In a dream, I saw myself walking in beautiful country. It was a beautiful day and I felt light and good. I came to a beautiful park filled with many people. I stood at the edge of the park and watched all the people walking around, but I noticed no one was talking to anyone.
They were together, but not like we would expect, which made me wonder. Just then a man was standing at my side. He spoke to me and said, “I want you to enter into the park with the people.”
I felt uncomfortable because I didn’t recognize anyone, but he urged me on so I began walking into this big social gathering. He walked beside me. As I began to walk among them, they acted as if I was not there. They didn’t see us. They didn’t even look at us. In fact, they acted the same way towards the other people too.
Then the man said, “Keep walking. We are not staying, just passing through.”
So we walked through and as we were about to leave the park, he turned into an eagle and instantly we were both in the air.
Somehow he was holding onto me. His wings were strong and we were flying fast and very high. I turned to look at his face and it was the face of an eagle, yet there was another look to it, a look of fierceness and power and great courage. He brought me to another place and set me down on my feet near a powerful raging river rapids. As soon as he put me down, he said, “You must cross that river.” Then he disappeared.
Where he made me stand was at a very high point, so I was looking down at the rapids. The water was crashing over many jagged boulders and huge rocks. I instantly felt afraid and said to myself, “No! I can’t! There’s no way to do it without dying!”
As soon as I said that, I looked up and across the rapids. I saw the Lord Jesus Christ standing on the other side. I immediately knew it was Him without any doubt. He was with a very small company of people whom I knew had crossed this raging, violent river. My heart was pounding within my chest.
He raised his right hand and called out to me, “Joan! You have to cross the river! We will be waiting for you, but you have to do it now, you have to hurry!”
I fully understood time was of the essence and He was not going to wait much longer. Literally, I knew I had only seconds to make up my mind. I looked back down at the violent crashing and tried to think of ways to cross. I looked at this rock and the other rocks beside it and began to mentally see myself stepping on them to make it over.
I felt frozen, I looked back over to the other side and saw the Lord watching me. I also looked over at the people who were tentatively watching me the same way the Lord was. I knew I had to make a decision or they would leave without me, so I thought, “Well, here it goes, if I perish I perish, but I have to try. I have to get to the Lord, the Shepherd who is waiting for me.”
As soon as I stepped my foot down upon a rock, an enormous dragon like serpent came immediately out of the water to contest me. It roared at me as it stood between me and the Lord. It was full of scales and had great big teeth. Its’ eyes were black and had intelligence.
I screamed and looked over at the Lord who just stood there waiting. He was calm, yet I saw in Him a power hard to describe. He was dressed like a simple shepherd, but there was a power about Him. His eyes were piercing as He watched me and kept his eyes on me.
I screamed out to Him, “Lord, I can’t cross! It is too high! The rocks are too jagged! The water is too violent! And Lord this dragon will devour me! I can’t do it! I am too afraid!”
Just then, He cried out, “Yes you can! Just do it! And do it now!”
And without another thought, I jumped and as I did my body became as light as air. My feet “were as swift as a gazelle.” I leaped upon the rocks right past the great dragon who was still roaring right in my face, but he could not harm me. I went right past Him fearlessly and swiftly.
Instantly I reached the other side and was standing right in front of the Lord. He reached out his hand towards me to receive me. He had a look on His face that I could only describe as being pleased with me. He brought me into the little company of people and I was so happy to be among them. He then said to us, “Let’s go!”
He went from behind us to the front of us and led us through the brush and trees. We followed on with Him like little sheep. I then awoke.
Interpretation:
At the beginning, as in all my dreams, I was walking, which represents my walk in Christ and constant sojourning here on earth. The big beautiful park filled with people represented the Church. Their being assembled, but not talking to each other got my attention. Everything in visions has meaning and is meant to get our attention. They were gathered together, but there was no unity. They did not look at me because they were unable to even see me. They did not welcome me or speak to me because they were dead and not alive. They glory in appearance only, not in their heart.
They represent the condition of the Church at large. Like them, we gather, but there is no love, no outward expression of life, just physical appearances. We are like a body that is not joined together, but disconnected and therefore powerless.
The man who appears in all of my dreams is what I deem to be some sort of representative of heaven. He told me to go in among them because he wanted to show me first-hand how divided they are. I did not want to go because I did not know them, nor did I recognize them. I felt like I was nothing more than a stranger to them, like showing up to a party where no one knows you.
The man told me to keep going until we had passed through the park, which was very meaningful to me because I realized he was trying to show me there was no point in staying there with them. He wanted to take me to another place where there was more.
As we departed. I looked back and saw no one had even noticed we left, or that we had even been there. Even though we had been in the same place with them, there was never any connection between us.
When the man turned into an eagle, he was not an ordinary eagle. He was intelligent, powerful, mighty, and strong. He carried me with great speed very high into the sky with ease. I think this represents the Holy Spirit because he has been given to us to help us perform things otherwise impossible for us because we cannot see the things only He can see, or do things that take more courage than we possess. He carries us to places only He has ordained and ordered for us, which was represented by the great rapids.
He did not ask me to cross. He gave me a command, not a suggestion. I wondered why he set me down on the highest point of a cliff overlooking the rapids and not on the ground next to the river. I believe this was meant to show me the full scale of the bravery and courage I would need and the impossibility of crossing on my own.
When I saw the Lord on the other side urgently telling me to hurry up, the intensity increased because I knew I had to act now, which made me even more fearful as I looked back at the violence of the rapids.
The little company of saints represented the others He called just like me. I knew they had crossed over too, which in a sense, gave me a little more courage, thinking that if they had crossed over to Him this way, then somehow I could do it too, even though I was terribly afraid of trying. Seeing all their eyes on me also gave me strength.
When I first stepped out on the rock, the powers of hell rose up against me in full strength to scare me into turning back, to get me to abandon my faith and disobey the Lord’s command. The great dragon that came up out of the rapids was Satan rising up to withstand me by standing between me and the Lord. His rising up out of the violence of the rapids and his roaring at me revealed his resistance to the Lamb of God. He was outraged at those who, like me, were brought to this edge of obedience to the Lord’s call.
I screamed out in fear when I saw this hideous dragon and the rapids because I took my eyes off of the One who was keeping His eyes on me. I considered the danger, the threat of disaster, my own powerlessness, weakness, so I felt fearful, but His presence increased and became more powerful when I saw Him standing in perfect strength and calm despite my unbelief. When He cried out to me in His mighty voice telling me I had to do it and do it now, His words instantly released power that entered my body like lightning, which caused me to jump without another thought about how it could possibly happen.
As soon as I jumped forward, I became as light as a feather and my feet became as swift as a gazelle because the power of God was immediately released to me the instant I obeyed. I jumped without knowing how it could possibly work, which is how He has always performed for those who count Him faithful. My part was to obey His command, while His part was to take action in my behalf.
The devil continued roaring with a mighty roar right in my face, but He was not able to harm me. My fearlessness outraged him because there was nothing he could do about it. Even though he contested me, he had no power to do anything to me.
When my feet finally reached the other side, I was standing in the presence of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. In His presence it was easy and quick. My spirit was full of courage and fearlessness. I felt so strong and alive. What had once seemed impossible was so easy after all.
When He reached His hand out to gather me with the little company of saints, just seeing His pleasing appearance brought great relief to me. I felt so victorious! I couldn’t believe how easy it was after I jumped. A new energy filled my entire being. I was so happy to join the little company of saints and they were also happy to be with me.
I knew time was of the utmost essence. As soon as I joined them we instantly departed from there. The Great Shepherd went from behind us to the forefront leading us onward through the brush and trees. There was not even a path there, which I believe shows He wants us to walk in a way known only to Him and to rely only on His knowledge to lead us through the thick of things. We are to keep our eyes focused on Him and watching His every move as we follow Him closely. As the dream ended, we were all walking right in His footsteps.
Many centuries of great blindness in the church has brought us to where we are today, lacking in courage to obey God. The fear of leaving this powerless, dismembered body has enslaved us to a system, which is largely controlled by Satan. He controls by great fear and will use the utmost means to intimidate anyone who dares to take courage to leave the confines of our post-modern religious activity to enter into a powerful, thriving, living walk in Christ.
Satan uses violence and fear tactics because he is afraid. He is terrified of those that will, in the face of his resistance get out from under his control. He does not want anyone to closely follow the Great Shepherd. So he roars to threaten us with rejection, with being ostracized by our family and friends.
The Lord is calling His people to Himself now. The church is His and He is defining it right now. He will give us the courage to answer His call. He will defend, protect, comfort, and equip us to do what He is calling us to do. Satan fears this because he knows when we obey God, great power enters in a brand new way that has not been in the body for centuries.
I fully believe with all my heart there is a call and a cry going out to many people right now, but not everyone will be attentive to His voice. The main thrust of this entire vision is the Lord Jesus Christ calling us out of the organized church system to Himself, but very few even hear Him calling and those who do will encounter great resistance and great opposition. Many will not obey, but those who do will enjoy a great closeness to the Lord and will go in ways unexpected, but they will go with Him because they know His voice. They will consider the great prize of their calling more than ever before as they, for the first time ever in their lives, walk in the very footsteps of the Son of God. They will be very few in number, but they will be a sign happening all over the world.
God is now beginning to do a new thing, moving in the world like the Holy Spirit who hovered over the waters at the beginning of the creation. He is beginning to create a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And they that know His name will dwell in it rather than in this present evil age.
Jesus wants you to know He is calling you. Wait upon Him. Listen to Him. Go with Him. Trust in His way. The greatest acts of service to Him will be more than those from ages past. He is preparing an army, His glorious army. Consider this as His highest honor. Shalom to you.
Author: Joanie Stahl
As a young Jewish girl, Joanie Sthal received Jesus as her Messiah and soon began receiving dreams and visions of world events. At first these gifts scared her, so she asked for them to cease. Instead, they increased and she surrendered her will to His. By spending much time alone with the Lord she learned how to be guided by Him and to wait on Him for interpretation.
Today, Joanie is a wife and mother. She believes the time has come for the “Bride to make herself ready,” which is why she now feels released to share her dreams and visions received during the past 40 years as warnings of things that will soon take place.
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