SEPARATION VERSUS ISOLATION
by Hollie L. Moody
(hlmoody61@aol.com)
Jeremia 15:17 Nie saß ich im Kreis der Scherzenden und war
fröhlich. Wegen deiner Hand saß ich allein, weil du mich mit <deinem>
Grimm erfüllt hast.
Lukas 6:22 Glückselig seid ihr, wenn die Menschen euch hassen werden und
wenn sie euch absondern und schmähen und euren Namen als böse verwerfen werden
um des Sohnes des Menschen willen. 23 Freut euch an jenem Tag und hüpft! Denn
siehe, euer Lohn ist groß in dem Himmel; denn ebenso taten ihre Väter den
Propheten.
Lukas 5:16 Er aber zog sich zurück und war in einsamen Gegenden
und betete.
Matthäus 12:15 Als aber Jesus es erkannte, entwich er von dort;
und es folgten ihm große Volksmengen, und er heilte sie alle.
Matthäus 25:32 und vor ihm werden versammelt werden alle
Nationen, und er wird sie voneinander scheiden, wie der Hirte die Schafe von
den Böcken scheidet. 33 Und er wird die Schafe zu seiner Rechten stellen, die
Böcke aber zur Linken.
Jeremia 30:12.13.17 Denn so spricht der HERR: Unheilbar ist
dein Bruch, bösartig ist deine Wunde! 13 Niemand führt deine Rechtssache, für
das Geschwür <gibt es keine> Heilung, keine heilende Haut für
dich! 17 Denn ich will dir Genesung bringen und dich von deinen Wunden
heilen, spricht der HERR, weil man dich eine Verstoßene nennt: «Das ist Zion,
nach dem niemand fragt!»
In the visions, I was looking into a sheep
pen (Verschlag/Stall). I saw a shepherd at the center of the sheep pen. The
shepherd was surrounded by sheep. The sheep surrounding the shepherd appeared
to be well-nourished and content.
Then, my eyes were drawn to the
corners and the edges of the sheep pen. Here, I was extremely troubled to see
sheep who appeared to be abused, neglected and starved. They appeared to be in
great, but silent, suffering.
I watched and saw as a few of the sheep
attempted to enter into the group of well-nourished and contented sheep
surrounding the shepherd. The well-nourished and contented sheep drew closer
together around the shepherd, and attempted to prevent the abused and
neglected appearing sheep from coming into close contact with the shepherd.
At times, this was done in a manner that wasn't overtly obvious. But
after a time, if some of the neglected sheep remained determined to join the
well-nourished sheep and gather also around the shepherd, they were then
nudged and "bumped" and pushed out of the way by the well-nourished sheep.
I saw that the shepherd was for the most part unaware of the battle
taking place between the two groups of sheep. The shepherd was totally engrossed in the sheep that were surrounding him, and seemed unable to see any
further than the group of sheep gathered around him. This troubled my spirit.
I continued to watch as the neglected sheep drifted back and further
to the edges and into the corners of the sheep pen. At first, the neglected
group of sheep stood with their faces turned towards the shepherd and towards
the well-nourished group of sheep surrounding the shepherd. After a while,
though, most of the neglected sheep slowly turned their backs towards the
well-nourished sheep and gazed out of the sheep pen. Some of the neglected
sheep slowly wandered from the sheep pen. What troubled me, was that they
didn't appear to be noticed or missed.
I then saw the Lord
approaching. I saw as He sought out the sheep who had wandered from the sheep
pen. I watched as the Lord and the sheep He had sought out approached the
sheep pen and stood silently gazing into the sheep pen. His appearance was
both somber (betrübt) and pained. Silently, the Lord entered the sheep
pen.
For the most part, the sheep gathered around the shepherd seemed
to barely notice that the Lord had entered the sheep pen. Their focus was
entirely upon their shepherd. Some of these sheep, though, separated
themselves slightly from the group of sheep around the shepherd and began to
glance towards the Lord.
The shepherd seemed to sense the Lord's
arrival, but remained where he was, in the midst of the well nourished sheep.
I saw as the eyes of the shepherd met the eyes of the Lord. Then, the demands
of the sheep gathered around the shepherd seemed to distract his attention
from the Lord back to the sheep.
I saw that most of the neglected
sheep who had remained in the sheep pen seemed to sense the Lord's arrival,
but appeared confused and disturbed about why He was there. Slowly, the Lord
began to approach each of the neglected sheep. I watched as He knelt down
gently next to each of the neglected sheep, and began to tenderly run His
hands over them.
I then noticed on the ground next to the Lord a basin
of water with a large sponge (Schwamm) in it. There was also a pot of
what appeared to be medicinal ointment next to the basin of water. The Lord
began to bathe the filth from the fleeces of the neglected sheep. When the
sheep were clean, the Lord dipped the fingers of His right hand into the pot
of ointment and began to apply the ointment to the wounds on the neglected
sheep. He then gathered each of the neglected sheep one by one into His arms
and just held them close to His chest.
I watched as the Lord then got
to His feet after ministering to each of the neglected sheep. The Lord wordlessly walked from the sheep pen. When He had left the sheep pen, He spoke
the name of each of the neglected sheep He had just ministered to. One by one,
these sheep left the sheep pen and began to follow the Lord.
I saw as
the Lord led these neglected sheep to a beautiful green meadow. The meadow was
rich with abundant amounts of lush green grass. The Lord watched as the
neglected sheep entered into the meadow and began to eat hungrily of the
grass.
After the sheep had eaten to their fill, the Lord then turned
away from the meadow (Wiese / Weide). He called to each of the sheep to follow
Him. The sheep began to follow the Lord where He was leading them. I
eventually saw that the Lord was leading the sheep back to the sheep pen they
had left earlier.
When the Lord reached the entrance to the sheep pen,
He stopped until all the sheep who had been neglected caught up with Him. The
sheep stopped in confusion. The Lord entered the sheep pen, but only a few of
the formerly neglected sheep went back into the sheep pen with Him. The Lord
turned to look at the sheep who hadn't come back into the sheep pen. He then
pointed off into the distance behind them.
All the sheep who had been
neglected turned to see what the Lord was pointing at. I also looked to see
what the Lord was pointing towards. I was horrified to see large packs of
wolves converging (sich nähern) upon the sheep pen. The Lord pointed from the
approaching wolves to the well nourished, contented sheep still gathered
around the shepherd. Both the shepherd and the sheep around him seemed totally
unaware of the approaching danger of the wolves.
The Lord once again
pointed from the wolves to the shepherd with the sheep gathered around him. I
watched as most of the formerly neglected sheep reentered the sheep pen. Some
of these sheep, though, couldn't seem able to bring themselves into reentering
the sheep pen. I sensed that some of them were fearful of being neglected and
abused once again. I also sensed that some of these sheep were angry at the
shepherd and the well nourished sheep for the way they had treated them in the
past. These formerly abused sheep seemed indifferent about the danger
approaching the sheep pen. I sensed also that they were actually desirous to
have the danger come to the shepherd and the sheep.
I turned my eyes
from watching the sheep who were not reentering the sheep pen to the sheep who
were reentering the sheep pen. I saw that as most of these sheep attempted to
enter into the crowd of sheep gathered around the shepherd to warn of the
impending danger, that their presence was often resisted. Some of the formerly
neglected sheep continued in spite of the resistance to try and press through
the crowd of sheep to warn the shepherd.
A few of the formerly abused
sheep finally managed to press through the throng of well nourished sheep.
They approached the shepherd and attempted to warn him of the approaching
danger of the wolves. At first, the shepherd appeared to be baffled and
confused as to who these "new" sheep were. He didn't seem to recognize or know
them. Their attempts at warning him at first appeared not to be met with a
great deal of success. As they continued to give warning, though, the shepherd
finally pushed his way through the crowd of sheep gathered around him. Now he
was finally able to see the approaching wolves.
I saw as the wolves
finally reached the sheep pen. The sheep who had not reentered the sheep pen
either ran away from the approaching wolves, or were injured or destroyed when
the wolves reached them.
I watched as the shepherd finally noticed the
Lord in the sheep pen and rushed over to Him. The formerly neglected sheep
also gathered around the Lord. The well nourished sheep, I noticed, were
frantic (wütend / außer sich) over the absence of their shepherd. They were
milling about in great confusion and fear. I turned from observing these sheep
in order to see what was occurring with the Lord, the shepherd and the formerly abused sheep.
I saw that the Lord appeared to be giving
directions and instructions to the shepherd and to the formerly neglected
sheep. I saw the Lord pointing from the wolves to the shepherd and to the
formerly neglected sheep. I felt the directions and instructions the Lord was
giving were about how to withstand the wolves that were now completely surrounding the sheep pen.
I watched as the Lord, the shepherd and the
sheep who had formerly been neglected took up offensive and defensive
positions around the sheep pen and also around the well nourished sheep.
******************
The series of mini-visions ended after this
last scene.
For weeks, I kept these visions in my heart, thinking and
praying about them. Over time, the Lord impressed upon my heart that there are
many of His children who have "sat alone" in the midst of the congregation.
They have been pained and wounded by this seeming rejection.
Some of
the Lord's children who have been separated by others, have in turn separated
themselves from those who have wounded and rejected them. As the sheep in the
vision finally turned their backs on those who had rejected them, so also have
many of God's children who have been rejected turned away from those who have
rejected them.
What the Lord impressed upon my heart, is that quite
often, this "sitting alone in the midst of the congregation" was in fact of
and from Him. He was and has allowed many of His children to be separated in
order to allow them time to be prepared to be used of Him to defend the flock
from forthcoming attacks from the enemy.
The enemy is aware of this
much more than we are. The enemy has sought to have the wounds God's separated
children have had inflicted upon them go very deep into their hearts. This is
in order for those who have been separated to have their focus on their wounds
instead of on what the Lord might want to accomplish by their separation.
The enemy has brought his own brand of separation in the form of
anger, hurt feelings, resentment, unforgiveness, etc. The enemy has for the
most part succeeded in having the rejected become the rejecter.
Many
of those who have been rejected have now separated themselves both from where
they have been rejected and from those whom have rejected them. This
separation is both mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.
In order
to be able to use those He set apart for the purpose of being prepared to
defend the flock from the enemy's attacks, the Lord is now in a time of
intense healing and restoration.
I feel in the spirit that the Lord's
Body is in a time almost of suspended (unterbrochene, ausgesetzte) animation
(Lebendigkeit/Treiben/Leben). A small amount of time of calm and grace has
been given to the Lord's children in order for certain things wrong within the
Body of Christ to be dealt with. This is a time of reconciliation, healing and
restoration.
It can, however, be resisted. Pride, unforgiveness and
also fear, as well as lack of understanding and discernment, can abort this
move of God before it brings forth fruit.
Those who have been wounded
and who have separated themselves from those who have wounded them, can
continue to keep themselves separated from those who have wounded them in the
past. They can stand guard over their wounds, fearing lest those wounds are
reopened and begin to bleed once again. Or, they can allow the Lord to minister to them and to heal them fully and completely.
Realizing that
the Lord desires to heal those who are wounded in order to perhaps send them
back to those who have wounded them, will take full understanding and trust in
the Lord. It will take great courage, commitment and faith in the Lord for
those who have been healed of their wounds to allow God to use them on behalf
of the very ones who once wounded and rejected them.
This move of God
will bypass and surpass denominations. The enemy that is being released
against God's children does not recognize denominations. This enemy only
recognizes its own religion and beliefs. All others are the "enemy" and to
destroyed. God's children must learn who is the true enemy, and who is not.
The mindset of many of God's children when it comes to only
ministering to those within certain denominations will be swept away. For this
is a hindrance to God's children coming together to withstand the enemy that
even now is on the loose.
This time of intense healing and restoration
will be marked both by periods of great calm and episodes of great turmoil.
Much will be turned upside down and inside out.
It is time for the
Bride to prepare herself for her Groom.
In Him,
~~ Hollie L.
Moody