet”, everyone was preparing themselves to be “HOME”. Home was not known to be here on this earth, but with the Father In heaven. In this was “preparation” making things right with the Lord, and an alarm, but with extreme excitement through this preparation.

I was seeing people I knew from “earth” from this height, from this atmosphere that knew time was short and preparing their hearts to be with the Heavenly Father forever.

There was great glory of God, as I was very overwhelmed and touched deeply by what I was seeing and hearing in this.

There was a great urgency for me to come back down and share this with others. I was supposed to share this with everyone. There was not a soul that I saw that was not preparing to be HOME. Everyone was talking about being home with the Father.  In this dream, there was coming a keen awareness of what “home” truly was. People were preparing themselves to have home in the heavenly with the Father of Heaven.

Revelation 4 (New King James Version)

Revelation 4

The Throne Room of Heaven

 ¹ After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
² Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. ³ And He who sat there was^[a] like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. ⁴ Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns^[b] of gold on their heads. ⁵ And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.^[c] Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the^[d] seven Spirits of God.
⁶ Before the throne there was^[e] a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. ⁸ The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

      “ Holy, holy, holy,^[f]
      Lord God Almighty,
      Who was and is and is to come!”

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
       ¹¹ “ You are worthy, O Lord,^[g]
      To receive glory and honor and power;
      For You created all things,
      And by Your will they exist^[h] and were created.”

Ephesians 1:2-25 (New King James Version)

² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Redemption in Christ

   
³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both^[a] which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. ¹¹ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ¹² that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who^[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

   
¹⁵ Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding^[c] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
²² And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Christ Our Peace

   
¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Christ Our Cornerstone

   
¹⁹ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 3 (New King James Version)

Ephesians 3

The Mystery Revealed

 ¹ For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— ² if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, ³ how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, ⁴ by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), ⁵ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: ⁶ that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, ⁷ of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

Purpose of the Mystery

   
⁸ To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to make all see what is the fellowship^[a] of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;^{[b] 10} to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, ¹¹ according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. ¹³ Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Appreciation of the Mystery

   
¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,^{[c] 15} from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Daniel 6:9-11 (New King James Version)

⁹ Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

   
¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
¹¹ Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

Luke 15:4-7 (New King James Version)

⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.