Day 9 : God's LOVE is WIDE and HIGH and LONG and DEEP

"You can be a conqueror in all things through my love...for neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers...will separate you from My Love..."

~ Your Heavenly Father

taken from Romans 8: 37-39


The above photo is 
my Daddy in Germany
at the end of World War II.
He said that the children ran
to meet them every time
the soliders walked 
down the street.

Can you imagine 
such a world

- led by the innocence
of little children?
The pure LOVE ...
of an untainted soul?
Children don't understand
WAR! and HATE!
We were created
to LOVE!


LOVE God...
LOVE people! 



"Childhood is measured out
by sounds and smells
and sights,
before the dark hour
of reason grows." 

~ John Betjeman


I​n reading a book 
on the Dead Sea Scrolls, 
I saw the word 'Shema' 
as referred to in 
Deut. 6:4-5 - 
the Hebrew prayer


4 Hear, O Israel: 
The Lord our God, 
the Lord is one. 
5 Love the Lord your God 
with all your heart and 
with all your soul and 
with all your strength. 
6 These commandments 
that I give you today 
are to be on your hearts. 
7 Impress them
 on your children. 
Talk about them 
when you sit 
at home 
and when you walk 
along the road, 
when you lie down 
and when you get up. 
8 Tie them as symbols 
on your hands 
and bind them 
on your foreheads. 
9 Write them 
on the door frames
of your houses 
and on your gates.


Research brought me 
to an old war story...


During a fierce battle 
two enemy soldiers 
were engaged in fierce 
hand to hand combat. 
One soldier overpowered 
the other and was about 
to drive his bayonet 
into him, as...
The enemy soldier 
called out "Shema yisrael!" 
The conquering soldier 
was also Jewish, 
and therefore...
answered his enemy's call.
They quickly realized who 
they were, and the impending
slaughter was halted...
right then and there! 


O How WIDE and HIGH
and LONG and DEEP
is the Heavenly Father's
LOVE for YOU and ME!

The Shema is a declaration 
of faith, a pledge of allegiance 
to One God.

Shema is one of the sentences 
that is quoted 
in the New Testament. 
The Gospel of Mark 12:28-31
mentions that Jesus of Nazareth 
considered the beginning 
exhortation of the Shema 
to be the first of his 
two greatest commandments:


28 Which is the first 
commandment of all?  
29 And Jesus answered him, 
The first of all 
the commandments is,
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God 
is one Lord:  
30 And thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy mind, 
and with all thy strength: 
this is the first commandment.  
31 And the second is like, 
namely this, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour 
as thyself. 
There is none other 
commandment greater 
than these.  


In addition, the apostle Paul 
reworks the Shema 
in 1 Corinthians 8:5-7:


5 For even if there are 
so-called gods 
whether in heaven 
or on earth, 
as indeed there are 
many gods and many lords, 
6 yet for us there is 
but one God, the Father, 
from whom are all things 
and we exist for Him; 
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, 
by whom are all things, 
and we exist through Him.  
7 However not all men 
have this knowledge;


The following was huge!!! 
This brought tears 
of understanding!!

 
The reciting of the first verse 
of the Shema is called 

"The acceptance of the yoke 
of the kingship of God" 

(kabalat ol malchut shamayim) 
(Mishnah Berachot 2:5)


See that Hebrew word..
'SHAMAYIM ',

that's the word that 
sounds harmonically similar 
or the exact same pronunciation....
as spoken to me in a dream 
that the Lord gave me
5 years ago!


The Lord brings this dream
to remembrance time and again.
A few weeks ago...
I asked Him for the 
correct spelling of the word. 
I had searched only
according to how I heard it
pronounced in the dream.
He did it!
He let me see the spelling
and in seeing...
I finally see its 
spiritual meaning...
and it resonates strongly
within my spirit. 

'SHAMAYIM' 

Though I know nothing 
of the Hebrew language, 
I now see that the man 
in my dream  -
dressed as what appeared
to be a German solider -
was called a 'Shamayim' -
meaning that he had accepted 

the yoke of the 
kingship of God!

.....as have I....
he recognized the 
authority....of the KING...
the Kingship of God in me!

According to this source...
SHAMAYIM = HEAVEN

In my dream...

I didn't see his gaze
standing at the door.
He'd just came down
the stairwell of the
beautiful historic hotel
where I was working
as a cleaning lady.
The fact that it was a 
HISTORIC Hotel...
speaks of past generations
and TIME.
God often speaks about 
TIME in my dreams.


A quick glance 
in  his direction...
brought a knowing that he 
apparently recognized me. 
I being shy ignored him 
and turned away.
Taking his cue from me -
he turned to open the door.
Immediately - something 
caused me to reestablish 
his original connection.


It was weird...
I didn't  know him... or did I?
I trusted his recognition of me.
It was his knowing glance...
his JOY at seeing me -
that drew me towards him.
It wasn't romantic attraction.
More like family.


The very moment 
I turned back towards him,
he closed the door...turned 
and readied to embrace me.
It was in that moment
that I recognized him.
in fact, I ran to hug him!
It was such a 'home' feeling.
Like I'd been FOUND!
Little girl lost ...
had been found!


Yet afterwards...
when he walked outside,
I asked the woman with me...
"Who is that man?"
That's when she spoke -
"He's a Shamayim."
I glanced outside 
in contemplation.
What's a Shamayim?
I needed revelation
about this strange knowing...
still unfamiliar to me...
in ways I couldn't comprehend.


Outside...
He had already taken on
a different role. 
I was baffled to see him
dressed in a jeans jacket
with some emblem or logo
embroidered on the back...
and punk red hair.
SERIOUSLY??
He was engaged in a
'round table' discussion
with 7 other men!
And yet...I still KNEW
it was him!

If SHAMAYIM = HEAVEN...
was he an angel?
Was he my assigned angel?
I KNOW I have one...
or many assigned to me.
I have been rescued 
more than once...
from apparent DEATH!


Wow! 


Even in a time of war...
this foreign solider 
recognized my yoke to God! 
The same TRUE God
of his inheritance.
We shared a common bond!
We were Sons and Daughters
of the Most High KING! 


This was huge insight for me! 
It explains why I felt like 
we had a history together.
We hugged each other
with an indescribable JOY.
We knew each other
from an unknown time..
but when?...where?

We knew each other 
in the spirit! 

The Spirit of God was
illuminated in our spirits.
It brought forth 'a knowing'.
And in that isolated moment,
I welcomed with open arms
this gift...emboldened 
with COURAGE...
STRENGTH....and LOVE...
in a time of WAR!
It resonated in my spirit -
and will forever be...
​a pillar of strength
for the current and future
WARs I'm destined to fight.


We were both soldiers.
He in obvious physical war,
dressed in a soldiers uniform.
I in spiritual warfare.
Represented by the fact
that I was cleaning
an empty bird cage -
the empty cage speaks
of deliverance...
as in the 'caged bird'
was now free.

In the dream, 
we were soldiers of
the Lord's Kingdom. 
Different roles. 
Different positions. 
Different skills and talents...
but both bonded 
to the same Kingdom...
and to the same God.


We were both positioned 
at this place and time...
for this KNOWING
to be birthed in me! 
Why? 
That is still a mystery. 
But the biggest mystery ....
has been revealed! 
The rest will be revealed 
in HIS time. 
And with that revelation, 
will come ' a knowing'. 
A witness to a STRENGTH
and POWER far above 
what I could ever imagine! 


A knowing...that we are known 
by the Greatest King 
and Kingdom....
the King of all Kings. 
And it is He - 
the ONE and only - 
that makes us KNOWN.... 
for His Glory and His alone!


Praise be to 
GOD the Father...
the Son 
and Holy Ghost!

SELAH....


UPDATE:
the Lord has been 
revealing more.
sometimes, 
it's all about TIME!
God's timetable is perfect.
In His TIME, He makes 
all things beautiful.

When I put this 
to words on my blog ...
after years of journal entries
about this dream...
I scribed words I hadn't 
used before, ever...
that I can remember
in all my 13 years of 
dream journaling. 

He is revealing more
through such words as...
'caged bird'; 'little girl lost';
'found' and 'German solider'

After much reflective
contemplation and prayer...
I may revisit this 
in a sequel post. 
The KEY to discernment
in journal writing...
is writing what's already 
written on the heart.
Sometimes, we just have to 
see the words...
for them to take form
and come alive with
REVELATION!


I definitely encourage
JOURNALING!

patrina